Dolphin face milling

Hi all,

I've just received the latest version of the Dolphin CadCam system,
and it now includes a 'Face Milling' routine.

Its the one thing I felt was missing from the Dolphin system, but I
found other ways around it by 'fudging' the pocket routine, or, by
using the digitze routine, or manually writing it into the program.
I must admit I would normally use the latter. If you've ever had to
write a program for face milling, you'll know its not quite as easy
as it first appears.

I really like the new routine. You can either 'describe' a rectangle
shape by giving the X/Y coordinates of two diagonally opposite
corners, or, you can select a contour (any shape) and the system will
automatically calculate the rectangle to 'fit' the contour.
You can remove the material in X or Y directions, you can also
select 'uni-directional' machining, which will only machine in one
direction, ideal for finish cuts. The 'bi-directional' option cuts in
both directions, ideal for roughing.

I must admit that I did e-mail Dolphin a while back asking if they
could add a face mill routine, they replied that they would "look at
it, but they were busy working on their Windows version of the lathe
module". A nice surprise to find it included so soon. Well done
Dolphin!

Dave Pearson