Tim, The way I have it is the post inserts it as 0. This forces the machine to retract home. The operator uses a tape measure and measures the furthest point from center as a polar radius and inputs this number in the variable in the header. You can have it ask you when you post and have it insert it or any other method you chose. I like the way I do it because for me I would rather play it safe than have a crash that costs me days. Also the way I have the macro setup is that it always positions from center of rotation, not from your zero point. I use G53 positioning in the macro to position to actual machine coordinates plus adding tool lengths to that value. This way you only have to measure the point that is furthest out from center. Dave

Tim, You can store the dimension anywhere. We store it in the header of the program using variable #500 % O1697(PROGRAM DESCRIPTION) (THIS IS AN UNAPPROVED PROGRAM DATE = 06-11-12 DDL) (CYCLE TIME = HH-MM) #500=0 (TABLE Z AXIS CLEARANCE FOR ROTATION FROM CENTER OF PALLET)<-----------------------------------------Variable set here. We have multiple pallet machines this is why we set it in the program. (PROGRAM NAME-O1697-1)

Joe, Yes. For the fixture offset in out nc code we have a section for "Fixture Offset" in the header shown below. (------------FIXTURE OFFSETS------------) N100G65P9995X-12.Y-10.5715Z-27.0B0.A0.S1. (------------END FIXTURE OFFSETS--------) XYZ & B are self explanatory, the A is for the angle that you found the origin from B0 so you could dial it in at 45 degrees and it adjusts for this. The S is for designating multiple parts that are on the same plane say on a tombstone so you can adjust each one individually. Then after this section we have a section were you can adjust each rotation individually and done incrementally. Shown below. (--------FIXTURE ROTATION ADJUST--------) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E1.(E1.=B-12.5) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E2.(E2.=B12.) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E3.(E3.=B32.5) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E4.(E4.=B57.) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E5.(E5.=B77.5) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E6.(E6.=B102.) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E7.(E7.=B122.5) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E8.(E8.=B147.) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E9.(E9.=B167.5) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E10.(E10.=B192.) G65P9997X0.Y0.Z0.E11.(E11.=B212.5) (------END FIXTURE ROTATION ADJUST------) As you can see this particular program has 10 rotations. This section can be left out if you do not desire the option to adjust each rotation individually but we found it best to have the ability to move a particular offset around a little. The nice thing with this is that you enter small amounts ie(.010) incrementally rather than large absolute numbers which tends to confuse operators. For the clearance rotation it looks something like this #500=10.(TABLE Z AXIS CLEARANCE FOR ROTATION FROM CENTER OF PALLET)-------->This is entered in the header of the program. What this number designates is the distance from the center of rotation out to the furthest point of the fixture or part plus some clearance. Then you call an M400(or mcode of your choice) prior to rotating the macro checks a couple of things. Inside the macro is a hard coded dimension that is the minimum safe distance from center to clear the pallet, this can be set to whatever suits you but is inaccesible to the operator. If #500 is set to less than this number it automatically sends the z axis to home position (Maximum distance from center) the macro also takes into account the tool length that is active. It checks the stroke, if it is more than the travel distance ie(would force the machine to overtravel) it sends the machine home. If there is no active tool length in the machine it sends the z axis home, this one is useful if the operator restarts the program before it picks up the tool length. In short what this does is forces the machine to ALWAYS move away from the work piece rather than move towards it. N260M400(RETRACT FOR CLEAR ROTATE)------>Called just before rotation N270M11 N280G65P9996X0.Y0.Z0.B12.S1.E2. N290M10 With all of this the only thing the operator needs to change is the #500 variable and the fixture rotation adjust. They never have to mess with any other part of the program.

I have been programming horizontal rotaries for more than 20 years and this was a problem we always dealt with that seemed no one had a good solution to. We came up with our own solution that works incredibly well that takes care of this problem and we also came up with another solution that takes care of another problem inherint with rotaries and that is Z axis clearance on rotations. The first we created a set of macro's that calculates coordinates based on rotations. All that is entered is one set of coordinates at any angle. The macros then calculate each offset for each rotation in the program we also allow provision to be able to adjust each offset individually thereafter. This eliminated the need to program on center as it just does not matter anymore. The part can be anywhere and the system figures out all the correct positions for you. The other problem is with z-axis clearance when rotating. We also created a macro that handles this for us. This is called by a simple Mcode and has eliminated all operator error. We used to have crashes on a regular basis because they did not watch for clearance and this became worse when you were programming offcenter.

