Need Help! Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

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Thread: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

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    Default Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Hi all,

    I currently running a CTX BETA 1250TC Mill Turn & have a good understanding of the shopturn software and also a good general knowledge of ISO programing on a number of controllers. I have a job coming up though that has stumped me. It is a large job that needs to be setup Manually before running a program commences. It needs to be gripped at all times with both chucks & is going to be on the machine about a week. I know you can run a grip cycle in shopturn but the problem with that cycle is when you stop and restart the program the machine wants to let go with the sub-spindle move back then come back in and re-grip. Is there a way around this problem? Perhaps another method to Sync the chucks.

    Cheers
    Scurr

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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Any luck with this problem? I have been running a CTX Gamma 2000 TC and would love to hear if you found a solution to your problem. We do not use shop turn very often (mostly for boring jaws) we use the gildemister program structure which gets pretty messy sometimes.

    Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Quote Originally Posted by ktmktmman View Post
    Any luck with this problem? I have been running a CTX Gamma 2000 TC and would love to hear if you found a solution to your problem. We do not use shop turn very often (mostly for boring jaws) we use the gildemister program structure which gets pretty messy sometimes.

    Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
    Yeah got it sorted. There is a code that I used at the beginning of the program to sync the spindles no matter where they are. Cant remember the code off the top of my head but I'll look it up if your interested. It was all done in ISO but I was still able to put shop turn cycles in when it suited me.

    Cheers
    scurr



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Yes that would be great if you could. The only code I know for that is a L726 ;Sync Spindles Phased..How is your support from the manufacture as far as technical support? Here in the US the support/knowledge of the CTX TC machines is boarder line terrible. I have had to completely teach myself on how to operate this machine. I have had the luck of getting some help from a few shops in the US that also have these machines.



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Here is the program the main bit the activates and syncs the spindles is as follows
    N100 SPCON(4)
    N105 SPCON(3)
    N110 COUPDEF (S3, S4, 1,)
    N115 COUPON (S3, S4)

    Cheers
    scurr

    Attached Files Attached Files


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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    DMG in general have pretty piss weak support here in Australia. I thought maybe it was just us, as in the world of manufacturing I think we are a bit of a backwater. Sounds like there technical support is pretty crap every where.

    Cheers
    Chris.



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Thanks for the info! That works great! I see you do not use the Gildemister program structure for you programming format. What software do you use? Do you like the Beta? Sorry for all the questions it is hard to find someone who uses these machines.



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    No probs mate, glad it worked for you. We only use a few gildemeister functions such as for bar advance and parts catcher which is only because they aren't available in the standard Siemens shop turn software. Shop turn is what we use for 95% of the work we do with the rest a bit of DIN ISO chucked in amongst that. Is your machine a single or twin turret because the older version of shop turn don't support twin turret operation, I think there is a later version of shop turn that does support them though. I quite like the machines especially for what you pay for them in comparison to other brands. As with all equipment there are good points and bad points and our maintenance could be a lot better but over all I am happy to run them. Don't mind the questions as its nice to get a reply on this forum every now and then. most of my posts end in dead ends.

    Cheers
    scurr



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Our machine has only the milling head (Z1) and a steady rest (Z2). Our machine is a 2008 model which we were told was the first year of the CTX gamma machines that replaced the GMX line. I believe the newer machines with shopturn 3G have the ability to program in 2 channels for twin turret support . We have only had this machine for about a year and it took us 6 months to get it running correctly. We have 2 DMG 5 axis mills and wanted a 5 axis lathe so we bought this one at a auction. It had been sitting for 5 years not doing anything and had only 2000 hr on it. Did you take any formal training from DMG when you got your lathe? I couldn't even get any training manuals from DMG unless I took there week long class. I ended up calling every shop in the US that I could find that had a machine like this and got enough info to figure this machine out. I also got some good help from Partmaker sine they had a working post for this machine.



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    We got training packages with most of the DMG machines that were bought where I work as most of them were purchased brand new or ex-show room models. In saying that DMG I think are a bit of a cagey mob as they seem to try and get out of the genuine training time spent on sometimes what should be considered commissioning of the machine. For example when the CTX1250 was installed they got the service technician to do the training with us and although is knowledge was reasonable it was far from what a programming educator would offer as I found out later. The initial training was soaked up with issues of the machine, some simply relating to parameters set incorrectly and others due to component failure and software updates. After the boss made a major complaint to DMG we got a further weeks training with some one they sent out from one of there so called training academies from Malaysia if I remember correctly. This guy was much more knowledgeable and helpful than there tech was but he also found parameter issues but was able to fix them much more quickly. Early this year I had another experience with DMG training practices as this time it related to a much more significant purchase and in this case the boss had paid for a 2 week course for 2 people which was supposed to involve them sending out someone from there academy again. All we got was the same tech as previously and this time only for a couple of days and the whole time he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder bagging our facility with every opportunity. As this course cost the boss some where in the vicinity of 22,000 euros, when he came out and asked what I thought of the training I naturally told him he had been seriously ripped off. So he made another major complaint which ended in us receiving the training that was paid for in the form of someone from the academy being sent out from Germany this time. This guy was really switched on and had a very sound knowledge of not only programming of the controller but also manipulating parameters from within programs which was some really handy knowledge to have and I can't fault the training this guy gave us. So in a nut shell you can get good training from them but you have to be wary on how they may chose to deliver it sometimes. Do you use cam at all for programming and of you machines if so which package do you use? I am currently working on posts for a few of our machines and having a few niggling issues and am curious to see what anyone else is using. We use Edge Cam and I am mucking about with there post wizard to develop posts.

    Cheers
    Scurr



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Yeah we have had similar problems with our field service with DMG. We have pretty good phone support here in the US but we have chosen to get our service work from someone other than DMG corporation. When we bought this machine the boss didn't want me trying to figure out how to get a good running post with our current CAM software. So he gave me a budget and I spent about a month doing CAM demos and calling other shops with CTX lathes and it came down to two CAM systems. Siemens NX CAM and Autodesk Partmaker/Delcam Partmaker. We chose Partmaker because it was all around easier to program with and it was about half the price of Siemens NX. We spent around 20,000 USD and has been worth it since we use it to program about 75% of everything we run in the CTX. The code output is 100% in gildemister program structure with all the correct RG parameters and the L sub programs correctly set up. Since I have been running the machine a lot lately and writing programs I have quite a few things I want the CAM guys to add to the post I just haven't had time yet. Partmakers post is setup perfectly for loading a part in S4 and doing a transfer to S3. I have to add in by hand steady rest support and tailstock stuff and few things like that. I used Partmaker and full 5 axis to machine the flights on this large screw! I was pretty excited on how well it worked.

    Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Nice looking unit! I assume when your doing the 5 axis machining that you are using the TRAORI function. Unfortunately we don't have that activated on ours or as the tech tells me it is a software upgrade. Mostly what we do is pretty repetitive production and is just programed with shop turn.

    Cheers
    scurr



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    Default Re: Twin spindle milling/turning CTX BETA 1250TC

    Thanks! I was using TRANS_5A(4,"B") Function for the 5 axis work. Which I believe is the same thing as TRAORI just DMG doing something a little different because this is a mill turn platform. I called a guy I know that is good at running the 5 axis dmg mills with Siemens and he had no idea what TRANS_5A was. I had to make some more calls and dig through my manuals to figure out what parameters to use.



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