Letters Inverted When Engraving

[b weever]

When using axis substitution in X3 to engrave letters and the toolpath is posted the NC is inverted (using Mach3 for control), if I mirror the geo in X3 then the NC is proper when posted. If I leave the letters flat ie. turn off the axis sub the letters will be correct when posted. They are only inverted when using axis sub. Does anyone know what setting I am missing here, (I think it is in the post).

[Rstewart]

Axis Substitution CW Rotation rotary part radius.

Will look Backwards in Verify, but correct on the machine I bet. Thats what I do

[b weever]

I have tried changing the rotation in axis sub (CW or CCW) but the letters still come out inverted on the machine with either direction selection

[CaboWaboKJB]

I've been doing this every day for the last couple of weeks with X4.. When backplotting it shows the letters inverted, but at the machine they come out correct.. Run the tool above your part to check it out.. For the engraving I'm using HAAS mills and the Generic Haas 4X post...

[b weever]

Sorry I guess I have not made myself clear, the letters are being machined inverted, if I deselect the axis sub and post the same file the letters will machine correct (on a flat). I do know what everyone is saying about not looking right in Verify or backplotting and the coming out the correct way on the machine but this is not the case. They come off the machine inverted, I think it is related to a setting within the post and axis sub.

[CaboWaboKJB]

Ok.. Well, the settings I am using on the parameters page for Rotary Axis Control are:
Axis substitution on, Substitute Y Axis, CCW, with the Unroll button checked.. And for me the lettering appears inverted on my computer when it's backplotted, but at the machine it's perfect..

I hope you can figure out what works for you....

[Superman]

Sorry I guess I have not made myself clear, the letters are being machined inverted, if I deselect the axis sub and post the same file the letters will machine correct (on a flat). I do know what everyone is saying about not looking right in Verify or backplotting and the coming out the correct way on the machine but this is not the case. They come off the machine inverted, I think it is related to a setting within the post and axis sub.

Try this:- In the Machine definition file
look for the 4th axis component, and reverse it's direction

ie. In NC lingo, it is the tool that always moves ...not the axis
- always think that the part is fixed in space and the NC code moves the tool to the correct position around the part
- if the rotary axis on X is going A+ive, it should be turning CW when viewed from the X-ive side ( Left Hand )

[b weever]

Thanks Superman for your input, I tried what you have suggested but it made no change to what comes off the machine. What I have done is downloaded a generic post for Mach3 off the Artsoft site and put this post in my machine definition and the letters will come off the machine correct when the NC file is generated with this post, but this post will not do the spindle speed and tool offsets. Now I am sure it is a setting within the post but I am not able to figure it out. When I open the two post files they are completely different from each other, I do not know enough about the post logic and am not sure what to do here. Any ideas??

[TXFred]

I have not had much success with the Artsoft post. As you say, it doesn't enable tool length compensation. You might as well just hit all your end mills with a hammer, because that post will generate code for a crash every time you use it.

I have found that Haas posts work just fine with Mach3. Give one a try and see if it fixes it.

Frederic