Reseller run around?

[Ewood42]

So I contacted my re-seller yesterday, chatted briefly on the phone and was told he'd send me a link to the post processor guide and the powerpoint presentation on setting up a 5 axis (well, 3+2) post for our horizontals (B and A, but we run them with a 90.### offset in B axis and program the A as C axis, but use the A adress [don't judge, I just started here a few weeks ago]).

 

What I got in the email 5 hours later was a disclaimer, a statement saying that while I'm welcome to create my own posts, they will not be supported, and then a link to a couple sales brochures.

 

Is there any other literature out besides what is available from my reseller? Cause I don't want to spend a month going through this song and dance only to have them eventually offer to sell me a .pdf file.

 

-------------------

 

Just got another email from them with the files. Yay. Educated guesswork is better than the alternative.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Ewood42

[Guest]

Bottom line, if you don't know what you're doing and you don't it seems, time to pony up and buy a post....

[justchips]

So I contacted my re-seller yesterday, chatted briefly on the phone and was told he'd send me a link to the post processor guide and the powerpoint presentation on setting up a 5 axis (well, 3+2) post for our horizontals (B and A, but we run them with a 90.### offset in B axis and program the A as C axis, but use the A adress [don't judge, I just started here a few weeks ago]).

 

What I got in the email 5 hours later was a disclaimer, a statement saying that while I'm welcome to create my own posts, they will not be supported, and then a link to a couple sales brochures.

 

Is there any other literature out besides what is available from my reseller? Cause I don't want to spend a month going through this song and dance only to have them eventually offer to sell me a .pdf file.

 

-------------------

 

Just got another email from them with the files. Yay. Educated guesswork is better than the alternative.

So you have a full 4th horizontal with a 5th axis pointed towards the spindle??? Start with a vertical 5axis post with a y tilting axis. More information? 

[gcode]

one crash call easily cost 10 to 20x the price of a professionally built post

plus you can spend hundreds of hours screwing around with the post and hand editing

code that's not quite right.

if you don't know how to build a 5 axis post, you are not saving money with the do it yourself approach

[Ewood42]

Figured it out, just took a bit of screwing around. I did a little bit of post editing in college, but just barely scratched the surface back then. Got it working from the generic fanuc 5 axis post.

 

We're just using them as 3+2, so don't need them perfect, just need them to spit out the right codes. So far have 4 machines set up with their own uniqe posts - Kafo vertical with a axis, kafo horizontal with a+b, 3+2 mori seiki with breakage probe, and an OLD enshu horizontal 5 axis.

 

They said they wouldn't buy posts except for the new machine they're getting in a month, and everyone they had hired in the past just hand edited everything from a generic post to match each machine.

 

If they're willing to pay me to learn, why not take advantage of it? Haven't had a crash yet, but I also very carefully check all the code before sending it to the machine.

[jlw™]

Stepping over dollars to pick up pennies.

[mike_f]

...I must be gettin' old.....I remember when it was " Tripping over nickels to pick up pennies ".....I guess even idioms are not safe from inflation eh ???

[Ewood42]

I think dollars is an appropriate substitution here.