In 1981 I was an engineering student at Southern Tech in Marietta, Georgia. One of my instructors had married together a milling machine with a rudimentary computer that was programmed by holes in paper tape. At that point all it would do is make monogrammed belt buckles. CNC has come a long way! ……although, now that I think of it, that was 43 years ago. I’m so old.
I'm trying to think of the name for the paper punched controlled machines, they are the pre cnc. The first two letters are NC but I can't think of the third letter. Stands for numeric control. I think CNC stands for computer numeric control. It's been 30 years
@@garymurt9112 Actually i have no idea. I just own an old Pratt and Whitney triax tape o matic i was told was using punched cards for programming. I know it used to have a giant reel to reel tape machine to save the programs on. Since I’ve owned it, it’s been retrofit with a centroid control.
Ive done literal hundreds if not thousands of different parts that needed to be clamped down in the machine. If I can say just one thing that will save you a ton of headache; Make sure your clearence height between every operation is higher than your tallest clamp-setup. Depending on your machine it might make the part take a little longer to finish but nobody wants to see the machine try to rapid feed a large drill sideways through a clamp.
@@spikeypineapple552 Oh nice I'm usually hovering at 150mm and yeah youre 100% right - no need to stand there and risk anything. A colleague of mine thinks its wasting time but he has a hard time convincing anyone with the amount of broken drills, clamps and parts that goes in his chip container ^^
Years ago when I started watching Adam's videos I was impressed with him machining manually, and that's why I kept watching. Now, I'm happy to see him on the cnc path!
Thanks! This brings back memories of my first factory machine job in 1975 as a radial drill press operator out of high school. I had to lay out by hand bolt circles on flanges all day long. Parts for dredges at Ellicott Machine Company in Baltimore. We had one CNC machine in the whole shop and it was a test mill to see how they liked the new technology. Blue the flanges, lay out the bolt circles and holes with dividers and set it all up manually. Loved that job.
I have to admit, I was stuck "old school" mode and being if I had a shop I would lean heavily with the older machines because that was all the interest I had, this episode kinda opened my eyes toward CNC machining. The clarity of your step by step movements showed me a new way of doing things. I appreciate that Adam
Really cool to see you on the cnc again Adam. You’ve clearly learnt a lot and we’re learning from your videos too. A lot of the experienced cnc guys on TH-cam gloss over the basics so it’s really good to follow your journey.
I love to see someone my age learning new things. Made me realise that I can still learn new things myself, that the skillset I have isn't set in stone.
When I worked for Kawasaki motors in Maryville MO I would use fan tips on the coolant lines. Run them vertical then they cover a wide variety of drill lengths.
Take full advantage of those rapids and increase your retract height. The extra few seconds on the job are more than worth it to not have to worry about your clamp positions 👌🏻
Instructional videos can be very helpful, but seeing someone go through the learning process while both asking and then answering the questions that are going through my head adds a unique quality to your videos. I doubt I'll ever run a CNC machine, but it's fascinating to see. I feel like I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the process. Excellently done, as always. Also, "pucker factor" is now in my vocabulary.
very well done Adam. I am super proud of you. It can be rather arduous for people to add different skills especially with people of you mastery of manual machining of all the differing types. I would love to buy you a beer and have a conversation about how fun this kind of learning is. I went from being a mechanical engineer with a degree to going back to college for a Computer Science Engineering degree and now working in this industry since Jan 2005. I know the butterflies in changing lol. So I applaud you and I am proud of you as well. I look forward to so very many more excellent videos from you.
It's really fun to watch a CNC mill tapping holes. It precisely feeds the tap with a servo, using software to match the tool's movement speed with the threads density, instead of using a free-floating quill, as a manual mill or drill press would when you need to tap something, right? I know there's no magic behind this tool control, but it feels like magic anyway.
So glad to see you use those CNC machines. I agree is you have to make a simple "one of" item manual machine is the smarter move. More pieces CNC the way to go. Always enjoy watching how you think.
Adam, when clamp position is operator dependent, ALWAYS use your 'Z' offset for tool clearance!!! The tiny increase in cycle time is well worth reducing the pucker factor.
As a software tester, I love to see manual expertise being applied to automation. Best of both worlds and I see it expanding your skills. Excellent work!!!
Very great learning experience for someone like me who used to deliver those machines all over the country but was never to see them in the real world being used.
Adam, I'm proud of you. In the past I have criticized you for sticking with what you know and not being willing to change your ways. Well, I take that all back. You're really trying to learn your new machines now and that's a good thing.
While I'm on the woodworking side of cnc, the one thing all cnc work has in common A cnc machine does EXACTLY what you tell it to, not what you intended it to do. Success happens when intention matches up with the gcode.
I can make that even more generic: any computer code does exactly what you told it to, not what you want. What's why we software developers always have to deal with bugs in the code -- no matter how hard you try, there's always cases where code and intention don't match up, and so so many of them happen in pieces of code you didn't think could be wrong!
