Five-Axis Machining for Multi-Part Processing

In a post on Hurco’s CNC machining blog, company applications engineer Mike Cope describes how the fixture shown above was implemented to allow a five-axis machining center to achieve not just five-sided machining for one part, but five-sided machining for all of the workpieces shown here with a single cycle.

Programming the four different pieces at these four different orientations would seem complicated, but Mr. Cope explains that it can actually be accomplished using straightforward control features. A “transform plane” function is used to relocate the program origin from the center of the workpiece to the peak at the center of the fixture, and also to tip the coordinate field to match each part’s 20-degree angle. Then, a “toolchange optimization” feature is used to allow each tool to make the relevant cuts on each of the parts before the tool is changed out. The result is five-sided machining gracefully expanded into multiple-workpiece machining.