Now I know this is boring but please try to keep focused it gets exciting soon honestly.
If you are loosing the will to live already then off you go, this video is amazing.
I know it’s only two of us now but I will carry on. I wrote this article a bit back about macro for the over 18’s.
When you start to write serious macros you need to write alarms to protect the operator just in case he types in bollocks instead of an R number or some such thing. I told you all about this in another article.
Anyway there is also a thing I call tidying up after yourself. This is not like when you cook a meal and your ungrateful boyfriend expects you to tidy up the kitchen just because it looks like a post war bomb site.
I made cheese on toast and I must say it tasted great. Cooking’s got to be easier than this G Code shit.
Simple G Code Cheese On Toast
Ingredients and Tools
Cheese
Toast
Blow torch
Method:
Melt cheese onto toast with a blow torch Always Wash Your Hands Before Cooking (especially if you just took a shit)
Tidy Up Your Mom Does Not work Here
I honestly thought all baths were self cleaning till I moved in with my girlfriend.
What this is about is putting things back as they were. So the G Codes that were in use before going into your macro need to be restored before coming back out of the macro.
For example most machines when you issue an M6 command jump into a macro programme. See this article
The macro programme might look something like this.
09101 (TOOL CHANGE MACRO) G80G40G49 (CANCEL ACTIVE G CODE) M9 (COOLANT OFF) G28 G91 Z0 (SEND TOOL BACK TO ZERO) M19 (SPINDLE ORIENTATION) M6 (TOOL CHANGE) M99
What this macro actually does is all the crap you can’t be arsed with.
In your main programme you would have to do all this every time you want a tool change. You don’t see any of this because the programme is not visible. The M6 aliases programme 9101.
The machine knows you are too fuckin thick to understand it so it hides it away.
But Not Anymore
So when you programme M6 you get programme 9101 running behind the scenes.
So as I said your an advanced G Code programmer now so I expect a bit more from you. “What me” you say. “Yes you” I saw it on your CV”.
Oh and you just swapped the control into G91 in the macro above (you naughty boy)
So for example if the machines was in rapid G0 and absolute G90 the guy who called the tool-change will expect it to stay that way.
G28 G91 Z0 (THE EVIDENCE)
So when the control comes out of your tool change macro it’s in G91, not good.
This could easily cause a collision. You say “ah but the programmer should use G90 when he states the first position”.
Right, We Need To Talk
As I said you are an adult now and in the adult world of Macro programming you tidy up and you take responsibility for the G codes you change.
I’ll be honest with you now, lots of people who should know better don’t do this. A good example are probing macros.
Anyway what shall we do about it?
We Do This
09101(TOOL CHANGE MACRO) #1=#4001 (STORES ACTIVE G CODE IN GROUP 1) (G0 1 G2 G3)
#3=#4003 (STORES ACTIVE G CODE IN GROUP 3) (G90 G91)
#14=#4014 (STORES ACTIVE G CODE IN GROUP 14) (G54 G55 G56 G57 G58 G59)
G80G40G49 (CANCEL EVERYTHING) M9 (COOLANT OFF) G28 G91 Z0 (SEND TOOL BACK TO ZERO) M19 (SPINDLE ORIENTATION) M6
G#1 G#3 G#14 (RESTORE G CODES) M99
OK What’s Going On Here
#1=#4001(STORES G CODE GROUP 1) (G0 1 G2 G3)
#3=#4003(STORES G CODE GROUP 3) (G90 G91)
#14=#4014(STORES G CODE GROUP 14) (G54 G55 G56 G57 G58 G59)
The lines above take the G codes from three groups.
G0 G1 G2 G3
G90 G91
G54 G55 G56 G57 G58 G59
It stores those values in #1 #3 and #14
So if the machine were in feed (G1) it would store 1 in #1
If the machine were in absolute (G90) it would store 90 in #3
And if the machine were in work offset G59 it would store 59 in #14
The four thousand system variable looks into the various G code groups.
Now Let’s Magic Them Back
Restore The G Code Groups
At the end of the programme we have
G#1 G#3G#14
Which is the same as.
