Lathe software recomendations

[chris m]

The Renishaw package is a STEAL from Haas; best value for the dollar out there.

[bogusmill]

We have an new TL-3 and have had no luck getting anything done with it. I make a lot of complicated shapes for friction stir welding and the canned cycles are worthless for that. Just got off the phone with local MC dealer and he's sending a TL post so maybe I'll get lucky.

[FLHX95ci]

For the record, the code for programming is the same as the other Haas lathes, code for code, line by line. And that code would run 90% of your Fanuc Control 2-axis lathes on the market without much if any changes.

[Newbeeee™]

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... and in 3 days of training (One TL Lathe Operator 1 day class and one 2-day Haas Turning center programming class) and you can pretty much cover the basics of "Real World" machining on a TL Lathe.

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Is this how long the training really is for this machine? I thought quick code was as it says - quick?

The prototrak was a morning for the lathe and an afternoon for the mill?

Our Siemens cnc lathe was a day and a half total (it's like mazatrol).

If haas is that long (3 days) for the basics, I would definately get mastercam lathe because it will be way quicker than programming at the machine IMHO.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

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I have set up a few that can out produce turning centers at 5x the cost

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Then whoever setup the turning centers should been fired on the spot

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+1 to that!

[Greg Williams]

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I have set up a few that can out produce turning centers at 5x the cost

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Not possible

 

[ 10-11-2009, 02:58 AM: Message edited by: Greg Williams ]

[Alvaro Gil - Cimquest-inc.com]

Dude, its a TL. It has linear ways and a lightweight casting. It's about the weakest CNC lathe on the market, structurally and HP wise. Any decent turning center will demolish a TL in terms of productivity.

[FLHX95ci]

You would have to see the application.

 

Not every part out there has 1" of material on the face and OD that needs cut off of the part.

 

The size of the part and the tooling fell well in the envelope of the TL's speed and feed. These would be the speed and feed on any machine.

 

Put at it this way, if you have purchased a ATV if the last 2 years or so, this customer manufactures about 70% of the OEM half-shaft dirve shafts for the US built ATV Market (Honda, Cat, Polaris, Kawasaki and Yamaha) and has a whole shop full of Okuma LU and LT turning centers (30+ machines) and these lil' ol TL's do a damn good job of what they were intended to do.

 

Given the situation, the TL can run this part 60% faster, using the same speeds and feeds, than they were previously on their Okumas.

 

Even with a robot it took well over 10 seconds a piece to load the part in and load another 10 to get the part out of the machine working around the sheet metal, tailstock, turret and door.

 

With the TL there was no door to work around, and the gang tooling allowed us to setup 3 tools with no tool changed time. less than .5 second chip to chip.

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

You know you can gang tooling on Okuma's too? If someone was changing tools for what sounds like a drilling operation then wrong machine for the application IMHO. I am sure it was faster since it sound like it was not being done correct on the other machines. Also if you could run it without doors on the TL then you could run it with the door open on the Okuma's. I can take a variety of situations where people do not do things right and then do them right and make anything look better. I would take an Okuma, Mazak, Mori, or any other machine in this class over the TL any day of the week. I want to see it do some of our 54rc turning day in and out like our Okuma's do. When it can do that then you can go on about how good the TL's are.

[FLHX95ci]

Im not saying its the best machine out there, it isnt. Never said it was. But, with an open mind one can get creative.

 

And we sell many other lines of lathes (The other Haas SL lathes, Hyundai, and Nakamora) and for what the customer needed we could sell them 5 spindles for the cost of one.

 

I am fully aware you cant do 1 ton work with a 1/2 ton pickup, but sometimes you are just throwing profits and productivity out the window to do 1/2 ton work with a 1 ton truc.