Thank you very much you kind sir.

 

Are those accurate from your experience stand point? I just posted a 750K line code and 3 hours seem kind of little. Hmm, I guess I'm going to find out.

I haven't seen either of my machines be accurate to the backplot time over programs longer than about 20 minutes, but it's entirely possible I don't have something in Mcam set up quite right.

Is this for real?....not on the Mastercam website yet...

personally, I suggest waiting for it to hit the website

It has to be the 63 series. It's the only Onsrud that works for Aluminum.

I have no idea what the brand I have actually is I guess, just a loose cutter that's laying in the drawer. I'm guessing the ones from McMaster-Carr that are "router bits for aluminum" (McMaster) would probably be the Onsrud cutters, or similar.

What's the horsepower of your router?

I think we've got a 5 horsepower spindle on there at the moment. It had originally shipped with a 10, but that went down a couple weeks ago so the tech came out last week and temporarily swapped it out with the 5.

Onsrud 63 Series router bits. I've tried them all in many years of CNC Router cutting Aluminum and nothing beat it, hands down!https://www.google.com/search?gcx=c&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=onsrud+63-625

I'll take a look at those (again). I think I have a 1/4" onsrud o-flute cutter sitting in my tool drawer, and I know I'd looked into Onsrud cutters previously.

Is the router a 3-axis or 5-axis machine? I believe that most routers are not rigid enough to allow you to machine aluminum. We have Thermwoods here and have never had success with aluminum. They're ok for Renshape or wood, though.

 

Also, I have better luck with 3 flute cutters when I'm machining aluminum.

3-axis. The tech for the machine was here last week doing some repairs and he told me people have had plenty of success machining aluminum on their machines, but I neglected to ask him about surface finish or overall quality. I'm expecting an email from him later this week, so I'll have to ask him then. I'd imagine the way you hold the piece down would have a big impact on the quality as well, and I just held it down with toe clamps for a quick test.

Neurosis,

 

When 'selecting the toolpath' on the screen, what would you want Mastercam to do? Select that particular operation in the Ops Manager? Would you expect the Ops Manager to de-select all other toolpaths, and only select that one?

 

Give me an idea of what you would like to happen. We are still working on enhancements for X7, and I may be able to get this one in...

I would think he means something like if you select a toolpath on the screen/part, then it would highlight the toolpath in the ops manager. I'm thinking similar to the way that in an assembly in SolidWorks, if you click on a part, it highlights that part in the feature tree.

Of course, he could be thinking something totally different, but that's what makes sense to me

I would try dynamic milling with a full depth cut at 15% step over max. Try the slowest speed on the router. Every time I see one running 20K rpm, I cringe at how much vibration they produce. I'd say keep the chip load at .0005 to start. Assuming you can do around 8K rpm, that would be 8 in/min with a 2 flt end mill. I bet that's the problem. Also make sure your tool is in there nice and short. How long is the end mill? Try to have it stick out only .25", if the flutes are crazy long buy the shortest one you can that will get the job done. Perhaps post a pic of your setup.

 

Also, filter the code to make sure it has as few steps as possible. Also make sure the control is in constant cutting mode and not stop mode.

I don't think I can go much less than about 12k.

The endmill I was using is relatively long, probably 3/4" flutes or so, although I tried multiple cutters.

I'll have to check on those settings on the control. I think better geometry might help too, since there's quite a few segments in the quick sample piece I wanted to cut.

Who cares, it's almost Christmas month, time for cruise control I'll update in January.....if it's ready that is.

cruise control nothing, this is our busiest time of the year!

Did you use any oil or mist coolant?

Yeah, I've got a mister setup

I'm trying to get into using our CNC router to compliment our mill a bit, so I tried actually machining some 6061 aluminum with it today and the finish didn't come out nearly as nice as I'd like. There seemed to be a lot of tooling marks on the floor of a pocket, and a heck of a lot of chatter on the walls. I tried multiple 1/8" cutters, a single flute straight, a two flute helix, and a four flute helix endmill and they all came out with similar results. I tried doing a parallel spiral-clean corners as well as dynamic milling. They all seemed to have quite a bit of chatter, which in part I assume is from the router not being nearly as rigid as something like a VMC.

I was running the machine at 20k RPM, and had it set for 200ipm but I know it doesn't get anywhere near that since it takes a little distance for the machine to ramp up to that feed. I'm sure part of it comes down to getting feeds and cut depths right, but I tried multiple ways, from 0.150" deep to 0.020" deep, with a 10% stepover and using a 2D contour as like a 0.005" finish cut on the wall which didn't make much of a difference.

Does anyone have any recommendations for machining blocks of aluminum on a router like this and getting a decent finish? Tooling, feeds, fixturing, I'll take any advice I can get.

Thanks in advance!

I have a cutting mat, rotary cutter and templates. So, I don't know for sure what you are asking about here goes. When quilting there are many tools to use for quilting blocks. First you need the cutting mat. Mine is self healing. I have a optima 24 inch ruler that I use, add a quarter ruler. Then I have several templates that I use for cutting certain blocks: triangles, squares from 4 1/2 up to 16 1/2. You can go to any quilt store in your area as well as Joann's to see what I am talking about. I also recommend the Martelli rotary cutter it is great for people who have problems like carpal tunnel or arthritis. You can get it for a left hander or right handed person. Very comfortable to use. I switch this year and wouldn't use anything else. You can order the rotary cutter from Martelli online or ask at the local quilting store. Joann's does not carry this item. Most quilt shops have a web site to go to but it will cost less to go to the store (shipping charges can be more than the item you are ordering). Also look on the web for a sewing expo in your area through you civic center or expo center (whatever they are called). I get my best deals from the sewing expo in my area every year. Lastly check out craft fairs for local quilters if you cannot find a quilt store nearby they can tell you where.

