When I was younger the job I really aspired to was a CNC Applications Engineer.
Actually it’s not really true because being a part time rock singer I obviously wanted success from that but let me describe that as more of a dream. Oh and I don’t think you can describe being permanently pissed, incredibly wealthy and shagging all day as a job.
Anyway I will not digress.
I didn’t actually have a CNC application engineer job description but whenever I got to work with these guys I was in awe of them.
I remember being trained by a guy from Hitachi Seiki
They were a top class company with some amazing machines that are still around today.
They were taken over by Mori Seiki in 2002 after going into bankruptcy.
Company Car Wow
The guy training me was Clive and he was and still is a very talented engineer. We got on great and I still talk to him sometimes to this day.
I thought how great it must be to travel all over the country staying in nice hotels. Oh and he had a company car.
Thanks to Simon Classic Car Auctions
I could have sworn Clive had a Sierra but in fact I just messaged him and he said it was a red Ford Escort. Just like this, I don’t know if he had his name across the top of the windscreen.
Red Ford Escort
Now you might be thinking that I must have been easily impressed but these cars really were the dog’s bollocks in those days.
Dog’s bollocks what does he mean?
The job we were doing was a turned part for a fork lift truck and we had one of the very early robot loading arms.
This was around 1985 so they’ve been around longer than you think.
I remember he had a really methodical and systematic way of doing things and the final part was perfect.
By the way if you ever work with robots you need to be really precise in the way you do things.
His approach has stuck with me to this day and I still try to work that way. I mean it’s easier when you are old like me to not rush. But this is not bullshit because I can’t sprint round the block like I used to.
It’s a bit like driving fast I drive slow because, although it took several years to realise this, no one tends to die.
It’s not because I can’t drive fast.
I mean if I had one of these I might be tempted
CNC Applications Engineer
What do they actually do?
Here is a kind of CNC application engineer job description
Shit loads
So it’s any or all of what is listed below.
Commission Machine.
Write CNC code long hand.
Design and manufacture fixtures and tooling.
Setup machine.
Prove-out programs.
Check the parts and get final approval from quality department.
Train the operators.
Train programmers.
Make tea.
Program using a CAD/CAM system.
Interested?
A lot of what a CNC applications engineer does could be described as Production Engineering.
I did have to google Production Engineering to see if I had it right. It seems I might not have but to be honest who gives a flying fuck.
Production Engineering to me is controlling or doing the whole process of getting a new part produced. From design of work holding right through to final inspection.
That’s why being a CNC Applications Engineer was always so appealing to me because it’s never boring.
So How do You Get There?
Well the answer is it takes time, years in fact.
Oh and did I mention you have to be good.
Now this article is not meant to be a plug, but we do offer courses to help you keep moving up to the next level in your engineering career.
“Come on Dave you lying bastard what are all these links to courses for if you’re not plugging?” you may say.
I’m not answering that because I keep telling you not to call me Dave, it’s David.
This article is about CNC turning programs and the use of T00 or T0000 to cancel the tool offset.
My daughter is autistic, and one of the things that she has taken great delight in doing during the Covid lock down, was picking up on the stupid nonsensical phrases and expressions that neurotypicals have created in their non-binary brains.
In case you don’t already know neurotypical is an expression used by autistic people to describe non-autistic people. I still haven’t worked out if it is a term of endearment or mildly offensive but I don’t really care anyway.
Anyway, whilst I was writing an article about using multiple offsets, yet to be completed, I suddenly realised why it is a good idea to cancel the tool offset on a CNC Lathe (more about that later).
We were sat drinking tea in our summer house, me my wife and my daughter.
I know it sounds grand but really, it’s not exactly a summer-house it’s more of an old shed. It’s one I converted to compete with my neighbours when they had a fancy new summer house built.
Just a few finishing touches needed
I was talking about this article in rather abstract terms as my wife and daughter are none engineers but always pretend to be interested in my rantings.
Anyway, with reference to tool offset cancellation I said “you learn something new every day”.
