Cleaning out a used control.

[l u k e]

I cleaned out the tool offsets and tool life history from the previous owner. Still learning my way around, is there anything else I should clean out or factory defaults I should rest? I haven't loaded any programs; I've only gone as far as setting my tool offsets and G54 for my vice. Just curious if there is any more house cleaning I should do before I get in too deep with my stuff, thanks.

[WallyL7]

Luke,

Do you have the manual? You can download it directly from the Haas website if you need it. I would download it and print it if you don't have a hard copy already.

Then...

Go through all the settings they list and know them. Think about which ones will affect the way you operate the machine and make notes in the manual regarding whether or not you want to change them.

I can't remember if you've been a machinist for a while or not...if you have been for a while, then just go through the settings and configure it for your likings. If you haven't then you can PM me or list your questions here regarding individual settings and how they affect machine performance.

I don't know if anybody has a list of preset settings but you should go through the manual anyway so you know what each one does.

[l u k e]

I have ZERO experience with cnc.

Yes I have the manual that came with the machine.

[WallyL7]

So are you familiar with Manual machining? Between that and a basic understanding of machine tools you should be able to pick through the manual to verify if the machine is adequately set up.

See how far you can get with the manual and note the areas that you just don't know and get back here. My guess is that most of the settings and parameters are going to be set correctly, since most people don't mess with many of those things.

Other things like program restart, max corner round, and things like that tend to get altered though...but those are also pretty easy to understand from the manual.

Good luck


BTW - You bought a cnc mill without any CNC experience? Interesting choice of hobbies (a pretty fun one, I might add...)

[l u k e]

So are you familiar with Manual machining?

Yes, about 7 years worth. I've made thousands of parts for a little business I have, but everything I know is self taught, without any internet help, job experience or mentors.

Between that and a basic understanding of machine tools you should be able to pick through the manual to verify if the machine is adequately set up.

On the knee mill I pretty much taught myself by looking at tooling catalogs. I know it's weird but honestly that's what I did.

See how far you can get with the manual and note the areas that you just don't know and get back here. My guess is that most of the settings and parameters are going to be set correctly, since most people don't mess with many of those things.

I started that but got side tracked on some other work I had to get done.

Other things like program restart, max corner round, and things like that tend to get altered though...but those are also pretty easy to understand from the manual.

got it..

BTW - You bought a cnc mill without any CNC experience? Interesting choice of hobbies (a pretty fun one, I might add...)

I've been researching it since 2005. I built a small business around a knee mill around 2003-2004 and knew right away I had to go cnc. But it's pretty intimating when you don’t know anything about it, so it took a long time to get where I'm at.

I always knew how beneficial it would be but the money was a killer on the quick decisions to jump in and just do it. It was only after loosing my full time job (due to the economy) 2-1/2 years ago that I decided to just do it. I was there for almost 20 years.

I don’t have what it takes anymore to be a good employee and make others millions of dollars for crap wages. I worked in, ran, and did design work in a production facility for a family (my daddy is the owner mentality (2 brothers) for way too long, all the while being treated like $#!*. I still don’t know why I was so loyal to that place!

Anyway, I made this purchase simply because I'm done working for others, I no longer have the stomach for it.

[Ken_Shea]

Congratulation on your new piece of equipment Luke.

What model did you get.

Murray from the OneCNC forum has a very complete tool list you can download, Ward and Murray both have put a Haas post on there as well with lots of useful additions.

Ken

[l u k e]

It's a VF2D.

I'm a memeber on the OneCNC forum too, all those guys have been a huge help to say the least.

[l u k e]

I'm not sure why these setting should be on or off??
16- Dry run lock out
17 - Opt Stop Lock Out
18 - Block Delete Lock Out
19 - Feedrate Override Lock
20 - Spindle Override Lock
21- Rapid Override Lock

Can someone give me some insight on what these are for? Thanks.

[WallyL7]

I'm not sure why these setting should be on or off??
16- Dry run lock out
17 - Opt Stop Lock Out
18 - Block Delete Lock Out
19 - Feedrate Override Lock
20 - Spindle Override Lock
21- Rapid Override Lock

Can someone give me some insight on what these are for? Thanks.

Ok

16 - Doesn't matter - haas dry run is completely pointless, never use it.
17 - Leave it off for normal use. Turn it on if you don't want the operator to be able to have an optional stop (M1)
18 - I use block delete every now and then, so I leave this setting off (and turn on block delete on the keypad when I need the block delete). Turn this setting on and the operator can't use block delete
19 - again, with this setting "ON", the operator cannot overide the feedrate settings in the program. Leave it off, so you can tweak the program while you run it.
20 - same as 19 accept for the spindle. With this setting "on", the operator cannot override the programmed speed with the control panel
21 - same as 19 and 20 accept for this is for rapids. You can limit the rapids with setting 10 to keep the machine from going faster than 50%. Either way, setting 21 "ON" makes it so the operator cannot change the rapid to whatever you have the limit set to (50% or 100%)...


SO - long story short, all of these should be off imo...unless you have a monkey running the machine for you.

[l u k e]

What is a block delete?

[WallyL7]

What is a block delete?

Luke

If you put a "/" in front of a block (or line of code) and turn on "Block Delete", it will run the program and not "see" that line of code. A "block" is just that...a line of code.

You can put them on a series of lines or a single line.

It is useful for parts that are similar but may not have a specific hole or tool, so that hole or entire tool's lines of code can have the "/" at the front (of each line) and when you run that part you just turn on or off "block delete" accordingly. Turn it on to skip those lines in other words.

For most applications, I would personally just rather have an additional program specific for whatever part I am running, though.

[l u k e]

Got it, that makes total sense.