This guide is for your general reference when you start machining on your own. This is not a comprehensive guide and there will be details not included.
Turning on the machine
Flip the switch on the back right
Twist the E-stop button to release it
Hit the physical reset button
Hit reset on the machine screen
Reference your axes, first Z, then X and Y (click ref next to each axis)
Setting up your tools
Select your tool
Endmills
Find the correct collet size for your tool and insert into holder
Insert tool into collet and torque to appropriate value
Drills
Insert drill into drill chuck and use spanner wrench to tighten down, there is no torque spec here, just hit it with the old good n tight
Grab the tool currently in the machine, and push the tool release button to take it out.
Push the tool release button again and hold. Insert new tool, ensuring the notches on the toolholder and spindle line up.
In the bottom right corner of the screen, set the tool number to match the tool number in your cam. Do not leave this as any other number by accident as this will for sure cause a crash.
Check that the tool height setter is plugged in. This is the little silver plate on the mill table that has a wire running out to the side. If it is not plugged in, you will break your tool on the next step.
Go to the offset tab and click move and set tool length.
Repeat until all your tools are set up
Setting up your Work Holding
Select your method of workholding
Place on mill table
For Vice
Locate the vice with bolts, try to eyeball it as straight as possible, and ever so slightly tighten down
Grab a dial gauge and attach to spindle
Jog the mill so that the tip of the dial gauge is very close to the fixed edge of the vice. (It is very important that you dial off of the fixed side of the vice)
Turn your handle jog speed down and move the spindle so the dial gauge just barely touches the vice. Note the direction that the dial gage pointer moves.
Jog the spindle across the face of the vice, and pay attention to how much the pointer is moving. If the pointer goes more than a few times around the dial, you can break it by moving any further.
Use the dead blow hammer to tap the vice into alignment. You are looking for the deviation across the length of the vice to be under 1-2 thou depending on how precise your part needs to be and how long it is. 1 thou across a long distance and across a short distance are not equal, think about the angle propagation at length.
For 3 Jaw Chuck
Literally just bolt it to the table
thats it
theres no other steps
In your cam, determine how for down in Z you are going to go from the top of your stock. Then select a parallel size that leaves at least this value, plus a little clearance( at least 0.075 inches) sticking out of the vice. Place you stock on the parallels and tighten the vice down. Hit the top of your stock with a dead blow.
Zeroing your stock
Check your zero location and axis alignment in your cam
Put the probe into the spindle
change the tool number in the bottom right corner to 99
Click the probe tab
The simplest form of zeroing is 3 surface touch-off, where you tap in x, y and z.
Line up your probe to the side of the surface you want to tap in x, then click “Probe X” next to the picture that lines up with the direction you want the probe to go
Jog to in front or behind the surface you want to tap in y and click “Probe Y” that matches the orientation you wish to probe
Jog above the Z surface you wish to tap off and click “Probe Z”
Uploading your program
Select your job in HSMWORKS, right click and then click post process. You
Starting the program
Single block
Feed down
Velocity down