Fundamentals of CNC Machining
Tool Offset
I thought this would be a great place to do a quick talk on Tooling Offset. Tool Offset is the amount you must “Offset” the tool while machining. For example, the tool paths that we created in CAM are located in the dead center of the tool unless you do something about it. Most times you set the tool offset in your CAM program, but sometimes you might have to do it during the machining phase, depending on your machine.
What if you had a one-inch diameter tool, we will use an end mill in this example, and you needed to take off .25” around the perimeter of a 5” by 5” block of aluminum? Without tool offset, the tool path would be around the perimeter of the block. The end mill would take off half of its diameter or .5” inches. You need to offset the tool so this does not happen. In this case you would offset the tool outside of the block by .25”, then the end mill would take off .Twenty-five inches of material.
Zeroing the machine out
When beginning your machining, you always need to zero out the machine. You need to let the control software know that this is going to be the starting point for the whole project.When zeroing out a machine, you will use an edge finder. Most times in CNC Plasma Cutting, you will just pick your starting point on the steel and begin the program there.
The final “Part”
Parts are the outcome of your work.Unless you are making art pieces.Parts are built to a spec.Machinists will check the parts they are making as they come from the CNC Machine. Many times, they will use a go/no-go gauge. With a go/no-go gauge they can quickly check out the critical dimension of the part and reload the machine.
Chips?
Machinist call the material being removed “Chips.” This is because most things that are machined are metal and they come off the part in chip form. Chips can be very sharp and dangerous. You have to be very aware of where they are flying as they are being removed.Many CNC machines will have enclosures to block these machining chips from flying around and hitting people.
CNC Information Free Community Site:
If you want to know more about Computer Numberical Control, go over to http://www.cncinformation.com
Join Free and you get 2 CNC ebooks. One is a GCode Quick Guide and the other is the CNC Info Site eBook. You also get access to the Free Video Series…Image to CNC Art when you join the community.
Related Articles
- The Latest Developments in EDM Machine Services Exposed EDM or electrical discharge machines are primarily used to process those metals which are hard and known to have been difficutl for those other machines to be done with traditional
- Learn how to keep your shop clean CNC eBookMy first thought is to say that you should not do it in your home shop. My experience in my home shop has been that machining creates dirt. I
- CNC Control cnc control softwareWhat is CNC Controlling Since we are dealing with machines that do work for us, we need to control those machines somehow. We need to control them for
- Learn Tennis Fundamentals With Online Tennis Lessons Tennis is a game that can be learned both on and off the courts. Online tennis video clips is a great way to learn tennis without paying
- Are You Ready to Improve Your Golf Swing? Down through the centuries golf as become the most personally challenging game involving the largest number of players throughout the world. It is interesting that many participate in the sport
- B2B Internet Marketing - What To Do Business to business or B2B Internet marketing program starts with establishing a first contact with a service before being able to perform any form of sale. This possibly will start
- Review of Master Cleanse Secrets When Master Cleanse Secrets (MCS) became available, we could not help but be interested. After all, the Master Cleanse Detox is one of the most famous diets of all time,
- E-Commerce – Fundamentals And Trends Simplified! E-Commerce is the acronym that stands for Electronic Commerce in general. E-Commerce is chiefly facilitated by technologies like; Electronic Data Interchange and Electronic Fund Transfer. Both these two technologies are
Comments
Leave a Reply