Anyone know how to run lathe gcode on a mill?

[pinkpanda3310]

I made a lathe accessory for my little cnc milling machine. The problem is lathe and mill have different axis orientation.

I can trick my machine into making lathe-like toolpaths but I'm having a hard time finding a usable method.

Another possibility is rewiring my machine to swap around the axis but I'd rather not be doing that every time.

Is there a way to write lathe cam / gcode with the axis reallocated?

 

[Karl_T]

Can't you just se a text editor to change the axis letter? Most editors can do a bulk replace. A lathe generally uses Z for length and X for diameter. How do you have your machine set up?

Now, another problem is most programs use diameter on lathes. If using CAM you need to program in radius.

 

[pinkpanda3310]

Okay, a text editor can do bulk replace. I know little about text editors but I'll give it a try. You make it sound easy.

I wasn't aware of the diameter-radius difference, thank you for pointing that out. I'll do some homework during the week and see if I can do some practical next weekend.

Much appreciated Karl_T

 

[Karl_T]

I do something similar when using a 4rth axis - A. I draw it up using Y then swap letters. In my case, the Y axis is not used on 4rth axis work.

 

[pinkpanda3310]

I think I saw a YouTuber do a mechanical version of that it was a crazy set up. He mounted a "roller" to the moving gantry and directly under the spindle so as the Y axis moved it rolled the part.

 

[JimDawson]

If you use the spindle as the Z axis then there is no change.

You can assign the axis in CAM, they don't have to follow the normal conventions.

 

[pinkpanda3310]

I had a look but didn't find how to do that on deskproto. I might need to go to fusion 360 for this lathe cam