The address specified with the appropriate dwell word specifies the delay is either milliseconds (1000 milliseconds = 1 second) or seconds. You’ll have to check which format your machine uses. The argument for dwell is typically the “P” word (think “Pause”), although “X” and “U” is also commonly used. Another example is some older machines may require a dwell to give the spindle time to get up to the commanded speed. In a pinch, you might use a dwell to wait for your coolant to come up to pressure right after it’s turned on, for example, though it is better for cycle times if your coolant system can get to pressure without dwells. Non-cutting operations are even more common as dwells are used to wait for some operation to complete before going on. If the machine can accurately follow the path without dwells, it’s better not to use them as any dwell will leave visible marks on the part. This is sometimes necessary on older machines, though usually not on recent VMC’s. For example, you might put a G04 Dwell at the end of a long straight run that ends with a corner to make sure the machine accurately follows the path.

On mills, the most common use is to force the machine to catch up. You may also find them useful in general turning or boring operations to eliminate the tooling marks left on the part by end thrust of the cutting tool. It’s helpful to be able to dwell during a cutting operation, and also to facilitate various non-cutting operations of the machine.įor lathe operations, the chief application of a G04 Dwell is to break chips, especially when drilling, counterboring, grooving, or parting-off. G04 is called the Dwell command because it makes the machine stop what it’s doing or dwell for a specified length of time.

Multiple gooving solidcam