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New to Haas..

galaxy80

Plastic
Joined
Mar 31, 2011
Location
Cajun country USA
Hello everyone. I just started at a shop about a month ago running a ST30 with no previous Haas experience. I have a few years running and programming Mazatrol. Does anyone have any advice that might help me learn? I've taken the CD Rom that came with the operator's manual and put it on my PC. I've learned a little so far with programming in MDI and can write simple programs, but have trouble programming a profile. Thanks everyone!
 
Well, unfortunately for you, going from Mazatrol to Haascode is the bass ackwards way to do things. (as is going from a Mazak to Haas).

Mazatrol = awesome
Haascode = not so much

Do you have any actual programming software? (mastercam, whatever?)


If so, use that.
if not...:(
 
And ladies and gentlemen, here we have a perfectly good example of the downsides of conversational programming and the heavy reliance on them.

Haas's conversational sucks balls, but it does run G-code with the best of them.
Mazatrol is great, but MAZAK too runs G-code fine.
Same for Fanucs with CAPPS, Hurco, Milltronics, Prototrak and all others with conversational controls.
They all eat G-code. You learn that once and have the world at your feet.

And that's all I have to say about that.
 
And ladies and gentlemen, here we have a perfectly good example of the downsides of conversational programming and the heavy reliance on them.

Haas's conversational sucks balls, but it does run G-code with the best of them.
Mazatrol is great, but MAZAK too runs G-code fine.
Same for Fanucs with CAPPS, Hurco, Milltronics, Prototrak and all others with conversational controls.
They all eat G-code. You learn that once and have the world at your feet.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Totally agree. I have seen those that could use the conversational and CadCam's, yet couldn't write a line of code. Then, of course, they can't fix a problem with the code or keep up with it while the machine is running.

I write code in a simple to read manner and watch it as it runs. While running mine and others programs, I have found and stopped errors dozens of times by being able to stop a program before it executes something that will cause a crash or damage a part.

Everyone should learn G-code. You will find it is not all that hard and you get to watch it every day.

Mike
 
Totally agree. I have seen those that could use the conversational and CadCam's, yet couldn't write a line of code. Then, of course, they can't fix a problem with the code or keep up with it while the machine is running.

I write code in a simple to read manner and watch it as it runs. While running mine and others programs, I have found and stopped errors dozens of times by being able to stop a program before it executes something that will cause a crash or damage a part.

Everyone should learn G-code. You will find it is not all that hard and you get to watch it every day.

Mike

should just leave this alone and move on but......machineit2 you must be superman to read faster than a cnc can exicute and find problems or maybe your code needs to be simplified. :D

Don't take offense I work with people who realy beleive they are super human.

Athack
 
should just leave this alone and move on but......machineit2 you must be superman to read faster than a cnc can exicute and find problems or maybe your code needs to be simplified. :D

Don't take offense I work with people who realy beleive they are super human.

Athack

No Superman here! Besides I hear he gave up his US citizenship and flew off to Europe or someplace! :)

And I am not talking about watching a complicated cavity/mold program either. Mostly drill, tap, profile, boring, counter-boring, etc. etc. Job shop stuff. I write in a way that is easier to follow. Maybe a few more initial lines, but but easier to read at a glance. For example:

T1 M06
G00 G90 G54 X-12.704 Y0.1321 S6000 M03 (computer/cam generated)


T1 M06
S6000 M03
G00 X-12.704 Y0.1321 (my code, the G90 would have been earlier)

When you put every bit of code you can in one line, it makes it much more difficult to follow. The last guy I taught learned to catch errors from the programs written by the guy who replaced me and was glad he did!

Mike
 
Or you could tweek your CAM post so it reads as you suggest, works for the s l o w brain I have and well with single block.

Just saying...
 
And ladies and gentlemen, here we have a perfectly good example of the downsides of conversational programming and the heavy reliance on them.

Haas's conversational sucks balls, but it does run G-code with the best of them.
Mazatrol is great, but MAZAK too runs G-code fine.
Same for Fanucs with CAPPS, Hurco, Milltronics, Prototrak and all others with conversational controls.
They all eat G-code. You learn that once and have the world at your feet.

And that's all I have to say about that.

I agree here as well. For the first 10 years I programmed Brother tapping centers in conversational and when we started replacing the machines they were capable of both NC or conversational. It was just easier for me at the time to use the conversational because I was good at it but when we bought our first Haas I didn't have a choice anymore. I didn't have any G-code experience at all and it took a little while to learn but I'm glad I did. Then I started writing programs at the computer while the machine was running and my boss thought that was the greatest thing! A lot more efficient to have your programs waiting for the machine than to have your machines waiting to be programmed.
 
Hello everyone. I just started at a shop about a month ago running a ST30 with no previous Haas experience. I have a few years running and programming Mazatrol. Does anyone have any advice that might help me learn? I've taken the CD Rom that came with the operator's manual and put it on my PC. I've learned a little so far with programming in MDI and can write simple programs, but have trouble programming a profile. Thanks everyone!

My best advice to you is to get online and get books or take a class on G-Code programing...it is the true language of a cnc machinist.
And remember...G17G40G49G80

edit: there are free g-code back plotters on the web so you can plug your program in and see what the part will look like, and also see if you screwed up somewhere.
 
There is a pretty good book by a guy named Peter Smid called CNC Programing Handbook or something. You can generally find a used copy for around $20. It is a pretty good reference. I have machines with three different brands of controllers and have no idea how to even get started with their conversational abilities. Even for a two axis lathe package I would recommend a cheaper CAM package such as OneCNC. It is around $1800, but will pay for itself pretty quick in time savings, plus you don't have to be right at the machine. Learning G-Code is pretty handy too. I learned it for the most part by studying the outputs from the posts (using the book as a reference). That way you can modify the programs easily and add features and tool paths that may not exist in the CAM (such as using a bar puller).
 
My best advice to you is to get online and get books or take a class on G-Code programing...it is the true language of a cnc machinist.
And remember...G17G40G49G80

edit: there are free g-code back plotters on the web so you can plug your program in and see what the part will look like, and also see if you screwed up somewhere.

Great advice! When we got our first Haas we got 3 days of free training and that was a great place to start. We learned the control and basic G-code and the general layout of a program from start to finish and that helped a bunch. The Haas manual is pretty decent as well, as far as machine manuals go..... And remember the Haas has a graphics page so you can watch your toolpath and find mistakes there as well.
 
I forgot about this post and just found it again. Thanks for the advice everyone! I learned g code a little by just running the machine and asking questions. The shop ended up closing and I'm back running Mazak again lol.
 








 
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