Tormach PCNC 770 - Intro to PathPilot; Making Your First Part; Referencing the Mill

Chapter 5
44
UM10350_PCNC770_Manual_0916A
Intro to PathPilot
5. Intro to PathPilot
5.1 Making Your First Part
This chapter outlines how to make your rst
part with a Tormach mill. It assumes that
you have no prior experience running a part
program on a CNC (computer numerically
controlled) mill. Even if you have previous
CNC experience, following this tutorial
gives you an introducon to the controls
of the mill. Aer reading this chapter,
read chapters 6 and 7 for details on the
PathPilot
®
operang system. This chapter is
only intended to be an introducon to the
PathPilot interface and several basic tasks.
The rst part program uses two tools – a 3/8” end mill and a 1/8” end mill – to make a shallow
circular pocket and engrave the text PCNC in a wood 2” x 4” (see Figure 5.1). Two tools are used to
give you an introducon to tool changes and the dierence between work osets and tool length
osets. For operators with the oponal automac tool changer (ATC), we recommend using manual
tool changes for this rst part to keep things simple.
5.1.1 Referencing the Mill
Follow the power o/on procedure in chapter 3, Installaon, to turn the PathPilot controller and
mill on. Aer clicking the ashing Reset buon, you can reference the X-, Y-, and Z-axes. You should
reference the Z-axis rst to help avert a crash as it moves the tooling as far as possible from a
workpiece or vise. All three axes can be referenced simultaneously by pressing the Ref buons in
rapid succession (see Figure 5.2).
The axes should be referenced before
operang the mill to establish so limits
to protect the mill from over travel and to
give meaning to work oset values. Aer
referencing the axes, the LEDs on the Ref X,
Ref Y, and Ref Z buons turn green, indicang
that the mill has been referenced. While
you can jog the mill before referencing, you
should not run parts unl the mill has been
referenced. Should a home or limit switch
fail to work, manually reference the mill as
discussed in chapter 10, Troubleshoong.
Figure 5.1
Figure 5.2