My daughter immediately retorted “oh so what did you learn yesterday?”. Fortunately, I could think of something I remembered learning that there are 206 bones in the human body, so I used it.
I need to add a this point that my daughter is not an autistic savant and we still need google and takeaway menus. She’s not like that bloke in “Rain Man” who can remember every number in a fuckin’ phonebook.
The expression is “if you know one autistic person, you know one autistic person”
Anyway with her autistic brain I should have known this wouldn’t suffice. “The world tilts at 23.5 degrees on its axis” I quickly added.
“You already knew that” she said.
(Please ignore this if you think the world is flat as I know a lot of my readers do)
She insisted that I should go back at least three weeks in order to prove the validity of the statement.
I decided to give in and the conversation ended by me admitting that all neurotypical people are stupid.
In our household that’s a result and a common strategy we use to resolve this kind of conflict.
Such idioms as “washing your dirty laundry in public” are just banned unless you think you have a simple way of explaining it.
A friend once exclaimed that “there is more than one way to skin a cat!” and as a result required a police escort to get home (joke).
My daughter has a cat and her whole existence revolves around it. I’ll let you imagine her reaction.
Using T00 to Cancel tool Offsets
Anyway, this was going to be an article about using multiple offsets in a CNC Turning program.
They are a bit like multiple orgasms but not nearly as much fun. Anyway I had this eureka moment with regards to T00 and ditched the whole thing.
On a CNC Lathe we use a four-digit number when we do a tool change.
T0101 for example.
The first two digits make the turret index T0101 (index to tool 1)
The second two T0101 will call an offset. You will note I said an offset because it can be any.
By the way some controls like Haas omit the first zero on a tool change.
Geometry offset page on a Fanuc CNC Lathe
In the above case it’s offset 1 but it could be T0112 this would index to tool 1 and use offset 12.
Geometry offset page on a Fanuc CNC Lathe
Anyway thinking about these four digit numbers made me think about when you use zeros.
On older machines you used to have to cancel the offset by stating T0100 or much safer T0000. Otherwise the machine would add the new offset to the old one and a shitstorm would ensue.
I had consigned, this now inert procedure, to the CNC Turning equivalent of room 101 or at least the annals of CNC History. Anyhow, it seems there is life in the old T000 dog yet.
I love this puppy I’m going to use it in every post from now on
Now this is where that eureka moment happened in my summer house / luxury shed and I wrongly claimed to learn something new every day.
The Theory
When you write a CNC Turning program you can either return the tool back to the machine reference or return it to a tool change position.
Now the first option (reference) is OK if it is a small a machine. In other words it’s not gonna take it a week to get there.
On a big machine you would have to navigate around all sorts of shit like the tailstock or a steady or the boss’s Bentley. And it would almost definitely be a waste of time.
Soooo normally we would use a tool change position. This would be making use of G53
Using G53 for tool change position
CNC Turning G53
Because the G53 uses the machine coordinate system it will be the same place for each tool.
You could then put this position in a sub program. That way it would be the same for every tool. If you needed to change the position you would only need to change it once in the sub-program.
I will forgive beginners for thinking you could just rapid each tool to the same position away from the work piece.
For example G0 X100. Z100. for every tool.
Sending a drill to a positionSending a turning tool to a position
Just look at the turret position in the pictures above. Although the X Z position of both tools is the same there is a huge difference in the turret position.
This could work but when you pick the program up again maybe months later. The tools could be different lengths the tool-change position would have to be altered.
Your drills may not be the same length and the machine may even over-travel when you try to move it to your old tool change position..
Using a G53 you can always allow for the longest tool and know your index position is safe.
Remember G53 does not consider the tool offset or the work offset. To be honest G53 is the selfish bastard of the G codes it just does not give a flying shit what offset is active.
Eureka
Anyway, thinking about cancelling tool offsets it gave me an idea.
If at the end of each CNC Turning tool you cancel its offset. you could send it to a known position.
