I appreciate you guys' help, I think my brain has finally processed this especially with the examples cncappsjames provided and holding the part in my hand doing the rotations, it makes some sense now... maybe I can finally sleep tonight! 1st rotation I= Rotate part about machine Z axis (basically position face where it would be facing Z+ on the next rotation along X. 2nd rotation J= Rotate part along machine X axis (virtual because table tilts in Y, but looking at it as if the entire trunnion rotated about Z in the first move) 3rd rotation K- Rotate about machine Z axis again (rotate part and trunnion back to where it would be.) Not sure why i couldn't wrap my head around using B/C, but it was always easier in our Doosan because the A tilt axis rotates about X.. Only other question.. for cncappsjames... I see you are calling up G54.4 P1 before the G68.2..Our Mazak apps guy has talked us out of using that because we probe the part for C orientation and X/Y position and just use G54. He assured us that the machine would track any errors in positioning from COR when calling up the G68.2? is that correct? Kinda funny because they sold us that option but now tell us not to use it.... These parts have true position tolerance of .001/.002 on several rotated features and he told me I have to adjust the G68.2 X/Y/Z to compensate for the errors.

Yes and no.. What I guess I am looking for is if I position the part to a specific B/C position, what should the G68.2 I/J/K values be? especially confused at having to rotate the coordinate system around X when the table tilts along Y using euler... maybe the "dumbest" way is to use roll/pitch/yaw? Euler: B-90. C90. G68.2 X0 Y0 Z0 I__ J__ K__?? Roll/pitch/yaw: B-90 C90. G68.2 P1 X0 Y0 Z0 I0 J-90. K90. Correct? B-45. C120. I0 J-45. K120. Correct? In our other machine, table tilts along X, it's much easier for my brain to process.. A-90. C0. G68.2 X0 Y0 Z0 I0 J-90. K0 Easier to comprehend because we match the C to the I value, A position to the J value. Once again, thanks for the help.

Thanks for the info. Can you share your macro program for me to reference? variables would be different but it will give me a place to start. You can e-mail it, [email protected] Still looking for "tilted workplane explanation for dummies" Basically how to determine by B/C rotary position values what the I/J/K would be? Thanks again to everyone that has helped.

I appreciate the help, not sure why my brain can't completely absorb how it all works. I always like to look at the code and understand what it is doing before heading to the machine and want the easiest way for myself and others to understand what the machine will do. I see the mistakes with my code once you posted your example... What I posted is exactly how the Mazak apps guy wrote it... Now that has been changed since he couldn't get the code to run simulation in the machine so he changed it to use G68.2P3... like I said, he said it won't run with G54.2 because we probe the part?? We were explained that by probing each part, we could compensate for the "error" both in XY and C as we position the part so we purchased the G54.4 option to compensate for this.

We only probe the part when we mount it on the fixture, for C orientation (typically within ±1°) and then a bore for X0/Y0 work offset. i am confuse to the G68.2 and the different types I have seen it use in our programs. I was under the impression by using G54.2 dynamic work offset, as the part is rotated either in B or C, it would "track" the origin of the part regardless orf table orientation? keep in mind, all toolpaths are programmed from the same datum location on all sides of the part. We were also told to purchase the G54.4 option as this is the "newest" version of G54.2. G0 G54.1P1 X0.7 Y0.0 B-90.C90. G54.2 P1 X0.7 Y0.0 Z10. Z1.6265 M08 *MACHINE FEATURES* G0G53Z0 B-45. C180. X0.7 Y0.0 *MACHINE FEATURES* G0G53Z0 G54.2P0 Is that correct?

Hoping someone can shed some light on my brain-melting confusion of 5 axis programming... Machine is a Mazak VC-500. B axis table rotates about Y and C is Z. We run these parts in another 5 axis (Doosan, A is along X axis) using G68.2 coordinate rotation. I did not write the original program, so I am still trying to understand how the G68.2 is defined.. Due to some tight true position tolerance, we also probe each part when loaded on the fixture for X/Y pos. and rotational error in the C axis. Part is programmed from the common origin regardless of rotary position. Original code: A-90.C90. G68.2X0Y0Z0I90.J-90.K0 (A pos. is 90, why I90.?, C is 90 / why J-90. and not K90.?) G53.1 X0Y-.7 G43Z1.6265H06M8 When we bought the machine, we were told to program using G54.2 dynamic work offset and also sold the G54.4 WSEC option ($900.00) and we wouldn't need to use G68.2? The apps guy took our original Doosan program and modified it calling up G54.2 after positioning the rotary: G90G54G00G69 B-90.C90. G54.2 P1 X0.7000 Y-0.0000 Z10. Z1.6265 M08 Once he came in and assisted in getting this running, he changed the program to use a DIFFERENT style of G68.2 programming because he said it had to be that way because we probe the parts??G0B-90.C90. S2838M03 B-90.C90. G68.2 P3 Q1 X0 Y0 Z0 I0. J0. K1. G68.2 P3 Q2 I0. J-1. K0 G53.1 X0.7000 Y-0.0000 Z10. Z1.6265 M08 Once again, confusing me as the explanations I have found are confusing. if anyone can explain, it would be appreciated as I haven't yet found a complete description of the tilted workplane or if the part can be programmed using G54.2/G54.4 using the probing cycles. I have also seen talk about a macro to probe the part, calculate the difference from COR and populate the G54.2 or G54.4 but haven't seen a complete or proven example for the Mazak. Thanks in advance. If the simple way is to position the rotary, Call up G54.2 and program off the origin of the part, then that sounds like the most logical approach...