Love the Pucker Factor...I see workers running at warp speed and can feel the floor vibrating at touch...as a manual guy...I don't even like walking by. Practical Machinist has a great segment on Manual vs. CNC...when things go wrong on the CNC... it's lighting quick. Tool movement...huge pucker factor. The experts count spindle drops and table movement time...I still use a chuck key in my tool changer hand....GREAT JOB Adam!!!
If you want to reduce the pucker factor, you can set your retract height in between holes above your clamps. That way if you have your clamps slightly off in between parts you won’t clip it on a linking move. Even slow machines are so fast that it only adds a few seconds the the cycle on each part.
@@MechanicalAdvantage Oh ffs. That’s what I get for commenting before the end of the video. Love your fusion 360 tutorials by the way. They’re super well done.
@@kevind1865 Thank you. Once we got that height changed when he told me about the issue, then he could let things run at full song without worrying about hitting the clamps.
23:28 i like to do the chamfer before the thread because the tool will create a burr on the thread and also the chamfer will center the tap if its in a floating tool holder.
Everyone chamfers before tapping. It is so obvious that I don't even think it is taught. How has this passed him by for so long. Just swap over the last 2 tools. Better still, use a large spot drill at the start to cut all the chamfers before drilling & lose the last chamfering op. These are not CNC tips, it's established machine shop practice.
Thank you for making these video's. I haven't done any machining since the early '90s, and to me this is like a cross between technology and witchcraft. You have definitely sated my curiosity.
I understand you were wanting to work more with Fusion 360 but I will say the conversational programming in the Milltronics makes this kind of work super fast and easy. You could have made the clearance and depth changes at the control in about 30 seconds. Great job as always.
It's always good practice to set your travels height ABOVE the height of any fixtures when your fixtures aren't permanent / measured & modeled into the cad/cam package before creating tool paths. This will allow you to run at full speed without worrying about crashing into fixtures. Yes, you lost a little bit of time on travels due to the extra height, but you end up saving time and worry because you don't have to babysit the overrides or slow things down "to be safe"
When we programmed this part, he had an idea of how he was going to set these parts up, but nothing was concrete. Spending the time to place the 123 blocks and clamps etc. in this setup is overkill when you could just get it setup and then measure how high the tallest clamp is and not worry about the clamps at all. Especially when he has a reference part that we can use to make sure he doesn't put a clamp where a toolpath needs to go.
In the future, it is helpful to set your Z clearance to move well above the clamp and then rapid down to .200 above surface then go to machining speeds you will breathe a lot easier
Just a suggestion, In drilling cycle, you should use G98 instead of G97 that way, tools always clear the clamps by your chosen height in line before the canned cycle. Ie. G0 Z3.0; G98 G73 Z-.5 R.2 Q.05 F3.0
It's interesting that some folks asked to see the 3d animation rather than or at least in addition to the actual machining process. I don't think it's an age thing either, I'm 63, retired and enjoy watching both myself!
Based on the chips, you can increase your feed rate a good bit. Also you can use a deeper peck, if I want to be really safe I'll use half the diameter of the drill, but realistically you can go much deeper. With the carbide drills, they are designed to take straight shots, you don't need to peck. Great job for where you are at in your learning process.
@@ipadize I've seen it be a nerve wracking experience for folks to shift from a manual of bed mill with a quill to full CNC. One of the hardest lessons to learn is an emotional one more than a technique one, and that is that it is often safer to push harder and faster (within reason) than it is to try and be gentle. He seems to be doing all right though and he'll get there. I agree with you about going straight through, it's pretty much always better where you can.
I agree with you. Using the Cad/CAM approach will make you a more well rounded. Which I think you want to be. When I had time I even modeled and my clamping tools and hardware and brought them in my Inventor models.
ABOM so happy for an hour of content. Loved every minute. That meal is awesome. I love the color too. You are encouraging me to get one.😅 can’t wait for the next lesson learned😮
Hi, as a beginner home machinist. I have never seen any kind of CNC programs, I think this is fascinating, this is such a time saver if you're making more than one piece.
Adam, I loved every minute of this! This is the first video I've seen that made me think you're going to be a CNC machinist! I have no right to be proud of you, but, damn, man! Well done.
You could also make the tool path as a star pattern or skip one, then back, skip one, then back etc. This would keep the tool toward the inside diameter and not coming as a straight line past the clamps. The hop probably takes less time though. Just depends on the piece which one would be more efficient.
dont you have a chuck for the mill table to hold round parts? i feel like a lathe chuck mounted vertically on the table would be nice for projects like this
Hello Adam.I think you made right choice purchasing milltronics vmc and lathe.Milltronics are underestimated but very nice machines,I used to have Rh20 mill and love it.Simple,reliable,easy to use.Nice job by the way😊
For your y home at finish I think you choose that in the post processor menu second tab, lets you pick which axis' and what order they home.. If not just manually edit the end of the program..
Hey, I know it can get frustrating with people telling you how to do stuff , but I want to help you out. Don't peck carbide drills, you can chip the edge on the retract. Just plunge straight through. That will help your speed even more.