G1 G90 G59
This would depend on the state of the machines before you went into the macro.
So what we have done is restore the G codes back to their original values before we started tampering with them.
That way if the machine crashes you can say “look mate I never touched a thing”
Such infantile humour you’ll never get the time back wasted in reading this utter shite.
The author is a prick.
This guy knows nothing about CNC Machining
Never been so insulted!
Written like a High School Student who just learnt to swear
If I wanted to laugh at 60’s sexual innuendo I’d watch a “Carry On Film”
Don’t read this garbage
My steak was over-cooked and the chips were cold
Crashed my machine six times as a result of reading this shit, I need to stop
He told me to tell the boss (“go shove your job up your arse”) I am now unemployed, so far had no compensation from CNC Training Centre (They don’t answer my calls)
In one article he states “Tell the boss, that’s the one with the Porsche 911, fat arse and little cock” my boss does not have a Porsche
Use “G Code Tutor” I know most of the articles are incorrect but at least he never swears
Please note, these reviews were all fake so we took them down
if the distance between the holes was 10.236 imagine having to add them all up. Lets face it you couldn’t even work out the total cost of six tins of beans at 86p a tin.
Everything is so fuckin expensive these days. Have you noticed the price of vintage champagne?
Anyway that’s another argument for another time.
Repeat with No Repeat !!!
This article is about iteration. Which is just bullshit for “how many time you do it”.
No I don’t mean how many time you do “it”, grow up.
Authors Note to Himself
Must ditch some of these readers, so childish and read sexual innuendo into everything I write.
Continue if You are 18 or Over
In other word the L5 or K5 means do it 5 times.
You can also use L0 or K0 which means do it zero times (don’t do it).
” Come on Dave don’t be a twat, why tell the machine not to do something”
Right, first of all don’t call me Dave I fuckin hate it, my names David. So shut up and carry on reading.
Reasons to Not Do Something
You broke the tap in a hole and you want to skip it.
You just want the machine to remember the canned cycle but you don’t want to do the cycle yet.
Getting round corners without collision. Read this.
You can’t be arsed to get off the chair to pick up the TV remote (when your lazy boyfriend put it on the floor)
You want to use a sub programme
See Below
O001 (Drilling Programme)
T1 M6 ((Spot Drill)
G90 G0 G54 X50. Y50. S1500 M3 G43 Z3. H1 M8
G81 G98 Z-5. R1. F200. L0 (Remember Cycle But Don’t Drill Yet) M97 P500 (Go to drilling sub programme) G80 G0 G53 Z0
T2 M6 ((10mm Drill)
G90 G0 G54 X50. Y50. S1500 M3 G43 Z3. H2 M8
G81 G98 Z-15. R1. F200. L0 M97 P500 (Go to drilling sub programme) G80 G0 G53 Z0 G53 Y0 M30
What this means is you set the canned cycle up so the control will know what you want to do. Because of the the L0 or K0 it does not actually drill a hole.
When it goes into the sub programme it’s business as usual and it drills all your holes.
All your positions are self contained in the sub programme.
Now it’s time for one of my famous, very boring stories.
Go here, this guys videos are way more interesting than this shit.
The Boring Story
Years ago when I worked at SP Engineering in Barwell. We used to make parts for knitting machines.
We made this part which was a massive plate covered in all different sized holes. Drilled tapped bored you name it. It was like that cheese that has all the holes in it. Well, not really but I paid for this picture and I want to use it.
We used to get a spot drill and just dotted the plate all over. We then put the part into inspection where they used a CMM (coordinate measuring machine) to measure all the positions of the dots.
The probe just drops neatly into the spot drilling dots.
Also because each set of holes was in a sub programme they could be reused once the positions were OK.
Oh and by the way contact CNC Training Centre for training on your CMM with PCDMIS
It is a useful method because once the sub programme is used you know all the positions are correct for any subsequent tools. It makes prove out much easier.
Putting any positions in the main programme would ruin the plot because you would have to check the first hole position for every tool.
