counterbore question

[Chris Rizzo]

Ok, so I've been away for over 2 weeks, and my brian is a little fuzzy..at least I hope that's all it is

 

I've got a bunch of small holes to drill and c-bore (6mm SHCS). Like to just pocket the c-bore at depth, then proceed to pocket the body dia. at depth, WITHIN the same op.

 

In other words, use one tool to completly drill and counterbore a hole before moving onto the next.

 

quick and dirty.

[DavidB]

Toolpath one hole using drill toolpath then contour ramp for the C/bore.

All you need is a circle for the C/bore.With this 1 entity you can drill it then contour it for the head.

Then you have many options either transform toolpath,copy geom etc.

 

HTH

[CNCme]

Good Eve,

 

Do you want to drill with an endmill?

and whats the material, and how thick

too many varibles

 

 

Tony G

CNCiT Precision Machine - Hudson,NH

X Beta Site

Almost Employed Senior Programmer

N.E Massachusetts - Southern New Hampshire

_________________________________________

End mills and tooling are like The "AMMO"

And coolant and chips are like the enemy

Under your boots as you advance in the

Manufacturing Battle

--------------------------------------------------

[crazy^millman]

Easy way is to create a circle at each depth for what you want. Use incremental for the depth and can get both done that way with circle mill or can use surface/rough pocket if you create a couple draft surface from each and turn off rough pocket and can be done that way quick and easy.

 

HTH

[Chris Rizzo]

David,

 

That's multiple operations. Tool will drill each hole, then go back and counter bore each hole. Twice the needed table travel.

 

CNCme,

 

yeah, drill with an EM..was waiting to hear that. Holes are shallow (.200), surface is inclined (would need a spot face anyway), speed (one tool, minimal table travel) is more important.

 

Ron,

I've been trying circ mill, but since the holes share the same center point, mcam considers them "the same point" and only uses ONE of the two holes...even though I am selecting the holes at different depths (incremental z0.)!! WTF!

I'll try surf/pocket now.

 

Oh, and a simple pocket rountine WON'T work, nested geo. sees body dia. as an island.

 

thx for the input fellas, and keep em' coming!

[Midwest]

 

Maybe surface contour

[Chris Rizzo]

update:

 

Ron,

My parts a soild, so I've got lots more options than 2d. Surface pocket /rough with rough>off works good, a bit too much retract though, but I DO need clearance moves between holes, but not between cbore to body feature.

 

I've got surface/contour/finish working well, with high speed transition and loop lenght set for some slick little lead in/out moves.

[Chris Rizzo]

Any of you day shift fellas with any ideas? Was thinking that there's gotta be some pocketing or circmill options....I prefer the finer control of retract/clearance/depth cuts/finish with 2d vs surface contour.

 

thx

[Midwest]

Use Contour Ramp to get rid of the extra rapid moves.

 

Select the shcs circle at full depth to get through plate and C'bore cicle at the depth you need.

 

Select incremental for your depth, should read 0.0 in the display box.

 

check the box called "make pass at final depth" in the ramp selection dialog box.

 

HTH

[Midwest]

quote:

---

I've been trying circ mill, but since the holes share the same center point, mcam considers them "the same point" and only uses ONE of the two holes...even though I am selecting the holes at different depths (incremental z0.)!! WTF!

---

Select incremental for your depth, should read 0.0 in the display box. Then it will cut both depths as Ron stated above.

 

[chip]

quote:

---

Select incremental for your depth, should read 0.0 in the display box.

 

check the box called "make pass at final depth" in the ramp selection dialog box.

---

+1 Also make sure your circles are in the proper Z position.(Did someone say that?? My apologeez. Don't mean to be redundant) Anything you add in Z (Z-.100) MC will go that much deeper! Make sure Z0. is in the box.

The next time you use circle toolpaths or contour it might prompt to Incremental keep an eye on it!

[Chris Rizzo]

quote:

---

Ron,

I've been trying circ mill, but since the holes share the same center point, mcam considers them "the same point" and only uses ONE of the two holes...even though I am selecting the holes at different depths (incremental z0.)!! WTF!

---

That's the first thing I tried. Still only sees it as ONE point!

[Chris Rizzo]

Update:

 

Contour ramp works pretty good, too. Thx midwest.

