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Anyone use fusion 360 CAM for an older Okuma mill?

  • Thread starter Thread starter hooty96
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hooty96

Plastic
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May 13, 2023
Im starting to learn fusion 360 CAM and I would like to use it for my father’s CNC mills but Im having trouble finding the right post processor. Fusion CAM post library has a generic processor for Okuma mills but Ive read online that folks are having to edit the post to work properly. The okuma mills/controllers are a MX55va with a OSP10m and a MC4-vae with a OSP5020. If anyone here has had success using these machines (or similar older models) with fusion360 CAM, any guidance is much appreciated!!
 
hooty,

Couple of items first....I hope you've posted this question on the 1) Autodesk HSM Post Processor forum, and 2) at the Fusion 360 Manufacture forum. I'm thinking you are more likely to find a larger audience there.

I don't have Okuma mills, but maintain posts for our three Okuma 'mill-turns' ('95 Dual spindle, live tool, c-axis interpolation; '98 single spindle, live tool, c-axis interp. and '08 Okuma SpaceTurn dual spindle, live tool, c-axis interp.). The first time I posted code with the only Okuma Mill-Turn post available from the Autodesk library, all three machines choked on the code. Older machines are a nightmare for multiple reasons. The worst is that Okuma constantly updated the firmware in their controllers, so even the programming manuals delivered with the machines wouldn't necessarily allow one to write code immediately as they were effectively out of date. However, I suspect this is less true of Okuma's mills.

If you are lucky, forum inquiries will turn up a post that will be pretty close to what you need. If not, then I would proceed as follows: find a part that was made in the past on one of these machines; something with drilling, tapping, pocketing, profiling, etc. Then get hold of the program used to make it. Now model the same part in Fusion and CAM the same operations. Post the Fusion CAM with the generic post and see where the differences/problems are.

You may find that some of the problems can be solved using the posting options; for instance, the control doesn't want to see line numbers - then turn them off in the post options and so on. You can also dry run the Fusion code and see where the control has problems. You can then post some of the problems to the forums mentioned above and see if anyone can help.

Finally, if you're willing, Autodesk has a free 'Extension' for the Microsoft Visual Studio Code editor that allows one to make changes to a post and see the resulting code immediately. It's very handy for simple edits where lines of code only need to be reformatted to work properly. However, you can also make very sophisticated edits of the post to take care of more complex operations.

I've avoided making any mention of third parties that modify or create posts for a fee as I'm guessing you're not into wanting to invest in those sorts of options.

Fred
 
Wow thank you for this very detailed guide! I haven’t posted in those forms yet. That will be my first course of action. Not too familiar with coding so not sure if I want to open up that can of worms. Not sure what the fees are for something like this is but I would be willing to pay a professional to get it done right in a timely matter.
 
If you google Autodesk Post Library and go to that page, you will see a series of blue buttons across the top. Click on Post Customization and you will be taken to a page with various consulting firms that can provide advice and custom posts. They will probably ask you for the same info I mentioned - part, and code used to cut it (original code), part modeled in Fusion 360 plus CAM ops and the Fusion post you want modified (generic Okuma for example). I'd check with a few of them to see what the costs are like. Ketiv and NexGenCAM are two that generally receive good reviews for their work. There may be a bit of back-and-forth to get the post exactly right, but doubt you will have too much trouble given its a three axis mill post.

Good luck.

Fred
 








 
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