Newbie- Rotary/indexing questions....

[prtmkr2010]

Hi guys. I posted this in the GibbsCam site/forum also, but it looks like there is way more traffic here so I will try here as well and hope someone can give me a start:
Hi guys. Newbie to 4th/rotary milling. Have an '07 HAAS VF3. When the owners bought the VMC new in '07, they also bought a SHRT210H rotary with it that has never been plugged in. Unfortunatly I have never used one. I did come across some paperwork that shows that they ordered an A-axis simple positioning post/advanced mill post. The GibbsCam version I am using is an oldy but goody : 8.5.10 (2.5D). I am just looking to simply use it to be able to do indexing work (ie., drill some holes then rotate 180 deg and do some features on other side type stuff), not rotary milling (at this point). I tried going to plug-ins and using the Rotary rough, which does put a til;e in the machining pallet, but won't let me use the "do it" button (it stays grayed out). I figure I could just get two workgroups, one for each side, and then use that rotary rough plug-in to have it rotate 180 deg between the two workgroups (ops). Can somebody give me a heads up as to what I an doing wrong? Would it just be easier to add a line of code in to have it rotate around to do the 2nd op 180 deg from 1st op? If so, can someone give me a simple sample of that code? Would it be a G68 command? Do I not have the correct post? Correct version of Gibbs? Any help would be very appreciated. Thank you

[beekeeper]

sounds to me like you need to go into the Hass machine parameters and turn on the A axis.

[cadman]

The Rotary Rough plugin requires the Solid Surfacer option.

Make sure you are set up as a 4 axis machine with Z0 as the axis centerline, and in your different process tiles you'll see the rotate tab you'll use to move the toolpaths around the A axis.

[prtmkr2010]

Thank you for the help. Beekeeper, you are correct. Still need to go in and turn that parameter on, but I havent even put the rotary in yet. Trying to get a program together first. Cadman, appreciate the help. Yeah, I realized the rotary rough plug-in had something to do with solids, but couldn't figure out how to get that booger to rotate. Guess I was getting into desperation mode with that. So, with rotary, you DO NOT set your Z0 at the top of the part (like I would normally do)? Also, what is the proper procedure for getting the rotary plugged in/set up? I figured I would go in to parameters and turn 4th on, shut machine down, then plug the cords into machine (and air line), then power the 'ol girl up? Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Can I just go into parameters at anytime that the rotary is plugged in and turn the 4th on and have it recognize it or do I have to do something special? Thanks again for your help.

[beekeeper]

Most generally you would set z0 off the center of the A axis at least that was the way I was taught to do it. You can go in at anytime and change the parameter to recognize a axis. We had a hass with a 5 axis trunion and we at times would lock b axis so it wouldnt move when we was doing some work that required only A axis and would cause a crash if B axis was active and needed homed out