Work Offsets

[Michael Reynolds]

Hi All!

I think this should be an easy one for all you wizards out there. So, I create a cube, and want to machine the side pocket (G55), then rotate the 4th axis and machine the front (G56). I can get mcam to spit out the different work offsets, but the z depths come in wrong. The only thing I can think of is to copy the part to a different level, then xform, move the z depth to zero again. Am I missing something?

Thanks in advance!

Mike R.

[lovell110]

Mike,

Have you tried making the center line of your axis Z0? With my 5 axis machine we just use the pivot point of the index head as Z0. Works great for me! Email me and I'll send you a MC8 file as sample!

[Michael Reynolds]

Hi! I'd actually like to set z0 at the face of the part, so that each face would start from zero, and if the pocket is .5 dp, the final z depth of the pocket would be 0.

I know I can program from the center of the tombstone, but I think for beginning/intermediate students, programming from the face of the work makes more sense. They can understand the program better. Like, if they have to change the z depth in the program for any reason, the numbers make more sense.

Is this possible without copying the part to a different level & moving it?

Thanks fer gittin back to me!

BTW, where are you located in Pa?

Mike R.

[Michael Reynolds]

Got it. I wasn't selecting the T/C plane origin, just setting the work offset!! Duh!!!

Thanks fer da replies!!

Mike R.