[chip]

Ahh now I understand! Can you just make the arcs in the proper Z positions then contour the same way. ( That's what I orgionally thought you were trying to do ) My bad!

[Midwest]

quote:

---

Circle mill toolpaths automatically machine a full circle based on a selected point. You can access this toolpath function by choosing Main Menu, Toolpaths, Next menu, Circ tlpths, Circle mill. Click the topics below for more information.

---

I was just was reading the help section for circle mill.

 

I've never used Circle mill, when I saw circle mill I was thinking "contour". The (2) Z depths works with contour when you set the depth to inc.

 

[AlbertM1]

CMR-

Could you please describe what ultimately worked best for you. I've been trying to accomplish what you set out to do: two steps in the same operation to eliminate travel.

 

Please elaborate and thanks also for bringing up the question. http://www.emastercam.com/ubb/icons/icon13.gif

Icon 13

[Roger Peterson]

when you go to select your points for circle mill, hit options and unselect "filter out duplicates".

 

 

HTH

[AlbertM1]

Roger,

Being a new guy at this, I'm afraid that I don't understand. Can you describe the keystrokes needed so that it will drill and c'bore one hole without retracting?

 

Thanks again. Albert

 

FWIW, this would be a good thing to add for X.

[Psychomill]

Cmr

quote:

---

That's multiple operations. Tool will drill each hole, then go back and counter bore each hole. Twice the needed table travel.

 

---

Use what David B said:

quote:

---

Then you have many options either transform toolpath,copy geom etc.

---

This is what I use for quick and dirty. First drill and pocket one hole. Then go to 'transform' and select both operations to transform. At the bottom left corner of the 'Type and Methods' page, click on 'Group NCI Operations' by 'Operation Order'. Then you post this you should see your code drill/pocket at each location before moving on.

 

Of course this only works if you have a specific grid or pattern, bolt circles etc. If you're doing these holes that are random locations then I just use the copy method on the operations page and then just reselect the geometry for the other holes.

[Psychomill]

Oops! Took too long to type and post this. Left my seat for awhile) And didn't read all of this thread. My mistake

 

Never mind me... continue on....

[Chris Rizzo]

Ironic this topic resurfaced from last month...I started on a similar job today. Gotta get it running now, I'll post more for you later Albert1.

 

thx

[AlbertM1]

thanks in advance for your sharing your experience.

[Chris Rizzo]

Ok here is the updated outcome of what works, what doesn't, and why...at least for me. I have messed with this pretty extensivly though. It sounds like an easy problem at first, but there is really only ONE good solution.

 

Contour ramp-

Select the C-bore and body dia at the proper z depth. Performs the function of bore and cbore in one operation. If you set the ramp at a shallow angle for low tool loading, the acutal cut distance in very long resulting in long cycle times. Set the ramp angle steeper and you get lousy holes. There are no provisions for multiple spring passes. Yes, I've tried finish passes at .0005 stepover. Just plain needs a few spring passes. Thumbs down for contour ramp.

 

All 2d Pocket Routines-

Don't work. Geo is nested and thus becomes an island.

 

Surface contour-

Works well, expecially for c-bores on steeply sloped, inclined, or irregular surfaces. With gap settings you can get very nice action on c-bore walls. Downsides are a few. You need surfaces or solids, and mill level 3 for starters. Takes some patience to get all the settings dialed in. Also, if you want your body hole to fully pierce the z-depth, you've got to screw around even further with extending surfaces.

 

Surface pocket-

Create flat boundry surface at hole bottom, and most of the other issues from surf contour.

 

The ringer is, thanks to Roger again....

Circle Mill

 

quote:

---

when you go to select your points for circle mill, hit options and unselect "filter out duplicates".

---

That one little switch allows you to select BOTH the body dia and the c-bore dia Crank up the overlap to get some spring passes. Thanks Roger, that switch was easy to overlook.

 

there is one better option, though

get a tool ground

[notso]

You could also do "drill" then "circle mill". I know it's separate ops but it doesn't matter if you transform the toolpaths and select group by "operation order". Just another possibility.

[Chris Rizzo]

Random patters. Transfrom seldom an option.

 

I also don't like to flat out drill with an endmill...at least give it some circlar motion to keep from packing chips.

 

The key is keeping it in the same op...to keep tool down.

 

thx fellas.