[Gerry Kmack]

Has anyone successfully used Fusion 360 to do 4th axis indexing on a Tormach / PathPilot PCNC 1100?
I'm using Fusion 360 on an iMac to generate G-code for my Tormach PCNC 1100, with a PathPilot controller (using the Tormach PathPilot Post Processor downloaded from Tormach's website). The Post Processor has been edited to enable 4th axis (changed "false" to "true" @ line 127), and it successfully generates G0 A-axis code as needed.
The problem is that the X-Y-Z coordinates generated do not acknowledge that the A axis has been rotated.
Example: I modeled a rectangular block, mounted lengthwise into the A-axis rotary table. I want to to a 2d face operation on all 4 sides of the blank. I set it up per the examples I found online, changing the orientation for each successive operation, and using the same center endpoint as the origin. The simulation looks exactly as expected, however the G-code generated is goofy.
Once it has successfully faced the first (0 deg) face (using a zig-zag pattern in the X-Y axis), it rotates the A axis 90 deg (as expected), but then the code directs the facemill to zigzag up and down in the Z-X axis, as if the blank had not rotated by 90 deg.
I'm stumped. This is a pretty basic application of A axis indexing (which F360 supposedly does well), and it does not work.
I have struggled with this for several days now; the Autodesk forum is presently in read-only mode for a conversion of some sort, and I am stuck.
Surely I'm not the only Tormach user who has attempted to do 4th axis indexing with Fusion 360? Help!


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[luv2ride]

While not 360 Autodesk Inventor doesn't support 4th axis positioning. Not sure how much the programs are related.

[daniellyall]

did the advice you received help on the Fusion forum

[Gerry Kmack]

did the advice you received help on the Fusion forum

I received the following response to my post on the Autodesk forum:
"That sounds like the post processor you are using assumes you have tool center point control enabled on the machine"
Sounds helpful, might even correctly identify the problem that I am having, but I have no idea what it means, or what to do about it. I posted a response, requesting more info - hopefully someone will follow up.
Does anyone else out there have any experience using Fusion 360 to generate 4th axis indexing operations on a Tormach machine?