It won't be a big deal for this job. It's also a fake peck. The tool isn't retracting between pecks. The retract distance is set to 0 so the chips can't accumulate below the drill point. It is advancing, pausing, and then advancing again.
IIRC F-360 lets you specify "keep out" areas. Add a rectangle representing the clamps, specify KO, and F-360 will take care of using tool paths that avoid the clamps.
What a great job to enhance your CAD/CAM skills.....FYI- you can use the G30 command as a second stop position, so the table comes to the front center of the opening after the last operation, just make sure when you set up the G30 that it slaves your Z axis to home first before it makes the final move in X and Y.
CNC is the future and the youth today learning CNC will be setup for success later. Removing as much human error from manufacturing is one of the goals. It's fantastic that you're stepping into the CNC world and learning more about it. I've seen lots of comments here about how people want to just see everything done by hand, and you do a great mix of both. CNC will replace manual machines in the future, it's just a matter of time :) A horse and buggy was great technology at one point as well, but we've advanced and moved on from that.
CNC has been around for a long time though, it's not some super new thing.. They've been around since the 90s, it's more than industry standard now. Machining has been shedding a lot of young people (in my area at least) due to poor wages, poor environments, and insane work load... You have to fight tooth and claw after many years to get paid what a software engineer gets paid starting out, if you want an idea of how terrible wages are (generally), some places are better than others and do pay fairly but they're a rarity... Then you also have to deal with routine lay offs because it's feast or famine in this industry. Don't get me wrong it can give you an OK to mostly comfortable living depending where you live, but it's definitely not attracting boat loads of young guys. We're competing with developing countries that are running CNCs and paying guys a couple dollars a day. A machine is a machine, the product is more or less the same. It's automation.
Love the CNC content. Hope you don't have any crazy screw ups like me when I was learning on a HAAS and end up running the head into the material/work holding. Almost had one of those moments at 16:55 nearly running into the clamp. Those times get nerve wracking 🤣
Lockwood lock-line have ben around for forty years , did the job from the start. something finally came along to knock Lockwoods off the mountain. I made them at three different injection molding Companies over 15 years here in Oregon We also maid the innards for the Black n Decker snake lite
Really nice videography and editing on this. The in-picture overlays (e.g., why the shrink fit tool holder beat the collet) were great for explanation!
Glad you are having fun. In a year you will code that part at the controler in 15-20 minutes. Learn your canned cycles. This part does not need F-360. Retired since '07 and I still can.
Nice job, there is always a balance between making the perfect set-up and program, and just getting it good enough to get a small batch of parts out the door. I think you hit that balance pretty nicely in this Job. If you want the table to move a specific position at the end of the program that will be an edit you will need to make to your post processor. Also those carbide drills don't really like peck drilling that much, i know you don't have thru tool coolant but i would at least make the pecks a bit longer to try and maintain the life of the drills.
He used the same toolpaths as the HSS steel drills and just changed out the drills and adjusted the feeds and speeds. He didn't adust the peck. One thing to note about the peck is that it has a 0 retract distance, so it isn't doing a true peck drill.
I’ve been watching you since about 2017. It’s so cool to see what you have been able to build during your career. Congratulations, and I’m sure your success will continue for a long time.
Instead of worrying about the clamps, I would have just programmed the tool path to be a "star" type pattern, similar to what you would use to torque bolts in the holes.
There are several options we could have used like x pattern, y pattern etc. But why waste all the movement when you can just get the tool to raise a bit higher and go point to point?
Another A+....nice job explaining the why/how of this process and I liked the video work getting in both the computer screen and the actual work piece. Makes it a lot easier to understand what's happening. Great work!
for such sketchy setups it is goot to set "safe Z" by the height of your highest clamp. safe Z prevents rapid movements lower than this value. there will be a lot of up/down movements but for small and sketchy batch it is better to be safe rather than fast.
Good work :) I'm always super chicken with those rapids - rather than relying on the straight line path between holes being cleared (at about 15:00) - I'd rather see the safe-z lift between holes totally clear the clamps. Doesn't cost any time on a machine this fast, but saves a tool for the one time the clamp is in a slightly different spot. (inch and a half versus 200 thou isn't worth the risk). Edit: and 26:00 underwear saved. no more panic :D Thank you as always for sharing! Edit the 3: Does this machine have through spindle air? I can hear it has the air to keep the taper clean during tool changes. AvE had a really neat setup where he built a 'tool' that was some tempered copper pipe in a tool holder pinched to form a nozzle, and then the last process after a project is a through spindle coolant rinse to clear chips, then a through-spindle air blast (with the tool spinning) to blow the coolant off the part.
Sorry, just now I saw that you did just that, raise Z clearance. By my expirience it is better to lose few seconds then crash tool (I crashed my machine many times and mostly on “simple” jobs like this). Keep up with good work!
Having grown up in the manual world I would think you can appreciate the value of CNC for production work. I’ve enjoyed your journey. Those rapids make me cringe too….😅
Yep. Those flanges are a perfect example of a slow and tedious part to run on a manual mill, but fast and effortless on a CNC. An order for 30 more would take only a little longer than the 5 or 6 he machined.
