Dang, I'm in New Zealand. Its tempting to move to the States for a while

 

Some are paid pretty well here, but we suffer the same problems down here. A shortage of skilled programmers. There is a certain degree of headhunting going on here, but it is generally frowned upon.

If the pay was livable I would go to New Zealand in a heartbeat, as long as the company would send me back to the states 2 times a year on their nickel... I went on a trip there in High School and felt very at home there. Lots of things to do for the outdoor enthusiast, relatively short driving distance to get to the places that would interest me on the weekends depending on where a job would be located (preferably south island....).

In the past I had a macro I would use to set the tool height. I would bring the tool down to the top of a '123' block, then go to program 08000 and press the start button. This would input the machine Z value plus 2.0" (a variable that was previously set and could be changed) into the height offset for that tool. This would effectively set the tool to the top of the table. Then it would retract the machine to the home position. I'm sure a macro like this could also be used to clear the D value at the same time.

 

Matt.

I do something similar to this with the probe for picking up .5" dowel holes on fixtures on the fms. Move the probe to the dowel hole sitting flush with the face. Then the machine will probe the face next the hole followed by probing the hole and setting it to G54 for me to write down and G10 into a program.

Do I need to run my machine through a router? The way it is set up now the CAT 5 cable from the machine runs directly into its own network card on the PC.

 

Huskermcdoogle- My pc currently has a seperate network card that is directly hooked to my machine. Are there any spacific settings you were wondering about.

If you can go one way you can go the other with the way you have your Network setup. Sounds like you need to setup a FTP server client on the PC. Then setup the fanuc settings for the data server so it can log into your newly created ftp server. James instructions explain how to set this up... If you have mapps..., you will need some instructions on how to use the mapps remote server screen.

Husker

Allan

 

I do use Filezilla as well, but I have to go to the computer, open Filezilla, and connect to the machine each time I need to transfer a program. What I want to be able to do is stand at my control and load the programs from there. Is there something I need to configure differently? I'm sure I am just not understanding something completely.

 

thanks,

Beck, does your 503 have mapps? If it does, it is a cake job to do it from the control, and actually is very easy to use once you get around how to use the functions. I could walk you through it sometime if you want over the phone. I want to do just what you are doing... How is your ftp client (not server) set up on the pc?

Thank you james, I have been able to get this far. Just curious if I can do the file transfer in the other direction. A.k. from the PC not at the machine control? Am I smoking something in thinking I can do it this way?

Husker

Guys,

I just got a Data Server installed on a Fanuc 16 (not 16i) on a Mori SH500. Anyway, I can access the folder on a pc based ftp server and get programs in and out from the control. But would like to be able to do it the other way around. I know on the 18i, you can use an FTP Client on a PC to access the data server and move files in and out, haven't been successful in doing so with our other machine, but would like to know how. Anyway, does anyone know what the default username and passwords are to do this, or what you need to do to set them, or use this functionality. I am not dead in the water right now but my curiosity is killing me...

Husker

Oh the escape key, our very best friend, why can't it program the part? Seems we press it enough times some might think it would!

You could create a custom drill cycle in your post called Back Chamfer and call it just like the other drill cycles. There are several sample of custom drill cycle here on the form just do a search

Something like this!

:0645(COGSDILL SUBROUTINE) 
(FORMAT G66 P0645 XLOC YLOC R C - D B - E F-FEED)
#29=#5003
G00X#24Y#25
N10G00Z#3(MOVE TO CUTTING START PLANE - VARIABLE C)
G01Z#7F#9(FEED TO FIRST CUTTING END ZONE - VARIABLE D) 
G01Z#2F250.(MOVE TO BOTTOM POSITION - VARIABLE 
G01Z#8F#9(FEED UP TO END OF BOTTOM CUTTING - VARIABLE E) 
G00Z#18
M99

edited into this

:0645(COGSDILL SUBROUTINE) 
(FORMAT G66 P0645 XLOC YLOC R C B E F-FEED)
#29=#5003
G00X#24Y#25
G00Z#3(MOVE TO FEED START PLANE - VARIABLE C)
G01Z#2F250.(MOVE TO BOTTOM POSITION - VARIABLE 
M03 (SPINDLE START)
G01Z#8F#9(FEED UP TO END OF BOTTOM CUTTING - VARIABLE E) 
G00Z#18
M99

Program Call

"Tool start"
G66 P0645 X[first pos] Y[first pos] R[retract clearance height) C(start ofslow feed) B(bottom start feed pos) - E(final feed pos) F(Feedrate)
X[second pos] Y[second pos]
so on so forth
G67 (modal cancel)

"end of toolpath"

Good luck. If you wanted to roll the above into a custom gcode it would be pretty easy.

Husker

I need a raise... Don't want to move tho and I think the boss man knows me well enough to take advantage of that... I am pretty certain he would call my bluff if I put another offer on the table.

HArrumph

Good luck in your search. If a friend of mine lands back home (for him) in the valley I would definitely consider moving out that way.

