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What's new

Love our new AGE control.

rockfish

Titanium
Joined
Aug 27, 2006
Location
Munith, Michigan
Yesterday, I programmed my first profiling job with our new TRAK AGE 2 control and it is simply fantastic. Love it. I have to admit, the manuals I purchased are NOT very helpful. In fact, they make things seem more complicated than they really are. When using AGE, all you need to do is plug in the X and Y dimensions, and any radius callouts, and the control figures out the path for you.......even the angles. Nifty. :)

So far, we've run at least 3 jobs that we could NOT have done manually.








Frank
 
Frank ,

That's awesome!!! I'm happy for you!!! On our our 1st real job for our CNC..I had to get the hang of machining 14, 3100 pound castings :eek:

Cycle time: 22hrs each.
 
prototrak

also prototrak age usually has a floppy disc drive and a rs232 serial port connector.
.
i save programs always. and use a connected computer to upload and down load programs. for example you can use a cad cam program to create text engraving in a regular fanac 6m gcode and upload to prototrak for text engraving.
.
you will have to manually raise and lower ball end mill for each letter but as long as you are not writing a book it works ok. file limit is usually less than 20 kb or less than 250 lines of gcode. with a carbide spring pressure scratch engraver you can also make simple rulers or scales.
.
you will find saving programs is easier than entering data at the controller. each time you enter data manually you risk a mistake. although it helps age will draw out on display what it will do before actually cutting anything.
.
i find operator manuals are just a learning tool and it is better to have them then to not have them around.

Engraving Tools and Cutters, Spring Loaded Engraving Tools, Vacuum Chucks, Engraving Software
although not cheap this company sells nice engraving tools and software and has been around for many years now.
 
Yesterday, I programmed my first profiling job with our new TRAK AGE 2 control and it is simply fantastic. Love it. I have to admit, the manuals I purchased are NOT very helpful. In fact, they make things seem more complicated than they really are. When using AGE, all you need to do is plug in the X and Y dimensions, and any radius callouts, and the control figures out the path for you.......even the angles. Nifty. :)

So far, we've run at least 3 jobs that we could NOT have done manually.




Frank

Oh yeah......Frank has the fever for sure!! :D


There's no turning back now.......you are hooked! ;)
 
Frank,

That sounds great. You almost feel like you are cheating.:D

Once you get real familiar, you can program it and walk off.

Run another machine or something and come back for a tool change.


Keep throwin' chips


JAckal:cheers:
 
go Frank go!

You will find the "risky" move to CNC will pay dividends beyond your imagination.

Now, to get you in a nice Mazak turning center....:D

Greg
 
Sounds like he's moving to the dark side quite nicely now, all he needs is more work to feed the CNC, then he'll have to hire an operator.... a Mr Slammy as well

And another dark master of CNC will have arisen:bowdown:

Boris

<<<been playing far too much RPG over the weekend :nutter:
 
Yesterday, I programmed my first profiling job with our new TRAK AGE 2 control and it is simply fantastic. Love it. I have to admit, the manuals I purchased are NOT very helpful. In fact, they make things seem more complicated than they really are. When using AGE, all you need to do is plug in the X and Y dimensions, and any radius callouts, and the control figures out the path for you.......even the angles. Nifty. :)

So far, we've run at least 3 jobs that we could NOT have done manually.








Frank
Good deal! Glad when something works well. Even if I don't have that control. Does it save everything as simple G01, G02, G03, and G00 moves? We use the Fanuc 21iT on our Romi, which has the teach-in feature, similar to the TRAK setups. Simple programs got HUGE that way. I got to where I just write them offline in standard G code with the canned cycles for turning, facing, boring and threading. Saves tons of memory space. The machine will hold a bunch that way, depending on program size. I keep them on my computor in the office, and on a memory card, like is used on digital cameras. Load and download from there. You can get a usb setup to do the same thing.
 
Hey, a helpful hint that you might run into when using "Math Help" in AGE to find the center, start, end positions of a curve (or what ever), the input and resultant values almost always need to be in 4-decimal points (.0000). No fudging or rounding...
 
SouthWestern makes some great stuff.

While I do primarily CAM programming, you just can't beat the AGE type controls for simplicity, and quick set up of easy programs. I had a TRAK DPM with an AGE2 box, could run 3-axis with a drip feed setup. Excellent tool room machine.

I don't think any other controls beat the TRAK for an intuitive, and quick to learn operation. I have used Fanuc, Anilam, Bridgeport, etc. I rarely program at the box on these machines, it takes too long.

You can go a really long way with a simple 2-axis mill with that control. If you can get your hands on one of the DPM machines with the 3-axis control, you'll be very happy. You won't have to come back to raise the table (please don't CNC machine by lowering the quill if you can avoid it!)

Glad to hear this control box has helped another machinist, they really are a great product.
 
Goes to show this CNC stuff is not "magic" just for big shops. Frank, give it a year, and your manual stuff will be a chore to have to use. Get that turning center your looking for, and suddenly you will find you need a lot less floor space because a few CNC's will produce more than all the old iron you have lying around. It will be hard, but you CAN scrap out the manual stuff eventually. Rework your lease for less space and you will have more money in your pocket with less headaces.

Scheduling will be a little easier since you will eventually be able to pin down the length of jobs easier.
 
Love the SMX controlled K-2 at work so much I'm buying an older model for home. The work is just plain piling up and the Clausing 8520 just can't keep up....

We've had the K-2 at work for 18 months and I won't let anybody near it. It's done nothing but make me look good....

Andy Pullen
 
Sweet! I'm glad you like the AGE. I too found it easy to learn. I think because it is sooo simple. Bit in my opinion, a little too simple. Or maybe I missed something - I was disappointed that there was no lead in/out function. I found a way to work around it, but it was a pain.

It sure beats writing code by hand! :cheers:
 








 
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