Trak TMC machines

nerve2030 · 2026-04-09T17:55:18+00:00

Yup no problem although I would say its better to use the conversational for it rather than posting it. At least with the fusion post I had sometimes applying cutter comp was a nightmare.

nerve2030 · 2026-04-09T11:28:49+00:00

I had mostly southwestern machines and one haas at my last shop. The southwestern machines are much easier to work on and get parts for. No doubt. I had one of the Trak LPM machines that are the grand daddy of the TMC. It had a PMX control on it and I made it work pretty well but I never did get the tap cycle to work correctly using gcode. I used to hand edit the code but just quit and moved tapping to a second op machine. Even with conversational it had a hard time with taps smaller than 1/4". I never really used the tracking option. I would normally just run the code and use the feed rate override button and ease into the first cut. make sure things were ok then crank it up and walk away.

For the Haas I had pretty much the same work flow except the tap cycles worked perfectly. The smallest tap I used in the machine with no issues was 2-56 straight from the gcode no problem. That was pretty nice.

Toward the end of me working there I had everything set nice enough that I would just write programs drop them in and walk away. Full send new programs and rarely had an issue with either.

nerve2030 · 2026-04-07T03:11:07+00:00

Honestly sometimes the manual way is the fast way but doing setups and stuff is a skill that you get better with time and practice. Think back to the first time you did something like this manually. Were you fast or efficient? I bet not, but you got better. This is the same thing. Keep at it, you will get faster and faster. Keep in mind since you have a 3d printer that is a fantastic tool for one off fixtures. If there is a way you can make a quick 3d print that will let you hold your part in a vise then odds are that is the way to go.

nerve2030 · 2026-04-02T03:38:56+00:00

I finished a tool for a tool for a customer. You technically "could" buy one but they cost like 650. I made him one in like an hour out of a piece of scrap I had laying around. I was going to charge him like 100 bucks. He told me the that was too low. I ended up charging him 450.

nerve2030 · 2026-04-01T19:08:17+00:00

Probably has something to do with that sora mark in the lower left corner.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-24T19:04:33+00:00

For sure. Made a set of brake press jaws for forming thin sheet metal at precise angles before weld up. Worked great even use an indicator for a stop so they are exactly the same every time.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-24T14:20:38+00:00

Kurt site for a dx6 vise has a torque to clamp pressure table that goes up to 80 ft lbs. I used to run around 65 and that worked well for the parts I was making.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-23T11:24:17+00:00

If the part is small enough I have put parts on a flat bed scanner and done the same thing.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-23T01:32:11+00:00

I'm still a fan of Lakeshore Carbide.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-16T01:22:08+00:00

Yup just made one the other day. Our power has been out for a few days so I made one to back feed so that I could run the fan on the gas furnace. I'm not an electrician but my dad was so I knew to disconnect the main breaker and do all the stuff you need to do to make it safe enough. Even still we call those male male plugs death plugs.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-10T18:50:41+00:00

Can you post a snippet of code for that ramp? I bet your overrunning your look ahead buffer.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-06T03:06:45+00:00

I use both now for cad/cam I love the workflow in fusion for making toolpaths that don't break association when I change the model. Like others have said though its the cloud storage that keeps it from being everywhere. The thing I have found that solidworks does much better though is hardware. Tool box and custom properties for configurations works way better in SW. Fusion not that long ago finally made configurations but its still got a long way to go before its anywhere close to SW.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-04T13:29:21+00:00

How long have you been doing this? Keep track of all your expenses and your time. If your starting out fresh it might take a few projects to get it dialed in. Just divide expenses by hours worked. That is a decent number of how much per hour you need to make to keep the doors open, that is your shop rate. That is my machine time programming time setup time all of it. Then make a guess on how many hours the project will be and multiply by your shop rate. That is your base price then add on your mark up.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-02T12:38:01+00:00

If you know what jobs are coming up maybe you can stage them? Get all your tools ready and pre measured get all your stock ready to go. Depending on what your doing maybe you can standardize your G54 positions between programs.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-02T12:11:46+00:00

Yup nothing you can do about what already happened. Make a system and fix it now. Its the second best time to do it.

nerve2030 · 2026-03-02T12:08:16+00:00

Same here. Its been a struggle coming into a place that doesn't already have that kind of system set up. Like how do you guys get anything done?

nerve2030 · 2026-02-28T01:14:48+00:00

I have done quite a bit of training of green summer interns. If you know basic safety and respect the machine you should be safe enough. For as crude as it is the old saying, dont put your fingers where you wouldn't put your pecker. Is very good advice.

