Can I make axis reflect my machine setup

Hi,
I am using emc to control my rose engine (see attached image). It is like a lathe in that headstock has a rotating spindle to which I attach the piece to be machined. However in this case the headstock moves both forward and backward along the main spindle axis (I currently assign this Y ) and from side to side (along the X axis). Plus the rotating cutter in the tool post moves along its own axis (Z) which can be set at any angle to the main spindle axis along the XY plane running through the spindle centre.

I would like a setup whereby the axis display accurately reflects this situation. Is it possible just by altering the ini file I dont think so but am asking for confirmation? The main problem as I see it is that unlike a mill the Z axis is not orthogonal to the XY plane and also that the actual path position in space is linearly dependent on all three axes in that the X coordinate of a point on the path has components due to the movement of the Y and Z axes. How do you guys who use emc to control robot arms etc get a good display?

Any suggestions welcome

Alan

I configure my machine with XZC axes where
Z is the longitudinal axis
X is the perpendicular axis
C is the rotary axis about Z

In the ini file (for the axis gui), use:

[TRAJ] AXES = 6
[TRAJ] COORDINATES = X Z C
[DISPLAY] GEOMETRY = CXZ

[AXIS_0] TYPE = LINEAR
[AXIS_2] TYPE = LINEAR
[AXIS_5] TYPE = ANGULAR

With [DISPLAY] GEOMETRY = CXZ, the axis gui will move the tool
tip for C rotations (not the work like the hardware) but that is fine with me.

Thanks Dewey,

My current setup is similar to yours except I use XYB for headstock and Z for cutter. All fine when cutter is parallel to either Y (for faceplate work) or X (spirals etc) in this case only 3 degrees of freedom and cutter Z values not strictly necessary . I was concerned about getting some sort of representative trace when cutter placed at an angle giving 4 degrees of freedom. Not really tried it yet so no experience and I may be concerned about nothing.

Alan