Wrong Post or Wrong Operator

[HCProf]

So, I wrote up a simple little program to  refresh my memory on the ST-10's, now that I'm about to start running them again.

I could not find the post for our ST's, I found the machine definition for our ST-10's though.

So I reached out to our cad/cam dealer, explained the issue that it seems like I was simply missing our post file. They said: Just use generic definitions and posts....
I may only have 5 or 6 years in industry, but I have never used a generic post before. I had a boss write his own once, but we always have used "custom" or specific posts....

Regardless, I tried it and it didn't quite work. I wrote a quick simple lathe program, gave myself 0.050" Z-margin for the face pass. Told the pass to finish at Z=0.0 and all it did was cut air. I havent moved on to profiling as, obviously, something is off. Probed in my tools, touched off on the face, z-face measured, and it literally just barely kisses the part.
I even found old programs from someone before me, same face pass parameters but they were using a specific machine definition. I have that definition still, but I dont have the, or cannot find, the post that went with it.

Am I messing something up? Or is it the fact I'm using a generic post?

 

TIA

[AHarrison1]

What does the code look like?

If the program is telling you that it is at Z 0  and your work and tool offsets are correct then that is what it is.

When you touched off on the face of the part did you face measured did you then shift the work offset by .05"?

If you touched off and did a face measure then that will be 0.

[HCProf]

3 hours ago, AHarrison1 said:

What does the code look like?

If the program is telling you that it is at Z 0  and your work and tool offsets are correct then that is what it is.

When you touched off on the face of the part did you face measured did you then shift the work offset by .05"?

If you touched off and did a face measure then that will be 0.

I remember not having to adjust for that 0.050. Like we set up mastercam in a way that it automatically compensated for that.
I even found a very detailed set-up sheet, step by step on how to run the ST-10. and there was no mention of changing/adjusting z-face measure.

I could easily write a new program that avoids this hole thing. But my concern is that, if Im right and something isnt working right, then what else may not work right.

[Aaron Eberhard]

Is this just an incremental vs absolute (G90 vs. G91) thing?

[JB7280]

8 minutes ago, HCProf said:

I remember not having to adjust for that 0.050. Like we set up mastercam in a way that it automatically compensated for that.
I even found a very detailed set-up sheet, step by step on how to run the ST-10. and there was no mention of changing/adjusting z-face measure.

I could easily write a new program that avoids this hole thing. But my concern is that, if Im right and something isnt working right, then what else may not work right.

Sounds like your mastercam file isn't set up right.  If you touched off at the face of the part, called that 0 and it's making a cut at Z0, it'll do exactly what you're describing.  

[AHarrison1]

19 minutes ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

Is this just an incremental vs absolute (G90 vs. G91) thing?

On a lathe incremental moves are driven by U (X) V (Y) and W (Z) 

...just an FYI

[Aaron Eberhard]

3 minutes ago, AHarrison1 said:

On a lathe incremental moves are driven by U (X) V (Y) and W (Z) 

...just an FYI

Ah, crap, you're right.  Thanks!  I read too fast and didn't realize he was talking about a lathe..   I just saw the Z was .05" above the part

[Colin Gilchrist]

5 hours ago, HCProf said:

So, I wrote up a simple little program to  refresh my memory on the ST-10's, now that I'm about to start running them again.

I could not find the post for our ST's, I found the machine definition for our ST-10's though.

So I reached out to our cad/cam dealer, explained the issue that it seems like I was simply missing our post file. They said: Just use generic definitions and posts....
I may only have 5 or 6 years in industry, but I have never used a generic post before. I had a boss write his own once, but we always have used "custom" or specific posts....

Regardless, I tried it and it didn't quite work. I wrote a quick simple lathe program, gave myself 0.050" Z-margin for the face pass. Told the pass to finish at Z=0.0 and all it did was cut air. I havent moved on to profiling as, obviously, something is off. Probed in my tools, touched off on the face, z-face measured, and it literally just barely kisses the part.
I even found old programs from someone before me, same face pass parameters but they were using a specific machine definition. I have that definition still, but I dont have the, or cannot find, the post that went with it.

Am I messing something up? Or is it the fact I'm using a generic post?

 

TIA

There is a difference between a "generic lathe post", and a "Generic Haas Lathe Post".

Is your machine 2-Axis only (XZ) or do you have Y-Axis and/or live-tooling?

This post, with the right Axis Combinations, will only output XZ or XZC output. (Default is XYZC, 4-Axis)

Generic Haas ST 4X MT_Lathe.mcam-content

With ANY Post, you must have a properly set Work Offset location, and Tool Offset settings. All of those have to match.

[HCProf]

1 hour ago, Colin Gilchrist said:

There is a difference between a "generic lathe post", and a "Generic Haas Lathe Post".

Is your machine 2-Axis only (XZ) or do you have Y-Axis and/or live-tooling?

This post, with the right Axis Combinations, will only output XZ or XZC output. (Default is XYZC, 4-Axis)

Generic Haas ST 4X MT_Lathe.mcam-content 62.51 kB · 0 downloads

With ANY Post, you must have a properly set Work Offset location, and Tool Offset settings. All of those have to match.

2-axis lathe.
Yeah, I mean Im sure the generic could work. (and I am about to test that out right now)
But, budget available, why would you not have one made for you?

Like even the HAAS 4x post we have isn't set up how I want, outputting to degrees/min instead of unit/min. So why would my rep tell me to just use generic? (rhetorical)