I have a question about programing. On our CMM we have an aluminum hold down plate. and we have the quick change probes. We only have 1 CMM and I split my time between the 2 multi axis lasers and the machine shop. I am always switching programs back and forth between programs to keep each machine running. When I switch the programs my probe is already calibrated but every time I switch I have to manually align the parts because I move my zero. Is there a way to set up two programs and just switch programs without having to re manual align each time. The reason I am asking is on both machines they are runs of 100 or more pcs and we have to inspect at least half of each job and its time consuming to keep re aligning. Thanks for the help.
We have a big rayco plate that covers our machine. We home-brewed some smaller plates of various sizes that we put on the rayco. Use standoffs to keep the plate at the same location. We can have 3 or 4 parts setup on different plates ready to go. Each part program has an option to do a manual alignment. This is hardly ever used unless we change locations for some odd reason or another
This is one out of many best ways to setup the CMM especially with programming offline with cad models of the CMM mounting plate, fixture
components and part. Once you know the location of the mounting plate on the CMM and know the location of the part origin from the CMM mounting plate origin you can then use "Part/Machine" to offset the CMM origin to the Part/CMM mounting plate origin. Using this process I only use the Jog box maybe 5% or less of the total time using the CMM. So the main function of the Jog box now is to start the CMM or move the probe for CMM issues. The type of alignments that work with this process is Manual alignments, Read Point and Recall Alignments in which will get used less the amount of time as the jog box is used. This part location process is being used on aluminum and steel casting parts with and without machined targeting points. SolidWorks is the cad software used for the part to CMM plate fixture
components assemblies and setup screen captures. The BOM (Build of Materials) in SolidWorks is used to create a list of the setup
components. You can also create a setup video in SolidWorks with Motion Study using the Explode View and Rotation.
We have a big rayco plate that covers our machine. We home-brewed some smaller plates of various sizes that we put on the rayco. Use standoffs to keep the plate at the same location. We can have 3 or 4 parts setup on different plates ready to go. Each part program has an option to do a manual alignment. This is hardly ever used unless we change locations for some odd reason or another
This is one out of many best ways to setup the CMM especially with programming offline with cad models of the CMM mounting plate, fixture
components and part. Once you know the location of the mounting plate on the CMM and know the location of the part origin from the CMM mounting plate origin you can then use "Part/Machine" to offset the CMM origin to the Part/CMM mounting plate origin. Using this process I only use the Jog box maybe 5% or less of the total time using the CMM. So the main function of the Jog box now is to start the CMM or move the probe for CMM issues. The type of alignments that work with this process is Manual alignments, Read Point and Recall Alignments in which will get used less the amount of time as the jog box is used. This part location process is being used on aluminum and steel casting parts with and without machined targeting points. SolidWorks is the cad software used for the part to CMM plate fixture
components assemblies and setup screen captures. The BOM (Build of Materials) in SolidWorks is used to create a list of the setup
components. You can also create a setup video in SolidWorks with Motion Study using the Explode View and Rotation.
