[ecad]

I'm in a tough situation. I have managed to work a 4th axis toolpath and works great in the simulator, but when I try to post the Z values fluctuate greatly to the point that it is ~.6" off the machine zero, which is at the surface of my stock. In particular, line N142. My machine zero is .375 from center of the 4th axis and would like to keep it that way.

If anyone can help, I will appreciate it. Here's the BC file. I just can't grasp why it is posting with Z=~.6" or more from machine zero when the tool path doesn't show that. When I open the file in mach3, the toolpath looks unlike that of bobcad's. and reflects that posted.

Rockyroad

[BurrMan]

Its different than how we set it up and I'm not much of a machinist But the .6 is the diameter of the part and cut, so if you set the zero at the top surface of the stock, the other side would be a .6 value.....

I think in this case you need to edit the machine setup 1 and click the "work coord" button, then enter a value of .375 in the Z field. This will have the Z posted values being output at the cut depth of .02 etc.....

But please be sure to follow the logic and make sure the output is how you want. We always use center of rotation as zero.... We use the offsetting of the rotation axis to make the toolpath cut differently on parts that are off axis symmetrically...

[ecad]

Thanks for the help. It solved my issue. I did not realize that I needed to put a positive value there. I did put a -.375 once there but didn't occur to put a positive. I did put a negative .375 for the base point which I thought the post just used it but apparently not. Two different beasts.

I have used in the past center of rotation as zero but to avoid to have a crash, going to zero is not my preference. Thanks again.

[BurrMan]

Thanks for the help. It solved my issue. I did not realize that I needed to put a positive value there. I did put a -.375 once there but didn't occur to put a positive. I did put a negative .375 for the base point which I thought the post just used it but apparently not. Two different beasts.

I have used in the past center of rotation as zero but to avoid to have a crash, going to zero is not my preference. Thanks again.

Thats good that it worked out. So basically using the rotation axis value the way you are is kindof faking out the controller as any rotarys axis is the "zero" of the rotation, so we compensated by using a work offset in the opposite direction. Further though, there is a setting in your machine file that we are posting from "real machine zero" and making a change there will also affect how you are setting this up. So possibly another way to achieve this but i didnt think or test anything through. This would be better done with a knowledgeable machinist...