Husker

Can't go local, I would go nutty... MC checks the hasp every time you right click in the operations manager, which takes a few seconds which really screws up the rhythm... We are planning on putting in a server in the near future, so it will get moved when that happens, in the mean time I will deal with it dropping the hasp once in a while.

Husker

Still did it overnight....

check your power profile in the Control Panel to be sure

 

the USB ports are not getting shut down as part of a power scheme

USB Selected Suspend setting was turned on. I am going to leave it on over night and see if that fixes it.

Thanks,

Husker

Guys,

I am running nethasp, and it keeps dropping randomly every hour or so when I walk away from the computer. It is setup locally on my pc and I am reading as a network hasp to avoid lag issues in the operations manager, if I unplug my LAN cable it works fine, so I gather it really has nothing to do with my network connection, but possible a driver or service issue.

It happens with X5 and X6 and doesn't do it to both if both are open, it is usually one or the other.

Any ideas?

Husker

At least with the 18i controls, you can change K parameters without the ladder password. Which sometimes is just L input... Poke around for a minute you might find it. But you need to look and see if there is anything in the ladder book for options.

Husker

Hey Guys,

We have one machine here (Fanuc 18iTB y axis lathe) that does not care where the turret is when it indexes, therefore opening up the possibility of indexing while near the work or in an interference zone. Other machines we have with the same control will not allow the turret to index unless in 1st or second home position. What I am trying to do is add some sort of automatic check that the turret is in home, or second home position before indexing. I do not have access to the ladder and the builder will not give me the password. I could easily write a macro to check position but that would not help me when operators are setting up the machine. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

 

Mike

I am thinking that is a Builder question. It could possibly be a keep relay parameter that might tell the machine ladder to not index the turret without being home. You might get lucky and have a ladder option sheet in with the ladder diagram or the electrical documents. It would be a MTB manual, not a fanuc manual. I don't think the purebred fanuc side would be controlling that.

I have mostly Fanuc controls and one Haas. The problem with the G76 is I need to be able to specify what direction to move, we have some boring bars that we need to move in X and some in Y.

Can you reconfigure you bars to all go in one direction?

If not you could add some logic in your post to program the parameter change to modify the direction. Then for the haas you could just use the standard G76 code, but add parameters for your direction from the custom parameters table.

I still say get all of the bars going in the same direction...

If it is a fanuc there are machine parameters you can set for the direction to retract. Should be under canned cycles. You program it using Q0.005, or whatever value you are looking for. I always make sure my boring bars are aligned with my drive keys, not sure if I go + or - in Y on our horizontals, but it is the same across the board in our shop, and I always load the balance hole down. Whenever I set up a machine with a boring head I always check the parameters and verify it is in the same convention as the other machines. That way there is no confusion.

If it is a haas you can specify the vector in the program. Just look up G76 in the haas programming manual.

Good Luck.

Husker

I don't think I would attempt that on a mill using interpolation. I'd even be skeptical seeing a jig grinder attempt that.

Yeah you certainly can't be capable from a statistical standpoint on any mill to that tolerance.

Husker

FANUC machines like piles and piles of code.

Assuming you have HPCC or AI-NANO? Or will they process these well in G08 P01? What age, and what model controls?

In HPCC coming from a Data Server, which method will potentially make a Fanuc process movement faster? Lots of short line segments, or lines and arcs filtered? How long of line segments would be suggested? Of course the latter probably depends mostly on what type of geometry you are cutting, but for general surfacing or large curved surfaces what type of segment length would you use?

Husker

I don't think the chaining selection tool is ready yet. Waiting for a new release on that I believe.

we use a point tool path to call the tool then the manual tool path. That will put the tool info in the database.

+1 or do a 3D contour.

Trying to lock out programming on the floor by pulling the panel/edit key off of our new Mori Seiki Verticals with MAPPS IV controller. We are full of programs in the front memory (400)and currently have a programmer or setup person unlocking machine to download a program. Does anyone know of a way to download a program without having the panel/edit key?

We tried using the user memory area, but while we can punch to it without the key we can not read from it. Drip feeding from the user memory won't work because you can not skip around in the program such as skipping or rerunning a tool.

 

I would be interested in hearing how other companies keep the operators from writing/editing programs on the floor.

 

Thanks

Trust. If your programs and processes are good they won't feel the need to edit the programs. If you can't trust them not to edit the programs, then you don't want them in the shop. Practice at our shop is to leave edit locked, though key hanging in lock, so if edits are needed (very rare, only during setup/changover) it is right there.

X6? What filter settings? This is where the multithread shines.

 

Mike

Filter setting have no effect on this regen time. There is no multitreading going on with this toolpath. I just freezes stuff up and then pops up finished. Bug?

method to calculate rest material ?

Usually this is prevalent on selecting one previous operatoin. But in this case it doesn't matter what these settings are.

Tried using a stock model and opti rest, and that was an epic fail, didn't do d1ck squat...

Husker

Guys whenever I use Dynamic Rest Mill it sits there and chugs forever on what seems like is a simple task. Freezing my MC window until it is complete.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Husker