Change your post processer in Fusion 360. Check to see if Milltronics uses G30 (park) other wise create a "G5X" offset to to the middle and insert that in your code before M30
1975 saw my first CNC. I would run the job at 85%. To take less wear out of machine. Job finishing position is a fail safe . I know with CNC there is usually a switch with light that enables you to open doors. Always preferred power off completely if I had to tweek job. CAD & CNC are very close to robotics. But breaking a tool would mean that a procedural step was missed. Digital readout cascade is not a 100% tool. But close to it with the paper & pencil still holds sway. Safe operating always
Really didn't think that I'd be interested in watching these CNC machines. Rather enjoyed this even though there is no way I'll ever get close to one. Reading the comment section makes my head hurt. One thing that I would have liked to see, just for the heck of it, would be milling and chamfering the ID. dave
Nice video! A good walk through of the prove-out process. Makes me almost miss my programming days. (take it or leave it) With carbide drills, you can usually skip the peck drilling and use a standard drilling cycle. It can help minimize tool wear as long as you're getting the chip control you need. Understandable starting point since the first one was HSS and material is obviously 'a little stringy'. One thing you could do to get the table parked in a more convenient load/unload position is to have a sub-program/macro or a custom G-code that parks it centered on the door. You could also look to embed that into the post for your CAM software. The advantage of having a little sub-program (vs. a custom G-code) is it's easy to edit from job to job.
To save time with the chamfer tool at the end. The spot drill can be set to cut the chamfers at the start. Before tapping it can be wise to blow off the drill swarf. A tap can break if a string of swarf is in the hole.
@@MechanicalAdvantage stringy swarf hooked in the top of a hole can push the tap over when it starts. This is especially true with floating tap systems.
Adam, on that run of outer holes you can always raise your R value on the machine itself without having to redo it in cam. Or have a single G43 line above your G81/G83 and G84 lines with a higher Z value so that it will rapid to that higher value instead of running it at your feed rate.
Great job! An issue I run into with these kinds of things is that you can never be sure it's cut right, or perhaps the kerf portion is out like crazy. Personally I would've swept the ID and OD of each one to see what I was dealing with and compensated accordingly. The issue is that there's so many of them that it's very time consuming.
Fusion works much better with chamfers if you DONT add them in design and just select the edges you want chamfer and the width and tip offset in manufacture, 2D Chamfer, Passes
I love watching you do CNC work. Makes me think of my CNC machine, which is only a flatbed router, but it works in a very similar way I'm using fusion 360 to drive it too
If you use Solidworks, there should be a 3D visualizer that allows you to preview the CAM trace of tooling. Providing you do a full assembly setups i.e. assembly with fixtures, drill tooling, taps, clamps, toe clamps, 1-2-3 blocks, etc..... It has an option to stop on collision
You can in Fusion 360 as well, just need to model in the clamps. But what he did after the first opp was the easiest and fastest thing to do, just set the tool retract height to higher than your clamp height, job done.
When performing this type work I always prefer to have the retract height set to approx. 2" to clear all the clamps, you are doing great!
In 1981 I was an engineering student at Southern Tech in Marietta, Georgia. One of my instructors had married together a milling machine with a rudimentary computer that was programmed by holes in paper tape. At that point all it would do is make monogrammed belt buckles. CNC has come a long way! ……although, now that I think of it, that was 43 years ago. I’m so old.
I'm trying to think of the name for the paper punched controlled machines, they are the pre cnc. The first two letters are NC but I can't think of the third letter. Stands for numeric control. I think CNC stands for computer numeric control. It's been 30 years
are you following new technology like metal 3D printing?
@@garymurt9112 Actually i have no idea. I just own an old Pratt and Whitney triax tape o matic i was told was using punched cards for programming. I know it used to have a giant reel to reel tape machine to save the programs on. Since I’ve owned it, it’s been retrofit with a centroid control.
from one Old Learner to another: yes, doing is the best training; making mistakes is the very best teacher
Ive done literal hundreds if not thousands of different parts that needed to be clamped down in the machine. If I can say just one thing that will save you a ton of headache; Make sure your clearence height between every operation is higher than your tallest clamp-setup. Depending on your machine it might make the part take a little longer to finish but nobody wants to see the machine try to rapid feed a large drill sideways through a clamp.
I just stick in 200mm if i have clamps on the table. No point in puckering it.
@@spikeypineapple552 Oh nice I'm usually hovering at 150mm and yeah youre 100% right - no need to stand there and risk anything.
A colleague of mine thinks its wasting time but he has a hard time convincing anyone with the amount of broken drills, clamps and parts that goes in his chip container ^^
I always do the high clearance plane when using strap clamps. Less drama. You need a backside chamfer tool for one and done.
Years ago when I started watching Adam's videos I was impressed with him machining manually, and that's why I kept watching. Now, I'm happy to see him on the cnc path!
