A-Axis work Zero options?

[mmoya]

So we just installed an HRT-210 rotary on our HAAS mill. Our lead machinist has set it up with a Raptor dovetail fixture mounted on an adapter for the rotary table.

 

My question is, what is the easiest way to set Y-zero on the machine in relation to MCAM (x8)?

 

In MCAM I have the program with Z and Y at the center of the part, with multiple T planes at their respective degreee, all centered at the same point. Realistically, I think that's the best way to do it (if not the only way) and simply use an edge finder on a flat face of the Raptor fixture, and subtract the distance to the center of it for Y0. What do you guys think?

Another idea was, when I set toolplanes on MCAM, and set rotary axis positioning in axis control to rotate about X, is it rotating about T/C plane X? or WCS X?

If I were to make a T/C plane with Y0 off at some random point (which would dictate where X axis is located), will the program try to rotate about the offset X-axis? or would it continue to rotate about the WCS axis?

 

Hope this makes sense...

[duckdogers]

Z on a HRT-210 is 6 inches from table or whatever else it may be sitting on,so when I set up tools I touch off the table then put a 6 inch z offset in the machine control

[duckdogers]

i also set center of rotation in middle of part

[CJep]

You can use Mcam"s World Coordinate zero as your center of rotation.

If the indexer is setup parallel to the X axis of the machine then do all your rotations in Mcam around the X axis.

 

Do not create new world coordinates for the new toolplane positions, the post will read that as a manual reposition.

[Pilot Plant Supervisor]

I dial in the platter to set A0 X0, and Y0 at the center of rotation. Ours is something like .100 above the platter. When programming, I use Top WCS and all planes have the same origin (center of trunnion rotation). Tools are also set to the origin point.

[Pilot Plant Supervisor]

I re-read your question, and I'll try to explain what I do a little better. I dial in the face of the rotary platter to establish A0, and the OD of the platter for X0 Y0 (these coordinates go in your offset G54 or whichever you're using). Then, rotate to A90 and pick up face. Rotate to A-90 and pick up other face. Now you should be able to calculate the center of rotation. It should be close to .100" above the face of the platter when sitting at A0. I then model my fixturing and part so that it sits just like it does in the machine relative to the center of rotation. I also set all my tool lengths to that point. It may not be "right", but it works for me.

[mmoya]

Okay so using your guys' advice, I left Z0 and Y0 at the center of rotation, and X0 was set on the left face of the stock. Got dimensions for our fixture and we were able to get the zeros correct. Great!

 

Now my problem is that when the rotary should index to the next position, my G-code outputs G55, and the next rotation it outputs G56, etc..

 

Here's an example,

N100 G20
N110 G0 G17 G40 G49 G80 G90
N120 T2 M6
N130 G0 G90 G54 X2.1703 Y0. A0. S1200 M3
N140 G43 H2 Z3.
N150 M8
N160 Z1.6
N170 G1 Z1.475 F2.
N180 X1.0851 F4.
N190 Z1.575 F6.4
N200 G0 Z3.
N210 G55 X2.1703 Y0. Z3. A-90.
N220 Z1.6
N230 G1 Z1.475 F2.
N240 X1.0851 F4.
N250 Z1.575 F6.4
N260 G0 Z3.
N270 G56 X2.1703 Y0. Z3. A-180.

It's been a long day, I don't know what I'm missing...

[robgbritt@westpharma]

Try changing your work offsets for each operation (or rotation) from -1 to 0.  This should get the output you are looking for.   HTH

[CJep]

Or another option would be to use the MpMaster post and set misc value 9 to lock the work offset

[Pilot Plant Supervisor]

Keep WCS set to top. Make sure the work offset in the attributes section of the plane manager is correct. Mine is always set to -1 for all planes, and my post outputs G54 for all rotation positions. Also check each operation. There is a check box in the Planes/WCS tab for assigning work offset. Make sure those are set to -1 as well. If all that checks out, it could be a post thing.

[CJep]

Keep WCS set to top. Make sure the work offset in the attributes section of the plane manager is correct. Mine is always set to -1 for all planes, and my post outputs G54 for all rotation positions. Also check each operation. There is a check box in the Planes/WCS tab for assigning work offset. Make sure those are set to -1 as well. If all that checks out, it could be a post thing.

 

When using the Generic posts that are supplied with Mcam the minus one in the work offset value tells the post to pickup the next available work offset. So the first plane would be assigned G54, second G55, third G56 etc. If you are using toolplanes for your rotations you can assign the same value to the plane for the work offset, this will force a specific work offset to be posted in the code 0=G54, 1=G55, 2=G56 etc.