Because no tool offset is active this would always be the same place.
Some of you probably already do this but honestly, I never thought of it.
I intend to program this way from now on.
Using T00 for your tool change position
You should be able to use T00 or T000 to cancel your tool offset.
Don’t Do This (I really shouldn’t be telling you)
You can use the tool number plus the zeros so to cancel T0101 you could put T0100. I strongly recommend that you do not do this because it introduces an index move and therefore another potential collision.
You would need to remember to change this on all tools if for some reason you moved the tools around in the turret.
Oh yea about the multiple offsets. I will be writing and article on it when I can be arsed but in the meantime here is a video.
Thanks for reading my articles (no flies were killed in the writing of this article) except for the little bastard that’s flying around my office.
When we talk about a fourth axis it means that we have four simultaneous axis X YZ plus one other.
That means you can move them all together (the moves are simultaneous) and they are all timed together.
It’s a bit like trying to pick your nose and scratch your arse at the same time. You can get mixed up and poke your eye out.
CNC Machines are much better at this kind of stuff than we are.
Below is what happens when you program an X Y Z and C (rotary axis) move in one block of code.
The one below is on a lathe so the Z works the same as the X above.
In this program it’s just a Z C move or on a CNC Milling Machine it would be X C
Simultaneous
In the above example just the two axis (Z and rotary) are simultaneous..
If your machine has a simultaneous fourth axis, sometimes known as a full fourth axis.
On the position display you will see X Y Z but you will also see C (sometimes A or B I’ll explain later)
A full A B or C axis will be programmable in .001 degrees. That’s one thousandth of a degree (very small).
Typically G0 C185.326 rotate to 185.326 degrees
If a machine has an indexer and not a full fourth axis it normally won’t be shown on the position display.
Another thing to note about a full fourth axis is that it doesn’t stop at 360 degrees and start again at zero.
Angle wise 0 and 360 are the same but if you are talking simultaneous then it’s continuous.
Are you confused?
This is my pet goat his name is Beelzebub I named him after a famous politician.
Let me explain. In the example above (the fourth axis example, not my goat) you want the fourth axis to rotate more than once.
You programme C1440. which is 360 x 4 and it turns four times and the other axis works simultaneously.
So if the other axis (X) is moving 60mm. For each turn it moves 15mm. Just like a 15mm pitch thread.
Ok you get it now? Good. Very good. Just when I am starting to loose my fuckin patience with you.
The number of times I have to beat my students with sticks these days is getting more n more.
So What’s an Indexer
When we talk about an indexer on a CNC machine this means we have a rotating axis but we can only move it to a position. This can be 1 degree or .1 degree depending on the machine tool.
Whilst these are really useful you can’t do all that clever shit that you see above. So don’t get confused especially if you are footing the bill for a new or second hand machine.
Check the minimum angle you can index. If you have a part and it has holes at 10.5degrees and your indexer is one degree increments then you’re knackered (or fucked but I have decided not to swear in these articles anymore).
You could be disappointed. “Sold a pup” as my mother used to say. I”l have to ask her what the fuck that means.
Don’t you just love them. I know they’re little portable shit machines but soo cute. Make lovely Christmas gifts.
Not on Linkedin though for fuck sake. Anyway enough gratuitous crap.
Retro Fourth Axis
Retro, a bit like sick and gay, this word has a totally different meaning to an old guy like me.
Political correctness to me means voting for the correct political party.
Now with regards to an indexer retro means it’s added on, like sticking a spoiler on your old Mini Metro.
What retro doesn’t mean, is wearing your dad’s old Parker Jacket and thinking you look cool when you actually look like a prick.
Anyway when you add an indexer to an existing machine you control it by a dedicated M code from the CNC Machine.
Your indexer will have it’s own little control system and programme. This programme will be a series of index moves probably followed by clamp and unclamp command.
The machine will send an M code to the indexer and won’t continue until it gets a signal back from your indexer saying it has completed whatever it is doing.
