I have been Haas'd

[Machineguy]

What year is the machine?

What major maintaince has been done on it?

Just asking,

Software issue, maybe.

Memoy board going bad. maybe.

 

The new machines come with glass front windows now. At least that is what I was told. No more yellowing.

 

Machineguy

[within a thou]

The machine is a 1997 VF-2. The company bought the machine used 3 years ago so I have no idea what the previous owner did to maintain the machine. As for the 3 years it was here I can only speculate but speaking to the one operator I have that has been here a year and a half he says none. I am in the process of getting maintenance schedules and all that in place but when you spend your time trying to beat tools out of the holders and with all the stuff that is broken time is of a issue especially when you are busy. The shop was owned by a employee at our foundry who saw all the machining being out sourced so went took a machining course then bought a machine shop and started working for his own and getting the work from our main plant. He then sold the machine shop to us but before that he let the thing run into the ground knowing he was just giving up the machine shop anyways. With the main plant not having anyone with a machining background they don't know what they bought and now that I am here and showing them just how bad it is things are getting back up to par. It is so bad they were using one type of oil (hydraulic 46) for everything. chiller, lube hydraulic. Not knowing the machines used different lubes for different systems.

 

You can tell what the guy was doing. He would write a new program and because he didn't know how the Z offset and H offsets workedd together every job he reset all the tools leaving the g54 Z value at zero and negative values for all the H lengths. Would hit start on a unproven program and take off and do what whatever he felt like come back hoping he had a good part. I am actually quite impressed that the this lil vf-2 didn't stall as it smeared the inch off that holder in the pic above.

 

I have to get a rush contract out then early next week will have a tech to reload all the software see if that helps if not the boards will probably have to be replaced. I just hate having to keep asking for money but if they want parts made profitably I need this stuff to work properly

[Machineguy]

Don't sweat it.

In 1998 haas had some memory errors on the boards. The eithernet card came out that year as was a joke at the time. It was really hard to get it to work right.

There are different lubs for different areas on the machine.

I would have a GOOD haas tech go thru it. It might cost you a board change.

 

Just make note. Main software updates to fix issues has really gotton hard. old softwar is gone on the newer machines. The door settiing is now taken out of any updates Safety first.

I have the last update in this VM-3 before that changed. Lucky me. i had a memory error that shut down the machine. It was updated. No issues.

 

Machineguy

[MotorCityMinion]

"I refuse to run other peoples program when its my face in the machine and I can't read block by block. I really don't know how operators can feel comfortable running these machines when they can't read code."

 

Since using Mastercam, I very rarely check the code output. After the g43 line, single block usually comes off. If I catch another experienced operator running one of my programs in single block after the g43, especially if its a proven program, he's gonna get razzed. My boss programs in Surfacam and on the occasion I get to run one of his programs, I proof out the tool offset then walk away. I trust his work, the other guys trust mine. Trust is a must. Do I put my face right in there? No. I do leave the doors open when I can just to hear whats going on.

 

"He would write a new program and because he didn't know how the Z offset and H offsets workedd together every job he reset all the tools leaving the g54 Z value at zero and negative values for all the H lengths."

 

I've set machines up both ways, positive and negative offsets. For the last 12 years, negative offsets, where the g54 Z value equals the thickness of the gage block I'm touching off of. It has not created a problem for me or any of my co-workers.. We don't have a probe or pre-setter and can't afford to leave the same 20 tools in carousel. IMO, long term, positive offsets make more sense. Sure is nice to have a 120 tool magazine, use positive offsets and keep the tools in the machine, but quite a few shops don't work that way.

[Newbeeee™]

I'm with MCM - when we first started we cut everything with the G54 global up 100mm (4").

My mate came in 1x day and asked what customer pays us to cut air

So we bought NCPlot and heavilly invested time in our post working with our reseller (thanks Phill ) and we now post and go.

We'll run the prog through NCPlot (can't beat gcode verification) and load the prog, set the tools, and on the G43 line single block to see the height offset is correct, and let her go......with hand on feed override sometimes

 

The thing about the doors...I would put money on if you had a crash and the pull stud broke, the metal guarding wouldn't container the holder @ 10k.

If you had a 1/2" cutter routing and it broke and flew, I bet the plexiglass wouldnt contain it either.

But doors kept closed do stop you from getting wet...

[within a thou]

My reason for using positive offsets is because my offset is equal to the physical length of the tool which allows a quick tape measure check on the length to know if the tool was set properly. I don't have presetters or probes either I guage g54 z off the spindle nose and go. I know everyone has their own preference but the ones who don't use the g54 z height what do you do when the job changes and there are repeat tools? Unless I am missing a step with negative offsets wouldn't that mean you have to reset your tools each and everytime?

 

+1 to the after g43 line let it rip the code in the middle you have to trust is right. If I am running a new program and am worried about my tool being long enough cause I choke down as much as possible and may have burned myself once or twice forgetting to turn "break thru" off on mcam.

[mkd]

there are compelling reasons to use neg AND pos offsets.

positive is good 'cause length in TLO physically matches tool.

negative IS safer, because if you run an un-set tool it will not crash.

 

Unless I am missing a step with negative offsets wouldn't that mean you have to reset your tools each and everytime?

nope.

i personally like neg because it matches the Cartesian coordinate sys.

what i do is set all the tools to a standard known surface, I.e. 1-2-3 block on the table or tool setter on Horiz. then its a simple matter of finding the distance from there to your programmed z0 point for entering into g54 z. as long as you establish a shop standard on where to set TLO, on this VF2, all you need to set for every new setup is this g54 z.