This category contains a variety of machining and machinist tips and tricks derive from our 25+ years of real world chipmaking.
In this post we are continuing our series dealing with the aftermath of that inevitable visit to Crashville that we all make in our production lives. Our last post dealt with the spindle alignment … this post we’re going to take a look at turret alignment. Oftentimes these repairs cannot be accomplished without professional assistance […]
CNC Turret Alignment – Tips and Tricks Read More »
Machining Multiple – Different Parts So far in our series we have looked at machining multiple parts of all the same part mounted in our fixtures during our machining cycle. What if we want to machine different parts during the cycle … we want to mount different fixtures on the table and machine one of
Multi-Part CNC Machining Series – Part #3 Read More »
Programming for Multiple Fixtures So the decision has been made … “We need production … which means we need to mount as many vises or fixtures on the table as we can fit … to make as many parts as possible.” First scenario … We are going to make all the same part. For our example
Multi-Part Machining Series — Part #2 Read More »
Work Coordinate Systems Most production shops will rarely utilize a one-vise or one-fixture setup on a VMC or HMC when running a multiple piece production run. The most efficient production will have the cutting tool performing it’s function on as many parts as possible while it is in the spindle. That normally means adding as
Multi-Part Machining Series — Part #1 Read More »
Personnel who perform routine maintenance on their CNC equipment usually perform the same common checks and perform the same common tasks … those that I refer to as the “no-brainers”. Filling the way lube tank … greasing the hydraulic chuck … checking the spindle oil level … the common checks and tasks. Unfortunately they are
CNC Machine Maintenance – For The Not So Ordinary Read More »
Your CNC machine is equipped with an automatic oiler system. Great ! You won’t have to think about oiling the machine and an alarm will tell you when the tank is dry. What a great device ? Right ? Well, that is the design. Unfortunately, along with the “automatic” description of the system comes the
Way Lube System – Friend or Foe? Read More »
As former field service engineers … one of the items we always stressed to our CNC customers was the importance of performing a machine warm-up routine. Below are answers to some of their most frequently asked questions … which pretty much tell the whole tale about this activity. WHY? A machine warm-up routine benefits both
CNC Machine Warm-Up — How? Why? When? Read More »
In this post … we would like to touch on some of the points regarding cutter compensation … when turning angles and radii … on Fanuc based CNC controls. Many programmers shy away from cutter compensation … primarily because they have never taken the time to fully understand both it’s power nor how to use
Cutter Compensation – A Programmers Best Friend Read More »
Wasting time drilling air when “drilling” holes in a part with multiple levels is not uncommon for the novice programmer. In this post … we would like to discuss the always important R plane and how you can easily control it in your G code program. First … the FACTS : There are two planes
Canned Cycle Drilling & R Plane Tricks Read More »
If you have done any manual G code program creation, you know you are always looking for some shortcuts that can not only help cut down the data input … but would also help eliminate errors. Whether they be typing errors or movement errors … the less chance to create one the better. One of
The HOW’s and WHY’s of CNC Sub Programming Read More »
