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- Feb 1, 2015
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I may still give it a shot if the volume warrants it. My 1100 has an 8" 4th axis, which because of Tormach's design, sets on the left side of the spindle in between the tool changer and the spindle. There is very little height clearance between tools in the tool changer turntable and the 4th axis. If there's too long of a tool in the tool changer, it'll crash into the 4th axis when the air cylinder fires to advance the tools to the spindle. However, there is "some" clearance, I just haven't taken the time to figure out the maximum tool length. I could do it by setting the 4th on the table and slide it under a tool. Measure the gap and add that to the tool length for a "DO NOT EVER EXCEED" tool length.
Tormach's tech support is really good about suggestions for improvements to their PathPilot software. For example, around 4 years ago I engraved a memorial plaque as a Christmas present for my mom. It involved engraving a DXF file of the Marine Corp Eagle claw and globe emblem. Tormach's conversational module for DXF brings in the file, allows some scaling, tool section, spindle speed, Z-cut depth, Z-clearance, etc.; then generates the G-code. Their generated code ran great, except EVERY tool move was proceeded by a spindle off and coolant off command, then a move to the next spot. Then a subsequent spindle on, coolant on command before cutting the next bit of the DXF. All of that starting/stopping of the spindle/coolant at every move added a lot of time to the routine, about 50% more time as I recall.
My quick work around was to use G-edit within PathPilot to hunt down the M3/M5/M8/M9 spindle ON/OFF and coolant ON/OFF commands and comment out the lines by adding a semi-colon at the start of those lines (CNTL-R for a global find & replace). Then go back in to the very start and end of the routine to remove those semi-colons.
I sent Tormach tech support a comment about the needless starting/stopping the spindle/coolant which was changed in the next version of PathPilot. I made a similar suggestion to them regarding the 4th axis and tool changer equipped machines. It'd be great if the user could height check the 4th and input that height as an "obstacle" between the tool changer and spindle. PathPilot could do the simple math and automatically puke if a tool crash was possible.
If I couldn't use the tool changer, I'd have to sit at the machine and manually change tools. I can currently do the complete lathe work at a rate of 9 handles per hour. However, it's STANDING at the lathe for an hour to do 9 handles. To your point, it'd be easier to sit there and watch the Tormach do its thing and stand only to change blanks. It's worth looking at doing them on the Tormach. I'm turning them on the lathe at about 2000 RPM via scraping which doesn't leave as good of a finish as using a gouge and whittling away; hence some post-machining sanding. A 1/4" ball end mill spinning at 5000 RPM might leave a better finish.
Yet another work around I've thought about is turning the 4th by 90 degrees so the stepper motor points up and mount it to an angle plate. It needs to be on the LH side of the spindle because of the stepper motor. However, if the motor pointed up, I could set it on the RH side of the spindle. I'd knock a hole through the angle plate so the 4th's spindle hole isn't obstructed for longer stuff. Or, I'm sure Tormach would be more than happy to sell me a 6" ($2500) or 8" ($3000) super spacer which mounts on the RH side.
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Thanks for the tip on the nickel plating. I am pretty familiar with the process; have used a Caswell nickel plating kit for 20 years. I may go this route if the volume is pretty good on these parts. I'll need to make a draw die for the ferrules (and believe you me, I looked at A LOT of file handles for a similar ferrule!) which would be pressed from 16-gauge CRS. It takes me about 6 minutes of lathe work per ferrule from 303 solid rod stock; a draw die and nickel-plating would save a lot of time.
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Bruce
I have the 6" 4th axis and no ATC on my 770. I can see your concern though. A possible solution would be to mount a tooling plate so it sits outboard from the table at the front and mount the fourth axis so the RT axis is parallel to the y axis. It will obstruct your view somewhat but it would allow compatibility between the fourth axis and thae ATC.
