4th axis Setup - What is the 'correct' way?

[Newbeeee™]

Hi all,

Mr curious here...

 

I just stumbled across he who shall not be named blog, which said 'In addition, when it comes to 4th axis work you have to manually create a WCS for every side of the part you want to machine on'

Is this the correct way to do rotary work?

 

For vice work (or any job that requires a different setup from one operation to the next), we set a new WCS for that individual setup.

 

For rotary (4th axis) work we set the top view (A0), set wcs + t&c plane, and then set the front view (A270) t&c plane WITHOUT TOUCHING THE WCS, and then any other faces set t&c planes again WITHOUT touching the WCS.

This outputs code correctly for us.

 

So it works for us which is great, but is this the *correct* way, or should we be setting a wcs for each rotational view?

 

[Mick]

There are plenty of ways to do it. When I was programming tombstone work on horizontals, I would use the tool planes Front/Right/Back/Left for B0/90/180/270 respectively. For any other angles, I would create new planes, and name them accordingly. Plenty of times we had multiple Workpiece origins on the same plane, so I would just copy the base plane, rename it, and set a new work coordinate number, and origin. I never really used the WCS too much.

 

Same approach for an A axis machine

[BNFab]

Maybe they meant new t/c plane not wcs. Sometimes I've heard people mix them up

[gcode]

Some shops like to output B0 for all 4 sides of the tombstone and handle the B axis with the machine's workoffsets

If you want output like this you'll need a WCS for each face of the tombstone.

Otherwise, a single WCS and the neccessary angled toolplanes can handle just about everything.

[Bob W.]

I regularly run unrelated jobs on each of the four sides of my tombstones (horizontal mill). I always program each at B0, then at the beginning the the program I will post the work offset with a line such as G90 G10 L2 P1 X0.0 Y0.0 Z-29.13385 B90. All programs use G54 and only the B value will change from part to part. I like to program to the B-axis centerline. For 4th axis positioning within each program I will change the T and C planes only, and leave the WCS untouched.

[CJep]

One World Coordinate System

 

4&5 axis origin from center of rotation (except when running dynamic offset in 5 axis)

 

positional work using custom tool / construction planes (in 4 axis just remember which axis your rotating around, VMC = X, HMC =Y, pos X should be to the right, pos Y should be up)

 

We had a HMC post edited by InHouse to handle a B0 output for all rotations using the work offset registry to call the rotation, then custom WCS's are called in the toolpath from the planes utility, there is also a misc integer to turn the B output back on if rotational output is required.

[Jayson Kramer]

Bottom line when programing 4th positioning to get MC to out put a rotation, it has to see a change in planes for example front plane and this will include Construction plane to.

 

4th axis work you have to manually create a WCS for every side of the part you want to machine on'

now there are two thoughts to 4th axis work. true 4th you do not have to define a change in plane. but as I stated before in 4th indexing you need to have Planes defined for each rotation.

 

PS, Do you really want to follow that persons thoughts. the unnamed one.

[CJep]

PS, Do you really want to follow that persons thoughts. the unnamed one.

 

Maybe, the way "he" is trying to do thins has somethin' to do with "his" distaste for Mcam.

[MoMo1108]

It allso depend highly as to what your doing e.x. im not going to create new plans say for 3 flats 120 deg apart ill do one and transform the others, the same thing for holes. ill do this as much as i can to limit the amount of plans i have. But top view never changes in the wsc just the plans as needed unless its simotanious milling useing multiaxes toolspaths post out as 4th axies then your plans dont come into play

[cadman2112]

^^^^^ this

[Newbeeee™]

PS, Do you really want to follow that persons thoughts. the unnamed one.

Hahahaha,

Not at all, but it was being made a big thing on her blog. I/we don't do it like he says, we use the one WCS and planes planes planes (and transform rotate as much as poss as well). But I thought i'd ask what the 'preferred' way was, in case I/we are doing it wrong.

I didn't think we were, from looking at the search and what everyone has previously posted.

 

Looks like the one that cannot be named isn't right in what he's saying.

Who'd have thunk it

to everyone for your input.

[jorges]

You can use also Rotary axis poositioning