Well we could either go with everything relative to the exact center of the Earth, or the exact center of the sun. However; both of those are only relative to our Solar system. We COULD map the entire universe and demand all cad models be relative in space to the exact center point of the universe. I'm pretty sure that's the one he's mentioning as regards to a "true" wcs

You need to export/Inport your "customize" settings, while you have the drop downs/right mouse button menu open I believe. That being said, it never really works quite right for me so I end up re-making it every time I re-install/upgrade

So, I'm going to be Machining a 4.3 Lb Foam core by DIAB. I've machined these parts once before using an 8 fluted carbide cutter (that I regularly use for composites milling, complete overkill for this.) I got a bit of melting/tearaway on the finish of my core. Looking around the internet I only seem to see brochures/advertisements for this stuff, and not any reccomendation on what to use to cut it. I'm going to be facing, as well as cutting strips/pieces out of this material about .438" thick, in 5 axis with a 5 degree draft to prevent jig-lock. Basically what I'm asking for is a reccomendation for a cutter to use to machine this material, as well as maybe a feed/speed suggestion (Max IPM on my machine is 250 IPM, 20,000RPM

Mark, do you work at PPG Aerospace? I think I've done some work for you

Interesting. I've only worked in 2 places so my experience is much much more limited. I was told at my first job by a boeing engineer that it was like a sacriligious sin to move models out of airplane coords, and they act pretty much the same way in my current shop. I wonder what the difference in attitude is coming from

Yeah, I guess I'm just used to it since I've always been doing it (Outside of my first month on the job or so.) So it's not as big of a deal for me. It sure looks nice not having to work around that though =P

I'm pretty sure it has something to do with compatibility between contacts. So if I'm working on something and wanted to send off my changes for someone to compare to, the two parts would be in the exact same spot. (Also, for aerospace we call it "Airplane Co-Ordinates" Because if you were to merge all the files for a specific project, they fit exactly where they are on the plane. Actually looks pretty cool when I merge all my files into one mega-file and I have a huge airplane!)

Learned a few things from that video, thanks for makin' it J! However, in the Aerospace Industry, it's HIGHLY frowned upon to move actual parts. So for me, no matter the orientation of the part I cannot move it, or change it's location in space in any way whatsoever. Is this not a standard practice in most fields? I notice you transforming/moving the part quite often (I'm going to use some of these tricks for simply moving my toolpath geometry however.)

Talk to NilsN. He has a Quintax Router that is about 12 years old, and uses a F@gor controller. I learned on that machine, however I didn't mess with the post much. We exclusively used MasterCAM On it. And I know he runs that machine now.

Honestly I find that the machine simulations don't take those into account. You would need to look through your Gcode to see if the code is actually calling out for it because you might never see it in the simulation.

Had to clean up the solid since I don't have solids, converted to surfaces, created drafting, went to front view. Broke drafting into lines, projected lines onto inside surface of ring. Selected just lines and transformed them to be slightly in front of the ring so you could actually see them. You're talking something like this ya? Ended up looking like so. RING.MCX-7

I don't have X6 but I tried out your paths on X7, OP1 = about 2-3 seconds OP2 = About 3 Minutes Both seemed to work fine though. I changed the total tolerance on OP2 from .0005 to .001 and it reduced my time down to about 20 seconds

Yeah it is a carousel tool changer. I'll be giving them a call tomorrow to hopefully solve this. We thought maybe it was the sensors on the servo bar for the A Axis but after messing with those we've learned that we just don't know what we're doing, best to leave it to the advice of pro's tomorrow morning. I'll update y'all with what I find out

It is a DMS. I'll look in the DMS manuals

So We recently had a machine problem here with the hydraulic cylinder on the Z Axis. We got that problem solved but now anytime we try to change tools with our automatic tool-changer (A Axis). When we command to change tools, the controller pops up with error message "CNC: 3864 Tool magazine in emergency" At this point we've checked: air pressure Reference searched tool changer axis any signs of stutter or stoppage on the tool changer restarted machine. I've searched the internet for my error code, but it doesn't exist. not even in any of the xxxxor manuals. Really need to get this machine up and running pronto so any ideas or suggestions, i'm glad to try out. Here's a photo of the error code.

I'm cutting some Nomex Honeycomb Core, went out and bought one of their 75CH-6 Line cutters. .750" Diameter, 3" Length of Cut, 6" Overall Length. any Experience with these in Nomex? What types of finish surface can we expect on a flat surface using the bottom of the cutter, or on a horizontal wall using the profile of the tool?

I gladly welcome your programming suggestions, however that would not work for my current situation. I'm looking to have it go through the subroutine every time, to verify that the #'s are correct. We run on a 10x15 foot machine, therefore things move, and offset values change within a half-an-hour. I'm also not on a Fanuc, I'm on a F@gor. Are the two controllers very similar? I've only ever programmed or used F@gor controllers Please keep the insults/fights/i'm better than 97% of you out of this thead if you could. I'm not looking for a de-railment here, just trying to figure something out thanks =]

Hmm. Perhaps I should clarify a little bit then. Currently my setup sheets say "X0,Y0 At Center of bushing. Z0 at Table Height" Operator uses Coax center-finder to find center of bushing. Takes tool out of spindle, uses 1,2,3 block to determine Z Height where Z0 Is the spindle nose touching the table. Input all of these numbers into the work Offset Table under G56 to which all of my programs are programmed. He then goes with all of his tools in the carousel and types "M101, Cycle-Start" And the machine goes to the automatic tool-setter, touches off on the tool, records tool length. Rinse and repeat through all tools. M101, M102, M103, M104 etc. My Code looks like this What I WANT to do is put into my code something like So that I take all of that human error of measuring Z0 off the table out of the hands of our operators.

So, I don't use much automation or even canned cylces within my controller or programs. However we've had an issue lately with operators not properly gauging the height of the work offset we're using. (usually it's just the height of the machine table.) I'm looking to automate this, using an auto-matic tool setter and wondering what types of things I should be reading into. We use a F@gor 8055 controller on a 5 axis DMI Router from 1999. My Main concern is, when I set the work offset system to the tool-setter, how can I program an adjustment into that? some of our older programs instead of using the table height as Z0 for our Offset, instead use the "Center" of a construction ball on the fixture which would be an exact 1.5" Off of the height of the table. Essentially I'm looking to add into the existing code files some sort of command to have it use the automatic tool setter, to measure spindle height in G56, add 1.5" to the height and automatically record that as Z0 for the G56 offset. Is this possible? If so, where should I start looking to find the resources to do this?

Haha, you don't know where you are!

Haha I've been doing this 2 years now. I think I could out-program.......0.001% of you all! TAKE THAT! (Oh, and only on 5 axis routers..)

Looking at this one, I realize that some of my other parameters are at the extreme as well, thanks for the info!

MM Thanks, I think I found the parameter just searching through the machine. Each Axis individually has a parameter (I think it was P38, not 100%) that said "G00FEEDRATE" Some of my axis were at 15,000 IPM Feedrate...That explains a lot.

I'm trying to figure out what parameter to change on our xxxxor 8055 Controller to modify the maximum rapid feedrate. Currently it's too fast for us, and occasionally when it G0 Rapids, it will move too fast and throw an axis error from the sudden movement. I've found this PDF, but can't seem to find out where it says what the command is to change the G0 Feedrate http://www.xxxxorautomation.com/downloads/manuales/en/man_8055t_prg.pdf

Yep. Just walked out and helped our inspector do exactly this with the surface I made this post about. Worked perfectly.