4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

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mikeacg
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Re: 4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

Post by mikeacg »

SCW,

Not trying to be argumentative. I do a lot of rotary work and have never seen that problem. I'll take a look at your submitted files and see what I fine...

Mike

SCW
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Re: 4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

Post by SCW »

TReischl wrote:My thoughts are that you either have a machine or a post problem. Both of which were created by the machine company.
Axiom Precision tested out my design file and even cloned my project from scratch... they saw similar results that they couldn't explain. One of the Axiom forum members has the exact setup that I have... he said that his machine doesn't rotate "360" either. His solution is to break up the single profile line into multiple overlapping profile lines. This "segmented" approach gets me closer but the rotations are somehow effected by the length of each profile line segment and the amount of overlap.
TReischl wrote:Edit: Forgot to mention. . . I set up your situation on my software/machine. No problemo. What I did note was that ALL my rotary moves were negative values. I am thinking you have post problems.
Axiom also noted that A+ controller direction (or C+, whatever people call the 4th axis) rotated CCW, but that the positive toolpath movements rotated in the CW direction. They didn't have a comment on why. I will copy my PostP file and change the "wrap x" from a "positive" direction to a "negative" direction and see if that makes a difference. Thank you for the your thoughts.
TReischl wrote:BTW, how do other rotary programs run on your machine? Or is this the first thing you have attempted?
This is the first project where I've used my 4th axis. The rounding toolpath successfully milled my square stock into round stock. But now that I'm adding rabbits and fluting, my rotations are wrong/incomplete . I wonder if my rounding tool path "worked" because it was a 4-quadrant, symmetric tool path, and so it didn't matter if the +/- direction movements were reversed.

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TReischl
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Re: 4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

Post by TReischl »

Just a word to the wise. . . .

Many people view those who work at the Machine Company Mothership as "all knowing" and "experts". Trust me, having worked for one of the biggest manufacturers of CNC machines in the world, they aren't. In fact, the one I worked for knew extremely little about how a rotary axis works.

BTW, that is not a slam. In the world of CNC, rotary axis is an itty bitty percentage of the work. So it only makes sense that there are not a lot of well versed people at those places. They are too busy handling "normal" cutting and become very proficient after a while.

You are going to have to take control of your problem. It isn't the software or we would be seeing a lot of posts like yours. Keep in mind that you are just starting, with a machine you do not know, and software you are unfamiliar with. I cannot speak for Vectric, but I can tell you as a professional software developer, they are not very likely to change one thing in the software. Mostly because it has been working extremely well for about 10 years now. Myself? I would not waste five minutes on the problem given the situation.
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

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Re: 4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

Post by Rcnewcomb »

One of the Axiom forum members has the exact setup that I have... he said that his machine doesn't rotate "360" either. His solution is to break up the single profile line into multiple overlapping profile lines. This "segmented" approach gets me closer but the rotations are somehow effected by the length of each profile line segment and the amount of overlap.
If I were in your situation I'd start by creating some very simple g code files by hand to just ensure the controller software and the machine are behaving as expected.
Place a blank in your indexer and make a pencil mark to show the home position.
Create a file that rotates 90 degrees and then returns back to zero. Run the file. Does it behave as expected and did it return back to the pencil marked home position?
Do the same thing with 180 degrees
Do the same thing with 360 degrees
Do the same thing with 3,600 degrees (10 revolutions)
Do the same thing with 36,000 degrees (100 revolutions)

Next create some extremely simple jobs the do a profile ON the line.
Look at the G code that is generated using the Axiom supplied post processor. Compare that G code with one created by one of the wrapped post processors for Mach or WinCNC.
Try running your Axiom file. Does it behave as expected? If not, you may need to make some changes to the Axiom supplied post processor, or there may be issues with how the Axiom control software is handling rotary commands, but you won't know until you run some of these tests.

I'm getting a new CNC delivered Monday and I will definitely take my time to ensure that things work as I expect, or if they don't, that I understand WHY they behave the way they do.
- Randall Newcomb
10 fingers in, 10 fingers out, another good day in the shop

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Re: 4th axis - CNC machine not matching Aspire 9.0 preview

Post by M Queen »

I'm thinking that it's one of two things... either it's losing position, or the resolution for the rotary axis is is set incorrectly. If, as Randall suggested, you command a 360° move and it doesn't rotate your workpiece exactly one complete turn, no more, no less, and it is repeatable, it's a resolution problem. If it isn't repeatable, you are probably losing position.
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