Help with HAAS 4th Axis Perimeter Cut

[dapaulk]

I need help programming a 4th axis simultaneous profile cut. I am using my rotary table in a bit of an uncharacteristic orientation. I have the rotary axis in a vertical orientation in order to index a large flat part. My issue is that the corners of the square stock hang off the edges of the table pretty far when the part is rotated 45 degrees. This severely limits my Y travel in a rotated orientation.

I was hoping to write a program in CAMWorks, but I just verified that my license doesn't include the 5-axis simultaneous features that I would need.

The best work around I have come up with is to restrict Y movement and instead use the rotary to turn the stock into the tool while using the X axis to do tool stepovers until I get close to the final diameter of my part. At that point I'll just revert back to rotary indexed tool paths to cut all of the more complex features.

I saw a post from a few years ago by user @Rapid_Tech about manually writing a program in MDI to perform a synchronized linear and rotary movement.

From Thread: Jerky 4th Axis Simulatenous with Haas (Programming, Machine help)

Post #15:
...
It's rather easy to program you just need to do a bit of simple math. From the start point, figure out the total distance you want the tool to travel (ex. 3"). Next, determine how much of a step over you want per A-axis revolution (say .05"). Divide 3" by .05" and you get 60. So the A-axis will turn 60 times to move 3". Now multiply the total number of rotation (60) by 360 (degrees in a circle). You end up with 21,600. This is your H value. Your line of code would look something like this:

G01 X3.0 H21600. FXXX.
...

This seems like it might work for my use case, but I do have a couple things that I'm hoping someone can help me clear up.
1. When I input the line of code in the format above, my control fusses at me that the T# and H# are not matching. There is a setting override to but I really can't risk this part crashing so I'm hesitant to turn that setting off. I changed the "H" to "A" (my rotary control axis) and it seems to be happier about that.
2. Now I'm curious about the feed rate. Should I be placing something in the line of code to translate to an arc feedrate? Or does the control automatically assume arc feed when a rotary move is commanded regardless of the X-axis command being on the same line?

Any help or extra information on this type of movement is greatly appreciated!


EDIT:
I'm using a HAAS VM-3 with HRT210 rotary. Programming with a CAMWorks license inside Solidworks.

 

[Marvel]

I need help programming a 4th axis simultaneous profile cut. I am using my rotary table in a bit of an uncharacteristic orientation. I have the rotary axis in a vertical orientation in order to index a large flat part. My issue is that the corners of the square stock hang off the edges of the table pretty far when the part is rotated 45 degrees. This severely limits my Y travel in a rotated orientation.

I was hoping to write a program in CAMWorks, but I just verified that my license doesn't include the 5-axis simultaneous features that I would need.

The best work around I have come up with is to restrict Y movement and instead use the rotary to turn the stock into the tool while using the X axis to do tool stepovers until I get close to the final diameter of my part. At that point I'll just revert back to rotary indexed tool paths to cut all of the more complex features.

I saw a post from a few years ago by user @Rapid_Tech about manually writing a program in MDI to perform a synchronized linear and rotary movement.

From Thread: Jerky 4th Axis Simulatenous with Haas (Programming, Machine help)



This seems like it might work for my use case, but I do have a couple things that I'm hoping someone can help me clear up.
1. When I input the line of code in the format above, my control fusses at me that the T# and H# are not matching. There is a setting override to but I really can't risk this part crashing so I'm hesitant to turn that setting off. I changed the "H" to "A" (my rotary control axis) and it seems to be happier about that.
2. Now I'm curious about the feed rate. Should I be placing something in the line of code to translate to an arc feedrate? Or does the control automatically assume arc feed when a rotary move is commanded regardless of the X-axis command being on the same line?

Any help or extra information on this type of movement is greatly appreciated!


EDIT:
I'm using a HAAS VM-3 with HRT210 rotary. Programming with a CAMWorks license inside Solidworks.

Ask your reseller for a temp 5th axis license, before I added my 4th Axis simultaneous to my CAMWorks seat, I had used a temp license a few times just to make sure it would do what I needed for the parts I had coming in.