[fidia]

Hi all.

I just want to program the back of a lathe part. I.e Add a second setup datum.

Bobcam V3 Lathe. There is no option to add a setup like in the mill?

[fidia]

Another thing to add. Bobcam keeps crashing when I try to add a mill setup to a part I already have lathe toolpaths in. Should this be so? How do I add mill tool paths? Sometimes this program is frustrating when you have to get stuff done.

[fidia]

Any help at all would be very much appreciated

[fidia]

I have moved the Machine Setup Point to the back and blanked the toolpaths affected but surely it si possible to add a second setup!

Also when I try to add milling toolpaths to machine the 9 x reliefs it just crashes when it goes to the tool selection page. I will just program these by hand as it will be quicker then working through the crashes. Is there any training material available on the lathe side of the software. It seems to lag alot behind the mill side. I would like to simulate the tool holders also if there is a way of doing it.

[SBC Cycle]

When you edit a feature, in the tool tab there is an option to "Assign Tool Holder". You have to "draw" them up using cylinders and cones but it's super easy.

[fidia]

Any ideas on adding a second setup for the back of the part?

[STEAMENGINE]

I am a very newbie. I have had V26 Lathe for only a few days and not yet cut a part. I am in great danger of talking rubbish because I have never had any CAM software before.

I have been running a self rebuilt EasyTurn3 Lathe, (original electronics conked out and was beyond repair), controlled by a CamSoft PC package. The lathe has a Micky mouse 8 tool turret (4 shank tools + 4 collets) plus a rear Dixon tool post. We use it by getting the CamSoft to stop and ask for a manual tool change if the tool number is >8. That makes the tool set open ended for heavier boring tools, big drills etc. We have been writing the parts in G-code for 7 years; yes we are amateurs!

Coming to BobCAD, the big step forward, I wanted to be able to call tools from the >#8 set but to do that, some of them e.g. rear cutoff or heavy regular tools or specials, will have to have their X values inverted to work on the back side of the part compared with the standard post output of BobCAD. In other words the rear-cutting tools tool-paths are an X mirror image of front tools.

BobCAD say this can probably be archived by adding VB to the post. I have written a lot of VB but so far I cannot get it to work because the mechanisms of the post a somewhat obscure and the docs are not helpful.

Is this the problem you are trying to solve?

My solution is beginning to look like I have to write VB windows Post/Post processor that take the BC output and mirrors the X vectors of all the tools above a certain number -say #30. Note that any tool in the rear tool post that cuts on the same side as BobCAD does not need mirroring.

I would be interested in your comments.

[fidia]

I gave up on the second setup. I tried but I guess it can't be done. I just manually programmed the rest of the program. That why I paid a few thousand so I could get better at manual programming.

[SBC Cycle]

That's a bummer. I tried to figure it out but I only have a Demo of the V3 and I haven't used the lathe side since BobCAD V22. Maybe after the holiday some of the BCC staff will be around.