Wireless Probing How To PART 1 Calibrating the System Haas Automation Inc

So your new Haas mill just arrived and you want to learn more about how to get the most out of your probing system. That's excellent because WIPS is a game changer. WIPS is made up of a work probe, a tool probe, and an optical machine interface that receives wireless signals from the probes. On the software side, we've got VPS templates to generate probe programs, but to make sure it all works together, we need to calibrate the system. So we press edit and highlight the VPS tab and then scroll down to probing and right arrow to get in and then down to calibration and right arrow in again. We're going to be focusing on these three templates, tool probe calibration, spindle probe length calibration, and spindle probe diameter calibration. The tool probe calibration sets the location of the probe on the table, the stylus size, and the orientation. Spindle probe length calibration sets the tool length offset for the spindle probe, and spindle probe diameter calibration measures the size and runout of the ruby tip. Best practice is to always do these three templates in the correct order, period. Don't do them out of order and don't wait a couple of weeks to do the last one. When calibrating the tool probe, align the stylus face with an indicator within two ten thousandths of an inch or five microns. We sweep across the top along the y-axis and adjust these screws. Then we sweep across the top along the x-axis and adjust these screws here. Once the tool probe is aligned, the next step is to give the control a tool length value. To do this, you're going to need a tool probe length calibration tool. You can buy one, but I'll show you a tip on how to make your own. I took a worn out carbide end mill and flipped it over an NER 32 collet holder. The carbide end mill works great because the shank diameter is precision ground and the end is perfectly square to the shank. Just make sure there's no runout when the tool is in the spindle. Tap it in to be concentric if necessary. Remember, the lower the runout, the more precise your probe calibration will be. It's important that you get an accurate diameter measurement on the tip. The length measurement isn't so critical, but what's really important is to use the same length and diameter value each time you calibrate using this tool. I recommend that you etch, scribe, or engrave the length and diameter values on this tool, just like the store-bought model has, so you'll have those numbers handy each time you calibrate your system. I determine the length of this tool by measuring the distance from the face of the spindle to the tip of the tool. Again, it's not important the actual dimension. What is important is that I use the same value each time I calibrate with this tool. Okay, it's time to run the tool probe calibration cycle. We simply open the template and fill in the length here, the diameter here, and the orientation. The orientation matters because it controls the direction large diameter cutting tools are going to touch off the tool probe. Next, I press cycle start to run the tool probe calibration cycle and establish the z-axis calibration value. It also establishes the stylus size, x and y position on the table, and the probe orientation. Now it's time to calibrate the spindle probe or work probe. The first thing you want to do is make sure that the probe body is tight on the tool holder, then you want to make sure that the stylus is tight on the probe body, and finally we're going to check run out of the ruby tip. This is the procedure I use. It's very much the same as indicating a part in a four jaw chuck. First, I loosen all four adjustment screws, and then I go around each adjustment screw and just barely tighten it with the slightest amount of tension. Notice I'm just turning this allen key with two fingers. Now it's time to put the indicator on the ruby tip to check run out. Okay, now we're going to rotate the spindle a full revolution and see how much total runout we have. Then we're going to stop at the high spot and give that screw a little bit of snug. You don't want to go too far. See how it's coming down there's my high spot right there, a little bit more, just a little bit. You don't want to move it too much, not even half of the total runout. Like I said before, this takes a little bit of time, but it's worth it. So there, my runout's zero, exactly what I want. So you just go around and repeat those steps. Rotate the spindle, figure out how much total runout you have, find the high spot, and tighten the screw nearest the high spot. Pretty soon your runout will be zero and all your set screws will be snug. And if you happen to remove the spindle probe from the spindle and put it in 180 degrees from how it was when it was calibrated, you won't have any problems. Okay, I'm going to jog the probe right over the tool setter probe. Then we open the template by pressing edit and going into spindle length calibration. The only piece of information I need here is the tool number, which will automatically be populated. So if this is the correct tool number that I want, all I need to do is hit cycle start to run the cycle. The final calibration cycle is the spindle probe diameter calibration cycle. For this operation, we're going to use a ring gauge. You can use any precision bore, but it's really important that the bore is very, very round and that the precise size is known. That's why a ring gauge is perfect for this operation. All we have to do is attach the gauge to the machine table with toe clamps or magnets. I jog the probe down inside the bore and eyeball the approximate center. We open the template, enter the value. In this case, 1.6537 inches is my value. I hit cycle start and the probe cycle will begin. This will set the X and Y axis stylus radius and set the X and Y axis stylus offset or run out. So we've calibrated the tool probe, the spindle probe, and set the spindle probe diameter using our WIPS calibration templates. I've told the control exactly where each of the key components are in the machine and logged all of those values into the macro variables page. In the next episode, I'll show you how WIPS is going to make your setups more accurate, make less scrap parts, and just make you a more efficient machinist. See you in part two where we'll go over the tool setting cycles. Thanks for watching.