Using L0 or K0 to Get Round Corners
This is a novel way to use L0 to get round the corner of a part. Not my idea I nicked it off the genius guys at Haas tip of the day.
My advise is don’t read this shit. Go to Haas Tip of the Day it’s way better. The guys are so polite and never swear.
Here Is a Nice Video In Case You Can’t Read
L0 for a Haas control K0 for a Fanuc control Repeat Canned Cycle.
Call David: 07834 858 407 (On or off-site Training)
This is a quick post about over-travel on a Citizen CNC sliding head machine. The Citizen range of CNC sliding head machines are very versatile.
It’s very easy to get the axis mixed up on the Citizen CNC. Fortunately it has these easy screens that show up when you select your axis
Just use your increment button to deicide how big you want your moves to be. Once you press the manual button it will turn yellow. Now press the increment you want.
You can over travel and sometimes this machine just wont move.
It just sits there pissing itself of laughing at your expense. I know because it happened to me, searched the manuals, searched the internet. Nothing absolutely jack shit.
I was just about to tell my customer that I was a complete failure and just retire which frankly I should have done years ago.
Anyway I stumbled upon this little beast.
Press him, it’s OK I promise. Yes it’s an over travel release button. Amazing.
What I mean is, that although it may be hard to get that foothold, once you’re in all you need to do is work hard, learn and progress.
At the CNC Training Centre we can help you do this.
Because companies are desperate for good people they want you to succeed. All you have to do is perform.
You already have the most important requirement:
You’re flexible.
You are friendly.
You’re never late.
You don’t phone in sick Monday morning cos you’ve been on the piss all weekend.
You listen and you want to learn.
This is you isn’t it?
Hope I’m not talking to the wrong person here.
So if you already have all the above qualities then all you need is an opportunity. My advice is quite simple get into the environment.
In other words find a small engineering company with CNC Machines and get any job they have on offer even if your just cleaning the shit-houses.
That way you have a good chance of getting started on a machine. Even if your just making the tea it’s a start.
Bullshit Never Works
Recently almost everyone I train has a story about this bloke who started at their company. CV looked amazing, in practice he knew Jack Shit and two weeks later he either walked out or was slung out.
Please don’t let this be you. Everyone including you becomes very pissed off. Your confidence takes a massive knock, not to mention that you look a twat.
Tell the truth but show confidence and a willingness to learn. Be honest about what you can and can’t do. You’ll be surprised your good looks and magnetic personality will get you the first step on the steep CNC ladder.
I love The 70’s
In the 1970’s I did my apprenticeship at Rolls Royce which was in Parkside in Coventry and they also had a place at Ansty (UK). I believe there were about 200 apprentices at Rolls Royce Coventry in those days. Now add to that all the other engineering companies in Coventry (and there were shit loads).
This meant that a constant stream of skilled people (allegedly) were being injected into the industry.
I say allegedly not in a cynical way but because, once you had finished your apprenticeship, although you got the full remuneration for your skilled position you probably weren’t quite up to scratch.
The old guys would help you to get up to speed which in reality was much longer than your four or five year apprenticeship.
Then Came The 80’s
Now I’m not going to get political but I think someone somewhere decided that we weren’t going to make things anymore. We were going to start selling people cups of coffee, getting really good at stacking supermarket shelves and telling people to “have a nice day” when we didn’t really give a fuck.
Let’s just make loads of coffee no-one will notice.
For many years very few people were trained in Engineering for whatever reason. Now here we are, having had our beautifully baristered coffee. (Is baristered a made up word).
This is my puppy his name is Mierda.
He’s a Spanish Golden Labrador Re-placer. It’s like a retriever but he takes things back instead of getting them.
Anyway someone says “how do we get home?”. But we can’t get home because nobody has made any cars. Oh and we couldn’t make any anyway because we don’t know how.
Fortunately our German friends had already stepped in and made shitloads of beautiful fast sexy cars.
Anyway I think we now have what’s called a skills gap. We cant even grow our own fuckin carrots anymore.
Anyway I think we are at last starting to train apprentices but it is going to take years and real commitment if we want to get back to actually making things again.