Well I have the handheld rotary cutter, but I need one that mounts into my CNC router's tangential knife system.

I'm planning to ask a tech when he comes later this week as the company we ordered the machine from shows them on their website, but has always told me they don't make the holders yet...stupid. I've just been putting a masking material down on top of the fabric, applying vacuum, and cutting with a drag knife through that masking material. Works extremely well.

ooo, we should get one. Run it through our network and anyone can watch the machine run, not to mention good videos on our site. We'd probably put an HD camera in there though lol

Would this be something like what you are looking for?

 

onsrud

It's a similar idea, and would probably work. We ended up ordering the one in the picture. Hopefully I can design a holder for it, and if nothing else, get similar blades made at a tool shop here in town.

Does anyone know where I can find a pizza wheel style blade that's fairly heavy duty and would work well on a CNC router knife system? We don't have a holder for one, nor can we find one anywhere, but if we had a blade supplier we might be able to make our own holder.

Something similar to this would be awesome:

well, SP5.0 is still Early Visibility I think, but it shouldn't make a difference if it's 5.0 or 1.0. Especially if X5 can open 2012 pre-release files.

Odd. I'm on X5 MU1, and SW2011 SP5.0, and I have no problems opening a solidworks file in MCam.

Heck, X5 even seems to open SW2012 files just fine, which is a bit unexpected. Maybe because 2012 is still in pre-release?

I'll have to take a look at that. I know darn well we're not pushing our tools/mill nearly as hard as they could be. Something tells me we could cut our production times in half if we pushed them at all. I don't think there's a single tool we run at more than 60ipm--except on the router, where I regularly hit 600ipm with the kinves

I believe there's only the regeneration/calculation of certain toolpaths that use multiple cores. The rest of the program is entirely single core.

You had the answer all along.

Hey now, it's all we've got! And it's a good little machine for the work we do

Hi Marshal.

 

Check runout of the stylus. It should not be more than .0002 TIR. There should be four screws (spaced at 90 degrees) at the top of the probe body that will allow you to push the probe body around on the probe shank (similar to a Buck chuck on a lathe). Remember to back off the opposite screw before trying to push the body in that direction!

 

Where I worked previously, my department got the first machine (HAAS horizontal) with a probing system. No one in the company had any experience with probing, so I was on my own. I found out quickly that you need to check it regularly, especially when the night shift fellow breaks a stylus and replaces it without notifying you!

 

When calibrated properly, it worked great! I used it regularly for setup and in-process fixture offset setting. Out of calibration and you are asking for trouble.

 

On the HAAS system you need to calibrate several aspects of the probing system. First, check runout and adjust as described above. Next, calibrate diameter using a gage ring. Next, calibrate the length. That should do it.

 

I hope this helps.

 

 

Bob

Yup, I checked the runout and saw how bad it was, fixed that. Now the probe is calibrated as close enough for the work we do. We don't have a night shift, or even a second shift, so if it breaks, it's either me or our normal machinist that breaks it, and I know when that happens. At least now I know how I need to calibrate it though, and it should make him happy that I checked it and got it set up properly for him to use however the heck he wants.

Thanks for the tips.

IMNSHO.....probes are quick & dirty. I use them for roughing ops but when finishing a mold insert I have a .00005 B&S indicator and NO, thats not a typo its 4 zero's and a 5. It's only got .004 total travel

And we calibrate the probes daily FWIW

Well, for 99.999% of the stuff we do, we've only got to be within a couple thousandths, nothing particularly critical (yet). I've got the probe calibrated to within X0.0004, Y.0001, and Z0.0004, based off an indicator and a few trials, so I think that's more than close enough for what we do. Heck, when it did the ring gauge diameter I ended up with 2.00009 on a 2" ring gauge. Close enough for the celebrities we make crap for

I appreciate all the help and suggestions.

First, the machine should be tested for backlash and calibrated. Also check for tram, the Z axis must be square to the X-Y plane in both directions. You would be surprised how far off that can be. For real precision, calibrate the probe on a bored hole in the fixture every time it's changed into the spindle.

Oh I have no doubt the machine itself is off a bit, but for the vast majority of work we do that's ok. I just wanted to experiment with the probe and learn some new things with it to see what it's capable of, and figure out what more we can do with it in our limited field.

DON'T calibrate the XY offset on the ring gage, even if you're confident that you've indicated it precisely.

 

Mill a 1 inch square boss on the top of a good chunk of material. Calibrate the XY offset on it immediately after.

 

Once you've got the XY offset calibrated, THEN calibrate the stylus diameter on your ring gage.

Really? Even though the manually explicitly says to calibrate it off the ring gauge?

NO need to feel that way. If you've never done it, you've never done it. You're not even sure what to look for. On the control side of your machine I know nothing, but the mechanical side, I can give youa few pointers....

 

There shoudl be 4 screws around the holder (not the probe body), break them all loose. Get a .0001" indicator, get the probe tip centerd on the ball in X/Y and Z with one of the screws in line with the indicator. Zero out the dial on your indicator. Spin the probe 180. tighten the screws a little getting it to 1/2 the amount of runout. Spin and repeat until you get it to better than .0003. Use 2 allen wrenches when tightening because you may have to tighten one and loosen the opposite one.

 

It took me about an hour the first time I ever did it, but nobody ever told me what to do.

 

HTH

Thanks for the pointers. I figured that part out from the manual. The calibration cycle completed and the numbers look a LOT better. Tried to check the ring gauge and now the damn battery is low! One thing after another lol

Have you checked Renishaw?

many times, and I've read through the manual a half a dozen times. I think I've figured it out now though, we'll see in a few minutes.