New to Horizontal Milling

[Mr. M]

Well they own another CAM company that has good HMC posts.

[g huns]

Shoot me an email and I will send you a DB link to get some sample code.

 

Thanks again Ron. A couple of questions...

 

What macro does the G115 call?

 

Does the p300 control automatically stage the next tool? I think I saw in the book for our p100 that we need a Q# in the tool change line to stage the next tool.

 

Well they own another CAM company that has good HMC posts.

 

They are funny with posts. Every time you ask for a new one, it's like they have to start from scratch. I kinda understood with our 5 axis Roeders. It's not a very common machine and has a very unique control. But I'm sure Okuma sold a fair amount of these machines and Cimatron sells a enough software that you'd think their paths would've crossed. And I'm not talking about struggling to tweak a post for personal preferences. The first post they gave me used G54 for a work offset and G28 for home.   

[crazy^millman]

Yes the MA500H II with the 300 control does stage tools. The G115 call I cannot remember since it has been over a year since I made code for that machine. I think it might be how the dealer set the machine up to use the tooleye.

[Bob W.]

I think that is the best application for the Schunk vero system. It's too big for most fixtures, but it would make a great pallet base. The system comes at a premium though, and I'd rather put that money into a new dedicated pallet, but I hate swapping fixtures 

+1

I am a huge fan of both the Schunk Vero system (big fixtures) and the Lang quickpoint system (small fixtures).  Both are extremely well made and well designed.  I'd take the Schunk system over anything else out there including the Big Kaiser system.  It is a much better design.

[heavychevy2155]

I would have to see the code, but I had Okuma install the tool change macro that clears all the conditions and alarms that can happen with prestaged tools and calling tool numbers that are already in the spindle.  We used a G120 TOOL=(tool number here) and it took care of all the alarms.

[g huns]

So I think I killed it.

 

Loaded a tool.lib file to run the TC macro how we want it, figured out how to set the buffer size for it, set to G111. Next step was to shut down the mo-chine. Like a programmer, I pulled up Windows start menu and told her to shut down. It hit me when I did it that I prolly shouldn't have. But when it had shut down Windows, I powered down the machine and started it back up.

 

Now the control won't come on. Doesn't this thing have big ole RESET button somewhere?

[jlw™]

Call them and play dumb.

[Colin Gilchrist]

There is a PC somewhere in one of the machine cabinets, if they are running Windows. Open up your cabinet and poke around. (not literally, don't get electrocuted.) You should be able to see if there is a computer in there, or if they maybe have a "server" style rack for the motherboard.

 

If all else fails, trace the Keyboard, Mouse, and Graphics Screen cables to wherever they go. I would bet, it is to some sort of computer. All you should have to do his hit the power on switch...

[Newbeeee™]

....All you should have to do his hit the power on switch...

...with your eyes shut and fingers in your ears...

[g huns]

There is a PC somewhere in one of the machine cabinets...All you should have to do his hit the power on switch...

 

After I took a minute to think about it, that's exactly what I ended up doing. Found the box with a Windows COA on it, it had two little tiny recessed buttons, neither said "POWER", but one of them turned it back on.

 

Managed to get this macro loaded and assigned to G111...

 

OTCHK

( SET GCODE PARAM. G111 TO OTCHK )

( AT TOOL CHANGE KEY IN G111 T= TOOL NO. Q = NEXT TOOL EX. G111 T1 Q2)

IF [ PT EQ 0 ]NSKP1

IF [ VTLCN EQ PT ]NST1 (ACTIVE TOOL)

IF [ VTLNN EQ PT ]NRT1 (NEXT TOOL)

IF [ VTLNN EQ 0 ]NOT1 (NEXT TOOL)

M64

NOT1 T=PT

NRT1 M06

NST1

IF [ PQ EQ EMPTY ]NEND (if ready tool empty/jump )

IF [ VTLNN EQ PQ ]NEND (if next called tool is at next tool pos./jump)

IF [ VTLNN EQ 0 ]NTT1 (if next tool has no value)

M64 (next tool pot back up)

NTT1

T=PQ

M356 (next pot down)

NEND

IF [ PW EQ EMPTY ]NEND2 (if ready tool empty/jump )

NEND2

 

GOTO NEND3

 

NSKP1

IF [ VTLCN EQ 0 ]NEND3 (ACTIVE TOOL)

IF [ VTLNN EQ 0 ]NSKP2 (NEXT TOOL)

M64

 

NSKP2

M63

M06

 

NEND3

RTS

 

Tool changes work like a champ now. 