Course for CNC Beginner
We have a special course for the CNC Beginner. This course is for complete beginners to CNC Machines. Even if you don’t know what a CNC Machine looks like.
CNC Beginner What you Do Need?
Passion. That’s what you need.
It’s a bit like the X Factor where all these kids are saying “Oh Simon I really want this”.
You have to have a real desire to work in Engineering and be really interested. The money’s good but if that’s all you want then personally I doubt if you’ll go the distance.
The main difference here is that becoming a CNC Machinist is actually doable. Where as on the X Factor a singer with a voice that sounds like it came from a badger’s arse and face that actually looks like a badgers arse in reality is never going to set the world on fire.
This article is about driven tools (sometimes known as live tooling) on a CNC Lathe and how we use G12.1 (G112) to mill shapes.
At the CNC Training centre we have a three day course which covers all aspects of driven tools on a CNC Lathe. You will learn about machines with a Y axis and machines that use a virtual Y axis. There is also a lot of advanced CNC Turning material too and you get to test it all out on your own virtual CNC machine.
Everything we do is demonstrated on a real machine.
Sub Spindle Machining
Y axis machining
Using a B axis
Axisl and radial drilling
Part transfer to sub spindle
Everything you wanted to know about mil turn machining but were just too embarassed to talk about.
By all means read on, in fact you’ll probably not need to do the course and waste your money!
A new CNC Machine is a very expensive investment even a simple two axis X Z lathe would represent a large investment to most companies.
If you want your lathe to be able to do milling with driven tools as well, then it will cost considerably more.
First of all you will need special holders for the driven tooling. That means the tools in your turret can rotate so you can have drills end mills taps all sorts of shit spinning around in your turret. Not all at once mind.
And you will need special holders for your driven tools like this to do axial holes (holes in the front face).
You will need a holder for driven tools like this to do radial holes.
So now when you turn a part you could mill some flats on it or maybe drill and tap some holes in the front face of the job.
You could even mill a radial slot or drill some radial holes.
This machine will need a rotary axis. Well it already has one its called the spindle and it has a great big chuck stuck to the end of it.
On this type of machine you will be able to lock into your spindle and it becomes a rotary axis. On your position display you will see X Z and C.
The C is the rotary axis.
You can even engage your handwheel and rotate it manually.
X50.236
Z25.235
C180.000
It is usually known as a C axis (Because it runs through the Z axis)
This works just like any other axis except it is programmed in decimal degrees. C90. is 90degrees. It works as a simultaneous axis so that means you could program a Z move along with a C move.
G1 Z-30. C1080.
Your C axis would do three full turns (360 x 3 = 1080).
Meanwhile your Z is moving 30mm that is 10mm every turn.
That gives you a spiral with a 10mm pitch.
You can program angles down to .001 of a degree like C123.456
By the way these are all machines that don’t have a Y Axis.
The X axis is moving in and out and the C axis is rotating and magically the hexagon is produced.
Soooo…. no Y axis?
Sometimes known as Cartesian to Polar Coordinate Transformation.
Google it if you don’t believe me and no it’s not a sex change or something out of Doctor Who.
Thanks to forbiddenplanet.com
You would be forgiven for thinking you need a CAD/CAM system to produce this result.
The answer is yes and no. A CAD/CAM system would produce a bucket full of code to do this.
But actually you don’t need it.
This is what you need………
G112 and G12.1
G112 (G113) or G12.1 (G13.1) comes to the rescue. It kind of turns your lathe into a virtual milling machine.
Once you activate G12.1 or G112 (depending on your control) you can write a program just like on a CNC milling machine.
Now this does vary from one control to another so please smart arses back off. I’m just trying to make an honest living here.
If you want to go feed the cat at this point I’ll forgive you.
A gratuitous silly animal picture for all you pussy lovers. (David please, please save this crap for Facebook. No one laughs at your childish sexual inuendo either )
This is the program.
