4th Axis Question.

Turn the outside of the material round by spinning the rotary while moving x,y, and z to get it rubbing just right on the corner of the spindle housing? Maybe clamp a threading tool to the housing and single-point a thread on the outside of something too big to fit in the lathe? Beginning to sound like a vertical turning machine.

Later,

Charlie

Charlie:

Why couldn't you interpolate the OD by using X, Y, Z moves? Or are you saying machine the OD of something larger than the machine travels?

You could still thread the outside by clamping your part to the table, no? Unless you're running into the travel limitation again.

Yeah dumb ass. Turn the rotaty 90 degrees. IOW. 3+2 with 15 rather than 85 degrees of rotation.

How about break it?

Probably is not very good for the lubrication system.

John:

I don't think you're understanding or answering my question. If you turn the rotary 90 degrees and lay it flat on the table, what have you gained in operational ability for the VMC? I'm not talking about angling the rotary, that OBVIOUSLY allows the machining of MANY different features that are unable to be done in a VMC with a part laying flat on the table. The only advantage I've seen so far is if like what I think Charlie was suggesting, doing a part larger than the travels of the machine.

PM:

I've done keyway shaping with a part sitting flat, but your spline & gear shaping actually IS an answer to the question. Although, I don't know if I'd want to be doing much shaping on a VMC, unless I had a bin full of spare spindle bearings.

Hey, I'm a dumbass too but what you said was:

"A regular asked me if I've even laid our 4th axis down flat on it's back to machine something. I said no."

What you can do, and I'm and inch away from violating my security clearance here (Check your board Monday) is put very accurate features in this part.

ftp.machiningsolution.com/IMG_0171.JPG

BTW, your rotary is accurate to 30 arc seconds and that might have been problematic. It isn't the .001 degree you thought.

This is a $9,000.00 piece of material that will be on and SNK Sunday with yours truly having set it up, written the program and pushing the button. It's not a set up part. There will be exactly one of these and if it's not right, I'll have to have All Metals and Forge send me another open die forged piece of Nickel 200 at nearly a C note per pound. The blank weighs

105 pounds.

Single point shaping of keyway, spline, internal and external gear etc.

John:

Hey, you like my dowel pins and 4-40 screws?

I was kidding Juan and John K. when they were turning the Nickel 200 part (each at different times), by pointing to it and saying: *EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS* every time I walked by. No pressure there. LOL

Well, the readout on the control is in .001 of a degree. I've never put an indicator on it to see if the readout transfers to actual movement of the rotary.

Use reasonable care and you wont have any problems, likely drilling a 1.00 hole is harder on the bearings than shaping a 1/4in keyway.

Actually works great maybe next time I'll take a video--recalling I used g81 and drilled a "series" of 56 holes .002 apart..

Hmm...Ill see if I can find the program--paste it below....