 

However if you are using the MpMaster post or a post that has been modified there is a misc value that allows you to lock the output to the first work offset associated to the tpath where it is active. I will usually have it turned on by default so it picks up the work offset from the first tpath. 

[Müřlıń®]

Okay so using your guys' advice, I left Z0 and Y0 at the center of rotation, and X0 was set on the left face of the stock. Got dimensions for our fixture and we were able to get the zeros correct. Great!

 

Now my problem is that when the rotary should index to the next position, my G-code outputs G55, and the next rotation it outputs G56, etc..

 

Here's an example,

N100 G20
N110 G0 G17 G40 G49 G80 G90
N120 T2 M6
N130 G0 G90 G54 X2.1703 Y0. A0. S1200 M3
N140 G43 H2 Z3.
N150 M8
N160 Z1.6
N170 G1 Z1.475 F2.
N180 X1.0851 F4.
N190 Z1.575 F6.4
N200 G0 Z3.
N210 G55 X2.1703 Y0. Z3. A-90.
N220 Z1.6
N230 G1 Z1.475 F2.
N240 X1.0851 F4.
N250 Z1.575 F6.4
N260 G0 Z3.
N270 G56 X2.1703 Y0. Z3. A-180.

It's been a long day, I don't know what I'm missing...

Go into your WCS Plane manager.....all the planes with a blue check mark by them...set work offsets to 0.

Edit the planes in all ops...set WCS to TOP/x/x   where X = custom plane. The top plane is the only one that will say top/top/top. All other planes will be top/x/x.

any legacy toolpaths should default to rotary axis positioning in the axis control...don't change that...

All HST's should default to no rotation....don't change that...

The post will take care of the rest..

[mmoya]

When using the Generic posts that are supplied with Mcam the minus one in the work offset value tells the post to pickup the next available work offset.

 

Try changing your work offsets for each operation (or rotation) from -1 to 0.  This should get the output you are looking for.   HTH

 

Okay that's what I had wrong, I knew that I needed to have all the offsets the same value but I didn't know that the -1 did that!

I am using the generic HAAS 4x post, I tried to modify/customize it to suit our needs as much as I could with the knowledge I have on posts (which is pretty limited.)

I want to stay away from locking in just one offset because in the future I'd like to take advantage of using multiple offsets.

 

 

Go into your WCS Plane manager.....all the planes with a blue check mark by them...set work offsets to 0.

Edit the planes in all ops...set WCS to TOP/x/x   where X = custom plane. The top plane is the only one that will say top/top/top. All other planes will be top/x/x.

any legacy toolpaths should default to rotary axis positioning in the axis control...don't change that...

All HST's should default to no rotation....don't change that...

The post will take care of the rest..

 

You say that the HST's should not have rotary axis positioning, but all others should? Why is that?

When I create my first toolpath, I select rotary positioning, and then all subsequent toolpaths follow that selection. I haven't see any issues doing it that way, but then again, I might be completely wrong..

 

 

I'd like to also mention some more detail about my earlier question, might help someone else out one day.. We found the best way to find A0 was using a digital inclinometer set on the dovetail fixture (it has flat faces on two sides). Match it to the table and done, takes 10 seconds. Then rotate 90* and use an edge finder on the fixture, minus distance to centerline, to find Y.

[Müřlıń®]

Okay that's what I had wrong, I knew that I needed to have all the offsets the same value but I didn't know that the -1 did that!

I am using the generic HAAS 4x post, I tried to modify/customize it to suit our needs as much as I could with the knowledge I have on posts (which is pretty limited.)

I want to stay away from locking in just one offset because in the future I'd like to take advantage of using multiple offsets.

 

 

 

You say that the HST's should not have rotary axis positioning, but all others should? Why is that?

When I create my first toolpath, I select rotary positioning, and then all subsequent toolpaths follow that selection. I haven't see any issues doing it that way, but then again, I might be completely wrong..

 

 

I'd like to also mention some more detail about my earlier question, might help someone else out one day.. We found the best way to find A0 was using a digital inclinometer set on the dovetail fixture (it has flat faces on two sides). Match it to the table and done, takes 10 seconds. Then rotate 90* and use an edge finder on the fixture, minus distance to centerline, to find Y.

 

 

I am saying that your post will take care of it....you don't have to mess with it...whether it is checked or not won't make any difference the post does it for you when it tells your machine to rotate based on the plane you have in your ops......

 

Just set it to no rotation on a HST and observe the code....