# When the CNC lathe is down and you gotta make parts !



## JimDawson (Mar 8, 2018)

Our CNC lathe is still not back together and we needed to make some ball ends.  A mill and a lathe are interchangeable........ Right?

Time to improvise.


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## Boswell (Mar 8, 2018)

Nice Jim.


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## spumco (Mar 8, 2018)

I can't wait to see the bar-feeder you rig up for that.


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## Groundhog (Mar 8, 2018)

Love it!

Any chance you could post the g-code (or a short explanation) so I can see how you did it? (I don't have a cnc lathe but do have a cnc mill.)


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## woodchucker (Mar 8, 2018)

excuse my ignorance, but it seems like you do a lot more steps than you really need.  You turn a dome, then wipe it out and turn a smaller dome (lower part of the ball end). If it were a lathe would it be the same steps?   And how much work was it to program the 2 tools in the vise?  Also is the table moving or the head of the mill?  This looks like a cnc bridgeport, not an enclosed CNC with multple tool holder.


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## Firestopper (Mar 8, 2018)

Dang Jim, you keep pulling rabbits out of hats man. Always thinking outside the box, very cool.


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## ChrisAttebery (Mar 8, 2018)

What mill were you using? Did you just have the toolholders in the vice with a spacer block between them? I've thought about making a turning tool block for my G0704 that's been converted to CNC. I just haven't had enough need to do it yet and I worried that it wouldn't have enough torque or throw for the parts I would really want to use it on. I wound up buying a 13x40 lathe instead.


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## rgray (Mar 8, 2018)

Air gun parts?
Great thinking looks nice!


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## brino (Mar 8, 2018)

Great Jim! It looks like you're still having fun.
Thanks for sharing.
-brino


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## JimDawson (Mar 8, 2018)

Groundhog said:


> Love it!
> 
> Any chance you could post the g-code (or a short explanation) so I can see how you did it? (I don't have a cnc lathe but do have a cnc mill.)



This is just standard turning code generated in Fusion 360.  It would run on the lathe as well as the mill.  The quill is the Z axis and the table is the X axis, just like a lathe, the Y axis is the tool changer.  For the first tool Y is at 0, for the second tool Y moves over to -2.260.  For the lathe, the tool change would be the turret rather than moving the Y axis.

(1001)
(T1  D=0. CR=0. - ZMIN=-0.915 - GENERAL TURNING)
(T7  D=0. CR=0. - ZMIN=-0.331 - GENERAL TURNING)
G90 G94 G91.1 G40 G49 G17
G20

(FACE1, FACE THE END TO LENGTH.  WE REALLY DON'T NEED THIS)
M5
M9
T7 M6
S500 M3
G54
M8
G0 X0.7125 Y0.
G43 Z0.1969 H0
Z0.0466
G1 X0.3691 F10.
X0.3125 Z-0.01
X-0.016
X0.0406 Z0.0466
G0 X0.7125
Z0.0066
G1 X0.3691 F10.
X0.3125 Z-0.05
X-0.016
X0.0406 Z0.0066
G0 X0.7125
Z0.1969

(PROFILE1 2, CUTS THE LOWER HALF OF THE BALL)
M8
G0 X0.7125 Y0.
Z0.1969
Z0.0566
X0.3587
G1 X0.3291 F10.
X0.2725 Z0.
Z-0.1762
G18 G3 X0.3125 Z-0.286 I-0.2885 K-0.1673
G1 X0.3691 Z-0.2294
G0 Z0.0566
X0.2891
G1 X0.2325 Z0. F10.
Z-0.1211
G3 X0.2925 Z-0.2168 I-0.2485 K-0.2224
G1 X0.3491 Z-0.1602
G0 Z0.0566
X0.2491
G1 X0.1925 Z0. F10.
Z-0.0832
G3 X0.2525 Z-0.1457 I-0.2085 K-0.2603
G1 X0.3091 Z-0.0891
G0 Z0.0566
X0.2091
G1 X0.1525 Z0. F10.
Z-0.0557
G3 X0.2125 Z-0.1006 I-0.1685 K-0.2878
G1 X0.2691 Z-0.044
G0 Z0.0566
X0.1691
G1 X0.1125 Z0. F10.
Z-0.0358
G3 X0.1725 Z-0.0684 I-0.1285 K-0.3077
G1 X0.2291 Z-0.0118
G0 Z0.0566
X0.1291
G1 X0.0725 Z0. F10.
Z-0.022
G3 X0.1325 Z-0.0449 I-0.0885 K-0.3215
G1 X0.1891 Z0.0117
G0 Z0.0566
X0.093
G1 X0.0364 Z0. F10.
Z-0.0141
G3 X0.0925 Z-0.0281 I-0.0524 K-0.3293
G1 X0.1491 Z0.0284
G0 Z0.0566
X0.0884
G1 X0.057 F10.
X0.0004 Z0.
Z-0.0104
G3 X0.0564 Z-0.018 I-0.0164 K-0.3331
G1 X0.113 Z0.0386
G0 Z0.0066
G1 X0.057 F10.
X0.0004 Z-0.05
Z-0.0505
G3 X0.2772 Z-0.331 I-0.0164 K-0.293
G1 X0.3338 Z-0.2744
X0.3511
G0 X0.7125
Z0.1969
G17

