1 hour ago, mkd said:

to answer your original question, geometry selected is independent of the angle you are drilling at with 3x paths (3+2 included here).

tool plane is the sole determinate of angle. By " wrong angle when solid geometry is used "  you mean you are using the auto-cursor to select  solid edge/ center point when running into trouble? Maybe the short answer is to "stop doing that!!" lol

 FWIW check out the "Hole axis" funtion under model prep menu. It's awesome.

 

If geometry is independent then how do you explain the video below?

edit: nevermind. Just realized you said "3x paths". I don't have multiaxis option btw.

6 minutes ago, JParis said:

Terrible preference BTW...to each his own though

I've tried both ways and Its slower to have your wireframe and solid on different levels. Is it alot of wasted time? nope.

I use levels for every job I do. I just prefer to have the wireframe and solid on the same level. 

Can anyone answer my questions in the original post?

9 hours ago, JParis said:

You also might try turning off the solid selection......

Not sure what you are talking about.

24 minutes ago, mkd said:

So i'm assuming you are using 5 axis drilling, since 3x drilling angle is controlled by tool planes, right?

I'm using 3x drilling using the same WCS on all toolpaths and the T and C planes set to the angle I am working on. I don't think drilling toolpaths are controlled by the tool planes unless they have changed something since X6. This can be confirmed by selecting a point instead of a circle entity in the drilling toolpath. As far as I know selecting points instead of circle entities will cause issues.

as far as selection of entities, there are a number of way to go about it. Maybe an atl+s to turn shading off so you can pick circles.

Turning off shading still results in the ability to select solid geometry in a drilling toolpath.

more to the point the solid should reside on a separate level and just turn it off momentarily.

I don't want my wireframe and solid on different levels.

I'm guessing this has been asked before but I couldn't find it. If you look at the attached pictures you will see the same drill path but one has circles selected for the drill entities and the other one has solid geometry selected. When the solid geometry is selected the drill does not drill at the correct angle (this is for a rotary).

My questions are,

1. Why does it drill at the wrong angle when solid geometry is used?

2. How does one correct this issue?

3. Is there anyway to select circles only and not 3d geometry when the circle and 3d geo is shown at the same time? In other words I would like the option to not select 3d geometry when selecting entities in a drilling toolpath.

Thanks!

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I did something similar to this awhile back. I remember thinking I did something that could have been done better but I don't remember what it is right now. Below is the code I added to my post. It doesn't say Leave stock. But at the beginning of each toolpath it lists the stock left that is programmed into mastercam. You can adjust from there. 

Here is what the beginning of my toolpaths look like.

N1( 1/2 FLAT ENDMILL  - T1 - D1 - H1 - .5)
(Control) (XY Stock .005) (Z Stock 0.)

In the variables section add below

fmt "XY Stock " 2 xystockwdg
fmt "Z Stock " 2 zstockwdg

Under psof section add below

       if opcode$ < 3 | opcode$ > 3 & opcode$ < 14 | opcode$ > 17,
        [
         rd_prm_op_no$ = op_id$
         rd_params$
         "(", *scomp_type, ") (", *xystockwdg, ") (", *zstockwdg, ")", e$
        ]

Under pparameter add below

      if prmcode$ = 10010, xystockwdg = rpar(sparameter$, 1)
      if prmcode$ = 10068, zstockwdg = rpar(sparameter$, 1)

What is the xtooltable? Is it in the new posts?

4 hours ago, JParis said:

I despise post edits like this....

I never like to hard code a position......the post at that point has NO idea where it is......

To each his own I suppose but not an edit I would make........

JM2C YMMV

I knew my suggestion would not go over well

But this avoids having to setup stock. The little bit I have used stock it is a pain to use. And even if its not a pain to use its still an unnecessary /extra step to do. Additionally what happens if you program a boring bar and you forgot to setup your stock or your reference points? CRASH! My post edit is foolproof, which the less I have to use my brain the better my day seems to go.

I setup my lathes posts to go to Z1.0 at the beginning and end of every tool path. This works as long as your Z zero is always at the front of the part.  You could make a variable to  add 1" to the zabs variable if your Z zeros are not always at the front of the part. Only time I have to hand edit is when I use a tailstock, which is rare for me. And the best reason for doing it this way is you don't have to setup stock or reference points.

Below is the code I use, you will have to pull up the debugger most likely to figure out where exactly to put this in your post.

In section ltlchg$

"G0", pfxout, "Z1.0", e$

In section pl_retract$

"G0 Z1.0", e$

.01 depth of cut is a very safe starting point for 1/2 threads. Which i believe would be a "D.02" since okuma lathes use diameter instead of radius. It also looks like in your program that your starting the first cut at x.2653. This Should be the minor diameter of the thread. Check when your threader is actually cutting in X. I'm guessing there is a lot of air passes.

The problem was using the variable force_tlchg$. I found the parameter 15108 which also looks at the force tool change button. Then captured it in pparameter and it now it works.

