hey every one, im new to this forum and the cnc machining world. the place i work for just bought a new HAAS mini mill, and put me in charge of running it. anyway has anyone every used the intuitive programing before? today was the first time i used it. but yesterday i was at a training class and they touched on this briefly. the only question i have so far is how do you set it up to just do a face mill in the Y and not the X. the part we are working on has a tab on one side that we would like to mill off but we couldnt get it to do a face mill in the Y. we put in the starting point for the X and it would start that distance from 0 then move towards 0. if we changed that value in X to a negative number it would start that distace from zero and move away from the part. and if we left X blank it would just stay at 0 and the y would move. is there a way to set it up to just mill in the Y a set distance from the X 0? does this make sense?

There are three places you could be talking about:

The Intuitive Programming Screens (IPS). Those are the optional screens that allow you to write and execute programs without dealing with G-code.

Visual Quick Code: these are the visually based screens that generate code for you but simplify the process by prompting you with pictures and menu prompts. These codes are inserted into an existing program or run in MDI.

Quick Code: a simpler, non-graphic aid that also generates code for insertion to a program or running in MDI.

In any case, I think that you'll find all of them lacking in face milling in the Y direction only (if somebody knows otherwise, please correct me). I too had parts that needed to be face milled in one direction, or only to a certain Y value and there didn't seem to be any way to control that.

If it's something you do regularly, you could eventually modify your QC or VQC templates to do your specialized operations with nothing but prompts. Otherwise, you'll likely get good with writing basic G-code in MDI (that's what I did).

In my brief exposure to IPS on the mill, this is my opinion: I wouldn't live without it on a lathe. It's a huge time-saver for many basic operations. On the mill, I'm not so sure that it adds anything to the machine. Everything I saw in the IPS screens, could be done in the VQC templates just as easily. And I don't think you can customize the IPS screens so I didn't waste much time with them on the mill.

But then my opinion is worth exactly what you paid for it here. :D

hey thanks for the reply. i ended up getting it to do what i wanted but, im sure there is a lot faster way of getting the same result. as for the IPS thats what i was referring to. i dont have the quick code feature and i havent figured out the VQC yet. i would really like it if we would just get a cad program, but the 10grand for mastercad is out of the question. anyway each day i figure out more and more, and soon i will be running the machine like nothing.

Hi HAAS MM,

If you look you can find a decent CAD/CAM package at a reasonable price. You don't have to spend the 10K on Mastercam with it's associated annual maintenance fees etc.

I guess it really depends what you are trying to do. Each package has it's limitations. I recently purchased a used copy of ONECNCXR2 Mill Advantage for $700.00 here on the Zone. Yes, they do allow transfer of ownership of their software. The retail price on the Advantage level of software is $3,000.00 but they usually offer a $500.00 discount. I think they also offer a lesser optioned package called Mill Express for $2,000.00 and I think they also offer a $500.00 on that package. They also offer higher end products with associated higher prices.

There are other CAD/CAM packages out there that will do quite a bit at a reasonable cost. You will just have to do your research here on the Zone and find out the capabilities of each package.

Just something for you to think about.

John

i dont have the quick code feature and i havent figured out the VQC yet.
I could be wrong but I think that you have to have Quick Code to have VQC. When you're going into VQC, the white screen with menus on it that pops up just before you go into the black VQC screen should be 'Quick Code'. They're kinda' the same but I thought VQC was an upgrade to basic Quick Code.

yeah i found the menu where you can select quick code but when you do it says program not found. and the sales guy who stops in weekly says we dont have it. i have gotten the VQC to come up but it says no category when i try to look at a program or write a program.