Ahoy! Need a US based tool shop and/or HPDC shop to quote smallish parts from aluminium. Two or three part numbers in batches of 1000. Will need to sign NDA and be able to provide some input into the final design to assist production. (I am not a casting guru). West coast preferred, but not too picky really. Send email to address in my profile. Bruce

Iscar do a new 6 sided insert feedmill. I used it on hardened cast stainless and it kicked arse. Bruce

It just needs to be a general warning in the help section and maybe at the bottom of the parameters page as well. I remember the first time a tool rep showed me a feed-mill and warned about using them on machines with ceramic bearings. They were worried that people trialling these tools would start blowing up spindles. In the case of peel milling though the tooling companies have no control over what you actually do with a tool so it is a software/MTB responsibility to officially make these things known once they arrise. I once saw in a user manual of an old VMC that these short repetitive moves should be avoided so maybe it is also mentioned somewhere in the huge volumes that seem to come with machines these days. Do it quick CNC and score some much needed points in the customer relations dept. Bruce

IMO any software or tooling company promoting this method should warn about this. Machine dealers also. Bruce

quote: I don’t quite understand the benefits of this cycle so any input would be appreciated. In parts where the slot is close to the tool as described, I have usually had better cycle times not peel milling and using a good carbide RMR designed for the material or a variable pitch end mill. Only time peel milling in a narrow slot was an advantage for me was in 6al4v Ti and the slot depth was 4 x width. 14mm slot 50mm deep. I know there are some specific machine/tool/material applications where peel milling for extended times may be ab advantage, but IMO too many people don't understand the pros and cons and use it because it is "new and cool". Bruce

Someone here posted a solution whereby a post mod would do the adjustment for you. Can't remember who or what though. Maybe they'll chime in. I don't know the geometry, but since 0.02" isn't much, is it possible to move the home position and just regen? With such a small change maybe clearances won't be affected?? Also if there are only a couple of views, you could probably do some calcs and adjust offsets accordingly at the machine. quote: I sure can’t wait till my new machine comes with dynamic fixture comp. Any MTB :cough: Haas :cough: that has a 5-axis line of machines and does not offer dynamic comp needs to go broke. IMO Bruce

quote: X+ is great to get you a tool list and a job operation list, however, it's not going to (and not intended to) give you setup information. Not 100% true. It won't give you extra views, but by using a manual entry at the beginning of the toolpaths group you are doing the setup sheet for you can add quite a large block of text to your setup sheet. Bruce

Personally for such light work I would make one up using a 4" or 6" Vertex rotary table as the main bit of kit. If you need a "cheap CNC" option, have a look at these: http://www.touchdex.com/index_e.html Bruce

A couple of questions: Are the rails lines and arcs, or splines? Did you try curve 5X? Have you tried using the surfaces with the new advanced 5X? Personally I prefer curve 5X when things get messy, but the geo on your parts should be straight forward. Bruce

Thanks fellas. I'll send a couple of emails later today. Steve, Mill turns with Y "can" do the job if needed to in low rate production, but the design has been done based on a multitasker with sub and lower. Bruce

bump

I was curious to know how I would go about finding a shop with a small barfed multitasking machine with sub spindle and lower turret. Gantry robot might work too. West coast preferred, but for the purposes of this exercise anywhere will do. Would I just look up the MTB's in an area and ask for some contacts?? Any ideas? Bruce

I have used them heaps with the WCS. I just had it doing a fixed clearance amount rather than return to plane, or whatever the button is. (no seat of MC anymore to check) Bruce

Create the surface you need and use flowline with the spiral option. Bruce

quote: Just start with the first job, go from there. T1, T2, T3, etc... and just keep adding. That way when you have a drill/tap/threadmill combo, they'll always be close by each other. NEVER re-use a tool number. T1 is ALWAYS this, T120 is ALWAYS that, etc... EVERY time I've tried to "organize" a magazine, it ALWAYS WITHOUT EXCEPTION becomes a cluster, and so rigid it becomes limiting. +10000000000000 Bruce

I recommend using Ultramon as well to configure how the monitors work. Bruce

Thanks for the replies. I was thinking more about how they were named for loading purposes rather than programming. I am fleshing out the requirements for a turn-key at the moment, but have not personally used one of these machines before and may not even be on the same continent if and when it is commissioned. On any tooling list I specify I need to say where and what each tool is doing. Simple example: I need a cnmg in the first station in the lower turning turret, a facemill in "pot 1" of the carousel, and in "pot 2" of the carousel I have a dual turning tool holder with a VNMG on one side and a parting blade in the other. Assume for a second that I only have one spindle so am only working from one direction. Ron, I am only vaguely familiar with the mazatrol lettering system, but without putting you to too much trouble any explanation of the above scenario would be great. Greg, Is that T010101 describing tool 1, offset 1, position 1? So my combo tool above would be T020201 for the VNMG and T020?0? for the part off using G13? On the lower the cnmg would be T0101 using G14. What about the milling tool? Is that still called with T1 in G13 and then the offset applied with G41 and G43 as standard? Sounds like these machines have a $hitload of offsets as standard. Am I on the right track? Bruce

MC can do it no problem. Just need to make sure the post is sorted is all. Bruce

Wow, that was quick. The one I saw was vertical and quite small though. I think it went down to 3/4" blade width. Now I know what I am looking for I might find it again. Bruce

I have seen somewhere in a catalogue a chainsaw type tool that was used in a CNC router for jointing. Sort of a right angle head on a 40 taper with the chain attachment added on. Anyone used one before and can point me to a supplier? thanks Bruce

Ahoy? In an integrex/macturn type machine, how are the tools numbered between main spindle and lower turret? Lets say I have one with a sub-spindle and lower turret. The lower turret has 12 tools on both sides and the upper milling turret has 80. To complicate things, a few of the upper "milling" ones are multi-function turning tools with multiple inserts used at 0,90,180,270 degrees. How does that work on paper if you are trying to lay out a tool list? thanks Bruce

quote: I also like the way it is supposed to work. Bruce

I am working on what might end up being a decent sized turnkey at the moment based on a multitasking lathe. MC is not on my list of software to recommend. Bruce

Thanks G, I have the demo loaded now and am having a play around. Bruce