Now your CNC machine doesn’t give a flying shit what the indexer is doing, but it won’t carry on until it gets the signal back saying it’s complete. It’s like wall papering the hall through the letterbox, unless of course you are a gynaecologist.
You do have to be careful with all this stuff but it’s a relatively cheap way to get a programmable indexer.
Haas Fourth Axis
Haas machines come really well equipped and it’s usually relatively cheap to add a full forth axis years after you bought the machine.
After all they used make the bloody things, before they made CNC machines, I think.
This is all stuff to consider when you buy a CNC machine new. It can be really expensive to add at a later date as an extra. So bite the bullet, grasp the nettle and get one with your new machine. Give them my name so I get a fat commission.
Simple As ABC
A rotary axis can be called A B or C. This will depend on which axis it runs through.
On a vertical machining centre like this one the centre of the fourth axis runs along the X axis so it’s called an A axis
If it runs through Y it’s called a B axis. And Z well……. try n guess.
Full Fourth Axis Useful or Just Bullshit
In the real world there aren’t actually loads of jobs that need a full simultaneous fourth axis. Radial slots maybe radial engraving.
When you start talking about indexing to angles and just doing stuff, well there are loads and loads of uses. For example with a square part you can get all around it just by indexing so your part can come off complete.
Leave Your Fourth Axis Setup
Don’t forget to set your fourth axis as far to the right as you can so you don’t have to keep taking it off.
You should consider a base plate That way you can mount your indexer outside the machine stroke.
By mounting your indexer I don’t mean trying to shag it by the way.
Taking a fourth axis off and on can be a real pain the arse.
Also don’t forget to use a G10 to store the work offset. If you don’t know how to use G10 then be ashamed of yourself and read this.
Add an Indexer or Fourth Axis
Adding an indexer or fourth axis to your small CNC Machine will increase capacity and allow you to rotate parts to get to areas you didn’t even know were there.
Here’s a free advert for someone
Surface Area
If you consider the long cube on the axis above. You actually have four faces so it can be a lot of surface area when you add it up.
A lot of people make these cubes themselves and it can save money like baking your own cakes or performing your own keyhole surgery.
Thanks
Congratulations you are the first person to get to the end of one of my articles without being bored shitless.
If you feel you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this post or need CNC Counselling then contact me.
If you want to learn to programme CNC Milling Machines
I sometimes think I have the best job in the world apart from a few people like rock stars, pornstars and people who work in chocolate, and beer making facilities.
Everyday I get to work with interesting friendly people (apart from that bloke who knocked me out for accidentally deleting all his programmes). There are some very unreasonable people around. It took him less than three weeks to re-programme all the parts.
This week I worked at a company that makes lights n light fittings for posh restaurants and hotels.
Now I have never been allowed in a posh hotel or restaurant so I was amazed at all these fancy lights. The quality of the products these guys produce is absolutely stunning.
I got to train them on one of these.
Now I know what you are thinking “Lucky Dave, that’s a beauty” but I can see straight through your sarcasm and please don’t keep calling me fuckin Dave, it’s David.
Anybody who reads my articles, and there’s only three of you,will know that I absolutely shit-faced love these old machines.
This one looks a bit shabby I admit but it’s previous user was not so gentle with it. A good service and some re-alignment and it’s back to to the workhorse it was meant to be.
Got to be honest here. I had forgotten some of the little quirks to the old Fanuc OT control.
Dig Deep
Once you get your head around it there really ain’t much it wont do. There are variations on this control and this one didn’t have all the bells and whistles. You know like rigid tapping and macro.
I mean who needs all that complicated shit. I’d much rather keep breaking taps and not be able to parametrically control a CNC programme with the flexibility to make varying sized parts. Not to mention probing and automatic tool measurement. No no no bollocks to that keep it simple.
Joking aside dig deep and make sure you’re using everything it’s got.
I’m a great believer in working with what you have n with a body like mine believe you me you have to.
Anyway let’s get on with it.
