[inthebay]

Hey folks,

I have a fixture that has two parts on opposing sides of the tombstone, each with their own particular A axis offset to account for fixture errors. When I'm trying to change from working on one face to the other, the work offset updates, however it does not re-call the A axis movement due to no rotation being theoretically required, when I transfer to the other part it ends up drilling the holes off-angle. Is there a way to force mastercam to output the A axis angle of the toolplane even if its already been stated before, forcing the machine to reorient to account for the slight A axis offset?

Thanks!

-C

[Fletch_CNC]

You could probably edit the post to force it to output the A-axis moves. But for a simpler solution, could you use either a Point toolpath, or a Manual Entry? Put one or the other between your machining moves, and they should recall the A-axis.

[inthebay]

I'm just wondering if there's a simple fix to force the A output, rather than having to put in ~30 manual entry toolpaths.

I'm assuming that its somewhere in this chunk of my post:

pfxout #Force X axis output
if absinc$ = zero, *xabs, !xinc
else, *xinc, !xabs

pxout #X output
if absinc$ = zero, xabs, !xinc
else, xinc, !xabs

pfyout #Force Y axis output
if absinc$ = zero, *yabs, !yinc
else, *yinc, !yabs

pyout #Y output
if absinc$ = zero, yabs, !yinc
else, yinc, !yabs

pfzout #Force Z axis output
if absinc$ = zero, *zabs, !zinc
else, *zinc, !zabs

pzout #Z output
if absinc$ = zero, zabs, !zinc
else, zinc, !zabs

pfcout #Force C axis output
if index = zero & rot_on_x,
[
if use_rotmcode & (fmtrnd(cabs) <> fmtrnd(prv_cabs) | sof), *sindx_mc
if absinc$ = zero, *cabs, !cinc, !cout_i
else, *cout_i, !cinc, !cabs
]

pcout #C axis output
if index = zero & rot_on_x,
[
if use_rotmcode & fmtrnd(cabs) <> fmtrnd(prv_cabs), *sindx_mc
if absinc$ = zero, cabs, !cinc, !cout_i
else, cout_i, !cinc, !cabs
]

pindex #Index output
if index, pbld, n$, sgabsinc, pwcs, e$
if index & rot_on_x,
[
if (fmtrnd(prv_indx_out) <> fmtrnd(indx_out)) | (fmtrnd(prv_cabs) <> fmtrnd(cabs)),
[
if lock_codes = 1 & rotretflg = 0, pbld, n$, *sunlock, sunlockcomm, e$
pbld, n$, [if use_rotmcode, *sindx_mc], *indx_out, e$
if lock_codes = 1 & cuttype = 0 & rotretflg = 0, pbld, n$, *slock, slockcomm, e$
!cabs, !cinc
]
]

[Fletch_CNC]

I suspect you are right about the section of code for the post. Does your post always output the C axis? Maybe if you changed that to A....? Editing posts is something I have been meaning to learn, but haven't yet.

But if you are using a different t-plane and work offset for the second side of the tombstone, I would think that your post should output the A axis. Just doing a quick toolpath on my system, by changing the Work Offset to 1 for the Bottom view, the work offset including A was recalled between drill cycles (going from G54 to G55).

[inthebay]

Hmm, I guess you're lucky there. I'm going to check with In-House solutions and see what they say.

[Fletch_CNC]

I'd be interested in what they advise.