Looking for Post Processor for Fanuc 3T Lathe

[Andy Kveps]

Good day all,
Nice clean forum. Well done!

My company bought Mastercam and Solidworks as a combination about a year ago. We have been using Mastercam on our mills (Anilam 3300 controllers) a little and have not played with the Lathe side yet.

We have Mastercam X but we are still working with 9.1 as this is what the new machinist we have here is comfortable with. One new thing at a time...

We have a couple old lathes here. A Hitachi Seiki 2 Axis with a 3T and Mori Seiki with a 6T.

Im looking for a good 3T post that is close to what I need and was wondering if one was out there. Same thing for the 6T eventually, but right now, one thing at a time.

Im having problems with the posts that come with Mastercam. The 3T control does not support G54, and the threading cycle alarms when loaded up with an NC file generated with the standard Fanuc post from MC.

Thanks for any help,

Andy Kveps

[Alex_Cole]

Here is what you can do that will help get you to your end result.

program a sample file that covers all the basic things..I will illistrat for lathe.

Program a rouging cycle that cuts a profile. Program a finish pass with a different tool that cuts lines and arcs on the profile.

Then program a threading cycle (note program using the Canned option in the dropdown box)

Program all drilling and tapping operations that you wish to be supported.

Now post out the program using the Generic Fanuc MT post. The MT or Mill/Turn post has the most number of already supported options and makes a great base to start from for developing a new post processor.

Now with the Gcode program put notes to the right of the code as to what needs changed for it to run correctly on your machine tool. Save that Gcode file.

Now make sure you have saved your MCX file at this point and go to the help menu and then Zip2Go utility. When the window opens check all check boxes on the lower left of the screen and select the "Create Zip2Go" button.

Once it is done in the file menu there is a Mail Archive option. This will open your mail program with the file attached. Also attach the NC program with notes on it.

Fill out the email and send it to your local Mastercam dealer. This is the info they need to complet the post change request.

Using this info they may also develop you a V9 post processor but with the changes in the system from 9 to X it is wiser to develop in X these days as 9 is an aging system.

You may also want to post the info here as someone here may help you but they also will need this kind of info to complete the changes.

Hope this helps and let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks
AC

[Andy Kveps]

Thanks for the response.

I got shot down about asking for a post by the moderator. Fair enough. I didnt realize that posts were treated like gold around here.

I had my Mastercam dealer walk me through the steps for creating a post for my machine. Simple enough. Your comments also confirm this. We just upgraded to X2 and there is a debugging feature in the post processor that makes it fairly easy to build a modified post. That and the info from the dealer and I should be able to get it 99% of the way there.

Again, thanks for your comments

Andy Kveps