Flat parts machined on all sides?

Hydraulic clamps are very common, both on heavier work where more clamping force is required, as well as on compact work where there isn't enough room for an air cylinder with sufficient force. Air over hydraulic intensifiers are often used to allow a pneumatic supply to operate a hydraulic clamp.

The commercial CNC controls pretty much all have some general purpose output signals available controlled by M functions to control clamping, signal indexers, palette changers, robots, etc. Really very easy stuff to do, and just as easy to do on home machines if you have a run of parts big enough to justify the fixturing.

If you search on McMaster for "clamping cylinder" you should find pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders intended for work clamping use. Even some tiny hydraulic clamp cylinders that have threaded bodies to install like a bolt.

It's in there, perhaps not in as much detail as the actual cutting operations. Chapter 18 shows clamps in use, fig 18-38, 18-49, 18-50, and 18-61 all show clamp bars in use. The tapered end of the bar rests on the part, the serrated back end of the clamp bar rests on the serrated slope of a step block half to support the end of the bar so it is level with the work, and a stud is used close to the part to pull the clamp bar down and hold the part. If you have the workholding kit and play with the parts it will make sense.

What's that Lassie? You say that Ignoramus28874 fell down the old rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue by Mon, 16 Aug 2010 10:15:22 -0500:

If its really flat, you can use a vacuum fixture, and machine 5 sides, and if you know the trick, even drill holes through.

craftsmanship. Why not slow

I already broke 2 endmills in about 3 weeks of machining with this CNC.

These two should work well for what I want.

craftsmanship. Why not slow

That's where studying the speeds and feeds section of the book will help. That and testing your code on wax where you can get away with some errors without breaking endmills.

craftsmanship. Why not slow

In one case, it was a feed and speed problem. In the other, I moved the table with the endmill inside the hole.

Here, look at this:

craftsmanship. Why not slow

Think "Safe Z height" and always end your code with a Z move up to safe clearance height...

craftsmanship. Why not slow

yep, G53 Z0 M151 M2

M151 sends me email about job completion.

If Iggy needs some of Petes Most Excellent hints..I have a few extras I can send him. Least I have plenty of the steps....

Iggy really needs to learn a bit more...doesnt he?

Gunner

"A conservative who doesn't believe? in God simply doesn't pray; a godless liberal wants no one to pray. A conservative who doesn't like guns doesn't buy one; a liberal gun-hater wants to disarm us all. A gay conservative has sex his own way; a gay liberal requires us all to watch and accept his perversion and have it taught to children. A conservative who is offended by a radio show changes the station; an offended liberal wants it banned, prosecuted and persecuted." Bobby XD9

craftsmanship. Why not slow

Then you are doing quite well. 2 a session will come along as you get fancier and fancier.....

Gunner

"A conservative who doesn't believe? in God simply doesn't pray; a godless liberal wants no one to pray. A conservative who doesn't like guns doesn't buy one; a liberal gun-hater wants to disarm us all. A gay conservative has sex his own way; a gay liberal requires us all to watch and accept his perversion and have it taught to children. A conservative who is offended by a radio show changes the station; an offended liberal wants it banned, prosecuted and persecuted." Bobby XD9

I am laying in bed right now, watching my milling machine engrave something through the netcam. 0.01" depth in brass plate, done with

Doing better than I did my first 3 weeks of self taught CNC programming...

Jon

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Some palletized parts loaders (IIRC Haas Quickcube) can present parts at all angles. On dual pallet systems a person can be changing part positions on one pallet while the system works with parts on another pallet. I saw several pallet systems (sort of like at ) in use when I toured a small-town factory making high-lift booms (like in picture at ) for Terex.

OT - In following video, part transfer is manual - a person keeps walking around in a circle of 7-8 machines transferring motor parts:

craftsmanship. Why not slow

"Bounching" the sound made by a loose item in an enclosed CNC mill, usually after a flat piece has come loose, or the tooling has broken. An onomatopoeia word as well as a Portmanteau (QV Lewis Carrol;, Humpty Dumpty) compacts "bounce" and "Ching" which is the sound of money leaving your wallet.

Ah, but with a CNC machine, you get to bonch parts of a higher precision and tolerances (as well as expense) at a rate far exceeding those possible with manual machining centers. Why, it is possible in a matter of minutes to scrap out more parts than a manual machinist could ruin with an entire morning's effort. Automation, my friend, the wave of the future. Once we get it figured out, it will be all down hill from there.

tschus pyotr

craftsmanship. Why not slow

So you're fuhmiller with bounching noises, I see. What diameter were they and how did you break them? Did you learn from the noise? ;)

-- We're all here because we're not all there.

Well, the "real" controls do monitor axis servo load limits and the like and will trip e-stop on those limits, but on those big machines they can do a lot of damage without nearing their limits. I've seen clamp bars and vises with big slots milled through them when someone goofed. To the machine it was just a normal cut with normal loads.

craftsmanship. Why not slow

Bloody Luddite.

-- We're all here because we're not all there.