I see what you mean Jim. Thanks for the explanation.

I'll take a look and see if there is any referances to G7 and axist limits in the post. Could be that it was never configured properly. Thanks.

BTW, The post I'm using is from Cimco. Seems to do the job.

Not too bad actually. The parts re position themselves pretty well using high quality aerospace grade flat head socket head screws. Fancy machines? Yes but we have many different parts beside these that will keep them busy. May add a horizontal to the cell later on. Depends on how busy we get. How do I counter sink? With just counter sink thats all. Do you have issues with countersinking?

Hi Jim, I'm actually not using any swarf cuts in this program, The edges are ruled so I just position and cut. When you say there is a working envelope in G7? How do you determine that before hand? This is what I'm trying to get Vericut to do. CGTech is looking into it for me. One would think that a software like Vericut could do that.

mkd, This is 1 of 8 different extension panels that I have to do. These are development parts that will go to production this year. What material are your parts made of? These are near net molded composite parts. All I have to do is trim and put in fastener and nut plate holes. 2 setups since the machine is not big enough. We are getting quotes on production machines now and it looks like the Mazak I7000 with paletec or Mori Seiki NMV8000 with a palette system will be the two we choose from. Yes these are fun parts. I designed the fixtures for machining and the CMM plus programmed them. Having a blast!

Thought I attached a picture. I'll try again.

We are on maintenance thankfully. Here is a screen shot of the issue I'm having. The edge profiles are angled sort of like a knife edge Not perpendicular to the surface contour.This causes the rotary axis's to bring the edges normal to the spindle so I can use the side of the end mill to cut them. Also, all the fastener holes are locally normal to the surface so the machine needs to position normal to spindle for drilling and countersinking. I thought about custom dove tail cutters for machining the edges. This would reduce the angle positions which would buy back some of the travel I'm losing but I still have to drill the holes so that idea doesn't help.

Well I contacted Vericut and they are working on it. Seems the travel limits in Vericut are set but not being adjusted in G7 mode. I have a feeling this is gonne get expensive.

Thank you! I understand the Kinematics but added that comment to try and make it more clear to anyone reading the message. Thanks again.

This might be a better question for CGTech but I thought I would start here first. In G7 mode (3 + 2) Vericut runs without fail but the machine alarms because of travel limits. My guess is that G7 is not supported in Vericut. The feature I'm cutting is an edge profile that has both rotary axis's positioned so that the cut actually looks like it's almost along the "Y" axis of the machine but the control only shows the "X" axis moving. I checked all the settings in Vericut as far as travel limits go and they seem to be set right. Has anyone else ever experianced this? This part has to be done in 2 ops now when it was actually quoted to be 1 setup and 1 op. Doh!

Had Breton and CMS in today to discuss their machine tools. Nice stuff! Definitely more than CNC Routers for sure.

Thanks Tyler.

Can Robots hold the same or better tolerances than CNC's ?

Thanks for the reply Buddy. I have CMS coming in next week to visit our facility. I have to admit this is going to be a tough decision making process. I'm somewhat torn between traditional metal cutting machinery and these router/machining centers. On one hand I want the larger format 5 Axis to grow into and on the other hand I know our parts will never get bigger than 24" x 27" and a Mazak or Mori in the right configuration will be more muscle than I'll ever need. Currently we are using a Deckel Maho DMU 70 and it's not large enough for some of our parts. One part in particular is only 20" x 12" but the angle features on the part when presented to the spindle throw the part out of the travels of the machine. I hate the table/table config on that machine. Plus the break down all the time. Well I'm rambling on and haven't even had my coffee yet. BTW, COBHAM Defense? You guys have a facility close to where I work I believe. See ya!

Thanks! Next week I have two sales reps coming in. Breton and CMS. I will be contacting Thermwood soon as well as afew others. C.R. Onsrud, Quintax, and DMS.

Yes I've seen that and it's pretty cool!

Thanks guys for all the info. I've got 3 or 4 to pick from now.

X7 is the version is the version I'm using. MU1 Beta? Hopefully this will be released soon.

It used to work in X5. See attached pic.

Jay, Our largest composite press that will be feeding the router has a 27" X 24" platen. We would need a minimum of that to machine our parts. Thanks for your input.

Thanks. When I worked at Boeing back in the 90's they had a bunch of 3 Axis Thermwoods for sheet metal machining. I didn't program those but never heard a bad thing about them.

Thanks for the link! Any experience with DMS?

We are looking to purchase a machine that will suit or needs in our aero composite production department. The majority of the parts are molded near net shape and we will be mostly require trimming and fastener holes. I'm thinking that a CNC router would probably be our best bet. Any suggestions? Our largest parts will be in the 30" x 30" x 12" range. Thanks in advance! Paul

Thanks guys. Our dealer Prism Engineering is working on this. Thanks again!