Back in the old Bendix days, we used to just flip the invert X switch and use left hand cutters.

I had a customer that used left handed endmills for mirrored parts. Though it was the dumbest thing I've ever seen.

I started yesterday.....

Started in a small machine shop when I was 16. After school and after football practice. Put me on a Fadal 4020 CNC Mill after 2 weeks.... wrote meh first program 3 weeks later. Watched the code as the machine was running and figured it out. After the boss saw I had the "knack" for it he put a stack of prints in front of me and told me to go to work. 6 months after long handing on a format 1 fadal they put me in the chair with MC6. That's the day I went from an "operator" to a "Programmer"..... never looked back. 17 years later I'm still doing the same thing and I couldn't imagine doing anything else. Got an education, taught CNC machining at a local technical college for a couple of years, moved up to a management position in a Fortune 500 company. All that said, I still love to see chips fly. I still do contract work for a few local shops around the area just to keep my hands on a machine and sharp on MC. Truth be told it's not for the $$$...... just because I truly love doing this crap.

Lemon

+1 to Dynamic WCS

But in reality COR is the best way to keep programs "universal" IMO

A customer had issues with a VF8 50 taper in the past. Ran at 10K for hours at a time. Balanced holders solved the problem.

Sounds like you've got a lemon.

3 Customers use Wear. 1 Customer demands Control. Just a matter of taste meh guesses

Hmm... did you write the coding for the Axis Brake commands? Something may be weird in that section of your post.

A guy at another shop here who uses agies says they don't even use G codes. Is that true? And everything is different on the program and editing is all but impossible.

Not exactly true.... the AgieVision control is very powerful in the fact that you can import in files and program at the machine. It's not typical "G-Code Programming" in that you are using the AgieVision Screens to apply wire paths. There is a G-code file that is produced but it is the simple coordinate path of the burn but the control uses internal sub routines for starts, lead on/off, number of passes, tags, etc.

That said the AgieVision is powerful but it doesn't play well with others, i.e. Mastercam Wire. Their control wants the user to input all parameters at the machine.... not an offline software.

Agie fan here. Great with 5 Axis cuts and the new Vertex Series machines have the most powerful generators I've ever worked with. Put Cobra Cut A wire on it and it cooks faster than anything out there.

Only complaint is using MC to program them. Agies are very different with the methods and screens in their software. MC had a lot of post development to get the information right and (IMO) it still isn't great. We bought a seat of PEPS just to program the Agie Machines and haven't looked back.

In short, if you want to use MC to gram the difficult stuff Fanuc or Mits would be the way to go.

The company you are doing the work for should have Solid or Wireframe geometry available for you to work from.

+1. This has always been an issue with a lot of outside customers. You're probably getting these drawings from purchasing people who couldn't even CAD! Back in the day, we put in our pre-reqs that a digital file was required for CNC Programming purposes. We usually got generic files (IGES, STEP, DXF, etc.) but it was usable. One customer sent Pro-E models and that was a blessing!

Welcome and my condolences on working with Rickster.

+1!

Greg,

Shoot me an email.

Equal Depths help tool life but at the end of the day.... Acme Threads suck!

Good Luck Bro!

That sounds like a question for Heidenhain bro. Parameter in the TNC got screwed up and most of the time it requires a passcode to adjust this... which you may not have.

+1 to Keith's method

Is the cursor the same color as the background? Low-Hanging-Fruit I know but had to ask

A36 should cut like butter. Don't let your SFM get to high and keep the chipload up. For the 3/8 Drill (depending on the MFG) I'd run it around 300 SFM @ 0.007 IPR. That should drill 1000+ holes in A36 with no problems.

HTH

Josh

What about this one..... Linky

Hey Guys!

Need to spec out a Laptop for my ever growing, ever changing business. I need something that I can take into a customer's business that will support MC greatly. I've looked at several retail websites but I'll be honest.... I'm lost!

If all of the computer geeks out there could lend a brotha a hand I'd appreciate it! Oh yeah.... I've got a $1500 budget.

Thanks fellers!

Josh

Can you ask the customer how they input the data? If they are using something like an Excel Spreadsheet you can probably export from Excel as a Comma Delimited File that has all of the vectors in it. From there import into MC then select all points.... should work like a charm!

HTH!

Josh

M17?

All of my TCP stuff is in BIN.... In House Heidenhain Table/Table Post. My post works great but I did buy it to learn about that stuff..... Mission Failed!

When you figure it out let me know! Going through the same thing with an SQT200MS

What Gives???? No matter if I verify with normal stock, STL, or a Solid verify runs to about 25% and bombs out. Didn't have this issue with X3. Anyone else get this and is there a work around???

TIA

Josh

We use our B Axis (Sub Spindle) to chuck the turned end of the part when we part off. We sync the spindles and part it off with no xxxx, burr, or part flying around... also called "Picking off on the fly". Those who don't have a sub spindle don't have this luxury. I was generally being a smarta$$ on my original reply... sorry for the confusion.