Hey,

I am trying to generate gcode for Mach3 that can do 3+2 drilling in different workplanes using Powermill and PM Post.  Getting PM Post to actually produce code to do this was tricky enough for me but for some reason it doesn't do it properly.  I can drill in the XY plane no problem, but for some reason when it positions itself to drill in the YZ plane it actually just drills down into XY plane again. 

Does anyone know of a way to create a subroutine of gcodes that can manipulate the workplanes and allow me to drill in them?

Regards,

Tyler 

UNless your spindle is an axis that tilts, 5th or 6th axis then I don't understand your question.

Z is normally 90deg to x and Y in the vertical planes so it can only drill into the xy planes

Just a thought, (;-) TP

Hey,

I do have a 5 Axis machine, but I was able to solve my problem by writing a script file for PM Post that uses a couple simple gcode commands. 

Tyler

I have a new problem now that is along the same lines so I won't bother making a new thread. 

When the machine moves to drill negatively in the YZ plane, by that I mean with the spindle pointed away from the x origin and parallel to the x axis, I get an error in Mach saying " R less than x in the yz plane".  This error pops up because my machine needs to retract negatively towards the origin which results in the R value being less than the "drill to" position, in this case X.

I would like to know if there is any way of overriding it because it's stopping me from drilling on that side of my model.  The same problem arises when attempting to drill negatively in the XZ plane.

I realize that I could just move the block itself, but would rather not because the program would then be subjected to positioning errors.

TIA,

Tyler

Tyler not seeing a drawing and in part am guessing (;-)

IF you are using a rotary axis to base the drilling from then the G16 is not a good choice. The g16 was based to do radial polar calculations on linear axis such as xy. When you try that approach on a rotary spindle axis thing can get complicated in a hurry as you have found out with clearances. Your CAM should be able to calulate the radials and offsetting using the spindle rotary axis.

(;-) TP

Yeah, see thats my problem, thanks for the timely response by the way .  My CAM does calculate the radials correctly and can position my spindle horizontally on the side of my block, but for some reason the offsets that it calculates for drilling are in the Z direction no matter whether the hole is verticle or horizontal.  This is a problem because I would like to drill along the y or the x.  I don't know how to get PM Post to calculate the offsets on its own and I'm not getting any help on the Delcam support forum. 

So, I was able to write a script in PM Post that forces the calculation of offsets in the x and y and calls the gcodes G19 and G18 respectively, depending on what plane I want to drill in.  I had looked into the G16, but realized it was of no use because I needed to work in the yz and xz as well as they xy.  This works perfectly fine in Mach for when I drill  in the xy plane and positively ( with the spindle horizontal and pointing towards the origin) in the xz and yz planes.  Its when it tries to drill negatively (drill away from the origin) in the yz and xz planes that I get the error that my R is less than x.

What I have done now, and it seems to be working, is that I have calculated the R value to be a 0.005 bigger than my x (or y) during my drilling cycle, which seems to satisfy that error.  Then, what I have done is that at the end of my canned cycle, but after the G80 command, it outputs a code to move it to the safe R point by giving it a G1 command. 

Sorry for the book, but I figured it needed a little closure   I'll be sure to post again if something else comes up.

Regards,

Tyler

GOOD job on the workaround (;-)

(;-)TP

Tyler,
Thanks for Closure ;-)
I'm trying in 5 axis programming for drilling cycle to machine number of holes axial to spherical surface using 3+2 in Futurecam and mach3 controlled machine b axis is tilting spindle config.
Have trouble to configure post processor too, would you be so kind and let me see your post script?
Kind regards
Ilia