RE: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Do you really need an A (axis)

Ken
A Rotary Axis is used mainly in one of
three ways :-

1) As an Indexer, used to rotate the component in a
positioning move. The component may be a Prismatic
part with several faces which require to be machined,
the rotary axis is used to Index from one face to
the next.
In this case all the CAM system has to do is issue
commands to rotate the Axis by a given number of
degrees to bring the next face under the cutting tool.

Most CAM systems can do this.

2) As an Interpolating Axis, used to rotate the component
in feed mode synchronised with either the XZ or YZ axes.
In this case the A/B axis is swopped for the X or Y axis.
This enables the user to machine on the circumference of
a round bar e.g. The user could engrave text on the
outside of the bar, or drill holes equispaced.
For most commercial machine shops this is as far as they
go in the use of a rotary table.
Some CAM systems can do this, including Dolphin

3) As an Interpolating Axis machining complex surfaces in
4 or 5 axes. At the top end of the market some machine
tools have A and/or B axes attached to the tool spindle.
As the tool moves over the surface these axes are interpolated
to maintain the aspect of the tool e.g. it may be to
keep the tool at Normal (90 deg) to the surface being
cut or it may be to maintain the aspect of the tool to
gain access to a difficult area.
For true 4/5 axes Simultaneous machining a sophisticated,
expensive CAM package is required.


Email if you need any ore information on the above.

Regards

michael

-----Original Message-----
From: mszollar [mailto:mszollar@...]
Sent: 18 December 2001 16:26
To: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Do you really need an A (axis)


I just finished adding CNC to my Sherline and as I did I went all the
way to 4 axis (xyza). I've noticed that (many) CAD/CAM don't do A;
reading between the lines you send what would be Y commands to the A
axis (??). I noticed however that a high percentage of CNC programs
do support an A. So what is the real value in an A and should I
really search out another CAD/CAM to get the full benefit?

Thanks,

Ken



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