How do you program for tombstones?

[MIKEL12]

I've inherited the responsibility to make programs for our tombstone machines. The way it's been done before (and the way i'm doing it now) is to add CPL:s manually to each of the pieces to be machined.
Then I make an operation on the first piece, index to the second piece and do a "translate machining", then i index to third piece and translate and so on.

This gives a code that calls subprograms, one of them is a very convenient "zero point" subprogram. The machine will go into this program and make a coordinate shift from the machine zero that makes fine tuning very easy for each individual part on the machine.

But all this programing takes a long time to do and it gets complicated quickly, is there a better way that still maintains the fine tuning of coordinate shifts at the machine in the shop ?

[Ecmdrw5]

If all the parts are the same and you are looking for a simple way to program and not worrying about making extra tool changes this is what I do. I right the main program as a sub program and then create a master program that calls up the different offsets. In the sub program don't put any Work Datums in and put them in the master program before you call up the sub program....


Something like this would work for one part on one side of the tombstone. I set the Work Datum B values in the Offset screen. If you have multiple parts on one side of the tombstone just leave out the B value.

O0010

M11
G0G54B0.
M10
M98P0200

M11
G0G55B0.
M10
M98P0200

M11
G0G56B0.
M10
M98P0200

Hope this helps

[MIKEL12]

This is almost the same as it's done today.

The Edgecam Post creates:
Main program - calls all workdatums and manufacturing subprograms
Zero point prog - makes "workdatums" by shifting the zero point (G92 i think)
Work Program - Has all toolpaths that will be executed.

Example:

Main program calls zero point program and goes to the block that contains the zero. Then returns to main.

Main program calls work program and goes to the block that contains toolpath. Then returns to main

And so on.

Was hoping that there was some speedier way of doing this, the code on the machine is great. Thats not the problem, it's the tedious drawn out work in edgecam that irritates me

[christinandavid]

Would the CAD/CAM programming be simplified if all the workoffsets shift calculations were performed at the machine using a 'Dynamic Fixture Offset' option (or self-written 'zero-point rotation' program, that you could assign a G-code to)?

We use a similar method, which is convenient for the offline programmer because it doesn't matter a toss how we set up the job (as long as we can reach all the features, obviously).

DP