adding m codes to the post processor for a haas vf4ss

[garytinker]

ill preface this first with I'm really new at post-processor work,
I have a Haas vf4 ss with a few extra features.

we have through spindle air, and the auto air gun, 
*through spindle air on/off m73/m74
*auto air gun on/off m83/m84

my questions are:
*1 is it possible to add these "coolants" to creo as a selectable function
*2 how do i ( / do i ) add them to the post-processor

we also have a 65000 rpm air speeder spindle.
how do I go about setting this up in the post, currently I'm just running it manually as its own program?
we have one of these
http://www.airturbinetools.com/

[sacquarone]

Hello @garytinker 

Here is for you some guidance in the direction you are looking for:

• Consider first article 217653 which explains how  to control SPINDLE/ORIENT with MXX G-codes
• Consider also a list of Post Processors we propose to downlaod in PTC Site (several Haas machines, even though not the Haas VF4 ss , but maybe the 3-5 one may help)
• Consider finally a list of Post Processors we proposed by Austinnc (same as above)

If above is usless, please consider that we always try to provide guidance in PTC TS for this kind of questions (as shared above), but support of FIL developments to achieve a specific expected outcome is usually not part of PTC TS duties. Nevertheless, if you need really guidance in this direction, we encourage you to contact directly the Technical Support of AUSTINNC (developers of GPOST) to get views on specifc questions. You can contact them at the following mail address: support@austinnc.com

Regards,

Serge

[garytinker]

fantastic thanks ill have a read and see what i find.

[KenFarley · Accepted solution]

This is a multi-level problem , to be sure. The sequence of events that has to be addressed is:

(1) Be able to specify, when defining a sequence in Creo, the type of "coolant" you want.

(2) Ensure that Creo is outputting you coolant specifications in a unique way to the .ncl file.

(3) Have the post-processor for your particular machine generate the correct M-codes based upon your coolant selection.

Step (1)

For this, you might be able to specify the coolant you want using the two parameters that describe a coolant, the TYPE and the PRESSURE.

Normally, at least for me, the PRESSURE is ignored, it's just the type of coolant that is set and off we go. For what you're dealing with, a combination of the two could make it specific what you are after. I looked at the options for a typical sequence (I'm on Creo 4, by the way) and the lists are:

TYPE -> FLOOD, MIST, OFF, ON, TAP, THRU, THRU_SPNDL, THRU_TOOL, and FROM_RAIL

PRESSURE -> NONE, LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH, AIR, AIR_BLAST, AIR_OFF, RAIL_OFF, NUMERIC

So you probably could use a combo of two of these for each of your unique types, like THRU_SPNDL AIR for your M73, THRU_SPNDL AIR_OFF for M74, etc. Do the same for the other type of air cooling you want, maybe with FROM_RAIL AIR.

Step (2)

If I were trying to do this I'd try some combos, then see what ends up being written to the .ncl file, just to be sure things are getting through, that the syntax is correct, etc.

Step (3)

This is the really tough one. Once you're sure your desired commands are being processed correctly by Creo and generating unique outputs to the .ncl file, you have to now get the post-processor to output the correct M codes to your final .tap file. This particular bit is going to take some doing, and would be hard to explain in a short forum post. It involves programming in FIL code. Folks, particularly PTC, are reticent about doing this stuff for people because the ramifications of mistakes are huge. Crashed machines, bad parts, or both. I've done a good deal of this stuff, but it's always a real chore and debugging is not easy. I've done a lot of programming in general so it's really just another very strange language to me, but for most folks it is probably best to do as suggested previously and contact the AustinNC folks. They are the industry experts, after all.

That being said, if you think you could do some programming, it is very possible to get this to work properly. It'll be a lot of testing, and then having to always remember what the different parameter settings are. I like doing these things myself because then I get to know the machines better and also develop some NC "tricks" along the way.

[garytinker]

thanks, ken.
that makes a lot of sense,

I had never used the pressure in the past so id never seen the air options. that should help a lot
after that, program the fiL so that it knows what to do with the m-code from creo
for the air gun on / air gun off that should be doable, I hope, as it's just on and off.

for the through spindle coolant and air, on the haas, the spindle needs to stop before the coolant pump turns on, so ill need to be really careful how it's done.
a
on the plus side, because we have the extended height table, so long as i don't use extended tool holders i cant touch the bed of the table so crashing shouldn't be an issue if I run without vices.

ill give it a go

[KenFarley]

Hi Gary,

Yeah it was the same for me. I went to see "just what are the coolant options available?" and then noticed all the pressure options that I have never used. To be honest, I've not done anything with coolant FIL handling - I've seen the statements in the .ncl files, but it's always "just worked" with the simple on/off coolant situation we have on our machines.

Like a lot of these things, the real chore for me is, once I figure it out, always remembering to set all the different things I found that make it work. It's nice when it's all set up and you can just post-process without any hand editing, though.