Thanks! This brings back memories of my first factory machine job in 1975 as a radial drill press operator out of high school. I had to lay out by hand bolt circles on flanges all day long. Parts for dredges at Ellicott Machine Company in Baltimore. We had one CNC machine in the whole shop and it was a test mill to see how they liked the new technology. Blue the flanges, lay out the bolt circles and holes with dividers and set it all up manually. Loved that job.
working with clamps it worth having your retract to 2" in travel, peace of mind and cheaper then breaking tools
Adam's talking the language, confidence is growing. I predict he will become obsessed with CNC, and become proficient with it within 6 months.
He is proving An old saying wrong can't teach an old dog new tricks lol
I am proud of you Adam!!! Progressing nicely into the previously unknown!!
You should be proud in your continuing education journey! I'm 59 and the best part of my job is having to learn something new. 😊
This is the best part of the day for me, sitting down and watching one of Adams EPIC videos! keep them up!!
I have to admit, I was stuck "old school" mode and being if I had a shop I would lean heavily with the older machines because that was all the interest I had, this episode kinda opened my eyes toward CNC machining. The clarity of your step by step movements showed me a new way of doing things. I appreciate that Adam
Really cool to see you on the cnc again Adam. You’ve clearly learnt a lot and we’re learning from your videos too. A lot of the experienced cnc guys on TH-cam gloss over the basics so it’s really good to follow your journey.
I love to see someone my age learning new things. Made me realise that I can still learn new things myself, that the skillset I have isn't set in stone.
When I worked for Kawasaki motors in Maryville MO I would use fan tips on the coolant lines. Run them vertical then they cover a wide variety of drill lengths.
Take full advantage of those rapids and increase your retract height. The extra few seconds on the job are more than worth it to not have to worry about your clamp positions 👌🏻
Yes Yes Yes
Make your clearance plane like 2 inches above the part and your rapid moves will clear and you don’t have to pucker up so much!
Yeah no reason to cut it so close
Instructional videos can be very helpful, but seeing someone go through the learning process while both asking and then answering the questions that are going through my head adds a unique quality to your videos. I doubt I'll ever run a CNC machine, but it's fascinating to see. I feel like I have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the process. Excellently done, as always.
Also, "pucker factor" is now in my vocabulary.
very well done Adam. I am super proud of you. It can be rather arduous for people to add different skills especially with people of you mastery of manual machining of all the differing types. I would love to buy you a beer and have a conversation about how fun this kind of learning is. I went from being a mechanical engineer with a degree to going back to college for a Computer Science Engineering degree and now working in this industry since Jan 2005. I know the butterflies in changing lol. So I applaud you and I am proud of you as well. I look forward to so very many more excellent videos from you.
It's really fun to watch a CNC mill tapping holes. It precisely feeds the tap with a servo, using software to match the tool's movement speed with the threads density, instead of using a free-floating quill, as a manual mill or drill press would when you need to tap something, right? I know there's no magic behind this tool control, but it feels like magic anyway.
If this looks like magic search for speedio drill and tap then your mind will be blown
Went from pucker to relief and cut cycle time in half in one job. That's a win. Fun to watch this new chapter for Booth Machine. 👍
So glad to see you use those CNC machines. I agree is you have to make a simple "one of" item manual machine is the smarter move. More pieces CNC the way to go. Always enjoy watching how you think.
Adam, when clamp position is operator dependent, ALWAYS use your 'Z' offset for tool clearance!!! The tiny increase in cycle time is well worth reducing the pucker factor.
Glad to see you thought to make those changes!! I made my comment before the end of the video.
As a software tester, I love to see manual expertise being applied to automation. Best of both worlds and I see it expanding your skills.
Excellent work!!!
Very well said!
Very great learning experience for someone like me who used to deliver those machines all over the country but was never to see them in the real world being used.
WOW Adam, I am so proud of you. You got it figured out buddy. I love watching your progress. Thanks for sharing
Adam, I'm proud of you. In the past I have criticized you for sticking with what you know and not being willing to change your ways. Well, I take that all back. You're really trying to learn your new machines now and that's a good thing.
While I'm on the woodworking side of cnc, the one thing all cnc work has in common
A cnc machine does EXACTLY what you tell it to, not what you intended it to do. Success happens when intention matches up with the gcode.
I can make that even more generic: any computer code does exactly what you told it to, not what you want. What's why we software developers always have to deal with bugs in the code -- no matter how hard you try, there's always cases where code and intention don't match up, and so so many of them happen in pieces of code you didn't think could be wrong!
set the default tool retract on all tools to 2" or buy yourself some rubber underpants, also consider chamfering all holes before tapping, Great show
Love the Pucker Factor...I see workers running at warp speed and can feel the floor vibrating at touch...as a manual guy...I don't even like walking by. Practical Machinist has a great segment on Manual vs. CNC...when things go wrong on the CNC... it's lighting quick. Tool movement...huge pucker factor. The experts count spindle drops and table movement time...I still use a chuck key in my tool changer hand....GREAT JOB Adam!!!
If you want to reduce the pucker factor, you can set your retract height in between holes above your clamps. That way if you have your clamps slightly off in between parts you won’t clip it on a linking move.