In the post text file you have 2 sections. One is Misc Int/Reals and the second Lathe Misc Int/Reals. When you define text in the first it shows up in the pop up window. In the second it displays it to the left of the box as it should. This is all great for a turning operation, the question that I have is when you go to a milling operation, the text that shows up on the left side of the box is also the same text that shows up in the pop up window, there fore making it very confusing to read if you have alot of different descriptions for the pop up window. Is this a bug in mc, or am I doing something wrong. I have tried creating another set of values labeled mill misc int/reals but this does not help it any. Sincerely, Dave

I will try that, Thanks

I did as the post stated before you put it up, but it still does crazy things. Do you have to draw the geometry to center of the tool and not the edge? If I draw lead in/outs on the path it ends prematurely, and lookahead is turned off. But the other frustrating part is, what if my part does not get milled all the way around, and the post says it must start and end at C0. What a pain in the butt, I will just stick with using the c axis output, it makes long code but I know it works and I don't have problems with it.

I am using a post derived from mplfan, and I am using the c axis conversion G12.1 - G13.1 or as the post used to be G112 and G113. I have been able to work thru most of the problems but I have one problem that I cannot get past. When the tool exits from the cut it outputs the G13.1 and then the next line it does the exit. The problem is on my control I can only use the G40-G41-G42 inside the G12.1 { N175G1X2.6175C.5348 N180G2X3.235C0.R.6175 N185G13.1<-----Move this line after the G40 line. N190G1G40X3.3208C346.947F833.53 N195G0Z-2.5 } the only thing I can see is the pmillcca is what creates the G13.1 and the cutpos2 when = to 3 is what causes the output. But I cannot figure out what makes cutpos2 = 3 Code from post below. { pmillcca #Cross/Face canned cycle code, after if cutpos2 = three, [ #Cross/Face canned cycle end code if abs{cuttype} = two, pbld, n, *sg113, e #Face else, pbld, n, *sg108, "C0.", e #Cross result = newfs{11, cabs} result = newfs{14, cinc} ] } Any help greatly appreciated Thanks Dave

Dave, Thankyou, the mtol took care of the problem. Thanks for the replies. Dave

When I backplot a program the coordinates show good, but when I post it out I get lots of rounding errors. ie, (TOOL - 1 OFFSET - 1) (OD FR 80 DEG MAIN SPINDLE INSERT - CNMG-432) N25G0T0101 N30G96S1200M03 N35G0G54X2.45Z.003M8 N40G99G1X-.0625F.015 N45G0Z.053 N50X2.25 N55Z.0262 N310G71U.13R.02 N315G71P320Q360U.02W.003F.015 N320G0X.7195S1200 N325G1X.8402Z-.0342 N330G3X.8586Z-.0563R.0313<----------.0001 off N335G1X.8585Z-.4163 N340G2X.866Z-.42R.0037 N345G1X2.1125 N350G3X2.175Z-.4513R.0313 N355G1Z-.643 N360X2.25 N415G0Z.03 N420X-.064 N425G1Z0.F.0038 N430X.7419 N435G3X.7932Z-.0106R.0363F.0014 N440G1X.8373Z-.0327F.0038 N445G3X.8586Z-.0583R.0362F.0014<------.0001 off N450G1X.8585Z-.4163F.0038 N455G2X.866Z-.42R.0037F.0117 N460G1X2.1025F.0038 N465G3X2.175Z-.4563R.0363F.0014 N470G1Z-.643F.0038 N475X2.2174Z-.6218 N480G0X2.2822 I have tried changing my system tolerance and so forth but does not make a difference. Thanks for any help Dave

Stephen Thanks for the help, I did a search in the forum but could not come up with anything, anyway I knew one of you guys would know what it was. Thanks for the help

My post keeps reversing my spindle direction on my live tools. It does it on my drilling cycles only. Milling cycles are fine. Post started with is mplfan. Thanks for any help Dave

Well here is another one up on Ebay, all I can figure is that it is stolen. What are they thinking

We never use the G49 it has caused crashes here too, and we have never found it neccesary to cancel offsets, we just load the next set of offsets and continue on.

I would want to build a scaled down version of the cummins 5.9 Diesel, not to many parts, big horsepower.