Horizontal Programming your method?

[specv]

+1 JAMES

[Tony35]

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Personally I could care less about the operator's perspective.

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+2

[iowajim62]

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if you were viewing the machine from the same isometric view in the workshop, the tool would machine from the back of the m/c cabinet, not the front.

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no not really, just look at how Vericut is setup

also Solidworks starts you out ready to draw on the "Front", same with Autocad you are ready to draw in the "Real World"

 

jm2c

[Newbeeee™]

Oh come on guy's, give the operators a break.

You're only going to create a bigger 'them and us' divide

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Puhleeeez... they think all we do is sit around in an a/c room playing Doom and Solitare. You think the divide can get any bigger?

[GoetzInd]

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playing Doom and Solitare.

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You don't play solitare?

 

MIke

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Only when I'm on airplanes.

[Zoober]

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Mastercam took 4 separate groups inside of one machine and now divided them into 4 different machine groups and took the machine I was using and replaced it with generic Mill. It will take 30 minutes to fix all this.

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I get that about once every two to four weeks. I thought it was something I was doing but apparently that's not the case.

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I can make this happen at will. If I import ops from another file. The key to this occurring has to do with groups (in group mgr). If you've transformed or done anything that creates groups in the exporting file, then imported those ops, all looks good----- until you exit MC and restart. Open the file with the imported ops, and Bingo! All toolpath groups are now machine groups.

The way to keep this from happening is to delete all groups from group mgr PRIOR to exporting.

Here is another thread dealing with this issue:

Linkage

Oh, and back on topic, I have MDs for both. I prefer the old Top/Top, but am moving more towards Top/Front, for the new posts.

[Joe788]

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The key to this occurring has to do with groups (in group mgr).

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LOL! Ever since that original thread where it happened to me, I always instinctively delete all of the groups before I merge a file. I didn't even remember the exact reason WHY I delete all the groups until you just brought it back up!

[Zoober]

Ya, Joe. I don't even know if it was fixed for X4 or not, cause I just delete them also as SOP. I haven't had the problem since I started deleting the groups.

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

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Ya, Joe. I don't even know if it was fixed for X4 or not, cause I just delete them also as SOP. I haven't had the problem since I started deleting the groups.

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Yeah if it such a problem they why not give us a switch to just not allow that to happen. I have not used groups in X yet. I am not even sure why a legacy method and concept is even in the software any more. With Levels and mask and other things Groups if it creates this problem should either be done away with or users given a switch to turn that ability off to keep this from happening. Think anyone will listen and take care of probably not, but here is hoping it gets addressed, because if we were keeping tabs I would say CNC owes it users several thousands of dollars with just that bug.

[Zoober]

Ron, you are using groups whether you like it or not.

I thought I wasn't using them until I found this problem. They do nothing for me, and I have group colors turned off, cause I hat having to clear colors every time I do something.

BTW, I'm praying all works out for you.

[Ron Branch @ Verisurf]

Thanks Robert. I am lucky I have a job and can pay my bills expect for the house. I think of those who lost their jobs and are going through the same thing. I am blessed to do what I do and have what I do have. Thanks and hope all is going well for you as well.

[Richard Thomas - Mastercam UK]

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If you think about it, to *really* program a part in Mastercam as you would expect to see it on a horizontal machine (Haas ES-5 for example) - you should really be programming Top/Back!

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Not really. What we see (and makes total sense) is from the tool's perspective, not from the operator's perspective. Personally I could care less about the operator's perspective.

 

 

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OK fair point I suppose - I'm not a programmer or an operator! Just our frustration with getting Machsim set up properly is maybe leading us down the wrong avenues.... still waiting on CNC for help.

[Zoober]

Hijack:

Ron, All is really good! Moved the wife down last week, and we are officially Californians again.

Let me know if I can do anything. At All.

