OD Programming | ProtoTRAK RLX CNC | Lathe Programming

[@darrinross6488]

Cool to see you making these videos. You used to come to my shop. You taught me on my first Prototrak lathe.

[@trakingpat2750]

I remember you Darrin, Cheers! T.P.

[@inhibited44]

was doing this in class. Came to look at this again. Interesting how the thread dimension matches Z3 on the groove. I guess you want to cut the thread to that point. I cut the thread to to z1 on mine and it didn't look right on make part, so I looked here and did that up to z3 and it was a good thread. We also made the thread to z3 dim- .010 and it worked

[@trakingpat2750]

It is important to know that Z zero is on the left side of the threading tool so if you don't go far enough, the point will not reach it's destination. T.P.

[@Chris-vc5bb]

We have this lathe at work. It’s got some good features but it is by far the most aggravating lathe I’ve ever used. There’s no need to have a separate tool library that makes you assign the tools to program. The way you set drills is so ridiculous. You should be able to just indicate the pocket and call it zero. Touching the tool to the diameter of the part is not accurate especially on very small tools. Then anytime you change the diameter of the tool is adjust the tool offset. Also having to click run program, start from beginning, spindle forward, cnc run, go is ridiculous. Cycle start should initiate all that. I do like the fact that you can set the z tool offsets off wherever you set the work z offset. That’s nice cause you don’t have to set your tool off the same reference each time. The lathe is okay but they really need to update the programming menu. Only showing 1 event at a time having to swipe through each event is cumbersome and sometimes confusing. They need to have a list. A no drag feature would be great too where the finish pass of a profile finishes all the faces by feeding -x. Gives a much better finish and more precise.

[@mayomonkey420]

I use this lathe for one off work, pretty useful for the right jobs. Having some trouble programming a face groove for an o ring, but I'm usually able to figure it out eventually

[@trakingpat2750]

Mathias, the only thing you need to remember is that your X dimensions have to start closest to the center and finish farthest from the center. The rest is the same as an OD or ID groove. T.P.

[@mayomonkey420]

@@trakingpat2750 thanks, I'll keep that in mind. Problem is the groove has a full radius on the bottom equal to its depth. So I can't put in even the smallest top conrad. But it's not critical so I can do it by hand with a file.

[@darrinross6488]

@@mayomonkey420 Sorry I'm so late to the discussion. I always program grooves with zero tool nose radius. Internal grooves, subtract the tool nose radius. External, add the tool nose radius. They come out perfectly. Email me with any questions you have. This is the most easily manipulated control. You can make it do anything you want.

[@Fayrawr]

Great video

[@nickcole7450]

Having trouble turning a concave form on the end of a bar. Can't seem to get it to cut without feeding in past the centre line. Using a 2.5mm full round tipped tool. It's a 95mm rad going in 7.5mm from front face. The stock is 90mm dia. Any help would be much appreciated.

[@eldbowers]

I thought I had this figured out but...I drew up a simple cycle, closed it with cycle posn. But I keep getting a warning saying X cannot travel toward and away from zero at the same time. I checked my program numbers, they all look good. Not sure what I'm doing wrong.

[@patrickfitzsimmons5187]

Your last move in X where to position from the completed geometry to the stock size needs to be replaced with a turn move. On OD parts, everything is a turn or an arc until you get to the full length of the finished part and the diameter of your stock. After that, your position moves only back to Z zero and then, you end cycle. T.P.

[@williammatthews-dz4pz]

can you do a npt

[@MadHouseGaming316]

You have a video on how to program but the one I need lol .. I need to figure out how to face a bunch of material off with passes not taking the of down

[@Glenn863]

You gotta use a turn and put in the coordinates,then a postion putting the tool away from the job in the z axis.then use the repeat cycle for event 1 and 2 .thats how i doo it

[@darrinross6488]

Repeats work well, but the clipboard is really a powerful tool.

[@trakingpat2750]

@@darrinross6488 I agree with with both of you! Thanks for the input! T.P.

[@rustydunn8626]

Thanks for sharing what a POS your machine is.. A quality machine is not much more and you can actually make money with them!😁

[@darrinross6488]

For small runs and prototype parts, you can not beat a Prototrak. I also work on a Hurco conversational lathe, and the bulls*it you have to go through to do something simple is incredible. Editing on these Prototrak is super simple. I've seen Doosan lathes stop the spindle with a 3/4" drill. I've put 2 1/4 inch insert drill through 4340 and H13 without even a sweat. But for production, there are better choices.