MDI On The Fanuc OT
The MDI screen is not like the newer controls where you just write into programme O0000.
You type in commands and it fills in details on the screen.
You have to input each word of code separately, then when they are all on the screen hit cycle start or this green button.
Sorry but you are going to have to get used to all the shit pictures because it’s all I have access too.
If you don’t like it there are way more interesting sites than mine. Not about CNC by the way but there are so many good porn sites out there these days.
I mean it bores the arse off me, and I’m the one writing this crap!!
If you input a position move and a tool change in MDI. It will make the move first then do the tool change.
Wouldn’t recommend it.
This MDI is not like the newer ones where it’s a programme it’s just one page that gets filled in.
It’s OK once you get used to it.
Programme Copy Fanuc OT
Editing is a little bit shit but once you get used to the protocol it’s not too bad. Try to change the way you look at this. I mean use the lower cursor arrow to search.
This is because the keys are quite cumbersome so if you can get into the habit of keying in the address, for example G or M, you can find the next G or M.
Or choose something more specific like G71 and then press your lower arrow to search.
I always feel sorry for these guys working in the chip shop where they have this thick polythene membrane over the keypad for the till. It’s pretty random which button they hit.
I paid £40 for fish and chips the other day (mind you the way inflation is going it was probably correct).
Fish and Chips from an English Fish and Chip Shop
I said to the young lad serving me “is this fish cooked” he said “I’m sure it is”. I said “well it’s eaten half my fuckin chips”
Anyway this Fanuc keyboard was a bit like his. Maybe I should work in a chip shop, wonder if you get free chips?
Enough About Chip Shops
If you make yourself use the search key it will make the whole experience a lot less frustrating.
To copy programmes is long winded but worth the effort, press the extra edit key and then move to start of the bit you want. You then press the first cursor button. Move to the end of the bit you want to copy and press the other cursor button.
So what the fuck is programme zero? Programme O000 is the programme number that the Fanuc control uses as a sort of clip board. When you use the merge button this programme O0000 is what it merges.
It even has find and replace.
End Of Block
My control had asterisks instead of semi colons for EOB (end of block)
This would annoy the shit out of me but it’s not my machine and I really couldn’t justify altering it and putting the users future in jeopardy.
If you don’t like this then just change parameter 10 bit 1
It really makes no difference it just looks different.
OCD
I often get accused of having OCD. People go around saying “oh it’s OCD”. When you just keep your work area tidy.
No fuck off, I like things tidy I’m a fuckin engineer.
If this is you then stop saying it. If you ever meet someone with real OCD you will be shocked. It’s a terrible condition it’s not just about keeping the knives straight in the bloody cutlery draw.
Rolls Royce 1971
When I worked at Rolls Royce in 1971 the guy who trained me was Ex-RAF and an absolutely amazing guy.
Reg his name was.
Reg knew I had a reputation as an apprentice for having absolutely no interest in work and just dreamt of being a rock star all day. Bit of a prick in those days but Reg didn’t seem to mind that.
This Really Is Me
My early attempt at being Robert Plant
Reg was a clever guy gave me a full sex education and taught me more about good engineering practises, in the six months I was in his care, than I have in my whole career.
He had a more subtle approach to training me. To start with he just used to talk to me and what stories he would tell. This guy was a fighter pilot in the second world war. The stories were amazing and mostly could not be used on this page. Even with my very low editorial standards.
He was talking one day about how much the guys used to swear and how ridiculous it got.
He was home on leave one day and the whole family had lunch together. Grand parents, aunties and uncles about 15 people for dinner.
All was silent as they all started to eat lunch, after they said prayers as they did in those days.
“Pass the fuckin salt” Reg said in a load voice completely forgetting where he was.
I found this story so fumy. There was an embarrassed silence and then everyone chatted on as if they hadn’t heard.
This guy believe it or not had a pet shop in the precinct in Coventry which he ran in his spare time.