[g huns]

It's taken awhile, waiting on tooling, waiting on post work, waiting on operator training, but this week we really started running the old girl for serious.

 

All I can say is, she's a BEAST.

[Sticky]

Let's see some bases!

[g huns]

No bases. We let our Chinese friends make those. We can't buy plates for what they build them for. All cavity roughing and waterline drilling.

 

I was a little disappointed with the results we got with our 2 inch feed mill. But all our previous work was on a vertical. Much more rigid than a freestanding tombstone. But using volumill paths, it is awesome.

[Sticky]

No bases. We let our Chinese friends make those. We can't buy plates for what they build them for. All cavity roughing and waterline drilling.

 

I was a little disappointed with the results we got with our 2 inch feed mill. But all our previous work was on a vertical. Much more rigid than a freestanding tombstone. But using volumill paths, it is awesome.

 

The Chinese bases are cheap, but you get what you pay for.

 

I think you might have  problem somewhere, but I would have to see your setup. I've found hmc's to be MUCH more rigid than verticals, even when using a 2" drill 27" above the pallet and at the max X travel.

[g huns]

We have been very happy with our Chinese bases so far.

 

I rationalized our decreased performance with the high feed mill like this; feed mills direct cutting faces up into the spindle, or down into workpiece. In a 50 taper vertical with box ways, that's a very rigid setup.

 

Our tombstone is a Gerardi 4 sided vise. It's core is beefy, but it's still held to the base by 8, 16mm bolts and key ways. That's never going to match the rigidity of a table on box ways. The Okuma spindle is massive, it's not going to give. So that leaves the cutting force pushing the workpiece away. I have a pair of Stevens tombstones on the way. I'll be interested to see if we see different results with those.

 

It might just be a matter of decreasing our DOCs a little and increasing feedrates.

 

We had 8 blocks that had to get done this weekend, so there wasn't much time for experimentation. But they wouldn't have gotten done on any other machine we have.

[Sticky]

I'd check to see if you have B axis deflection, along with deflection on your Z axis. It's common for the gibs to not be properly adjusted on boxway machines and this causes rigidity issues when using tools that create axial forces.

[g huns]

Is there a DIY way to check that or is it best left to service?

[Sticky]

You will need to put a large pry bar near the top of your tombstone and mount an indicator on your spindle or something separate from the B axis assembly, measure the deflection. I've seen big heavy box way machines have over .015" deflection. I'd correct anything over a few tenths if it were my decision. Depending on your axis configuration and B axis assembly, the deflection can come from the B axis it self, or the X or Z axis (depending on the axis configuration).

 

If you or anyone in your shop has experience squaring machines, aligning turrets etc it could be done in house.

[mkd]

Our tombstone is a Gerardi 4 sided vise. It's core is beefy, but it's still held to the base by 8, 16mm bolts and key ways. That's never going to match the rigidity of a table on box ways. The Okuma spindle is massive, it's not going to give. So that leaves the cutting force pushing the workpiece away. I have a pair of Stevens tombstones on the way. I'll be interested to see if we see different results with those.

...

I'm thinking a Hori close to the pallet on Y should be about the most rigid machine this side of a steel mill's ingersoll  bridgemill   

 

i just designed some tombstones that weigh in at 1300lbs. Not sure if hot rolled steel will be less vibration dampening than meehanite cast iron.

 

Edit: just looked up tombstone city. Rather pricey for a faced-all-over model. Weird that they don't offer one just machined on the bottom.

[Sticky]

Stress relieve it and you will be fine.

[GoetzInd]

 

 

Weird that they don't offer one just machined on the bottom.

They won't sell tombstones w/ un-machined surfaces because they can't rely on their Taiwanese supplier to not have large porosity under the surface. That's what was told to me.

 

Mike

[mkd]

They won't sell tombstones w/ un-machined surfaces because they can't rely on their Taiwanese supplier to not have large porosity under the surface. That's what was told to me.

 

Mike

prepare to be blown out of the water:

 

http://www.cmeworkholding.com/

 

USA foundry, USA made, better price

make America great!!

[g huns]

Damn, those are cheap.

[mkd]

..and good.

 I ordered one back in 2008, and machined it. NO porosity.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

A few years ago we were having trouble holding Z tolerance on a Kitamura 300 horizontal over ten years old, and I put an indicator in the spindle against the top of the tombstone.  I found I was able to move it .004" with one hand.  Rebuilding soon commenced.