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Newbie help for mazak t32-3 control

Blackhawkxp

Plastic
Joined
Nov 14, 2018
I am trying to mill flats by using the c axis function in mazatrol. For some reason the flats have a slight radius to them. How do i overcome this? Thanks in advance.
 
I'm trying to learn this on the fly so any input is appreciated. Its an older machine and the documentation is pretty vague. Attached is the tool page and i am using tool 14 with a 3/8 end mill. Am i supposed to use half the diameter Nose-R column?
20191029_155653.jpg
 
I dont know if there is a parameter setting for inputting the tool diameter as a radius or diameter. The machine is asking for a radius, but we always input diameter on our end mills. Try giving it the radius of the cutter, see what that does.
 
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I am shooting from the hip but this is a basic program that I "think" should put a flat on one side of the part. I erased the second pass from 180 to 270 for trouble shooting purposes. I am still unsure of what the controller is asking for on some of the input fields. I tried left face as well as right face with the same result. I am using the straight live tool feeding in .25 on the Z axis. I may be going about this all wrong so hopefully you guys can shed some light on the correct way to program the control.
 
Touching off the edge of the end mill on the edge of the part if that is what you are asking? Is there a different method required? I guess i am not sure what you consider the X geometry?
 
Touching off the edge of the end mill on the edge of the part if that is what you are asking? Is there a different method required?

That's your problem. You need to set endmills the same way you would set a drill bit. X0 needs to be the center of the endmill. The machine cannot comp the endmill correctly if it is not in the right location.
 
I will give that a try. I wasn't sure how the cutter comp works in the control for each function. Just so i am following I am going to touch off the end mill on the edge of the part and then move down 1/2 the diameter(.1875 for 3/8 end mill) and then set that as my X0. Sorry if i seem a bit simple but i just want to make sure i am understanding you correctly.
 
Well I have flat flats now! Thanks for the help. We set the center of the tool to the center of the part. It works so i assume that is correct? I have a couple of other questions concerning how the control interprets the FPT-R/x column. Is this the length of the slot or is it a height from center or some other conversion? I am trying to make a 1/2 flat on a 1" od part and i am not sure what numbers in this column gets me there? I am not sure if there is some formula i need. Also in the tool data page we tried the radius of the cutter and the diameter to see what happened and the full diameter cut deeper which is to be expected. Which one is the correct setting?
 
Well I have flat flats now! Thanks for the help. We set the center of the tool to the center of the part. It works so i assume that is correct?

Yes, the center of the tool needs to be set to the center of the part just like a drill bit.

Tool data page needs to be full diameter of the endmill.

On the figure check screen, push the button marked display mode. It will give you a front view of the part so you can see what the program is doing and then you can experiment from there.

On my older T-3 control, I selected LFT FCE for the process and then on the sequence number I put X.7, angle 0, Z0, finish X .7, finish angle 180. This cut a flat across the part as you said you need. Basically change the 90° to 180° and it should work. Again, check the graphics.
 
The part that is throwing me off now is where the "X" dimension is figured from. In your example what does the X7. designate? The length of the face flat or a depth? I put in X.85 and it is cutting at .450 across the flats with a 3/8 end mill. Just trying to figure out what number the control needs to see in order to make the correct depth of cut. I really appreciate your help on this. It seems pretty simple once you know what the control needs from you. Unfortunately the manuals we have for the machine kind of skip over the basic stuff and don't really go line by line as to what needs to be inputted in each column.

20191030_104404.jpg
 
X.7 is the length from centerline where the cut starts and then ends. You need to put in angle 0 to start and angle 180 for finish. If you look at the graphics, you will see what I'm talking about. Sounds like you are shooting in the dark and not looking at the graphics at all.

I am guessing as to what you want the part to look like based on your description. Post up a sketch if what I have on the screen is not what you are after.
 

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"X.7 is the length from centerline where the cut starts and then ends."

This answered my question. Which brings up another. Does cutter comp automatically figure the edge of the tool or do i have to account for that? Assuming its from the edge of the tool I should be able to apply the math and figure out how for from the center line i need in order to accomplish a 1/2 flat. I do pull up the program on the graphics page but i didn't see any dimensions. It just gives me the basic tool path.
 
and figure out how for from the center line i need in order to accomplish a 1/2 flat.

In my example, the machine will make a cut and leave 1/2 of the bar from center. It will comp the endmill as shown in the graphics.

I can't help you anymore without a sketch of what you are actually trying to do.
 
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This is a basic sketch for the part i am trying to figure out. It is just a test piece so that we can learn the machine. Basically a 1/2" flat in the middle of the part .25" deep from the face.
 
This is a basic sketch for the part i am trying to figure out. It is just a test piece so that we can learn the machine. Basically a 1/2" flat in the middle of the part .25" deep from the face.

Got it. For this feature which is .25" above and below centerline, use XY coordinates. To do this, you push the XY soft key and then anything you enter will be yellow indicating you are in XY mode. Easy peasy.

My older control puts the start and end point on one line. Your newer control will still have 2 sequence lines for this operation. You can make this feature in one process if you want. I did it in two separate processes.
 

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I didn't know there was an XY soft key. I really appreciate all of your help on this and hopefully in the future if i have any questions you will be the first on my list to ask! I saw a post that you were looking at posting videos on YouTube for mazatrol programming. That would be great for people like me that have no experience with live tooling. Thanks again.
 








 
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