:0001 (MILL HEX SAMPLE)
M98 P600 (TOOL CHANGE POSITION)
T0505 (16MM ENDMILL)
M91 (ENGAGE C) G98(FEED PER MIN) G97 S100 M4 (Start Spindle 1000 RPM) G0 X100. Z-5. C0. M8 S1500
So let’s first of all see how it would look if you programmed it in X and Y on a CNCMill.
Ok so I’ll go make a cup of coffee while you digest the above.
………………….
I’m back now.
So all you do is double all your X figures (because you are in the diameter mode).
Then you put a C in the place of Y.
And you have what is below.
Stupid you say. Why do they do that? Well you better write to Mr Fanuc and ask him. Some machines like Mazaks just let you program it in X and Y just like it’s on a milling machine.
Hitachi Seiki is the same.
But sorry it’s what we are stuck with.
Template Program
So once you get your head around how all this works I suggest you make a template program.
Once you have a program that works in your machine it’s real easy to come back to it and modify it for another job.
Also there are lots of things, like changing from feed per rev to feed per minute, that you need to remember to do. If these are all in a template program you won’t get into any of those annoying situations.
You could put all the stuff you need in a sub program and call it before you start using your driven tools. That way you could use it each time you use driven tools.
This is a sample part. They are producing some real high precision parts for racing motorbikes on this beast. This is a test program we ran on it.
So back to driven tools (live tooling). So if you don’t go for a Y axis you save shit loads of money and you get to buy a Lambo.
There is more to it though. If you don’t have a Y axis there are restrictions on what you can do radially.
Like this slot.
You couldn’t do this without a Y Axis. You would only be able to slot sideways by moving your Z axis. That means you need your cutter to be exactly on centre and if it’s over size then your stuffed I’m afraid.
So if you have a Y axis you have choices but it does work out to be an expensive machine.
When you have a Y axis you can program with or without it. For larger profiles on the front face of the job (Axial) you more than likely won’t have enough movement on your X and Y axis to cover it. The G12 option is then going to be best.
All Without a Y Axis
If you want one of these I can make you one. Would look nice on your desk.
A Few Disadvantages
Driven tools need holders and they are expensive. Oh and you will soon run out of stations if you are doing lots of drilling and tapping for example.
Radial Holes
1 Spot Drill
1 Drill
1 Tap
Axial Holes
1 Spot Drill
1 Drill
1 Tap
That’s six holder!!!
A lot of cash.
These guys may help you. This is like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of turrets armed to the fuckin teeth.
Machine Tool Supplies
You can even get multi station ones like these. (Make sure you look to see if you need a Y axis or not.)
EWS Tool Technologies
More Disadvantages
You need a high level of skill to set, operate and prove out when using driven tools. Obviously that doesn’t include you cos you read my articles.
Driven Tools (Live Tooling)
Just one other point before you go. Now it’s no good me telling you to be careful not to crash your machine. If you do then it’s really important not to pretend it never happened or blame it on your mother.
Once the alignment is out then you are going to have loads of trouble. So you need to keep these machines in tip top condition, and the alignment must be spot on. The slightest bump then you need to check it.
Some machines are more sensitive than others it’s easy done just a sneeze on the turret and it’s completely shagged.
If you have no Y axis then the centreline of the tools is absolutely crucial and I can’t stress the importance of this enough. Most of the problems with these machines will come back to alignment, so make that the first check you do.
Now I’m no exception to this rule. I’ll call it “The Y Axis Trick” or it might be just the opportunity to wear spandex.
When you have a Y axis you must always include a Y axis move when you first bring in a tool (even if you aint using it).
G0 X50. Y0 Z3.
Why??? You ask
Because if there is an offset in the Y axis it well stay in that position. If your last tool had 0.1 in the Y axis offset then your tool will remain 0.1 off centre.
If you don’t program a Y axis move to zero (Y0) the Y stays where it is.
It’s one of the first things I would look at when there is an alignment issue just check the position display (it’s a give away).
In Conclusion
Sorry there is no real conclusion but I didn’t know what to put for a title.
For those who like conclusions……
I now fully get this driven tool bullshit so therefore stick the course up your fat arse.