Even slow machines are so fast that it only adds a few seconds the the cycle on each part.
Right on. We got that changed for the later runs so it wasn't an issue.
@@MechanicalAdvantage Oh ffs. That’s what I get for commenting before the end of the video. Love your fusion 360 tutorials by the way. They’re super well done.
@@kevind1865 Thank you. Once we got that height changed when he told me about the issue, then he could let things run at full song without worrying about hitting the clamps.
23:28 i like to do the chamfer before the thread because the tool will create a burr on the thread and also the chamfer will center the tap if its in a floating tool holder.
Everyone chamfers before tapping. It is so obvious that I don't even think it is taught. How has this passed him by for so long. Just swap over the last 2 tools. Better still, use a large spot drill at the start to cut all the chamfers before drilling & lose the last chamfering op. These are not CNC tips, it's established machine shop practice.
Just raise the clearance height to clear the tallest clamp.
Thank you for making these video's.
I haven't done any machining since the early '90s, and to me this is like a cross between technology and witchcraft. You have definitely sated my curiosity.
I understand you were wanting to work more with Fusion 360 but I will say the conversational programming in the Milltronics makes this kind of work super fast and easy. You could have made the clearance and depth changes at the control in about 30 seconds. Great job as always.
It's always good practice to set your travels height ABOVE the height of any fixtures when your fixtures aren't permanent / measured & modeled into the cad/cam package before creating tool paths. This will allow you to run at full speed without worrying about crashing into fixtures. Yes, you lost a little bit of time on travels due to the extra height, but you end up saving time and worry because you don't have to babysit the overrides or slow things down "to be safe"
When we programmed this part, he had an idea of how he was going to set these parts up, but nothing was concrete. Spending the time to place the 123 blocks and clamps etc. in this setup is overkill when you could just get it setup and then measure how high the tallest clamp is and not worry about the clamps at all. Especially when he has a reference part that we can use to make sure he doesn't put a clamp where a toolpath needs to go.
In the future, it is helpful to set your Z clearance to move well above the clamp and then rapid down to .200 above surface then go to machining speeds you will breathe a lot easier
If you watch farther, this is exactly what he does in the second iteration of the program!
It’s fun to go along with you on this ride. Gaining confidence in the process and learning it. You are definitely improving, great work
Just a suggestion, In drilling cycle, you should use G98 instead of G97 that way, tools always clear the clamps by your chosen height in line before the canned cycle. Ie. G0 Z3.0;
G98 G73 Z-.5 R.2 Q.05 F3.0
It's interesting that some folks asked to see the 3d animation rather than or at least in addition to the actual machining process. I don't think it's an age thing either, I'm 63, retired and enjoy watching both myself!
Based on the chips, you can increase your feed rate a good bit. Also you can use a deeper peck, if I want to be really safe I'll use half the diameter of the drill, but realistically you can go much deeper. With the carbide drills, they are designed to take straight shots, you don't need to peck. Great job for where you are at in your learning process.
on these thin plates i would just drill through without pecking but then also using a carbide drill
@@ipadize I've seen it be a nerve wracking experience for folks to shift from a manual of bed mill with a quill to full CNC. One of the hardest lessons to learn is an emotional one more than a technique one, and that is that it is often safer to push harder and faster (within reason) than it is to try and be gentle. He seems to be doing all right though and he'll get there. I agree with you about going straight through, it's pretty much always better where you can.
I agree with you. Using the Cad/CAM approach will make you a more well rounded. Which I think you want to be. When I had time I even modeled and my clamping tools and hardware and brought them in my Inventor models.
ABOM so happy for an hour of content. Loved every minute. That meal is awesome. I love the color too. You are encouraging me to get one.😅 can’t wait for the next lesson learned😮
Hi, as a beginner home machinist. I have never seen any kind of CNC programs, I think this is fascinating, this is such a time saver if you're making more than one piece.
thx for this 🏅 .... a very profound & very detailed explanation for a noob like me 👏🏻
so cool to see that carbide. Been watching for what seems like a decade, amazing to see how far you have come. Thanks for all the content
Adam, I loved every minute of this! This is the first video I've seen that made me think you're going to be a CNC machinist! I have no right to be proud of you, but, damn, man! Well done.
You could also make the tool path as a star pattern or skip one, then back, skip one, then back etc. This would keep the tool toward the inside diameter and not coming as a straight line past the clamps. The hop probably takes less time though. Just depends on the piece which one would be more efficient.
I love to see an old dog learn new tricks
you could have changed the pattern for clearance too. instead of going around the part, use a star pattern.
Set your clearance higher in the CAM software.
dont you have a chuck for the mill table to hold round parts? i feel like a lathe chuck mounted vertically on the table would be nice for projects like this
Im gonna save this to watch at work tonight yep
And that's how its done, sweet!
Hello Adam.I think you made right choice purchasing milltronics vmc and lathe.Milltronics are underestimated but very nice machines,I used to have Rh20 mill and love it.Simple,reliable,easy to use.Nice job by the way😊
Good learning experience,Adam.Thank you.
