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Face Milling a Slant

cmmpro1

Plastic
Joined
Dec 21, 2017
Location
Charlotte Home of the Carolina Panthers
Good morning everyone.
As you can by my past post, I am somewhat new to CAM. I am trying to figure out the best way to face mill a slant. The material is aluminum. I am using a HAAS five axis machining center and I'm progrsmming using InventorHSM with HAAS automation post processing. Thank you in advance for any info on this.


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Tilt to the plane the slant is on and facemill it?
I assume HSM Inventor has that capability.
 
When you at "tilt to the plane" do you mean rotate the part to where that slant is level? I am not sure I understand.

How much experience do you have running the 5 axis mill? It sounds like you need some training, the answer I gave you is very basic terminology.
 
Sounds like you need to be very careful. Do a little studying and not break the machine.
Basic questions are fine. I would have to do the same, and would not touch that machine if not very sure.
 
Very little!!! I'm a cmm programmer. I got moved from quality because I have machining experience. I'm sorry for asking basic questions but I'm trying to learn.

In that case, the first thing I would do is watch a shit ton of YouTube videos to see the ins and outs of how a 5 axis machine works and I'm sure there are videos on HSM Inventor as well. Granted some videos are cutting very complex parts but you might pick up on something.

When I say tilt the plane that the slant is on, your programming software should have the option to create a new plane, then you orientate that plane so that the slant is facing up. Create a facing toolpath and you are off and running.
Setting up the machine is a whole different animal, are you responsible for that too? Or do you have a setup guy?
 
In that case, the first thing I would do is watch a shit ton of YouTube videos to see the ins and outs of how a 5 axis machine works and I'm sure there are videos on HSM Inventor as well. Granted some videos are cutting very complex parts but you might pick up on something.

When I say tilt the plane that the slant is on, your programming software should have the option to create a new plane, then you orientate that plane so that the slant is facing up. Create a facing toolpath and you are off and running.
Setting up the machine is a whole different animal, are you responsible for that too? Or do you have a setup guy?

I have a guy that does all the setups. All I have to do is write the programs and pull the stock and tools. Sometimes, on the other machines, I make some edits in the program but I normally let the operator do that unless he or she isn't sure. I still have to write cmm programs for our one offs and FAIs.
 
Use Tool Orientation on the Geometry tab to orient the Z-axis in line with the tool/spindle.

Will see if I can find a video on that when I have time.
 
Also, in doing this, I could either use swarf or multi-axis contour, correct?

Without seeing the part geometry I'm not sure. It's likely possible, but if you want to use a Face toolpath, Orientation is your best and easiest bet. Multi-axis Contour is a weird one to get right on some things as it is more like a Trace toolpath, so if you have the clearance, Swarf is better.
 
So many question marks here...
Do you have other programmers at your site you can ask a few questions to show you some things? Seems like you are getting into Training 101 so I'm curious if you can leverage your company's knowledge and experience rather than reinventing the wheel; just to get you going of course and then proceed from there.
 
So many question marks here...
Do you have other programmers at your site you can ask a few questions to show you some things? Seems like you are getting into Training 101 so I'm curious if you can leverage your company's knowledge and experience rather than reinventing the wheel; just to get you going of course and then proceed from there.

I wish I could ask him but he's not approachable. That's why I come here or figure it out for myself. The company isn't willing to provide training. They say its not in the budget so I'm basically on my own with this. I knw that its hard to get info out of some machinists so I will keep my questions to a minimum.
 
I wish I could ask him but he's not approachable. That's why I come here or figure it out for myself. The company isn't willing to provide training. They say its not in the budget so I'm basically on my own with this. I knw that its hard to get info out of some machinists so I will keep my questions to a minimum.

I would suggest heading over here: HSM - Autodesk Community

That's the official support forums for HSM, and you can attach files, and there are usually several members paying attention. It's a good community.
 
i don't have 5-axis, only 3-axis, so

1) if it's a block with parallel sides I might put it into a vice and use an angle block or sine bar to indicate it to the correct angle. If I had to do a lot I might cut a dedicated angle block that sites in the vice.
2) put a vice on a sine plate and set it to the correct angle. I have various sine plates for vices/large parts.

You know if you crash the 5-axis who's going to get the blame? Be careful!
 
i don't have 5-axis, only 3-axis, so

1) if it's a block with parallel sides I might put it into a vice and use an angle block or sine bar to indicate it to the correct angle. If I had to do a lot I might cut a dedicated angle block that sites in the vice.
2) put a vice on a sine plate and set it to the correct angle. I have various sine plates for vices/large parts.

You know if you crash the 5-axis who's going to get the blame? Be careful!

Thank you!!! That's what I ended up doing, I did it on the three axis and set up the sine plate. He originally wanted me to put it in the 5 axis but I didn't feel comfortable with doing that. I saw one guy crash one........ Hadn't seen him since.
 
Thank you!!! That's what I ended up doing, I did it on the three axis and set up the sine plate. He originally wanted me to put it in the 5 axis but I didn't feel comfortable with doing that. I saw one guy crash one........ Hadn't seen him since.

Cool! Glad it worked out!
 








 
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