Older Mazatrol 3D capabilities runnng G-code

[Herding Cats]

So I have noticed from some of @Machtool s posts that @Wippin' boy is a bit of a Mazak legend so it seems a waste to not ask a few questions I've always wondered. As usual anyone is welcome to chime in with answers and or more questions

I've never owned or operated a Mazak, but as many of you may know I like my older iron. I'm somewhat familiar with what Fanuc will do in regards to 3D work when using a 15, 16, 18 , i series, RISC, G05, G05.1, G08 exc.

In my opinion a well optioned 20 year old die and mold machine will still run with if not outrun most budget machines of today.

So with that said, what's the deal with older Mazatrols? Look-ahead? Smoothing? Block speed? Is there a Mazak equivalent to a 64 bit RISC engine? NURBS? Either programing in NURBS or some kind of processor that transforms standard g-code into nurbs like Okuma's supernurbs?


I've often seen older Mazak's go for little money and wouldn't mind getting one If I had some kind of clue what it's capabilities are?

IIRC many of the machines I've seen have a 640???

 

[Herding Cats]

I assume #2 and #13 are must haves? but what exactly are they? Also is #26 spline a Nurbs thingy?

Another question is how difficult is it to enable such options? Just a parameter and maybe some ladder work? or a hefty Mazak bill? or actual hardware upgrades? Older Fanuc is often easy, Mitsubishi options seem to be top secret.

 

[g-coder05]

I’ve had a QT and really great iron. I ordered a 300 to make some Turbine Casing studs and found out Mazatrol can’t do a progressive lead thread without purchasing the EAI interface card.

They delivered the machine, setup, and a day of training and was quite simple. I was setting up the studs and ask the tech how to vari the lead and that’s when I was given the bad news. The salesman had told me the Mazatrol could do anything g-code can do,,,hmmm.

I called him up and he said the card was out of stock but he would ask around for a used one. I finally get the card and start making shafts but was too late, I wound up getting back charged by GE for late delivery. Since then I have never considered a machine with conversational programming.

 

[Herding Cats]

I’ve had a QT and really great iron. I ordered a 300 to make some Turbine Casing studs and found out Mazatrol can’t do a progressive lead thread without purchasing the EAI interface card.

They delivered the machine, setup, and a day of training and was quite simple. I was setting up the studs and ask the tech how to vari the lead and that’s when I was given the bad news. The salesman had told me the Mazatrol could do anything g-code can do,,,hmmm.

I called him up and he said the card was out of stock but he would ask around for a used one. I finally get the card and start making shafts but was too late, I wound up getting back charged by GE for late delivery. Since then I have never considered a machine with conversational programming.

I have ZERO interest in running Mazatrol programing or any conversational. I usually program right next to the machine so reposting is easy peasy