I'm a little goofy about one thing I love hearing you talk in time lapse it sounds really neat to me.makes me chuckle.
For your y home at finish I think you choose that in the post processor menu second tab, lets you pick which axis' and what order they home.. If not just manually edit the end of the program..
Hey, I know it can get frustrating with people telling you how to do stuff , but I want to help you out. Don't peck carbide drills, you can chip the edge on the retract. Just plunge straight through. That will help your speed even more.
It won't be a big deal for this job. It's also a fake peck. The tool isn't retracting between pecks. The retract distance is set to 0 so the chips can't accumulate below the drill point. It is advancing, pausing, and then advancing again.
IIRC F-360 lets you specify "keep out" areas. Add a rectangle representing the clamps, specify KO, and F-360 will take care of using tool paths that avoid the clamps.
It will currently only do that for 3D toolpaths. The drilling toolpath doesn't have any options for that.
What a great job to enhance your CAD/CAM skills.....FYI- you can use the G30 command as a second stop position, so the table comes to the front center of the opening after the last operation, just make sure when you set up the G30 that it slaves your Z axis to home first before it makes the final move in X and Y.
Nice work. Just wondering why you did not defined Z clearance much higher in Fusion 360, then the clamps wouldn’t get in the way for any operation.
He did.
CNC is the future and the youth today learning CNC will be setup for success later. Removing as much human error from manufacturing is one of the goals. It's fantastic that you're stepping into the CNC world and learning more about it. I've seen lots of comments here about how people want to just see everything done by hand, and you do a great mix of both. CNC will replace manual machines in the future, it's just a matter of time :)
A horse and buggy was great technology at one point as well, but we've advanced and moved on from that.
CNC has been around for a long time though, it's not some super new thing.. They've been around since the 90s, it's more than industry standard now. Machining has been shedding a lot of young people (in my area at least) due to poor wages, poor environments, and insane work load... You have to fight tooth and claw after many years to get paid what a software engineer gets paid starting out, if you want an idea of how terrible wages are (generally), some places are better than others and do pay fairly but they're a rarity... Then you also have to deal with routine lay offs because it's feast or famine in this industry. Don't get me wrong it can give you an OK to mostly comfortable living depending where you live, but it's definitely not attracting boat loads of young guys.
We're competing with developing countries that are running CNCs and paying guys a couple dollars a day. A machine is a machine, the product is more or less the same. It's automation.
So far as the CNC goes, this vid was the most interesting for me.
Love the CNC content. Hope you don't have any crazy screw ups like me when I was learning on a HAAS and end up running the head into the material/work holding.
Almost had one of those moments at 16:55 nearly running into the clamp. Those times get nerve wracking 🤣
Use a G59 code at the end of the program and set the coordinates to where you want the table to go after the program.
Another easy way is to use a g53 x y as a makeshift homing blocks
Lockwood lock-line have ben around for forty years , did the job from the start. something finally came along to knock Lockwoods off the mountain. I made them at three different injection molding Companies over 15 years here in Oregon We also maid the innards for the Black n Decker snake lite
Really nice videography and editing on this. The in-picture overlays (e.g., why the shrink fit tool holder beat the collet) were great for explanation!
Proud of you buddy. You have made great strides in your CDC machining journey.
"You've come a long way pilgrim."
Glad you are having fun. In a year you will code that part at the controler in 15-20 minutes. Learn your canned cycles. This part does not need F-360. Retired since '07 and I still can.
Race ya :)
Nice job, there is always a balance between making the perfect set-up and program, and just getting it good enough to get a small batch of parts out the door. I think you hit that balance pretty nicely in this Job.
If you want the table to move a specific position at the end of the program that will be an edit you will need to make to your post processor.
Also those carbide drills don't really like peck drilling that much, i know you don't have thru tool coolant but i would at least make the pecks a bit longer to try and maintain the life of the drills.
He used the same toolpaths as the HSS steel drills and just changed out the drills and adjusted the feeds and speeds. He didn't adust the peck. One thing to note about the peck is that it has a 0 retract distance, so it isn't doing a true peck drill.
I’ve been watching you since about 2017. It’s so cool to see what you have been able to build during your career. Congratulations, and I’m sure your success will continue for a long time.
Instead of worrying about the clamps, I would have just programmed the tool path to be a "star" type pattern, similar to what you would use to torque bolts in the holes.
There are several options we could have used like x pattern, y pattern etc. But why waste all the movement when you can just get the tool to raise a bit higher and go point to point?
Another A+....nice job explaining the why/how of this process and I liked the video work getting in both the computer screen and the actual work piece. Makes it a lot easier to understand what's happening. Great work!
for such sketchy setups it is goot to set "safe Z" by the height of your highest clamp. safe Z prevents rapid movements lower than this value.
there will be a lot of up/down movements but for small and sketchy batch it is better to be safe rather than fast.
