a rotary union is what I used. instead of air pressure I plumbed all my vacuum lines through this...I did do some concepts with a shutoff valve on the vac table. It all worked as long as I NEVER had a vac leak. once a leak started vacuum was quickly lost. FYI A vacuum pump will constantly draw @29. A small pump or a large pump can only draw about 29. The small pump may only flow 2cfm & the larger ones 220cfm +. So a large pump will be able to handle a leak 10x larger than a small pump and not drop your part...more or less.

short of sharing your machine online I would suggest your machine tool supplier or Okuma help line. I believe Hartwig is in your area. Jay is pretty good. I think he was a apps guy from Okuma. And when you solve this one please post the fix...I'm interested.

I was thinking the same about the OCHG called in there more than once. or could you have it aliased twice? If not did you try to unregister/reregister the .lib files.

Get the manual out. And try pulling the batteries, maybe leave out for a time. put batteries back, when it starts to flash, trigger and hold the probe to get into programming mode - ref the manual here. Then don't touch it, it'll default to time out and off.

GoPro here for the most part. I like that I can position the camera where needed to get a good shot of the cutting action. Another couple applications I have fixed Uniden outdoor cameras. The down side is I have 4 cameras in the machine & at a distance from the cut. So the GoPro gets a better close up video & the fixed cameras don't. But the fixed cameras don't get caught up in the action either...the gopro did - but only once.

Can you post the whole code? I'd guess it'll depend on your R plane height etc. And how did it crash? Was it a face drill cycle & hit a clamp or boss? An OD drill cycle etc.

Just an FYI, not sure how all machines function. BUT I watched a guy lock the spindle with M19, with the door interlock disabled. When he applied enough force to tighten the jaw bolts he overcame the spindle position, this machine then rotated the chuck and re oriented itself. Luckily he dropped the wrench & cheater bar...nothing happened. But it sure could have been worse.

I think the bigger issue with milling a ms33649 style port is the milled finish NOT having a circular lay pattern. Under pressure the oil could seep/fail due to surface finish and o-ring seal.

Not sure if itll work for you...I have our Okumas setup with ER adapters/reducers. So when I need to change out I'm using a ER wrench to loosen the ER16 nut while keeping the other ER25 nut from rotating with a wrench. ie my milling tool is a ER25, ER32 etc & Im holding the tool with a ER16 or ER20. I personally wouldn't use the mill head gears to torque against while changing ER collets.

look at the large tool settings and also tool life management for that tool. that has stump the guys here a couple times.

I watched one of our guys go through 4 6mm 40xD without even cutting a part! Turns out the shrink fit extentions gave it 1/4" too much length and they each snapped in the tool changer. beware

where you located?

I think the max on the MA500 I had was axis travel X27,Y35,Z30 and the workholding/work piece was 32dia x 39 tall. something like 1700# pallet capicity

Also maintain the z axis way cover(s). these take some abuse from setups...dropped tools, operator standing on them etc.

Bob is right on the weight of the pallets. If both pallets are setup with equal amounts of tombstone/fixture/part you can get to the max weight capacity without issues. If you have say 500# on pallet #1 & 1500# on pallet #2 it harder on the machine "pallet change column" than having 2250# on #1 and 2250 on #2. Also change the coolant gland on the back of the spindle! Its 2 carbide faces pressed together to form a seal. The coolant passes through the glands. So 1 carbide face is on the moving spindle, the other is fixed to the machine base(more or less) and doesn't move. When this is neglected you dump coolant in places you'll wish you didn't.

Kinda coincidental, I have just had my 1st issue with our Sankyo table. It was a positioning sensor gone bad, $100 fix. Its been running in our Automated cell for 5 years. Now it is not a A-axis indexer for a CNC. Its similar to a rotary pallet changer on a Horiz CNC. But we run it all the time. That probably doesn't help you much, but PM service & machine down service was good. Didn't know it until after I had a problem and fixed it...they have a office 1/2 mile from here. Tsdukoma was my choice on our Okuma mill. Reputation and ease of integration on existing CNC.

If you are considering the GX710 or GX1000 with Fanuc 0i control, seriously consider spending a little extra cash and get the GX1000-OSP. Its the same iron with Okuma control and drives. Well worth it...and even under 100k.

Also double check pricing, size etc. between the LB3000 & LB4000. I think the two have almost the same footprint, the 4000 opens up your part size, HP & tooling options over the 3000...but only costs a little more.

The Okuma uses a "wedge" as a y-axis. So when you cut a slot on centerline of the part face you position in x & z, cut in x-axis. if you move above or below center(y-axis) you'd be cutting in y-axis(on the screen) BUT you are actually moving the y-axis wedge & x-axis at the same time. Carefully look at your parts you plan to run through the Okuma, when you try to cut small ID contours you'll run out of y- travel. The Okuma is a great machine. You just need to know what the constraints are.

How about machining the 1st side, BUT taping the 4 holes instead of clearance dia. Then use a block that you could hold in the vise with the part bolted to, then cut the slot, angle etc. as a last op open the taped holes to the clearance dia.

Just a little FYI...all CNC people are nuts. So on to the Robot stuff. In my little world here, I cant believe we didn't get robots sooner! We had 2 installed 2 years ago & now I'm debugging our 4th Fanuc and about to have our 5th installed (end of March). That doesn't count the Automated servo type systems we've also installed. Keep in mind the cost of the Robot is probably less than 1/2 of your total install cost. The biggest % could easily be EOAT. Unless you have in house robotic programmers/integraters I'd go with a hired service. There has to be someone close to you...Mason Oh is one of Fanuc's facilities.

Is this connected via a ftp on the pc? Try having the PC connect to the machine with a short shielded cable. specifically avoid any lights, electric motors etc. also nothing connected on the pc except power cord & data cable...no network etc. That sounds like a connection noise issue. grounded cable, loose connection, loose card socket - just guessing here

Thanks Guys. Greg, I currently switch the PLC status in "adjust" mode. I'd like to do it by sending a code from the program, or call a sub that'll force on/off different I/o in the PLC side. As far as the tailstock...I do believe there is something that the pressure has to be met/set to allow the tail stock to be in position & then the CNC allowed to run a program. I'll try a section of Orvie's program and see what happens.

Well after I posted this I realized it prob should have been in the Machining, Tooling forum. Could a mod move it, please? I didn't see a option for me to move it.

So I have a few Okumas here. Have a couple of things I'd like to try but I'm stumped. So I figured this is the best place to ask. There is plenty of knowledge to draw from. All are on a LB4000 osp200 & osp300. 1. I'd like to somehow write to/ change the PLC status. Is that possible? 2. Anyone know where to buy offset tooling? Im trying to turn a 24" OD, the machine is stock at 18" or so. I'm looking to buy a 3" offset OD turn tool. 3. anyone know how to use the w-axis as a programmable axis. I pulled the tail stock off & have a Dorian gang tool setup I'd like to get working. 4. anyone interested in the above tailstock? have 2 to sell. Its the tailstock body/casting only - not the saddle bed where ball screw is mounted. The thing weighs 200# +. This is on a production machine so I do have some issues with being able to break in & test. That's why some of this is taking quite some tome to prove out. But any experience / suggestions would be awesome. Thanks in advance.