cnc mill help

trit187 · 05-19-2003, 08:49 PM

I'm new to this stuff, and I was wondering, I have access to a cnc mill that uses mastercam v9 software. What do I have to do to make a model that the mill can make, can It cut a block from a cad design? or what? the people who run the mill at my school don't know alot about it and can't really answer my questions, thanks for the help

chewyboy · 05-19-2003, 10:20 PM

from all the mills that i have used the mill itself does not use mastercam that is what produces the gcode for the mill to understand. but there is more to it than that, there is tooling and tool paths and a bunch of other items to go over before putting a block in and telling it to poop out a design.

trit187 · 05-19-2003, 10:25 PM

so baisiclly is noone there knows what they're doing I'm pretty screwed as far as getting it done that way

utabintarbo · 05-20-2003, 07:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by trit187
so baisiclly is noone there knows what they're doing I'm pretty screwed as far as getting it done that way

I think chewyboy pretty much summed it up. You need to determine more than just the software type to make a block.

Bob

jaydee · 05-20-2003, 02:36 PM

You need to know the mills capabilites such as what G-code it supports and what G-code it desn't support. If it doesn't support tool stops and you have a tool stop in the code bad things could happen. Find out what the make and model is of the mill and see if they have a manual to it and what software came with it.

Fixittt · 05-20-2003, 05:02 PM

Lets see if this can be simplifyed for ya. (overlook my spelling)

Mastercam is a cad/cam program. Its used for drawing the part you want. In this case, the block. Now that you have it drawn, and all the measurments work, You have to take the drawing and figure out how you are going to machine it. Tool path is exactly what it says, the path the cutting tool is going to take to remove unwanted material. Once all the tool path is caluclated and you are happ how its going to come out. It has to be converted to code that the actual machine can read. Not all code is the same mind you. The cad/cam program uses something called a post processor. This writes the code (G-Code) in the format that the machine can read. Once the G code is wirten and sent tot he CNC machines memory. You have to setup the cutting tools. You have to match your ZERO points that you setup in the drawing. So the machine has a reference point. It starts counting from this zero point.

FIX

trit187 · 05-23-2003, 06:33 PM

well after many hours of trying, I can't get the programs to interface, I can design something in mastercad but when I try to instruct the mill I get a nice error code I can't seem to get rid of
Although I can get it to "jog" and move it up/down, left, right back and forth and doing so made a block:-) I didn't have much time to do it, and ended up skipping one of my classes to finish it.. but oh well, I'll put up a post a little later after a take a few pics

CheeseBall · 05-23-2003, 07:57 PM

Quote:

I can't get the programs to interface

You mean you can't send the ".NC" (or ".NCI" I 'spose) file over the network to the mill? You COULD always type in the code by hand... lol.

Zymrgy · 05-24-2003, 12:54 AM

it is infinatly more complicated that just drawing the thing up in Mastercam. It does not automatically do your toolpaths. the speeds & feeds got to be set by someone who knows something about it. These things change by the type of machine you have, what kind of tooling, ect. Then you gotta chose the order of your cuts...ie what to cut first, what kind of tool to use, ect.

Supposing you got all that done, then the next step is to "post" your program, that is change it into a language that your machine can understand. One thing to consider is that each brand of CNC controller does not speak the same language. Each brand, weather it be a Fanuc or Yasnac or Siemmons has their own little quirks that must be adjusted for in the post-processor. After all that, there is the problem of actually sending the program you got into the machine. Now...believe it or not, modern machines really suck ass memory wise. 64k ( thats right, kilobytes ) or memory is typical. So unless you have some software that can "drip feed" the program you gotta stay under that limit.

So now lets say you got the program in the machine. You still have to set up the machine...that is find zero on the material, put all your tools in & relate them to the same heigth ( called tool length offset )

but it sounds to me like you are having probles in the post processor department right now. Find out what exact controller you have...make & model & I will see if I can scare up the proper post for you.

