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Looking for Nakamura TMC-3 or similar maintenance manual

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As the title states, for my 80's vintage NAK.
I'd like to know lube points\types primarily.

I FINALLY got it sorted out and running a few programs (turns out p\o allowed rats to nest in secondary pendant) Good times...

If anyone can help me out, that would be very much appreciated!

Cheers

Soft-jaws driving me nuts... or is it something else...

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Yeah, they drive me nuts..
But seriously, I spent most my life just using the hard jaws.
Now that I am doing some production, I make my aluminum soft jaws.
Wow, what a difference!
But, thinking of going to steel soft jaws.. I still get deviations of .0015 or so across a 3" part in the x. Maybe it is the mill, maybe the jaws...drives me nuts.
But, I do relieve the lower corners when I machine the simple step, the vises are tight on a clean table, the jaws are tight in the vises..I tried beating the parts in with plastic dead blow, sliding them in. And the Kurts, I decked them on the surface grinder, so I had them all apart.. greased, back-lash adjusted so they just drag a bit...
And the mill, she is a Haas TM-2 with a couple thousand hours.... excellent condition.
Since it is on rails, I doubt I have an adjustment. I'll look in the book tomorrow.
But even though, .0015 is plenty fine over the length of part...it seems like an awful lot. I wish I could hold .0002

Brother vs Haas vs Robodrill

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It's always interesting reading about people's choices for their equipment.
I'm sure others here have, or have had all three. I now have a mix of these three. I thought I would share my impressions. They are necessarily subjective. I'm sure someone might suggest I'm under-capitalized, or need to do more research. :) After 40 years in the trade, and wearing various hats, I think I have a little clue as to what works for me. (although sometimes I wish I had a bigger clue, haha)

Brother is supported by Yamazen. So far my experience has been super positive. I can't think of a way which they could be any better at this point. Another local shop I visited (has a RX450) before buying said they could not remember a service call once the machine was set up. That's pretty cool. The control is easier than Fanuc to learn. Acceleration to full rapid is incredible. Accuracy so far is amazing. Plenty of beans, even though a 30 taper. Dual contact spindle, high torque setups work. I don't have any of the standard spindles of any speed to compare. RX450, S700X1. These are top notch machines.

Robodrill is quite solid, and fast. Quite accurate, no HSM on this machine yet. Not looking for much other than light milling, drilling and tapping from this machine. It does have the big plus spindle. 16mb control, 20K spindle. Methods and Fanuc are solid, but can be pricey.

Still have my Haas Super Mini, my VF-2 for now. The Haas people were solid and reliable for a while. I still think they are a good choice at times. Some of the support people are still great. IMO a fair bit of that depends on your HFO. My local tech support guys are solid. My 1998 VF-2 still runs well, and makes good parts every day, not as fast as some other machines. Easy to run. I don't have anything with the next gen control. The older version were plenty good. I have a couple of older Haas lathes, they work well (fingers crossed).

I know some people like heavier iron. Get what works for you. Sometimes I've had to make do with what I've had available. Having started in a shop with lineshafts for some of the equipment, I've seen a few changes in the trade. :)

Support with tech and parts is super important to me. If I have a question to Yamazen, I either get an answer right away, or conformation the question is moving up the chain, and result by the next day.

No compensation or association with any of the various companies. Got a few Haas hats in the past, and a couple of Brother hats. Need some more hats.......

ETA: the Brother machines are very efficient, power-wise. I'm running on 30 amp breakers. They are also efficient with floor space, as is the Robo.

Chatter on threads Mori Lathe

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My 1st week entrusted alone to run my cell, I encountered this nuisance of a problem. I am turning a 3"DIA by 8" length slug into a specialty bolt @ 2.121" shank diameter finished. I am holding the w/p in hard jaws holding approximately .3-.4" of stock in the jaws. After facing/c'drolling, the tailstock comes in to support.
I have ran this part before multiple time, making over 1,000 pcs. One other time I had this problem, & the solution was much simpler then. Increase tailstock pressure. But this time I have tried the following:
Increase tailstock pressure (to about 269psi)
Increase/decrease chuck pressure (now @ 340psi)
Change insert multiple times from different boxes/tool companies
Change the tool holder
Indicate insert cutting edge to 0 (using a shim to fix incorrectness of about .006"
Changing coolant and cleaning out machine well
Running new insert without coolant for 1st 2 pcs.
Changing tool location
Changing screw and top rest
Changing surface spindle speed up/down (lowering the speed in half helped for about 50 pcs then I changed the corner of the insert and I haven the been able to rid myself of this issue since)

I am new to this industry so I do not have any experience to call back upon. I have done just about everything I can think of. No one in the shop has been able to successfully assist me in fixing this issue.
Any advice would be most appreciated!

