Newbie- Mill to lathe does not compute!

[masonbcaldwell4]

I'm unfamiliar with setting offsets on our SL-30, but maybe I'm just a tard.... I'm machining a .125 wide x .083 deep face groove with 1/32 radii at the bottom corners, but forget that for now... my grooving tip is .094... I touch it to the probe, Z works fine, but touching the top or bottom of the probe, no matter, my X never ends up right. probe is properly set up, but the tool nose identifier is where I think my problem may be... I've tried using 2, 3, and even 7, touching the top of the probe then subtracting half the width... please enlighten me, oh enlightened ones... lol I'll probably be asking again when it comes to those radii, but I hope to get enough of the basic idea through this... many thanks

Mason

[djr76]

Depending on which side of the probe you touch off in the X axis, thats the corner of the insert you program from in X (diameter) and pick the direction accordingly. If you are putting a radius or chamfer on the opposite side from the programmed tip, you just add or subtract (depending on direction of axis) the insert thickness in your programming.

[masonbcaldwell4]

DJR,

That's kinda what I figured, but I tried it with both sides and it was off with both... for instance, I touch with the corner that will be at the outside of the groove ( that dia. is supposed to be .688 ) then tell it to go to X0.688, plunge it in, say, .03 in Z, back it off and measure, and the groove measures 0.720ish. that is using "2" in the tool page, but that roughly 40 thou difference is roughly half the width of the tip... so I'm a bit stumped. like I said, this job is my intro to cnc lathes, so I'm probably making some moron mistake, but I appreciate the help all the same.

[djr76]

Did you input in the tool tip radius in the offsets page? and are you using G41/42 correctly? It shouldn't act any different then say a trigon insert on a i.d. bore path. So in your case, it would be the left hand direction, (2) I believe, using a G41 Tool Nose Compensation Left (X,Z,U,W), and a .xxxx (radius of tool corners) tool tip radius in your offsets page.

[masonbcaldwell4]

Havn't even gotten that far... touch off the tip, then in MDI, put in:

T1010 G54 G0 X.664 Z.1 M3 S250
M8
G1 Z-.03 F.002
Z.01
G0 X10. Z10. M5
M9

Gives me a .720ish groove....

[djr76]

does an o.d. or i.d. profiling tools represent the same problems?

[Superman]

Where does the tool sit if you punch in X0. Z0.01 with compensation ON for that tool ?

[masonbcaldwell4]

Originally Posted by Superman Where does the tool sit if you punch in X0. Z0.01 with compensation ON for that tool ?

Slightly on the X positive side, but I can't seem to figure out exactly how much.

DJR,

Unfortunately, I'm unsure. this is the first time I've done anything with this machine, period. I'm familiar with CNC mills, but this is the first CNC Lathe I've touched. I'm almost tempted to do it conventionally, even tho there are several pcs. to do.

Mason

[djr76]

its very basic man, X is diameter and Z is length, its just like setting a G41 or G42 in the mill, the direction of the tool on a lathe is identical to the direction relative to mills.