WANTED: HAAS OM2A with TR110 trunnion post processor

[tristan.janle]

Hi all, have done a bit of a look around this forum but maybe I'm using incorrect language as I do not seem to be able to find what I am after.

I am relatively new to CNC milling, learning on the job with a small HAAS office mill (OM2A). Up to this point I have been exclusively using this machine in 3 axis mode. We have had a TR110 4th/5th axis trunnion that has been sitting unused for many years that I have been trying to get up and running but have only just learned that the machine control is too old to support dynamic work offsets and all co-ordinate transformation has to happen in the post processor.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a valid post processor that I could use for this? 

I work for a university and there are a number of student jobs that would be very well served by the functionality of this trunnion should we be able to get it up and running.

Thanks in advance!

[tristan.janle]

Hi everyone, not getting a lot of hits on this question, moderators: would it be best posted to an alternative location? 

Everyone else: does anyone want to suggest alternative locations that I could ask this question?

Cheers all. 

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

There's a generic post available in the Autodesk post library: HAAS Trunnion (pre-NGC)

It's got me up and running with our 2008 VM-2 + TR-110 trunnion. 

[tristan.janle]

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Dawnaero !!!!

One final question: did you have to specify the axis rotational dimensions prior to use? The TR110's A-axis is 3in above the table, and the platter is height is 8-7/64" or 8.1" (depending on the particular HAAS document you read). Our platter height is in fact 206.55mm when A=0, B=0). I'm assuming I will have to define these dimensions for the math to work correctly.

Have taken a quick look through the post with the search term 'axis' but cannot seem to find any relevant input field (again I may just be using the incorrect terminology here as I'm pretty new to all this).

Once again thanks for the link.

[Anonymous]

The newer machines deal with this with Dynamic Work Offset and Tool Counterpoint Control.

With these older machines, the strategy is to set a WCS at the intersection of the 4th and 5th axis. The post can then handle the rest. There may be other ways to do this, but I'm not aware of them if there are. 

To get up and running, I had to:

1. Enable and align the 4th and 5th axis in the post to match how it's physically set up on the mill. I did this by following this guide. Use a dial test indicator and take your time to do this well!
2. Find that intersection (that I mention above) by following the guide attached. This guide was in the back of a binder that came with our machine and has a few other really good info in it. Once you do this, you can divide by 2 to get the platter-axis offset. 
3. With the platter homed and leveled, you can then find the x and y location of the spigot hole, and the z height of the top face of the platter. You can then use the number you found above (78.884mm in my case) to offset the WCS down to the intersection point. 
4. Remember to set your WCS with the exact same offset applied when doing your CAM. 

Good luck!