Working Plane and Feed Direction

In order to describe circles (except CIP), and for the compensation of cutter radius and tool length, it is necessary to specify the working plane.

Working Plane XY

Command

G17 (standard setting)

Cancellation

G18 or G19

The function G17 specifies the XY plane as the working plane and the feed direction as the Z direction.

The function acts as:

Working Plane and Feed Direction 1:

Changing the working plane

The working plane cannot be changed while tool compensation is active.

Working Plane ZX

Command

G18

Cancellation

G17 or G19

The function G18 specifies the ZX plane as the working plane and the feed direction as the Y direction.

Working Plane YZ

Command

G19

Cancellation

G17 or G18

The function G19 specifies the YZ plane as the working plane and the feed direction as the X direction.

Specification of the feed direction

Command

P

Parameter

+ feed direction positive (standard setting)
- feed direction negative

Parameterization of the feed direction is required for tool length compensation. It is used to specify whether the tool operates above or below the workpiece.

Working Plane and Feed Direction 2: Working Plane and Feed Direction 3:

Sample:

N10 G0 X0 Y0 Z0 F6000
N20 D2 P- Z
N30 G01 X100
N40 D0 Z
N50 M30

In this sample the length compensation operates below the workpiece.