I think this is a great idea. It ridged enough as these kind of ops usually don't require heavy milling. On one of my mills I keep a 6" vise elevated on 3" blocks. I leave it there all the time at the expense of table space. I will consider buying one of these and freeing up that space for 2 additional vises on that mill.

The heat is a good sugestion. Another trick I use use to coat the Aluminum with a light oil to help avoid the shearing/galling of the aluminum during the press. I usually shhot for a .001 press.

If you use oil in your machine don't go the vulcanized rubber route. The oil will destroy the rubber.

Try one of the free PDF makers available online. I use Primo PDF. You can then save the setupsheets as an electronic file or print the out on paper. Maybe this will work for you.

I do as Jeff does as far as the depth. I go as far as the threadmill will allow and adjust. I pre taper the holes with a 2 degee endmill. This eliminates burrs at the top. But then I use a single flute thread mill for pipe threads and do it in one pass.

If there is no milling on the part then I use solid layout and save the geometry that I need as a file, translate it to where I need it, then program from there. If there is milling work on the part then I will position the solid to X0 Z0 for center. Then I still use solid layout and save the geometry that I need as a temp file and import it back in on a seperate level from my solid. The turning portion I use the imported geometry and the milling is done from the solid. This may not be the elite way of doing lathe but for me it is much quicker and less pissing around trying to chain a solid that has milling features.

^^^^^^ +1000 that is how I was taught to do it!

I use misc reals and integers to create a cutoff from the last operation. That way the program will slow the feed at the end. All I need to do is change the bar diameter and part length and stock to leave. Feed rate and speed usually remain the same but can be changed. I do the same for sub spindle transfer. Much easier for me.

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- flatness 0.001". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What Del said. Run away as fast as you can.

4th thread down from the top on this page.

Also of importance to me as to why I like subs is the fact that I can prove out the first part before I run several parts at once.

I created a program in Visual Basic that I use that takes an NC program and creates subs at tool changes so that if a particular tool uses several ops the subs don't bounce back and forth between parts. A tool completes its work on one part and then moves to the next. I had planned on marketing it but just don't have the time to move it that far.

If an inspection point is needed, I just hand code it in. Very rarely do I need to repost a lathe job like I would a mill job due to part changes, so I don't get all hung up on having Mastercam perfect for possible future changes. It would probably be different if I was posting to several different machines though.

Check your computer settings for the com port used. They may be overriding your Cimco settings.

I have had good results in 316 using a dwell in the cut. I had to hand code the program to make it work using a fast feed to location to not create surface hardening.