Programming a CNC Mill as a CNC Lathe in Mastercam!

This one comes from the 'just cause you can doesn't mean you should' idea bank...using your CNC Mill to turn parts like you would on a CNC Lathe. The concept is pretty straight forward, a mill has a spindle, a way to hold a tool, a way to hold material, and 3 axes of motion...so why does the tool have to go in the spindle?
In a nut shell, the only difference here is that you are putting your stock in the spindle and your cutting tool in your vise. On the machine, you will be missing out on some of the features that come on lathes to make your life easier such as canned cycles, turrets, tool holding and adjustment, etc. In Mastercam, you will also be missing out on features in the Lathe product that make your life easier, toolpaths, posts, CSS calls, etc. So, ya, it can be done but you're gonna have to work for it.
In the video I'll show you how you can pull this off. How to not only turn the profile but add rough cuts and lead in/out motion. You can even expand on the video contents and add additional tools. Each tool would have to use its own work offset, so Tool 1 would be G54, Tool 2 G55 etc.
A word of warning, use caution when programming like this. There is no simulation to accurately check your programs so crashes could be lurking in the code. Also, large pieces of material are not advisable nor are heavy cuts....after all this is not a real lathe. There are differences in the spindle bearings and the type of loads they are meant for.
I wouldn't suggest running a 1000 part job like this but knocking out some quick jobs and keeping the work internal, why not!
#Mastercam #LearnCNC

[@TheVince237]

This video blew my mind, that’s really thinking outside of the box. Currently going through caminstructor forth and five axis tutorials as we speak you guys are the best.

[@CamInstructor]

Thanks for the kind words! Glad you liked the video and are enjoying the online content!

[@philirwin2028]

Did this 10 to 12 years ago with mastercam. It worked great.

[@nenadratic6319]

Very nice . I did something like that a few years ago on HAAS VF4 , but did a manual calculation . This is a lot easier , next time if need , this will save me a lot of time . Thank you .

[@CamInstructor]

You're welcome!

[@phillhuddleston9445]

I've used a manual mill to turn parts before so this just makes sense, The main limitation is that the parts have to be fairly small diameter and there is no good way to use a tailstock with center so they can't be very long either but if you need small diameter short parts it should work great.

[@jimmytran4177]

Awesome👍👍👍👍

[@CamInstructor]

Thanks 🤗

[@medicalpump9275]

Just crazy period

[@CamInstructor]

👍

[@HIENTRAN-ze9ju]

Cool

[@Zenjoksss]

Thanks a lot. It is assume

[@CamInstructor]

You’re welcome 😊

[@pedrobarbio]

genius

[@CamInstructor]

Thanks!

[@keddah_ismail]

Why 3d contour not showing with me after I load the file from cad from SOLIDWORKS? ... Even if I draw it on mastercam still not working? Whyy

[@quinnhackenberg7155]

Struggling to create the wire frame slice for may part. How would I go about creating that?

[@CamInstructor]

Turn Profile on the wireframe tab

[@ballchrome1201]

I did it for years

[@CamInstructor]

Its a handy trick

[@matthewrossilini5808]

What a bizarre way to use a mill. Lathe tool nose radius will leave the fillet on the part a little bit off, but aside from that, it would work in a pinch.
I think some of the guys in our shop have used this method to turn down toolholders as well in the past, as cat50 toolholders are difficult to get into a lathe.

[@CamInstructor]

Like they say, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Yes, you'll be missing a lot of the comforts a real lathe offers but if you don't have a lathe or they are all busy with other jobs...?

[@ogug3395]

there is no tool radius compensation at the tool path

[@CamInstructor]

For diameters and faces this will not matter...you probably won't have to worry about radius comp on small chamfers or radius blends either since the margin of error is fairly small, but if you really need the angled portion of this example part (or similarly tapered face) to be exact you can adjust the driving geometry to comp for the tool rad being used. This will be some extra work but easily do-able. As mentioned in the video description, you are missing out on some of the perks an actual lathe has.

[@jerojr7542]

If you have the lathe product how do you CNC lathe using your CNC mill, do you have a video on that?

[@CamInstructor]

Do you mean programming a CNC Lathe with Mastercam Mill? I have been thinking of posting about that. It is possible.
If you're looking for something else, let me know.

[@jerojr7542]

@@CamInstructor no. On your video you are using the mill product to turn a part on the mill, I wanna know how do you use a lathe product to turn a part on the mill?

[@CamInstructor]

Ok, ya, pretty straight forward there. The X and Z code should be fine.
You'll have to make some gcode edits to the rest though. In Mastercam, no turning canned cycles, no CSS for cutting speed, no IPR for feed. Gcode edits, you'll have to remove G97s, add tool length comps on first Z move, remove G98s, and you may want to edit the tools ending section as well. There might be some other things to pay attention too but thats all I can think of off the top of my head.
...maybe one day I can look further into it.

[@jerojr7542]

@@CamInstructor do you have a video out there for that?

[@CamInstructor]

@@jerojr7542 Nothing right now. I'll add it to the list of ideas though.

[@hamzanawaz7945]

😅😅😅❤

[@trey2297]

This legit ?

[@CamInstructor]

Absolutely!

[@He-Is-One-and-Only]

Very terrible, not practical

[@CamInstructor]

If you have no other way to do a job like this, better than not doing it at all.

[@atvaddiction9621]

In the end, the customer only cares about their job being done. However that needs to happen. Practical or not.