Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Dome question

At 07:12 PM 12/7/2001 -0000, yethdear0 wrote:

>First- The program is a test program to be used to determine if your
>machine control would interpret full 3 axis motion.

OK. I was just wondering more from a "if I really needed to machine that"
standpoint.

>a radial cut. As you get farther out on the edge of the dome, the
>cusp hight increases again. To prevent this, I would have programed

Yes, that "pie-wedge" aspect of the radial machining is why I asked. I
thought that in, say, Mastercam (which is what our shop at work uses) you
can specify a maximum scallop height instead of a constant step over/down.
As shallow as the dome is, I would think that stepping in radially by an
increment and then doing a circle at whatever necessary depth would make a
lot less machining passes, and minimum scallops.

I have done a lot of "manual CNC" profile machining (like a simulated
extrusion), where I drew the cross-section of the shape and then a parallel
contour at .0005 outside it, then drew tangent circles representing the
ballnose that are tangent to the profile and cross each other at the outer
limit contour. Picked up on the centerpoints of the circles and used them
as the Y and Z coordinates. I was always surprised how few passes it took
when they were "intelligently" selected rather than "step down Z amount and
see how far over you need to move)...

Best regards,

Randy

Randy Gordon-Gilmore ,----.___________ ______________ _________________
ProtoTrains // = = === == || == == == = || == == == = == =|
Rio Vista, CA, USA /-O==O------------o==o------------o==o-----------o==o-'
zephyrus@... http://www.rickadee.net/~zephyrus