(PROFILE1, CUTS THE UPPER PROFILE)
M8
G0 Z0.2129
G0 X0.7125 Y-2.26
G43 H0
Z-0.3285
X0.3921
G1 X0.3691 F10.
X0.3125 Z-0.385
G18 G3 X0.2725 Z-0.4948 I-0.3285 K0.0575
G1 Z-0.8262
G2 X0.3066 Z-0.8648 I0.2365 K0.1747
G3 X0.3125 Z-0.8714 I-0.0386 K-0.0406
G1 X0.3691 Z-0.8148
G0 Z-0.4382
G1 X0.3291 F10.
X0.2725 Z-0.4948
G3 X0.2437 Z-0.5367 I-0.2885 K0.1673
G1 Z-0.7784
G2 X0.2925 Z-0.8505 I0.2653 K0.1268
G1 X0.3491 Z-0.7939
G0 Z-0.4801
G1 X0.3003 F10.
X0.2437 Z-0.5367
G3 X0.2269 Z-0.556 I-0.2598 K0.2092
G2 X0.215 Z-0.5861 I0.0321 K-0.0301
G1 Z-0.6516
G2 X0.2637 Z-0.8137 I0.294 K0.
G1 X0.3203 Z-0.7572
G0 X0.3308
Z-0.2274
G1 X0.2743 Z-0.284 F10.
G3 X0.1978 Z-0.5286 I-0.2903 K-0.0435
G2 X0.175 Z-0.5861 I0.0612 K-0.0575
G1 Z-0.6516
G2 X0.2791 Z-0.8938 I0.334 K0.
G3 X0.282 Z-0.9133 I-0.011 K-0.0116
G1 X0.2849 Z-0.915
X0.3415 Z-0.8584
X0.3517
G0 X0.7125
Z0.2129
G17

M9
M5
M30



woodchucker said:


> excuse my ignorance, but it seems like you do a lot more steps than you really need.  You turn a dome, then wipe it out and turn a smaller dome (lower part of the ball end). If it were a lathe would it be the same steps?   And how much work was it to program the 2 tools in the vise?  Also is the table moving or the head of the mill?  This looks like a cnc bridgeport, not an enclosed CNC with multple tool holder.



It starts out with a facing routine, then does a adaptive clearing routine rough cut followed by a finish pass on the lower half of the ball.  Then changes tools and does an adaptive clearing routine rough cut on the upper portion, then follows with a finish pass.  The G-code would be about the same on the lathe, but rather than the using the Y axis for the tool change, the code would rotate the tool turret to position the second tool.  If you were using gang tooling in a lathe, then you would us X axis offsets rather than the turret.

Both the table and the quill are moving, it's cutting in the X and Z axis.  Yes it is a BP style knee mill, see pic below.




ChrisAttebery said:


> What mill were you using? Did you just have the toolholders in the vice with a spacer block between them? I've thought about making a turning tool block for my G0704 that's been converted to CNC. I just haven't had enough need to do it yet and I worried that it wouldn't have enough torque or throw for the parts I would really want to use it on. I wound up buying a 13x40 lathe instead.



This is the mill, it's an Eagle, a bit bigger than a Series 1 BP.  Yes, the tool holders are held in the vice with a spacer block between.  






rgray said:


> Air gun parts?
> Great thinking looks nice!



Stable Camper parts, my son's invention.  The ball ends on the linear tubes.  https://www.stablecamper.com/


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## ChrisAttebery (Mar 8, 2018)

Thanks for the explanation Jim. I’m going to have to try that sometime.


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## Groundhog (Mar 8, 2018)

Thanks Jim.
I'll use your code as a guide and try something similar on my mill. (I'm the tool changer!)  I've heard of people using their mill as a lathe but I didn't know the particulars. Now I ought to be able to figure it out.
Gotta get the Ducati out of the shop first!


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## Firestopper (Mar 9, 2018)

Stable camper = quality and user friendly. Great idea!


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## rgray (Mar 9, 2018)

JimDawson said:


> Stable Camper parts, my son's invention.



Very nice. 
Great idea.
So no hauling and stacking used pallets to set the camper on anymore!


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## rgray (Mar 9, 2018)

Could you write that code in Fanuc 6....Just kidding!!

1:58....not bad....your lathe will cut that that time at least in half once up and going I'd bet.


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## JimDawson (Mar 9, 2018)

rgray said:


> Could you write that code in Fanuc 6....Just kidding!!
> 
> 1:58....not bad....your lathe will cut that that time at least in half once up and going I'd bet.



I suspect the lathe will be a lot faster, I'm guessing about 50 seconds.  The lathe moves so fast it's scary to watch it run.


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