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MachineandToolOffsets

CNCHandbook
Introduction&CNCProcessOverview

Machine and Tool Offsets

ShopSafety
CNCTools

Machine Offsets

CoordinateSystem

Becauseitisdifficulttoplaceaviseintheexactsamepositiononthemachineeach
time,thedistancefromHometotheWCSisusuallynotknownuntiltheviseissetand
CartesianCoordinateSystem
alignedwiththemachine.Machinesetupisbestdoneaftertheprogramiscompletely
written,becauseitisexpensivetokeepaCNCmachineidlewaitingfortheCNC
VerticalMillingCenterMachineMotion
programmingtobedone.Besides,theprogrammermaychangetheirmindduringthe
WorkCoordinateSystem
CAMprocess,renderinganypreplannedsetupobsolete.
MachineandToolOffsets

CNCProgrammingLanguage
CNCOperation
2DMillingToolpaths
CNCTurning
3DToolpaths
MillingSetups
Appendices

Tocomplicatemattersfurther,differenttoolsextendoutfromthemachinespindle
differentlengths,alsoavaluedifficulttodetermineinadvance.Forexample,alongend
millextendsfurtherfromthespindlefacethanastublengthdrill.Ifthetoolwearsor
breaksandmustbereplaced,itisalmostimpossibletosetittheexactlengthoutofthe
toolholdereachtime.
Therefore,theremustbesomewaytorelatetheMachineCoordinatesystemtothepart
WCSandtakeintoaccountvaryingtoollengths.ThisisdoneusingmachineTooland
FixtureOffsets.TherearemanyoffsetsavailableonCNCmachines.Understandinghow
theyworkandtocorrectlyusethemtogetherisessentialforsuccessfulCNCmachining.

Fixture Offset XY
FixtureoffsetsprovideawayfortheCNCcontroltoknowthedistancefromthemachine
homepositionandthepartWCS.InconjunctionwithToolOffsets,FixtureOffsetsallow
programstobewritteninrelationtotheWCSinsteadoftheMachineCoordinates.They
makesetupseasierbecausetheexactlocationofthepartinthemachineenvelopdoes
notneedtobeknownbeforetheCNCprogramiswritten.
Aslongasthepartispositionedwherethetoolcanreachallmachiningoperationsitcan
belocatedanywhereinthemachineenvelope.OncetheFixtureOffsetvaluesarefound,
enteredintothecontrol,andactivatedbytheCNCprogram,theCNCcontrolworks
behindthescenetotranslateprogramcoordinatestoWCScoordinates.
NoticeinFigure4.11howFixtureOffsets(+X,Y)areusedtoshiftthecenterlineofthe
machinespindledirectlyovertheWCS.

Figure4.11:FixtureOffsetShiftsMachinetoWCS

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Fixture Offset Z
TheFixtureOffsetZvalueiscombinedwiththeToolLengthoffsettoindicatetothe
machinehowtoshifttheZdatumfromparthometothepartZzero,takinginto
accountthelengthofthetool.FixtureOffsetZmayormaynotbeused,dependingon
howthemachineissetupandoperated.
Chapter6(CNCOperation)andAppendixB(AlternateToolSettingMethods)describethe
variouswaysthatthesetwovaluescanbeused.Followtheprocedureinuseatyour
facilityorrefertoyourmachinetooldocumentationtodeterminewhichmethodtouse.

Tool Length Offset (TLO)

Everytoolloadedintothemachineisadifferentlength.Infact,ifatoolisreplaceddue
towearorbreaking,thelengthofitsreplacementwilllikelychangebecauseitisalmost
impossibletosetanewtoolintheholderinexactlythesameplaceastheoldone.The
CNCmachineneedssomewayofknowinghowfareachtoolextendsfromthespindleto
thetip.ThisisaccomplishedusingaToolLengthOffset(TLO).
Initssimplestuse,theTLOisfoundbyjoggingthespindlewithtoolfromthemachine
homeZpositiontothepartZzeroposition,asshownonthefarleftinFigure4.12
below.ThetoolisjoggedtothepartdatumZandthedistancetravelledismeasured.
ThisvalueisenteredintheTLOregisterforthattool.Problemswiththismethodinclude
theneedtofacemilltheparttothecorrectdepthbeforesettingtools.Also,iftheZ
datumiscutaway(typicalof3Dsurfacedparts)itisimpossibletosetthedatumshould
atoolbreakorwearandneedtobereplaced.Alltoolsmustberesetwheneveranew
jobissetup.Whenthismethodisused,theFixtureOffsetZisnotused,butsettozero.
Themethodshowninthecenterismuchbetterandusedinthisbook.Alltoolsareset
toaknownZposition,suchthetopofaprecision123blockrestingonthemachine
table.Thismakesitveryeasytoresettoolsifwornorbroken.
Atoolprobeisverysimilartothe123blockmethod,exceptthemachineusesa
specialcycletoautomaticallyfindtheTLO.Itdoesthisslowlyloweringthetooluntilthe
tiptouchestheprobeandthenupdatestheTLOregister.Thismethodisfast,safeand
accuratebutrequiresthemachinebeequippedwithatoolprobe.Also,toolprobesare
expensivesocaremustbetakentonevercrashthetoolintotheprobe.
Boththe2ndand3rdmethodsalsorequirethedistancefromthetoolsettingposition
(thetopofthe123blockortoolprobe)tothepartdatumtobefoundandenteredin
theFixtureOffsetZ.Themachineaddsthetwovaluestogethertodeterminethetotal
toollengthoffset.AmethodfordoingthisisincludedinChapter6.

Figure4.12:WaystoSetTLO

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UpdatedonFebruary06,2014at16:18
Copyright2014byCIMCOA/S

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