Mastercam Mill-Turn
Mastercam Mill-Turn is a machine-specific CAM programming environment for multitasking lathes, bringing Mastercam’s turning, 3D milling, and multiaxis machining capabilities together in one integrated solution. It is designed especially for machines equipped with multiple spindles, tool turrets, a B-axis, or multiple machining channels operating simultaneously.
With Mill-Turn, you can build the entire manufacturing process, from turning and milling to drilling, multiaxis machining, part transfers, and parallel operations. Once the machining operations have been created, their timing is synchronized graphically, and the entire program is verified in a machine-specific simulation before the NC program is transferred to the machine tool.
Programming multitasking lathes is not just about creating turning and milling toolpaths in the same program. A machine may have multiple spindles, turrets, and machining channels, whose operations must be coordinated so that the machine’s different resources work in a controlled and efficient manner.
Mastercam Mill-Turn builds the programming environment around the actual structure of the machine being used. Programming can account for the main spindle and sub-spindle, turrets, the B-axis, tool stations, fixtures, part transfers, as well as the machine’s actual axis movements and work envelope.
This makes Mill-Turn fundamentally different from standard CAM programming for a lathe or machining center. The goal is not only to create accurate toolpaths, but to plan and manage the entire manufacturing process for a multitasking lathe in one machine-specific environment.
Turning, milling, and multiaxis machining in the same machine environment
Mastercam Mill-Turn allows turning, milling, drilling, and multiaxis operations to be programmed in the same Mastercam environment. Turning uses Mastercam’s Lathe capabilities, milling uses Mill 3D capabilities, and multiaxis operations use Multiaxis capabilities.
For example, a part can be turned on the main spindle, milled from different directions using the B-axis, transferred to the sub-spindle, and finished on the opposite end without separate CAM projects.
On B-axis multitasking lathes, Mastercam can create the necessary milling planes directly from the selected geometry to be machined. This reduces the need to create planes manually and speeds up programming, especially when a part includes features that must be milled from multiple directions.
Part transfers between the main spindle and sub-spindle can be included in the same manufacturing process along with the other operations. This allows machining of the first and second sides of the part to be planned as one complete process.
Y-, A-, and B-Axis Turning with Synchronized Turning Toolpaths
In addition to conventional X- and Z-axis turning, Mastercam Mill-Turn supports Y-, A-, and B-axis turning. These machining methods use the machine’s additional axes to change the position or orientation of the turning tool relative to the part.
With Y-axis turning, the tool can be moved away from the part’s normal centerline along the Y-axis. This makes it possible to use tools designed for Y-axis turning and provides greater flexibility in positioning the tool relative to the profile being machined. A more favorable tool orientation can help control the direction of cutting forces, tool reach, and difficult-to-access geometries.
With A-axis turning, the tool orientation can be changed around the A-axis during machining. B-axis turning, in turn, uses the multitasking lathe’s B-axis to change the tool orientation according to the profile being machined. This allows the same tool to machine geometries where a fixed tool orientation would limit accessibility or require the use of multiple tools.
Machines equipped with multiple machining channels and turrets can also generate synchronized turning toolpaths. For example, two tools can machine the same part simultaneously when permitted by the machine configuration, tooling, and manufacturing process.
Graphical Synchronization of Machining Operations with Sync Manager
Once the machining operations have been created, the operations on the different spindles, turrets, and machining channels are synchronized in Mastercam Mill-Turn’s Sync Manager.
In the graphical synchronization view, operations from the different machining channels are displayed side by side. A synchronization link can be created by dragging an operation from one channel to the desired stage in another channel. Synchronization can be aligned, for example, with a tool change, approach move, actual machining move, or retract move.
This makes it possible to precisely control, for example, simultaneous turning with two tools, parallel operations on the main and sub-spindles, operations on different turrets, and part transfers between spindles.
Sync Manager also displays the timing of the operations and helps estimate the total cycle time. Synchronization points and the order of operations can be adjusted to make efficient use of the spindles, turrets, and other machine resources without conflicts.
Machine-Specific Machine Simulation and Ready-to-Use Mill-Turn Machine Tool Environments
Once the machining operations and their synchronization have been defined, the entire manufacturing process can be reviewed in machine-specific machine simulation. The simulation is based on the actual structure of the multitasking lathe being used, allowing the programmer to see more than just the movement of an individual tool.
The simulation can be used to verify the movements of the tools, holders, spindles, turrets, B-axis, fixtures, and other machine components in relation to one another. It also helps identify potential collisions before the program is run on the machine.
The verification is not limited to collisions. The simulation can also be used to assess the reach of tools and holders and determine whether the planned machining movement can actually be carried out within the machine’s kinematics and axis travel limits. This is particularly important for multitasking lathes, where multiple machine components move simultaneously within a limited workspace.
Several hundred ready-made machine-specific machining environments are available for Mastercam Mill-Turn, covering multitasking lathes from various manufacturers. Ready-made environments are available, for example, for machines in the Mazak Integrex and QTE, DMG MORI NTX and NZX, Okuma MULTUS, Nakamura-Tome NTY3 and NTRX, DN Solutions DNX, EMCO HYPERTURN, Hyundai WIA XM, and Doosan PUMA TT series, as well as for many other multitasking lathes.
Ask Camcut’s Mastercam experts whether a ready-made Mill-Turn machining environment is available for your multitasking lathe.
A machine-specific environment combines the machine tool’s structure, post processor, machining channel synchronization, and machine simulation into a single package. This allows programming to be tailored as closely as possible to the multitasking lathe in use and its actual manufacturing process.
Contact us, and we’ll develop a working CAM programming solution for your multitasking lathe.
