Automatic machine zeroing Zaxis.

[petro7]

I know that this exists, but not sure where to look for it.  What I want to do is energize my work piece, so when my tool comes in contact with the top of the part it automatic zeros my z axis. What our customer wants,  is to keep the hole within .0003 in depth over 540 hole  our drill dia is .020  .  the problem is the material is graphite and the top surface is not 100% flat.  Does anyone have experience with this?

[jlw™]

Wow, the feed is going to have to be super slow to nail .0003 on contact.

What brand of machine/control?  If you can edit the PLC logic that might be more doable than you think.

[petro7]

we are running it on a brand new hurco. but that may have to change .  I know it can be done our competitor is doing now.  I will contact hurco  and see what they say.

Thanks 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, petro7 said:

I know it can be done our competitor is doing now.

But you most likely don't know what it's taking your competitor to do it..

Is the customers insane tolerance driving the cost of the part and they're simply fishing for someone to do it cheaper?

Edited September 20, 2018 by Guest

[jlw™]

9 hours ago, JParis said:

Is the customers insane tolerance driving the cost of the part and they're simply fishing for someone to do it cheaper?

This would be my concern.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

Is there a reason you can't use a standard probe?

[Leon82]

A probe on a robodrill would be fast.you could leave it on for the run and single touch it since the top of the part would be in a known spot

[dstryr]

No way a hurco or robodrill is going to hold +/-.00015 z depth off a non flat surface over a period of time...

 

.020 dia tool running max RPM

[Del.]

Why such tight tolerance?

[RaiderX]

I ran a Toyoda that detected tool breakage via tool contact. some kind of continuity check? 

just food for thought, I have no idea how this could be setup to your application.

[Sticky]

I do work to this precision daily, but you need to establish a reference surface to work from. If you are doing multiple pieces, the only way to really achieve this is via in process inspection with the machine, even a Makino won't hold this tolerance without in process inspection. A standard renishaw probe is more than accurate enough, and if you manage your processes, you can pull this off on a new Hurco. It should go without saying that the machine needs to be in fantastic condition, no backlash etc. I would recommend running this job in metric, rather than inch.

Your reference surface doesn't necessarily need to be the same workpiece you are working on, we have some operations where we have a sacrificial piece of material mounted solely for calibration throughout the run.

[petro7]

Thanks for all the info .  We have a company coming from Toronto to help us with this. I think it will be a big investment but hopefully it works out.