How to Clamp/Unclamp the Quill on a Sip640 Jig Bore

[CTRP]

First, sorry if I have not followed the rules for posting, this is my first one, so go ahead, beat me up.

My question is, I have a 4 axis vertical Jig Bore. It has X,Y,Z,C and in addition a W axis which is the rail that travels along the Z axis, basically moves the spindle along the Z axis. There is also a Z axis quill which is the primary movement of Z but has only 12.0 of travel, if you need more then you move the W axis to get it, hope that makes sense. At any rate, I have finished the post and all of the strange codes required for the machine except for one thing, which is where I am hoping one of you post wizzards can help. For the Quill (Z), you need to unclamp it, move Z, then clamp it. Where the challenge comes in is when to do it. If you have a G0 X Y then a G43Z you would want the Z to be unclamped during the G43 move. Oh, this is a Fanuc 11. But, you would not want to clamp Z until it has made all of its Z moves to depth, once depth has been reached then you want to clamp it. Remains clamped until it has made all of the X/Y moves, then unclamp to retract Z. Also, no clamping during cycles. Hope I explained that OK. I have been writing posts quite a while but mostly for APT and Pro-E. I have done 5 or 6 now for mastercam but this problem is a new challenge that I am not sure is the best way to approach in Mastercam. In APT or PRO-E I would basically store previous, current and next XYZ values and use an IF statement. To get the next XYZ I would turn off posting, read ahead and get the values and then rewind the posting position and turn back on output. I am not sure how to read ahead to get the XYZ values or store previous values in Mastercam.

 

So, do any of the wizzards have a suggestion. Thanks in advance.

[K2csq7]

Buffers will allow you to "read ahead".

Sorry I can't be of more assistance.

Welcome to the forum!

[CTRP]

Thanks for the reply, will look into buffers and see how they work. Thanks Again