Can you External Thread Mill with a Tormach PCNC 770

[Smokey911]

This may seem obvious but every time I look to see if the 770 can external thread mill I come up blank. I see it for the 1100 only. I would assume the answer is a yes.

I am looking at ordering the 770 this week but it is critical that I be able to external thread mill just as the 1100 does. Can someone confirm this, thanks...

[rowbare]

Being able to thread mill is independent of the machine. As long as you write the correct g-code you should have no problem.

bob

[txcncman]

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[bobeson]

I've done a fair bit of threadmilling on my pcnc1100, and it works great. Threadmilling is one of the huge benefits that comes along with CNC. Any halfway-decent CNC mill will threadmill, and the PCNC's do it well. There is essentially no difference between OD threadmilling and ID threadmilling other than the basic toolpath, which uses a wee bit of extra math to accomodate the thread crest for OD threads. I recommend you use gcode instead of CAM, at least until you have gained anough confidence in your understanding of the geometry behind the operation so that you can tweak your CAM system properly to give you what you really want. Your choice of threadmills is significant, and if you search around here in the forums you will find a number of suppliers mentioned that have much better prices than your average supply catalog thread mill, which are a rip-off. I've been pleased with LakeshoreCarbide.com for full-form solid carbide threadmills for thread diameters of ~1/4"-~3/4", and for larger threads I use Vardex toolholders via misc catalog suppliers (kbc, etc) for carbide insert mills. A recent tip somebody posted here was about OnlineCarbide.com. They have great-looking threadmill prices and a satisfied user (ScottFDM?) whose opinion carried some weight in my reading of the mention; I'll likely try them out for my next solid carbide threadmill purchase.

I found great technical information about threadmilling toolpaths at Vardex and other tool manufacturer web sites. Be sure to follow their feed&speed recommendations. I have written both simple radial entry moves and complex changing-radius-partial-helix entry and exit moves, and I can't really tell the difference in resulting thread finish so far, at least back when I was experimenting in aluminum. Now I use the partial-helix entries and exits since I already wrote the code, and it may make a small difference in steel, I'm not sure. Either way, get comfortable with the toolpath geometry, and you'll find that threadmilling is your friend.

[Smokey911]

Thanks for all of your input! Question answered!