In the third video of this 25-video series on programming a Multus U3000 with TopSolid'CAM, you will learn how to use the B-Axis of the Multus U3000 to continue roughing the part
Using the U3000 B-Axis to turn with
. As always, you will begin by selecting the geometry to machine. From there you will select a neutral style turning tool that is mounted on the B-Axis of the machine. Once you have the geometry and the tool selected you will learn how to set the B-Axis angle of the turret. Finally, you will learn how to re-use the cutting conditions from the first operation by simple drag-n-drop.
Smarter Software with fantastic visualizations
One of the first things that should be pointed out is that machine simulation and tool simulation are much more than just pretty pictures on the screen. During this step, play close attention to the preview of the tool path based on the orientation of the neutral tool selected. You will see that TopSolid always is checking both the forward and the back angle of the insert based on the orientation of the tool and the angular solution of the B-Axis. This is done automatically and in real time so that you are always sure to have the most accurate tool path possible.
Setting the B-Axis angle
When working with a machine like the Multus U3000 from Okuma, it is critical to understand what the machine can and more importantly cannot do. It is crucial that you know that the machine is going to do exactly what you tell it to do. In this example, you will learn how to set the B-Axis of the machine to be at 45 degrees. What’s cool is that as you tell TopSolid to set the axis to that condition, TopSolid listens to you in real time and updates the graphic on the screen to reflect the change. This way you are sure that you have entered the information correctly!
One of the key development points behind TopSolid was re-usability. And TopSolid takes this to an entire new level. In this video, you will learn how to reuse the cutting conditions from the first operation by simply dragging and dropping the first operation onto the cutting conditions button of the new operation. The simplicity of this action is fantastic as the complexity of what’s actually happening is enormous! When you drag-n-drop an operation onto one of the specific operation buttons, the software automatically copies all common parameters over to the new operation. In the case of cutting conditions this can be 10-15 parameters that get copied. However, try doing this on other operations. For example, take an existing operation and drag-n-drop it onto the settings button of the new operation. And presto! All the common variables are now copied over!
The simplicity of re-usability
When working on a mill/turn machine like the U3000, it is important that you understand how to define the correct driven point for your turning tool when you are working on the B-Axis turret. In the case where the B-Axis is either vertical or horizontal, you can use the standard driven points of the tool. However, if the turret is at an angle outside of vertical or horizontal, you will need to do some additional work to set the point correctly.
In this step, you will learn how to do exactly that. It will start by duplicating the TopSolid driven point. From there you will activate the duplicate and the choose to rotate the point. This is the key element here…the rotation of the driven point. Because of TopSolid’s ability to offer this, you can affectively drive almost any tool from any angular solution with relative ease.
Reviewing what you’ve learned
In this video, you want to pay close attention to a couple of key elements. First, the dynamic simulation of the B-Axis. Any change you make to the orientation of the B-Axis or even the orientation of the cutting tool is dynamically displayed to you in real time. This eliminates guess work on your side and also costly mistakes.
You should also pay attention to the simplicity of how you can reuse cutting conditions from a previous operation. It’s just simple drag-n-drop!
Finally, spend some time practicing how you set the driven point of the tool. When you use custom B-Axis angles, this is a critical step to understand.
Ready for the next step, click here