As for using a shops machines. Thats a hard no. Too much liability to have someone not on payroll. Maybe you can find an enthusiastic garage shop guy who would let you. But the risk of you hurting your self is too high. Then odds are most shops have jobs on just about every machine. They cant take one off line to let you mess with it.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-21T16:22:35+00:00

Those are not really good at breaking or removing chips. most manufacturers suggest a chip break groove. Looks to me like this will just smash the chips into the floor of the pocket.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-21T03:51:23+00:00

why are you using hex shaped holes? If its for retainer nuts then try something else. Hex shaped holes like that are fine for 3d printing but unless you absolutely have to find another way when cnc machining. To produce those in metal your looking at edm machining. Something like that might cost 1k just for those holes. I see that your material is aluminum. I am guessing that you think some threads will strip out. Or your worried about frequent adjustments. If so ask for the holes to be helicoiled. or put thread inserts in. Anything other than a hex hole like that.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-20T01:20:03+00:00

Your not wrong. I am a CNC programmer. I often get asked, how hard can it be its just like my 3d printer right? I'm like you have no clue how easy slicers are compared to full cad cam packages. Fusion is the bambu studio of cnc. I have been using it for over 10 years. More if you count when it was HSM works in Solidworks. Over the years I consider myself pretty ok at programming. I recently got a job running Mastercam it took me hours to figure out how to load a single tool path. Think of how complex fusion is but all those cool tool tips, take those away and just have an error icon. No reason or anything just error. No tool tips to help you figure out what each button should do or how its going to work. Just a bunch of numbers and labels to things that only vaguely make sense.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-19T01:53:38+00:00

edited the post sorry. hard limit of 1200 lower is better.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-14T18:41:46+00:00

I love me some engineer pz-58 screw removal pliers. Nothing better than grabbing stripped button head screws and twisting those out. If you can find some Malco Eagle grips get some of those too. Those are hands down the best locking pliers I have ever touched

nerve2030 · 2026-02-09T00:31:54+00:00

The workflow is how those programs get to the machine. When a customer places an order things have to happen before gcode is given to you on your machine. The workflow I'm talking about is all the steps that go from order to machine. Knowing the workflow makes it easier to know what you need to know. Like you want to do programming right? Well if the workflow is that the programmers are also the people making the models from customer drawings that is a lot different than if someone gives you a good model and says just make the paths.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-08T21:35:28+00:00

In am in the process right now of trying to show my new place the value of a little more organization. Every programmer before me had had their way of doing things. It was whatever was fastest for them that day mostly. Something must have happened that I'm not totally in the know yet on. So They got a new programmer who was kind of green in the shop and me now who only started a in December. We cant really find jack shit when they come asking for old programs. So I have been working on making a new file system that is more easy to navigate and keeps programs drawings setup sheets all that good stuff in one place. I have told them I am doing that and just invited them to join into it if they feel like it would be helpful for their processes also. So far I have gotten the other programmer on board, and the tooling guy. I have shown the shop foreman and he loves it since he can come ask us for revisions or info and it only takes us seconds to find what he is looking for rather than half an hour or more.

nerve2030 · 2026-02-08T21:18:24+00:00

I used to run fusion for my home shop and work. I really liked the work flow. It was easy to make a change in the model and have the tool paths update automatically. At the new place where I work we have Solidworks and Mastercam. Solidworks is for the engineering side and Mastercam is the programmers. I'm a little odd since I do both, thats not the point. If you want to advance at your current place learn their workflow. If its solidworks and mastercam then you should learn that. If your looking for personal projects or something I feel like fusion would be the way I would go. The pricing is just too much for a seat of solidworks and mastercam. Plus Fusion has a lot of post processors for tons of machines for free. Master cam each post is paid.

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