[@trakingpat2750]

@@darrinross6488 Thanks for your input! Some people just have to put in there opinions. I guess that none of our 50K+ ProtoTRAK users out there are making any money?? T.P.

[@MikeYurbasovich]

We have (9) $750k 5x machines and 73 other machine tools in my facility. I use the proto to make repair parts and custom one-off parts for machines we design in house. This machine is awesome.

[@Chris-vc5bb]

We have this lathe at work. It’s got some good features but it is by far the most aggravating lathe I’ve ever used. There’s no need to have a separate tool library that makes you assign the tools to program. The way you set drills is so ridiculous. You should be able to just indicate the pocket and call it zero. Touching the tool to the diameter of the part is not accurate especially on very small tools. Then anytime you change the diameter of the tool is adjust the tool offset. Also having to click run program, start from beginning, spindle forward, cnc run, go is ridiculous. Cycle start should initiate all that. I do like the fact that you can set the z tool offsets off wherever you set the work z offset. That’s nice cause you don’t have to set your tool off the same reference each time. The lathe is okay but they really need to update the programming menu. Only showing 1 event at a time having to swipe through each event is cumbersome and sometimes confusing. They need to have a list. A no drag feature would be great too where the finish pass of a profile finishes all the faces by feeding -x. Gives a much better finish and more precise.

[@trakingpat2750]

Wow! where do I begin? I'll try my best. First of all, I must remind you that this lathe is for toolroom applications. It is a prototype lathe, not a production lathe. Therefore, the tool library makes perfect sense. If you have a turret on your machine, I'll agree that it's not as useful as it is with a standard tool post. You sound like a creative guy so I'm sure you can figure out how to set up all of your drills from the center of the part and only use the Z offset for the difference in length. This being said, we are going to revisit the tool set-up procedure because we also believe that there are some things we can change to make it easier to use. In the meantime, I suggest you watch all five of the RLX tool set-up videos. They will help you with the complication. As for how you start a program, it sounds like you are using this to make some larger quantities. I agree it is cumbersome to have to push all those buttons to restart after each part. Since this is a machine that can be run with the door open, we have to put some safety features in it such as having the operator start the spindle. May I suggest that you add a repeat of all your events to end of your program? This way, you will only have to press go after each piece part. Please keep in mind that if you do this, when it asks for tool number in the repeat, make sure to enter the first tool that is in your program. This will make it use all the tools in the program. In order to see more than one event at a time, place your finger just to the left of the event and a green line will show up. Move your finger to the left and you can change the screen to show the previous event while you are programming the current one. To move quickly through the program, use the LIST STEP feature both forward and backwards. When doing so, the geometry for each event will be highlighted as you move through your program. This makes it very simple to see exactly where you are in your program. Just press return when you get to the event you want to view and it will take you directly to that event. Lastly, if you ever need to get back to page one of your program, just hold the PROG button until the circle shows up and when you let go, it will automatically take you there. I like the idea of changing the direction of how the tool moves when doing the finish cuts. We did make a couple of changes to how the CYCLE events currently work. These changes will allow you to move from OD to ID when cutting with the X axis. I'm assuming that you are aware of how to separate the X from the Z finish cuts using the OPTIONS flyout page. If not, check it out. This will cure most of what you are not happy with. The next software update will have the reversable direction. It will also have a default so that you don't need to use the OPTIONS button to separate the cuts if you prefer. This update will add more capability such as automatic NPT treads, more choices when making grooves and a few other enhancements. Thank you for your feedback! I hope some of these things help you to enjoy the product better. T.P.

[@Chris-vc5bb]

Thank you for your reply! I want to say I made that comment prematurely. As I’ve used this lathe more the more I like and appreciate it. It’s a great machine that makes using the tail stock and hand wheeling easy. I just want to say what I feel should be updated….There’s got to be some machine position added to allow for retract positions to come based off machine and not part. Next the active tools should be loaded and unloaded from the tool list and shouldn’t be removed from being active between switching programs or deleting events. There should be the ability to copy events. Would it kill y’all to add a backspace button?! Stop making the tool diameter change with offset of tools I shouldn’t have to put diameter of 0 to prevent x zero location of pockets from changing. Also if the control loses power the x workoffset shouldn’t lose its location. Also please add the chamfer option at the start of part I should be able to simply tell what size chamfer I want at the face of the part. Also add a facing cycle option that cuts from the of towards the center.