Recommendations for milling armor plate

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We have a job to machine some parts made from steel armor plate (MIL-DTL-12560 Class 1). The hardness is about HRC 35-40. We did the job before and just used end mills that we had on hand which I think were 3/8" ISCAR 4 flute with a 45 degree helix. Both the tool life and cut speed left a lot to be desired, so I am looking for something better this go around. We usually use 4 flute end mills for steels, but I see 5, 6, 7 flute options that should yield faster cut times. I think will go to 1/2" diameter for increased rigidity. Most of the material removal will be cutting a step that is .625" deep and 1" back. Would a shell mill be better option?

Double Angle Cutter Advice

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We've got a 90° groove to make in a 26" ID ring (and its mating part too, actually, on the OD), and given that this is a test part we bought a high speed steel double angle cutter ( 1-7/8 Inch Diameter x 5/8 Inch Width of Cut, 3199254 - MSC ) to prove it out before investing in more expensive tooling. Material is 1018/A36 plate that has been laser cut.

This exceeds our turning capabilities, so it's going on a Haas VF-6SS since that's the only machine with the travel. The ID has been cut so there's almost no laser marking left, just need to make the groove now, which is 5/8" at its largest width. I haven't run this style of cutter since I did so on an arbor on a manual horizontal mill in school, so I'm pretty desperate for advice right regarding feeds, speeds, and stepover. Thinking of starting at 110 SFM, but even at .002/flute this is going to take forever if stepovers are limited. Can chip thinning be applied effectively on this sort of tool with a reduction in feedrate at each stepover?

Any suggestions welcome.

Haas mill oil leak - impossible to fix?

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Hi folks I've been getting a 121 low oil alarm on a 1994 VF2, which I recently bought from a retiring engineer. He had seen the alarm, thought it was the pump motor and bought the replacement. I installed the new one, and since that didn't fix it, I pulled back the way covers. I found a pretty scary sight (see pics, one on each side of the t slot table). Almost every cavity in the saddle without a drain hole was filled with oil. Given that there's oil over such a large portion of the X casting, I have to think it's the ball screw nut. Either that, or it's multiple carriages at once! There isn't an obvious spot where the oil is coming from yet, but what I'm really worried about is that if it is the nut to blame, I see no realistic way to access it. Anybody have any experience fixing an oil leak in the dead center underneath the T slot table? Or any experience with a leak of this character?

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KIA V45 not changing tools

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Working on A Kia V45 Vertical that I had to reload the Parameters in. Has a Fanuc 0m-c control. Everything seems to work ok except the tool change cycle.
The 20 tool drum will index to the correct tool pocket and then it alarms (PER 106) "Magazine needs zero returned". Pot will not drop and it just stops
I'm pretty sure the tooling parameters are set up right. Tool designation etc.. Even in Maintenance mode the pot will not drop unless I manually drop it with the solenoid valve
and then I can move the double arm. All switches are functioning. A/B phase and Home position(Pot 20) are changing in diagnostics. The machine does not use a macro but a Ladder sequence to change tools.
Tried changing some of the D587 settings related to the tool changer but no luck.Have all of the orig.parameters set correctly. Banging my head against the wall on this one.

Talked to Fanuc and they said this is a Kia side of the machine. Called Kia (Hyundai-Wia now) and no one there is supporting this old of machine any more (1997)

Even when I index the tool drum manually I get an alarm light on the operators pendant (call Light) when it stops but no alarm on the alarm page.
GRRRR!

Any help would be great.

How do you monitor your machine utilization?

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We've got all these lathes, mills, saws, etc. but I don't know how many hours each day they are on and how many of those hours they are running. Short of going into the controls every morning and writing down Power on Time and Cycle Start Time I currently have no other way of knowing! Plus that isn't even an option on the non-CNC stuff. What do you use and do you like it? Bonus points if it's something you can tie an input into some portion of a non-CNC circuit to record power-on time and cycle start time. Thank you!

5 axis automation? Prepackaged systems or custom integration? Who to look at?

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I'm thinking of automating our 5 axis machine. I'd like to do something simple like how a fms system works with pallets on a horizontal. I was thinking of using a Schunk Vero-S unit to clamp on the machine with M codes. Then building my own pallets that the robot would load and unload. On the pallets would be various different fixtures/workholding but the pallets would all be the same. The robot grippers would never change, and the programming for the robot wouldn't change either.

I saw a few prepackaged systems and like the simplicity. Yamazen's Flex M system looks promising.

FLEX Robotic Automation System | Compact Machining Center - Yamazen

Erowa also has a few prepackaged systems and they seem to have a good reputation.

Robot Systems - EROWA AG

I've also see the versabuilt system, but I don't think their system that uses softjaws as grippers and workholding would work the best for me.

VersaBuilt | Home

Also what other systems besides the Schunk Vero-S are out there and a good fit for this type of setup? I already have a Vero-S clamping module that I was planning to use, but there might be something better for this application that I don't know about.

The prepackaged systems look like the easiest way to step into a system like this. This would be our first robot in the shop. My goals is to have as many pallets as possible in the system, so I can run overnight. I also need the pallets to be relatively inexpensive and I'd like to use as little floor space as possible. So will a prepackaged solution be the best or a custom integration?