05-19-2003, 08:49 PM	#1
trit187 Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: shanghai, china Posts: 200	cnc mill help I'm new to this stuff, and I was wondering, I have access to a cnc mill that uses mastercam v9 software. What do I have to do to make a model that the mill can make, can It cut a block from a cad design? or what? the people who run the mill at my school don't know alot about it and can't really answer my questions, thanks for the help

05-20-2003, 05:02 PM	#6
Fixittt CNC Beyatch Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Tulsa Spell it backwards Posts: 721	Lets see if this can be simplifyed for ya. (overlook my spelling) Mastercam is a cad/cam program. Its used for drawing the part you want. In this case, the block. Now that you have it drawn, and all the measurments work, You have to take the drawing and figure out how you are going to machine it. Tool path is exactly what it says, the path the cutting tool is going to take to remove unwanted material. Once all the tool path is caluclated and you are happ how its going to come out. It has to be converted to code that the actual machine can read. Not all code is the same mind you. The cad/cam program uses something called a post processor. This writes the code (G-Code) in the format that the machine can read. Once the G code is wirten and sent tot he CNC machines memory. You have to setup the cutting tools. You have to match your ZERO points that you setup in the drawing. So the machine has a reference point. It starts counting from this zero point. FIX __________________ Creator of the Spir@l Block Longest post ever http://forums.procooling.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&postid=43808#post43808

05-19-2003, 10:20 PM	#2
chewyboy Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: us Posts: 75	from all the mills that i have used the mill itself does not use mastercam that is what produces the gcode for the mill to understand. but there is more to it than that, there is tooling and tool paths and a bunch of other items to go over before putting a block in and telling it to poop out a design.

05-19-2003, 10:25 PM	#3
trit187 Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: shanghai, china Posts: 200	so baisiclly is noone there knows what they're doing I'm pretty screwed as far as getting it done that way

05-20-2003, 02:36 PM	#5
jaydee Put up or Shut Up Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 6,506	You need to know the mills capabilites such as what G-code it supports and what G-code it desn't support. If it doesn't support tool stops and you have a tool stop in the code bad things could happen. Find out what the make and model is of the mill and see if they have a manual to it and what software came with it.

05-23-2003, 06:33 PM	#7
trit187 Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2003 Location: shanghai, china Posts: 200	well after many hours of trying, I can't get the programs to interface, I can design something in mastercad but when I try to instruct the mill I get a nice error code I can't seem to get rid of Although I can get it to "jog" and move it up/down, left, right back and forth and doing so made a block:-) I didn't have much time to do it, and ended up skipping one of my classes to finish it.. but oh well, I'll put up a post a little later after a take a few pics

05-24-2003, 12:54 AM	#9
Zymrgy Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: USA Posts: 96	it is infinatly more complicated that just drawing the thing up in Mastercam. It does not automatically do your toolpaths. the speeds & feeds got to be set by someone who knows something about it. These things change by the type of machine you have, what kind of tooling, ect. Then you gotta chose the order of your cuts...ie what to cut first, what kind of tool to use, ect. Supposing you got all that done, then the next step is to "post" your program, that is change it into a language that your machine can understand. One thing to consider is that each brand of CNC controller does not speak the same language. Each brand, weather it be a Fanuc or Yasnac or Siemmons has their own little quirks that must be adjusted for in the post-processor. After all that, there is the problem of actually sending the program you got into the machine. Now...believe it or not, modern machines really suck ass memory wise. 64k ( thats right, kilobytes ) or memory is typical. So unless you have some software that can "drip feed" the program you gotta stay under that limit. So now lets say you got the program in the machine. You still have to set up the machine...that is find zero on the material, put all your tools in & relate them to the same heigth ( called tool length offset ) but it sounds to me like you are having probles in the post processor department right now. Find out what exact controller you have...make & model & I will see if I can scare up the proper post for you.

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