WCS Origin Arrows Direction

[Sfricia]

Alright, so I am a little confused as to what the purpose of the arrows of the WCS origin are for.

I was machining a shock clamp and I have always had the X axis arrow on the WCS origin pointing right and have never had any problems. However on this setup I was boring a 2" hole into the stock and I had the X axis WCS origin pointing to the left and it shifted the boring operation .2" off of where it should be. Suspecting that the arrow direction was the problem, I simply set it to point right and re-posted and the boring op was right where it should be.

So my question is, what is the SOP for choosing the direction that the WCS origin arrow point?

Thanks in advance

[Anonymous]

The WCS is for design and some multiaxis, you set how you want work set up origins in your set up tab . Most chose to set z and x.

[Steinwerks]

I think it's important to note that the WCS gnomon and the Origin gnomon are different things.

The WCS (work coordinate system) is for CAM specifically, and the Origin for design work, and while the former can be derived from the latter, it is not necessary and is easily overridden.

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

The WCS arrow directions should match the positive direction of travel for the machine you are operating.

i.e. if you jog your machine in the positive x-direction your cutter should move in the same direction as the red arrow from the WCS origin.

I model my fixtures so that I can place my WCS at the center of rotation on my 4th-axis trunnion.

I hope this helps.

Kyle

[Sfricia]

Correct, I put this in the CAM section so that it was clear that I was referring to the CAM WCS triad origin, but that still doesn't answer my question as to what the purpose of the arrows at the end of the triad are for.

Thanks

[Sfricia]

Thank you. This actually makes sense.