CNC Machining Blog - Tips and Tricks for Machinists

5-axis won't bite

For some reason, 5-axis machining scares people. While talking with people at trade shows, or when discussing the potential of a customer’s parts being a good fit for 5-sided machining, you can just see an uneasy feeling begin to overwhelm them and fear begin to well up in their eyes. The mere thought of all of those axes moving at one time sends them wanting to run for the hills. But if we take the time to look at it logically and break it down to what is really happening, it isn’t scary at all!

For many years, Hurco has offered an easy conversational solution for programming simple 3D geometries at the control, without the need for expensive CAD/CAM software. With today’s WinMax control, it’s even easier and more powerful than ever before!

If the past few years have taught us anything, it's that the addition of 5-axis technology can positively impact a company’s bottom line, even in shops that only run "3-axis work." On average, shops who take advantage of this technology have seen improvements of 20% to 30% in efficiency. Imagine what would a 20% to 30% reduction in cycle time and setup time on a part that you are already running in your shop would mean to you.

Hurco is well known for its powerful and easy-to-use conversational software, and for 2D and simple 3D geometries, the WinMax conversational control simply can’t be beat. But what about those jobs that share both simple 2D features and complicated 3D shapes that can only be programmed using CAD/CAM software? Hurco has an answer for that as well.

In the past, when using the Hurco control to program rectangular shaped geometries in which the four corners weren’t square or didn’t all have the same size radii, the feature needed to be programmed using a "MILLING LINES & ARCS" data block. However, thanks to the advancement of WinMax® mill software, this obstacle is now a thing of the past.

Have you ever needed to make the same dimensional change to multiple conversational blocks in the same program and cringed at the thought of tediously changing them one at a time? Well, cringe no more! Hurco’s Modify Dimension function makes this a simple task.

When programming a part, we often need measurement data that just isn’t on the print. Short of some very involved trigonometry, or redrawing and analyzing the part in a CAD system, there hasn't been a good way to find these reference dimensions… until now!

​Hello, and welcome to the Hurco blog. I will be updating and posting something new each week on a variety of different subject matter: high-speed and 5-axis machining, workholding, the latest control technologies, and Hurco tips-and-tricks…just to name a few.