[marleecnc]

Hi, I have been in the cnc field for about 20 years, mainly in edm, wire and programming. Now, for the past year have been running the cnc mills also. Both Okumas. I learned how to run them on my own, with no prior training however I am running into a problem. I am drilling 9/16" diameter holes 9 inches deep. There were a few holes that were only 5.2 inches deep, so I drilled all the holes to 5.2 inches using a g83 drill cycle. My issue is that now I want to go in with a longer 9/16 drill and finish the deeper holes. Is there a way to go to a hole, start drilling at 5 inches deep, but have the retract come up to the top of the part during the drilling cycle to clear the chips? If I use a normal peck cycle it only retracts to the start point, and I believe if I use G98 it will still only retract to the start point EXCEPT on the final retract which will then go to the "last Z"?! Is that right?
Thanks for your help!
Dan

[lesr]

Take a look at EditComm, this will allow you the generate expanded code to take care of your deephole drilling.

Also EditComm is on special offer this week

Download the trial version and give it a try

EditComm - CNC communication software - Les Robbins CNC Services

regards

Les Robbins

[Thawk53]

N40(.5118 DRILL X 4.893 DP.)
G0G95G97X30.Z30.S104T0303M41M3P40
X0.0Z.1M8
G74X0.0Z-4.893K2.5D.125L.125F.0025
G0Z1.1M9
X30.Z30.S125
M1

Marleecnc,
This is an example for deep drilling on an Okuma lathe. The part already has a hole 2.500 deep prior to this drill going in. The K number is what controls how far the drill rapids. As you can see, the initial positioning move is to X0.0 and Z.1. The K2.5 will rapid the drill a total of 2.500 therefore positioning the drill at -2.400 before starting the cut. This cycle will also rapid back to Z.1 every .125 until the final depth of -4.893 is reached.
I know your wanting help for a mill, not a lathe, but you might try the K number with the G83 cycle.

Rick

[marleecnc]

Thanks Rick, I'll give it a try.

[marleecnc]

lesr, I actually tried to download editnc. The install keeps saying that windows has files that are not up to date. It says it fixes them, and then says the same thing over and over again. Windows is up to date and I kind of gave up on trying. Looks like a helpful program though, if it would work!

[billystein]

custom drill cycles are fine but if you are really want to control every move then just manually write the moves and make it a sub. we all get a little lazy when you dont need to drill many holes but if you do a lot you might want to spend 10 or 15 minutes and control every motion. sometimes every second counts.

[lesr]

Hi Marleecnc

Editcomm failing to install sounds strange, could you please let me know what version of wndows you are using and also which files are failing to install ?

I shall then look into the problem.

regards
Les Robbins
EditComm - CNC communication software - Les Robbins CNC Services

[OkumaWiz]

If I understand your question...

I think you can use the G71 command to set your clearance plane, and then use M53 in your drilling cycle to tell it to retract to your G71 clearance plane.

I'll try to find some sample code tomorrow.

Best regards,

[Superman]

Sorry Wiz, that way is a no-go

G71 just sets up an initial plane for the M53 command
- when M53 is defined in the canned cycle, it is this plane the tool rapids, and retracts, to between holes.
It has no effect on the return level between pecks

R is the retract plane, you could try having the G71 at the Z- value and the R+0.1,,,,,,,,,, but this more than likely gives an error that G71 is below the R plane

But why not do all the holes to correct depth as you go, just alter the desired cycle parameters

ie

 
G71 Z1.0
G83 X0. Y0. Z-5.2 I0.10 J0.50 R0.1 P0.2 F4.0 M54
X-1. Y0.
X1.0 Y1.0 Z-9. J0.30 M53
X1.0 Y2.0 Z-5.2 J0.50 M54
X2.0 Y1.0
...

[marleecnc]

Thank you all for your help so far. It seems to me that the only good way to do this is to manually program each hole instead of using the canned cycle. I guess I was looking for an "easy way out". which there doesnt seem to be. Superman, I agree that I should have just done all the holes to the correct depths in one shot, however being that I am trying to keep multiple machines running and program at the same time I had already drilled them all to the same depth with the drill that was already in the machine... Too short for the deeper holes. I was just hoping to find a good way to pick up where I left off in the deeper holes.

[broby]

The way I have overcome this is to write my own "Canned" cycle as a G Code macro.
One of the parameters that need to be supplied is the starting depth of the hole, thus I can do exactly what you are after...
Sorry I would give you my code if I could, but I suspect I would be no so slowly boiled in oil...
Writing a G Code macro is not that difficult, you need to make a looping program that will "peck" to depth required, but obviously you need to plunge to the "starting" depth.
Start simple and work upwards...
Cheers
Brian.

[lesr]

Marleecnc

If you still wish to look at EditComm I have uploaded a new version to the website to hopefully fix the problem you encountered the other day

Please let me know how this version works ok

regards

Les Robbins

EditComm - CNC communication software - Les Robbins CNC Services

[marleecnc]

lesr,
Editcomm is still not installing correctly even with the new install. It says that there are visual basic files not up to date (in xp) and asks you if you want the installer to fix the problem. If you select yes it supposedly fixes it, then restarts the computer. When you try to install again, the same thing just keeps happening.

[lesr]

marleecnc

I think I have cracked it this time :-)

Just uploaded a new version of EditComm to website

Could you please try this one and let me know the result

regards

Les Robbins

EditComm - CNC communication software - Les Robbins CNC Services

[OkumaWiz]

The way I have overcome this is to write my own "Canned" cycle as a G Code macro.
One of the parameters that need to be supplied is the starting depth of the hole, thus I can do exactly what you are after...
Sorry I would give you my code if I could, but I suspect I would be no so slowly boiled in oil...
Writing a G Code macro is not that difficult, you need to make a looping program that will "peck" to depth required, but obviously you need to plunge to the "starting" depth.
Start simple and work upwards...
Cheers
Brian

I agree with Brian, write your own sub with variables and assign it to a g code macro. Your result will be exactly what you want and with a little creativity you will be able to use it as your own default drilling cycle. Variables can be passed to the macro on the g code call line.

Best regards,

[marleecnc]

Lesr,
The install worked fine this time. You fixed it! I have comm software that I am pretty happy with already, however I will take a better look at this when I get a chance for its advanced editing capabilities. Thank you.

[marleecnc]

Okuma Wiz and Brian, thanks for your input. I agree... I should create my own drilling macro. It is the right way to do this. I was hoping for a gcode that would tell the machine to retract back to the last z for every peck but it's not in the cards... I have quite a workload for one person these days, what with engineering, programming, edm, graphite, and milling. Funny how a couple years ago we had 5 of us doing the same thing, but now one is sufficient in the managements eyes :idea:
Such is life for a lot of us now I suspect.

[lesr]

marleecnc

Thanks for testing the install, deployment can be a problem, it's hard to cover every OS configuration.

I would be interested in your comments once you get the chance to check EditComm out.

regards

Les Robbins


EditComm - CNC communication software - Les Robbins CNC Services

[Green Button]

Deep holes are better do without retract.There are several drills to that job.
For example drills with throw away insert or solid tools.
They are not so expensive. Take a look for example maxcut.
Just my opinion

[TonyW]

Make sure you are on the PC as an administrator. Some software won't install correctly if you are not administrator, and doesn't always give you a message as to why things were not installed. It just skips those files as they are trying to be installed into the OS itself.

Hope it helps

Tony