Thanks in advance! :cheers:

Hitachi Seiki Canned Cycles

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Hi,
The lathe in question is a 1998 Hitachi Seiki TS15 with seicos 21 control. I am having issues with canned cycles. This is a new machine to me. The programs left in the controller do not use any canned cycles and are written long hand. Is it possible this lathe doesn't have canned cycle options?

Please see the attached screenshots of the G code and the alarm I am getting.

I can replace the G831 with G83, G81 or whatever and get the same result. Also I can move the G80 or take it out completely with the same result. This is also interfering with me trying to do the direct tapping.

Of note is I can use G32 to do external threading without issue.

I have figured out a work around to get my post processor to not use canned cycles and use the full length g code in the mean time however doesn't help the direct tapping(G842/G843) I would like to use if possible.

Thanks for any insight,
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fadal single phase transformer 812 or 813?

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I've decided to get the transformer, cheapest way to go. I know I'll loose performance but it's a garage hobby machine. The question I have now for those who have done it or are running single phase already, what transformer are you using? Fadal list the t-812 or t-813 for single phase, and can't find a clear one to use, it say's 812 for vmc15 and 813 for 4020. And is one for a/c or d/c drives?
Its a 3016 box ways with ac motors. thanks....

Waylube: Vactra 2 versus Mobil 1 10w30

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A client of mine told me Haas said to replace the Waylube on all of his Haas machines with Mobil 1 10w30 instead of Vactra 2. Any opinions or insights on this? Thanks, Frank.

Need a good finish!

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Im trying to interpolate a boss with some grooves to a 63 finish on a older tc 32 a hsk brother. Im using a 5/8 4 flt. Carbide form tool. Ive tried about every combo/ feed speed. Could my Lm guides be the culprit? It seems like x axis is rougher than y axis.

Z axis issue on a Fadal

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So today, I had to stop a program in the middle of it. It was a proven program, I just had the workpiece come loose. I hit slide hold, then manual to exit the program. I then hit jog, and began to jog the Z axis up. It got around half way up before there was a loud clunk and it stopped. It was the sound it makes when it hits a limit. I can't remember the error that came up. It would not let me do anything at all. I had to kill the power to the machine. I waited, the powered it back on. It was stuck on the Fadal screen when I powered it back up. I restarted it again, then jogged it to the cold start position and did a cold start. I typed TC,1 to put the tool away to put the tool away. The toolchanger(carousel style) slammed into the spindle as the Z axis was .99 or so down. Any ideas what could be going on and how to fix it? Thanks!

BSPP Thread Mill

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Hello,
Does anyone know if someone makes a single profile thread mill for a BSPP (1/4-19) thread. I'm doing really hard material and this would help. Thanks all.

endmill sharpening and recoating

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I have a TON of old endmills. like.. hundreds.. most of them are uncoated carbide and they all are in need of sharpening. I was thinking of either scrapping them for carbide cost or sending them out to sharpening, but adding a coating to them second time around.. Is there any reason why I shouldn't coat them? maybe difference in old carbide or something? Also... who's the best to send these two? I know some guys have custom grinds and have a reputation for doing excellent work but I have never dealt with them.

Thanks!

taking good picture cnc screen

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i was having trouble taking pictures of cnc screen. numbers fuzzy. thought it was focus thing. discovered if i put phone camera on manual and force it 2 settings darker the black screen with white/yellow numbers is sharp and not fuzzy. camera was trying to make black screen gray and increased light setting made white/yellow numbers fuzzy.
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then i used program to turn negative the photo so if printed i do not use so much black ink as shown
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i had machine crash and recorded G55 and used same G55 and tell programmer 11 ton part moved 1/8" in -Y direction going by spot drill and chamfer sizes on holes on different sides of part. programmers says i wrote number down wrong. G55 used in 25 other offsets and only one axis changed for probing holes depths. so same G55 Y offset seen on 21 other P offsets. chance of that happening by machine probing to .0001" is not likely. chance of me writing number down wrong 22 times not likely. in future easier to take CNC screen picture of work offsets. hard to argue with picture showing offsets.
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Spindle air blast after HP coolant use

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Remember ready in the past that most folks use spindle air blast to blow out any residual coolant in a tool holder before doing a tool change but don't recall how long to add a dwell for?

Was thinking 2-3 Seconds should be good even for larger inserted tools? 1.75" inserted drill is the largest we use and can test it when the machine is not in production.

G41 question

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I was wondering if anyone can help me out writing a G-code (basic FANUC).
it's the whole comp thing throwing me off with my X and Y measurements. its for a school project and its driving me nuts because I'm having difficulty finding a decent sample code that I can used.
I need to cut out a 1.75 X 2.5 rectangle pocket with .25 radius at 4 places using a .05 3 flute HSS rougher and .05 carb (SGS) 2 flt finish end mills in 2 steps of .26 Depth and leaving .01 on the walls for the finish in a .5 x 3 x 5.25 block of aluminum.

any help would be appreciated, even a good free online reference for me to check out would be awesome..

Thanks in advance
-Mike
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