Today’s Hurco users are well aware of the term SFQ, or Select Surface Finish Quality, on the Hurco control, and probably have a pretty good idea about which settings work best for them – however, many of them probably don’t realize what is actually going on behind the scenes, and what those settings actually mean or how they affect the machine’s behavior.
I'm acting as guest blogger for Mike Cope today because he took a vacation day to honor veterans as he has done each Veteran's Day for the past 17 years with his best buddy and Navy veteran Dave. Mike has many interests, but he is passionate about patriotism and serving veterans and active duty military personnel. Therefore, he takes Veteran's Day seriously...it is just one of the days during the year that he gives back to local veterans through honor and service. Professionally, Mike is the go-to guy when it comes to understanding how the Hurco control makes machinists more productive and shops more profitable. He knows the control inside and out, and helps all of us make sure the end user understands the value of the multitude of software features WinMax provides.
Previously, I posted an article titled “5-Axis Machining: It just ain’t that scary,” and to date it has been one of the most popularly read articles in my blog series. So, I'm expanding on that article and diving deeper into what can be done with 5-axis machining to show that even the advanced features of 5-axis really aren't anything more than multi-axis common sense, when you break it down.
In today’s CNC machining industry, it’s all about quick setup and changeover between parts, especially in an environment where you run a high mix of low volumes. In this article, I want to discuss how part and tool probing can offer a real advantage for the shops that find themselves in this type of environment.
Previously, I published a two-part series on the basics of mill-turn technology, where I cover topics such as: axis configurations, the orientation of live tooling holders, mill-turn terminology, instances when a Y-axis might be necessary, etc. In this article, I discuss the differences between the driven tool mounting configurations and offer my opinion on the benefits and challenges associated with each.
Regardless of a particular original equipment manufacturer machine tool builder, there are several common configurations for 5-axis CNC machines that are available. Each one has its own set of strengths that make it stand out among the choices. The most common types are table-table, head-table, and head-head configurations.
When programming in 5-axis, we have two distinct options that we can use to command rotary moves and positions. We can output the data using either rotary angles or tool vectors. Although each one has its pros and cons, I prefer to configure a postprocessor to output these rotary commands as IJK tool vectors, instead of the more common ABC-axis rotary angles.
Have you ever had to abruptly stop your machine in the middle of running a program and wished there was a way to restart the program exactly where you left off, even if you were in the middle of all that code? With Hurco’s Recovery Restart feature, you can!