I'm trying to get an error to pop up during posting when force tool change button is not checked. Below is the code I am using.

if force_tlchg$ = no$, result = mprint(swdgftchg)

My problem is I can't find a good place to put it in the post where it correctly gives me the error when the tool change button is not checked or it gives me the error when the button is checked. I've tried ptlchg, ptlchg0, and the pwrtt sections. It seems the variable force_tlchg does not work as I think it does. I'm using the generic 5x post. Closest I came was it would correctly give the warning with drilling cycles but for some reason not on milling toolpaths.

If your speeds are really slow you might want to check your setting in Hi-Cut parameters. The number under maximum feedrate controls the maximum feedrate regardless if you are using Hi-cut or not.

Just now, PcRobotic said:

WDG5555, Colin is a very good post trainer.  I used to take MANY classes from him.  I'm not 100% to write all the post, surely I at least learned so much from him.

Ya Colin's posts above are correct. I never should have questioned it.

You will have to re-read Colins post to figure out exactly where to put this code since our posts are different. Remember to backup your post before you try to make changes

Put the below code with the other variables near the top of the post.

swcswdg : "" 
swcswdgchk : ""

Add Below code to  section ptlchg1002$

	  if swcswdg <> swcswdgchk, #check for multiple wcs
	   [
	    result = mprint(swdgwcschk)                   
		swcswdg = swcswdgchk
	   ]

Add code below to PSOF section

                  swcswdg = swcswdgchk

Add code below to pparameter$ section

	  if prmcode$ = 20014, swcswdgchk = sparameter$ #check for multiple wcs

Add code below to custom errors section

swdgwcschk : "WCS is inconsistent. Verify WCS is correct in toolpath."

I was wanting to do this exact thing. I don't think that putting it at the "PSOF" will work though. At least I had problems with it. I'm going to try to use a buffer in "pwrtt" whenever I get around to it. My post is the generic 5 axis post.

After some searching and re-reading the generic 5 axis information I found the answer. For the Okuma machine I set the multi-turn option under the rotary to on in the parameters which makes it so the rotary always takes the shortest path while moving. After setting this the output is correct.

Thanks for the help.

After I removed the the lead in and lead out I realized what the problem is. The post isn't designating what direction for the rotary to spin. So at the machine it was rotating 360 degrees everytime it read a C value.

Anyone know how to add direction M codes to the generic 5 axis post? I looked through the top section of the post and I did not see an option in there.

1 hour ago, lowcountrycamo said:

What type of tool path did you use?  Are your planes set to top/top or top/with indexing tool planes? We need more info.

I used a contour toolpath. The WCS is set to the top plane and the C and T planes are set to the 90 degree plane. I used Axis substitution with the unroll option. The contour is just a simple circle.

You may Have missed the mastercam file I attached in the first post?

I'm programming a part to mill a diameter with the rotary at 90 degrees and use the rotary to spin the part while cutting.

My problem is the code does not out put correctly. It starts at 90 degrees and starts to incrementally go up and then it starts to go down to -270. Below is a section of the code.

G0G18G90X-.2062Y0.S1426M3
G56H237Z2.9672
G17Z1.0672
G1Z1.0422F6.33
Z1.0172
Z.9922
Z.9672
C91.528
C93.055
C94.583
C96.111
C97.638
C99.166
C100.694
G42D237C102.218
X-.1793C102.116
X-.1528C101.804       <------------------------Here it starts decreasing the C value.
X-.1273C101.29
X-.1031C100.583
 

This post is from the generic 5 axis post that I converted over for an Okuma mill. When I load up the generic 5 axis machine I get the same result. Not sure if its an issue in the post or my programming.

I've attached the mastercam file.

Thanks for any help!

T.mcam

Nevermind. "Duplicate Point Filter" was on. This apparently confuses Mastercam into thinking that the holes at 0 and 180 degrees were the same.

I'm trying to program a drill toolpath for a rotary that has 4 holes at 90 degrees. My problem is that for some reason I cannot select ALL of the four holes using entities option. After I select the four circles it only shows 3 holes being drilled. If I try to add the 4th one it doesnt work. I tried selecting the problem circle first and it will drill the hole. But when I try to select the other three it always wants to skip one.

I've attached the file I'm working on.

Any ideas?

t.mcam

Switch to I and K outout, and see if you get the same result.

 

I encountered a blend issue on two arcs on a U100L control, and switching to I and K eliminated the issue.

I tried changing it to I and K but it still outputs two arc moves and causes problems at the machine. I'm guessing that If I had a newer lathe this code would work but I'm not sure.

I'm trying to cut a part that has a simple arc on a Okuma 5020L lathe. The problem is it is outputting the arc into two lines and after cutting the arc on the part it looks VERY jagged.

Below is the code.

Did a search for brk_max_ang and read all the posts. Didn't fix the issue though. I tried changing the variables below but they didnt change the output at all.

brk_mv_head : 0 #Break the 5 axis moves to remove gouge

brk_max_ang : 0 #'brk_mv_head' maximum angle move, applied if chordal

#calculation angles moves are greater (negative disables)