He had a pet monkey. He told me how the monkey would sit on his shoulder whilst he served customers. The monkey found it amusing to stick his prick in Reg’s ear when he was serving customers.
I was so charmed and in ore of this guy that before I knew it I was assisting him to build gearboxes for the Nimbus Engine
He taught me basic skills like wire locking and how to correctly use spanners.
Before long I was assembling gear trains. I was really into motorbikes so a lot of the skill was transferable to what I was doing at home.
Fortunately i didn’t have one of these (Norton Jubilee) My mate did and it was an unreliable piece of crap.
The most important thing he taught me was the importance of keeping your work area spotless clean and all your tools neatly in place.
He knew where every spanner rachet and Allen key was and could drop his hand straight on any one without even looking.
If one tool was missing or out of place he would notice immediately. Imagine if you left a spanner inside an engine!
Oh and my workshop is still immaculate as you can see.
Being tidy is pragmatism not obbsessive compulsive dissorder.
OCD I rest my case.
Other Exciting Parameters Fanuc Ot
You might want to fuck with some of the other parameters like these:
Parameter 40 bit 0 displays programme description in Library
Parameter 4 is to protect O9000 series programmes
Chamfer and Radii Fanuc OT
This control has the ability to add a radius or chamfer to a programme.
Just programme point to point and then add C or R as an after thought.
You learn something new every day.
My daughter is autistic so everything is taken in a very literal sense. I witnessed a friend drop straight into this trap. He was explaining how good it was to use a roller to paint furniture. yes, he said, “you learn something new everyday”.
Oh dear methinks.
I knew what was about to happen. “Mmm” my daughter said “what about yesterday?”
He thought she was joking, but no, she wanted to know exactly what he had learnt every day of that week.
When he said “It’s one of those things that people say”. I knew he was digging himself deeper and deeper into the shit.
I decided to pull him out. “It’s just a stupid neurotypical saying. It’s just not true”.
What I Learnt Today Fanuc OT
On this machine you don’t need a comma when you use R and C.
G1 X50. R10. Z-20.
When I saw it I thought “mm where the fuck is the comma?”
Turns out there is a parameter to change it. (That’s what I learnt)
Don’t get this confused with G2 and G3. All you need with this is to programme the shape without the corner radius or chamfer (point to point) then just stuff in the pesky little C or R afterwards.
Authors Note:
I also learnt that there is no such word as learned. It’s learnt. Should have listened at school. (Smart arses please feel free to give me an English lesson.)
A Hidden Button Fanuc OT
Bet you didn’t know about this button.
Now I can tell you for sure there is nothing good about getting old. No no, it’s definitely the shit end of the chronological stick. It’s fucked up and I don’t like it.
You definitely get more patient with age. Like standing in queues. When I was young after five minutes in a queue I would rather remove my own appendix without anaesthetic than to stay another second.
Nowadays I just change into my slippers (which I have with me at all time in a carrier bag for life) and light up my pipe. Happily waiting for hours to be told “oh you can only do that online love”
People even call you “love” when you are old.
Have you ever noticed the No at the bottom of the F key? Anyway, I know the suspense is killing you. Well…. if you are on the offset page or the parameter page, when you press this key you will see No flashing on your screen. You can now input offset or parameter number and it will search for that number when you press input.
Now I know you’re thinking “this twat should find something better to do with his time” and you’re probably right.
The thing is if you force yourself to use all these little shortcuts then overall it will make a real improvement in efficiency. Oh and I’ve been watching you, you really need to up your game. Pissing around with that iphone all day.
It Will Make You More Efficient
Not to mention repetitive strain injury.
I often say to people who I’m training “I just read the manuals that you just can’t be arsed to read” and then charge you for training. They just laugh, mmm.
One More Really Important Thing
Now I know I’m banging on a bit about chip shops today but what the fuck is this thing about having gravy on chips!!!
Fuckin disgusting. Now I know it’s a northern thing and I know you northerners have some strange traditions but frankly this should be outlawed by public health.
