maybe I'm too old fashioned, but I don't care much for CAM generated gcode on the lathe. I will draw the final shape in something like draft sight with a layer for each tool and then convert that to gcode snips with a backplotter if its complex. lathe parts just aren't that complex and gcode editing at the machine is FAR simpler if you wrote it. GREAT progress on a difficult refit. You should be as proud as a papa with a new baby girl.
Thank you Karl.
I am pretty happy. This may be one of the most complex retrofits I have done in that I had no idea what I was doing when I started. I have done retrofits on more complex machines for the wood products industry, but I knew exactly how they needed to run and it was just a matter of making it do it.
A huge undertaking for sure. You're doing great. I also have Fusion and need to learn it. Been handwriting my g code and learning that is bad enough.
Keep us posted if you find the reason for the dimension mistake from fusion.
From your post 65 I was gonna mention you were not pushing it hard enough, but as amature as I am I held my tongue. Good to know that is just what it needed to put out a good finish. Now a bar feeder would be nice. Are you going to run a sleeve in the spindle? Support that stock ridgedly? I've seen some horrifying lathe disasters on youtube with long stock whipping a cnc lathe around.
The fiberglass spindle end cover on my mori is all broken out from someone learning the hard way about long stock bending.
Thank you Russ. I finally had to set Fusion ''Material to Leave'' to -0.010 for that operation to get it to generate the correct G code. I think there is some kind of bug in the software or there is a setting somewhere that is not correct. I need to revisit the tool library and see if the problem is in there.
In post #65 that was literally the first chips I made with the new system. I was being way conservative with everything and one hand on the E stop, the other hand holding the camera.
I am very cognizant of the dangers of an unsupported bar. I actually had that happen to me on a manual lathe many years ago when I was young and stupid, was working on a 1.25 inch boat prop shaft. Only took one time to learn that lesson.
We are going to use a part puller rather than a bar feeder. I am going to build a bar support system similar to a Haas bar feeder. Due to space constraints, I need to design a support system that is portable so it can be bolted into place but easily removed for storage when not in use.
I have some spindle sleeves, and need to build some others to handle the different sizes we need. My Hardinge also has evidence of a whipping bar sometime in it's life, tore up the spindle motor fan housing and beat the he!! out of the sheet metal cabinet. For the moment I'm going to limit the bar length to 45 inches.
but yes, I'm pretty happy with the result so far.