End Hijack: (wait, am I really hijacking a thread if I'm posting to the starter? )

[justind]

TOP/TOP here since 2002, never had a lick of trouble on the multi ax stuff since converting from TOP/FRONT. The horizontal I was programming at the time had a C - axis mounted on top of B and we were doing alot of 5x cuts with it. Thoe post builder at the time I was working with told me programming from the front view kills the multi axes stuff and will not work right. I didn't question and changed my ways.

[Hitachi]

I prefer the geometry to be on the face I am machining ie. front face B0 etc, I see people rotating the WCS around and it creates a real clusterfork of a program, do it right or don't do it at all!

 

Elco1971

SolidWorks 2007

X4 Mill L3 Lathe L1 5X

XP Pro SP2

[Bob W.]

My post and MMD files are currently set up for top/front for my HMC and I would like to change it to top/top. Are there any distinct advantages to either method? I feel more comfortable going off the machine's axis, which is 'Y' pointing toward the ceiling rather than 'Z'. I do plan to add a rotary table to the pallet for 5-axis machining in the near future and I suspect top/top would make things easier. I have one HMC and two verticals and I would really like the flexibility of being able to move jobs from machine to machine.

 

My questions are:

1. What changes do I need to make to my post and MMD to change from top/front to top/top?

2. Should I not even try, and look for a post and MMD that are already set up that way?

3. Is it strictly a matter of preference, or are there any true advantages of one method over another?

 

Thanks,

Bob

[neurosis]

Bob,

 

I have a MMD that is set up in this way. I'll give it to you if you would like. You can either use it, or use it to help you to set up one of your own.

 

 

I used this allot when we first got our horizontal to help transfer vertical jobs to the new machine. The longer that we have the machine the less I find myself using it.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Using Top instaed of Front method is the best method IMHO if you have a shop with HMC's and VMC and you plan for the possibility of switching them from one type to another. There is only slightly more work involved in setting a job up on an HMC with this method. For B90, B180, B270, etc... you just have to create the planes.

To do this with your current MD/CD, you'll need to edit your MD. go to the axis tree, double click on Y, Then select the Y+ direction in real life, then do the same for Z. You'll need to go to the B axis and set whixh axis it rotates about (Y) and set the +/- dir.

Save it and you should be done. I don't think you need to do anything in the post. Can't remember the las time I had to make the mod... been a while for sure.

HTH

 

[K2csq7]

Top Top here (on my HMC's), I started with a MPmaster and just treated it like a VMC.

No problameo.

[huskermcdoogle]

posted an answer to an old one... didn't realize it was dug up... disregard or delete

[Joe788]

I started with a fresh MPMaster VMC post with X6, and just changed some stuff in the machine definition until it worked properly with TOP>TOP. I think I just had to change the name of the axis, it's orientation (along the Y), and the rotation direction.

 

Prior to that I was still using the OG MPMaster from V9, that I updated to X, X2, X3, X4, then X5 (I get an error file longer than the NC file when I use that post, but the code is good ). I jacked up my current config file when I moved to an x64 system, so I just started from scratch for the horizontals.

[Bob W.]

Using Top instaed of Front method is the best method IMHO if you have a shop with HMC's and VMC and you plan for the possibility of switching them from one type to another. There is only slightly more work involved in setting a job up on an HMC with this method. For B90, B180, B270, etc... you just have to create the planes.

To do this with your current MD/CD, you'll need to edit your MD. go to the axis tree, double click on Y, Then select the Y+ direction in real life, then do the same for Z. You'll need to go to the B axis and set whixh axis it rotates about (Y) and set the +/- dir.

Save it and you should be done. I don't think you need to do anything in the post. Can't remember the las time I had to make the mod... been a while for sure.

HTH

 

Thanks James, that did the trick. It would be nice if Mastercam would let the users create planes that were permanent so I wouldn't need to do it on every new HMC job. What is the best way to speed this up?

[andate caga]

I have done both. I prefer top/front I do a lot of centerline rotary on B.

 

What is taught in the books? Or endorsed by CNC software as the "right"way or best practice?