Methods RoboDrill Plus-K

[Mark Turbotech]

for cutting harder material like 13-8 15-5 

are these mills any good 

we will be using it for smaller parts stock size 3''x3''x6'' 

any one else using this mill

 

 

[Leon82]

Probably ok with a dynamic path. 

[Newbeeee™]

They have plenty of power. They have a lot of rigidity, but as Leon says trochoidal paths and smaller tools will be your friend.

My main issue with my Robos was swarf getting onto the tool taper, because the tools aren't "that protected" in the changer.

There is the Fanuc preferred option of a tool taper wash (coolant wash) but we went with a PLC hack where we had the machine head pause on toolchange, at a definable height, so the spindle airblast cleaned the taper for longer. This added 1x second to a toolchange and removed virtually all of our issues, so was well worth it.

Fanuc (UK) frowned at our solution because slowing the toolchange went against one of Fanucs main selling points (the fast toolchange). But good products were my priority and on a batch of 25>50 (sometimes 100) parts, I wasn't worried about the additional 1x seconds.

Edit:- for clarity, we were producing 98% aluminium parts on these machines. So using a 40mm facemill, and 14mm and 12mm roughing tools at 10k RPM and 5metre (200 inch) feed rates, so chips were bouncing everywhere inside.

[RonC.]

The machine is a lot more ridged than you think, I would also recommend Big plus tooling..

along with the previous suggestion above about dynamic tool paths 

[Colin Gilchrist]

These things are built by Fanuc, using Fanuc Drives and Motors. They are not good; they are fantastic!

Make sure you get the options for "flushing" of the zero-point connection, and ask Methods about adding "spindle cleaning/flush" options, to make sure the no chips get caught in the spindle taper.

Make sure you get the Big-Plus option on the spindle, and buy "real" Big-Plus holders. The BT30 Taper, with Big-Plus, is comparable in rigidity to a non-big plus CAT40 holder.

I did Turnkey job from 17-4 Stainless on  a regular short-bed Robodrill (not plus-k), and I was drilling 5xD and 7xD, small holes (.125 and 6mm diameter), with no issues. (I did have thru-spindle coolant, which is a must for productive deep-hole drilling. Not that 5xD or 7xD is extreme, but the first time I tried this on a non-thru coolant spindle, we had issues with drill breakage due to work-hardening of the material when attempting to peck. Raising the retract height helped, but with Thru-Coolant, we successfully machined hundreds of holes without pecking. I opted to thread mill, rather than tapping.

[RonC.]

Here is a part I made on Robodrill plus k machine, out of 4140 Steel

 

[Aaron Eberhard]

I've cut a bunch of various stainless, 4140, etc. on my 1998 without Plus-K.

You'll be fine, especially as mentioned if you really utilize Dynamic toolpaths. 

[CEMENTHEAD]

We have 6 in a cell all cutting RC42 4340 also without Plus-K, Been here since 2002 swapped out 2 robos since then. Spindle bearings. They are real troopers IMHO.

[Jobnt]

This wasn't from a PlusK but I can attest to Robodrills being solid.

6 axis Robot arm loading 1/2" thick alum bar into a robodrill. 

16,000 RPM at 200ipm plunge and 150ipm contour feed.

Robot misloaded and the part was hanging off the end where it plunges. Made it through the part in Z then tried to side cut.

Made one hell of a noise. Hit the side then flew out the front door.

We fixed the side panel.  

 

[#Rekd™]

8 minutes ago, Jobnt said:

We fixed the side panel.

Good band aid solution!!!!

[MIL-TFP-41]

Are you talking about the Plus-K automation system or the Big-Plus spindle?

I can't speak about the automation system but the machines are solid. Short gage length tools are your friend with these small machines. 3/8 tools are our go-to tool for roughing.

[gcode]

1 hour ago, Jobnt said:

We fixed the side panel.  

You cheaped out.. that was a 2 band aid job at the very least !!!

[Jobnt]

13 minutes ago, gcode said:

You cheaped out.. that was a 2 band aid job at the very least !!!

THOSE WERE BIG BANDAIDS!! 

 

[Leon82]

Do they still have the x20 increment for the handle feed? That was pretty cool moving 2 inches per rev

[MIL-TFP-41]

18 hours ago, Leon82 said:

Do they still have the x20 increment for the handle feed? That was pretty cool moving 2 inches per rev

Yes they do - and it catches you off guard if you aren't expecting it.

[Newbeeee™]

On 5/8/2023 at 3:47 PM, Colin Gilchrist said:

Make sure you get the Big-Plus option on the spindle, and buy "real" Big-Plus holders. The BT30 Taper, with Big-Plus, is comparable in rigidity to a non-big plus CAT40 holder.

IMHO....with 2x E model 10k RPM Robos sat side by side, one a BBT and the other a standard, and a Chevalier (non BBT) 10k RPM #40 VMC sat next to that....I'd say the face and taper increases rigidity by 30% over the non (Robo 2 Robo).

But a BBT #30 Robo is not as rigid as a BT40, like - for like. I'd say it's close (ish) but maximum -20%.