Selecting XYZ axis direction in CAM

[kshea9RNL8]

In machining this I discovered what happens )nothing bad in my case) when the axis is shown in pic 2 which is how my part WO is selected at the mill but it shifted all paths to the right, had to change the x axis like pic1 and all was fine.

Can some one explain the how, why or what on this?

Thanks

[LibertyMachine]

The Setup process is the foundation of your CAM programming. If you start off on the wrong foot, everything will be fighting you down the road. 

Click Setup. This generates the new Setup.

Select the dropdown that says "Select Z axis and X Axis"

Select the face to represent the Z axis

Select an edge to represent the X axis

Last thing to do is to tell it where its WCS origin is. You have options for Stock Point, Model Point, etc. Select the feature that will reflect your WCS position the best.

Are you stuck on what the lines mean? No idea where your experinece lies, so forgive me if this is basic stuff for you.

The lines indicate the POSITIVE axis values

Red=X

Green=Y

Blue=Z

What ever direction they are pointing in is how the code is going to get posted out. If you want to pick up on the left side of the part and have all positive values, you would want to set your WCS on the other side.

The way you had it set isn't a problem, you just need to establish your WCS at the machine accordingly

[kshea9RNL8]

Thanks Seth,

I have a great deal of experience........ when compared to say, my wife

Yes, I get the set up, what confuses me is what is the purpose or use of flipping say the X-axis direction when the WCS remains at the same point on the stock.

Never had that option on my other CAD and trying to understand the usefulness of it, never machined a part where I did not pic up X and Y at the same point on the mill because that is how the model was oriented when created in the integrated CAD, in the X- and Y- quadrant.

Anyway, I know how it need to be pointing now so mostly my confusion is irrelevant.

[Steinwerks]

It's really all about how you want to set it up, that's all. Some folks have "positive quadrant" vises with the fixed jaw at the front of the machine, or double station vises, or single station fixed-jaw-towards-back-of-machine", or dedicated fixtures with locating features. It's just built-in versatility.