% N1O2191(BORE PULLEY M0219) N2(TOOL CALL N3G0G17G40G80G90M5M9 N4T1M6((DRILL .459 MITSUBISHI N5X0Y0E1S1760M3 N6Z3.D1H1M8 N7(DEEP HOLE DRILLING N8G0G80Z1. N9G83G98R+0.1Z-1.6F17.Q0.2 N10G80R+3. N11(TOOL CALL N12G0G17G40G80G90M5M9 N13T2M6(BORING ENDMILL .607 DIA N14X0Y0E1S404M3 N15Z3.D2H2M8 N16(DRILLING N17G0G80Z1. N18G83G98R+0.1Z-1.52F6.Q0.2 N19G80R+3. N20(TOOL CALL N21G0G17G40G80G90M5M9 N22T3M6((REAMER .626DIA N23X0Y0E1S219M3 N24Z3.D3H3M8 N25(DRILLING N26G0G80Z1. N27G81R+0.1Z-1.6F6. N28G80R+3. N29G0G17G40G80G90M5M9H0Z0 N30T4M6 ( KEYWAY CUTTER ) N31X0Y0E1M19 N32Z3.D4H4M8 N33Y0.04 N34G0Z1. N35G81R+1.Z-1.62F250. N36Y0.038 N37Y0.036 N38Y0.034 N39Y0.032 N40Y0.03 N41Y0.028 N42Y0.026 N43Y0.024 N44Y0.022 N45Y0.02 N46Y0.018 N47Y0.016 N48Y0.014 N49Y0.012 N50Y0.01 N51Y0.008 N52Y0.006 N53Y0.004 N54Y0.002 N55Y0 N56Y-0.002 N57Y-0.004 N58Y-0.006 N59Y-0.008 N60Y-0.01 N61Y-0.012 N62Y-0.014 N63Y-0.016 N64Y-0.018 N65Y-0.02 N66Y-0.022 N67Y-0.024 N68Y-0.026 N69Y-0.028 N70Y-0.03 N71Y-0.032 N72Y-0.034 N73Y-0.036 N74Y-0.038 N75Y-0.04 N76Y-0.042 N77Y-0.044 N78Y-0.046 N79Y-0.048 N80Y-0.05 N81Y-0.052 N82Y-0.054 N83Y-0.056 N84G80R+3. N85G0G17G40G80G90M5M9 N86T3M6((REAMER .626DIA N87X0Y0E1S219M3 N88Z3.D3H3M8 N89(DRILLING N90G0G80Z1. N91G81R+0.1Z-1.6F6. N92G80R+3. N93(ENDING PROGRAM N94G0G90M5M9 N95Z0G53 N96X10.Y7.5Z0E0H0 N97T1M6 N98M30 %

3841

I'm still trying, or going to have to, finger out where the friggin' things are.

And now I have to take that, with the value you have added, and finish it. You can walk by me and say *FITEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS*

Yeah but I have the specs from HAAS.

ftp.machiningsolution.com/RotaryBrochure.pdf

Now you do too.

77 Kelvin. Why the hell would anyone brand a cryogenic process as cold? The only thing colder is helium and I can't fit the equipment into my garage or I'd be doing that instead. You can even WELD the stuff and it doesn't move! I have the "coolest" garage in the south bay. I guarantee!

Sounds cool !!!

John:

OK. But 30 arc seconds is like .0083 of a degree. And at 5" comes out to 5 X sin .0083 or .00073. Do your holes have to be more accurate than that?

Also, if you rotate in the same direction the repeatability is supposedly 10 arc seconds or .00024. So someone could program an arc type "positive approach" for all their holes, and "theoretically" be within a few tenths, at least on a new Haas HRT210 rotary.

Hey BottleBob,

Compressor scrolls. A lot of people will do these using 3 axis but the best process is using the 4th axis. This was one of the niche markets that Bostomatic controlled.

gary

ISTR reading a paper back in ~1982 touting the process in order to machine ti, seemed like nothing ever became of it so far as becoming anything close to mainstream.

I bet you a hundred dollars Gene Haas et.al lie about their tables easy enough to trig swing a laser out there 100 yds or so and triangulate.

============== Not to put too fine a point on this, but how do you measure the "actual" hole location? Tell me its *NOT* gauge pins, a pair of "verynear" calipers, and a scientific calculator....

Given the type of work, more than likely you are using true position dimensioning, but then factors such as hole squareness, straightness, temperature, etc. start to interact at those tolerances. 2-tenths over 5 inches?

Unka' George [George McDuffee]

------------------------------------------- He that will not apply new remedies, must expect new evils: for Time is the greatest innovator: and if Time, of course, alter things to the worse, and wisdom and counsel shall not alter them to the better, what shall be the end?

Francis Bacon (1561-1626), English philosopher, essayist, statesman. Essays, "Of Innovations" (1597-1625).

Probably not what you're looking for, but I'll lay the Haas indexer down and mill out the jaws using the 4th axis. This is a simple way to cut the jaws concentric to the indexer spindle centerline.

Dale