Good work :) I'm always super chicken with those rapids - rather than relying on the straight line path between holes being cleared (at about 15:00) - I'd rather see the safe-z lift between holes totally clear the clamps. Doesn't cost any time on a machine this fast, but saves a tool for the one time the clamp is in a slightly different spot. (inch and a half versus 200 thou isn't worth the risk). Edit: and 26:00 underwear saved. no more panic :D
Thank you as always for sharing!
Edit the 3: Does this machine have through spindle air? I can hear it has the air to keep the taper clean during tool changes. AvE had a really neat setup where he built a 'tool' that was some tempered copper pipe in a tool holder pinched to form a nozzle, and then the last process after a project is a through spindle coolant rinse to clear chips, then a through-spindle air blast (with the tool spinning) to blow the coolant off the part.
Ridgid tapping is so COOL!
Next lesson is Thread Milling 😮
No critique from me. I am so proud of your advancements in tech and making it work. Keep on charging Bro!
Sorry, just now I saw that you did just that, raise Z clearance. By my expirience it is better to lose few seconds then crash tool (I crashed my machine many times and mostly on “simple” jobs like this). Keep up with good work!
Having grown up in the manual world I would think you can appreciate the value of CNC for production work. I’ve enjoyed your journey. Those rapids make me cringe too….😅
Yep. Those flanges are a perfect example of a slow and tedious part to run on a manual mill, but fast and effortless on a CNC. An order for 30 more would take only a little longer than the 5 or 6 he machined.
Change your post processer in Fusion 360. Check to see if Milltronics uses G30 (park) other wise create a "G5X" offset to to the middle and insert that in your code before M30
CNC still looks like magic to me. Very cool tools you have there.
Personally I would have chamfered the holes before taping the taped holes so there would not be a burr there.
Very cool Adam, really appreciate your honest as you go through your learning with CNC/Fusion360.
1975 saw my first CNC. I would run the job at 85%. To take less wear out of machine.
Job finishing position is a fail safe .
I know with CNC there is usually a switch with light that enables you to open doors. Always preferred power off completely if I had to tweek job.
CAD & CNC are very close to robotics. But breaking a tool would mean that a procedural step was missed.
Digital readout cascade is not a 100% tool. But close to it with the paper & pencil still holds sway.
Safe operating always
A healthy hesitation when doors are open isn't a bad thing.
Very nice. Getting better each time.
Really didn't think that I'd be interested in watching these CNC machines. Rather enjoyed this even though there is no way I'll ever get close to one. Reading the comment section makes my head hurt. One thing that I would have liked to see, just for the heck of it, would be milling and chamfering the ID. dave
19:41 .. I LOVE how you can pause everything! .. The old CNC I ran?? If you hit pause?? It started over from the very start :(
Nice video! A good walk through of the prove-out process. Makes me almost miss my programming days. (take it or leave it) With carbide drills, you can usually skip the peck drilling and use a standard drilling cycle. It can help minimize tool wear as long as you're getting the chip control you need. Understandable starting point since the first one was HSS and material is obviously 'a little stringy'. One thing you could do to get the table parked in a more convenient load/unload position is to have a sub-program/macro or a custom G-code that parks it centered on the door. You could also look to embed that into the post for your CAM software. The advantage of having a little sub-program (vs. a custom G-code) is it's easy to edit from job to job.
To save time with the chamfer tool at the end. The spot drill can be set to cut the chamfers at the start. Before tapping it can be wise to blow off the drill swarf. A tap can break if a string of swarf is in the hole.
It's a through hole, swarf in the hole won't be an issue.
@@MechanicalAdvantage stringy swarf hooked in the top of a hole can push the tap over when it starts. This is especially true with floating tap systems.
Adam, on that run of outer holes you can always raise your R value on the machine itself without having to redo it in cam. Or have a single G43 line above your G81/G83 and G84 lines with a higher Z value so that it will rapid to that higher value instead of running it at your feed rate.
Great job! An issue I run into with these kinds of things is that you can never be sure it's cut right, or perhaps the kerf portion is out like crazy. Personally I would've swept the ID and OD of each one to see what I was dealing with and compensated accordingly. The issue is that there's so many of them that it's very time consuming.
Great job. Thank you 😊
Exellent video as always. In the NC post you will find "Home position" uncheck the top one an leav the bottom one.
This! Will this bring the bed to where he wanted it after the program has run?
Fusion works much better with chamfers if you DONT add them in design and just select the edges you want chamfer and the width and tip offset in manufacture, 2D Chamfer, Passes
I love watching you do CNC work. Makes me think of my CNC machine, which is only a flatbed router, but it works in a very similar way I'm using fusion 360 to drive it too
You are getting there Adam , a great job 👍🍺🍺🥇
If you use Solidworks, there should be a 3D visualizer that allows you to preview the CAM trace of tooling. Providing you do a full assembly setups i.e. assembly with fixtures, drill tooling, taps, clamps, toe clamps, 1-2-3 blocks, etc..... It has an option to stop on collision
You can in Fusion 360 as well, just need to model in the clamps. But what he did after the first opp was the easiest and fastest thing to do, just set the tool retract height to higher than your clamp height, job done.