Messages

1

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 05:40:56 PM »

Sorry, was typing syil and accidentally hit post on my phone. Anyways, if you watch the video on their website you will see what I'm trying to do. Is there a sample of this swapaxis ( ) macro I could forward to the company I have generate post for camworks?

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 05:37:43 PM »

We manufacture carbide preforms. I
 Add +.030" to all diameters of my parts and the customer hard grinds them to finish size. I'm not at all worried about +-.003". We do this for furnace shrinkage and warpage. I will be using a ½" end mill to do the cutting. When we machine these tools they are in the "green" state. Similar to chalk consistency. If you watch the video on stilts

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 02:00:51 PM »

No modifications have been made to the machine at the present time other than they had me tune the motors differently. Attached is a photo of it.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 10:35:24 AM »

I cant find anything in the manual I have about the rotary Axis. I have had it do cylindrical grinding but it does it in 3° increments and the machine in my opinion isn't real smooth going between that many lines of code. I would like it to function more like a lathe and just turn on the rotary, then follow the x y & z linear moves.

5

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 10:31:25 AM »

I want to grind these diameters along the X axis having the rotary free winding at a certain rpm while the main spindle is running at 2000rpm. I will use a ½" crystallume endmill to cut on top center of the part and follow the tool profile in an X & Z motion. Same as the video shows.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 10:20:00 AM »

I only need the 4th axis to rotate roughly 120rpm. The spindle should be a servo because it can operate at over 4000 rpm.

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Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 10:18:39 AM »

Thanks Rich. I really do appreciate the help. Did you watch the youtube video I originally posted? It is on Syils website actually. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvKovZJn52Y This is basically what I want to be able to do. As of right now I'm not concerned with the caming action but if I could get one of these little machines to cylindrical grind then mill flats and such in an indexable fashion it could be huge for us. As of now we use $100,000-$500,000 machines. Again, This is just a test bed to see if we couldn't buy them, leave them set up and potentially just throw away when wore out.

8

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 10:10:37 AM »

We have a Syil X5combo with the 4th axis add-on. We purchased one of these little guys as a test bed to see if couldn't handle our environment . It sat in one of our facilities in Farmington MI for almost a year and was never used. We had it delivered up to our facility in Northern MI and it sat here for another 6 months before I got sick of looking at it not running. I took it upon myself to utilize this machine. When I initially hooked it up the PC was bad. kept freezing up the machine. I replaced that and it seems to be working. Then the thing wasn't moving correctly in odd spots of programs. Come to find out the tuning was wrong on it. I since tuned it and it seems to be holding its coordinates. I'm not sure on the stepper or the servo motor. Cant seem to find it in the manual.

9

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 22, 2016, 07:43:40 AM »

Thanks Bob, I am well aware of my basic G-Code. I have been programming 4 & 5 axis machines for over ten years. What I am trying to achieve is not just one simple cylindrical shape. I machine carbide preformed cutting tools from the green state and then sinter them into the carbide you may know of. It is all custom stuff. I am dealing with multiple Step diameters. I am trying to get this machine to act like a turning center were I take an endmill down to size and let the rotary act as the chuck in a lathe. I'll then have the table work in the X & Z directions. I don't know anything about scripting or macros. My camworks reseller will develop a post processor for me to do this but he is asking for some sample code. only thing I am getting from this forum is about some swap axis macro. Where is it? can I get a copy of it? once I get these details I'll go back to them and have a post developed.

10

Mach4 General Discussion / Re: A axis acting as a spindle then toggle back to a rotary.

« on: November 21, 2016, 07:43:20 AM »

I really appreciate your help Rich! I dont know a whole lot about scripting and macros. I know G-Code. I haven't been a CNC programmer in many many years. I do all of our Solidworks Designing here but I am still involved in our technological advancements and R&D. I am hoping with the right people someone would be able to give me a copy of this macro and point me in the right direction. I can get this little 4Axis machine to cylindrical grind however The code would be much shorter and easier to use. As is now is seems the Aaxis isn't real smooth between lines of code. It gets more pauses that I think it should. I'm not sure it the backlash is set to tight or the tuning of the axis is off. Again, Thanks for any help. It