Re:Walk Thru Programing

This is one of the major reasons I like the Acurite MillPower control.
It makes this kind of project real easy. You place your part on the mill
table, then select the first feature you want to do- say a drilled hole.
The popup box asks for the hole location, and you press the jog buttons
until you have the spindle over the hole- use a centerfinder if needed.

Then you press the 'learn' button and the coordinates are filled in
automatically. You press <OK> to save that step and move on to the next.
You can work your way around a profile with line segments or arc
segments. You can mirror the whole thing with a couple button clicks if
you need to make right-hand left-hand parts.

A friend that owns an Acurite machine has done this for a lot of parts-
header flanges for a couple dragster engines, a replacement timing chain
cover, various flanges and plates, even a couple cylinder heads for
small enignes.

For you Gcode fans, think about doing a project like this. Measure the
part, make a cad drawing, generate the gcode, edit the Gcode, carry the
gcode file to the machine shop and load it. He can finsih the part on
the acurite before you could get the measurements made using a surface
plate and height gauge or other measuring devices.

My program also does this. I cant wait to get a black box so I can
finish it.

This is my idea of interactive machining. This is for the small shop or
home shop that often makes parts to fit or replace some existing part-
no drawings exist. Not the way to do 3D mold generation for turbine
blades, but a damn fine way to make a lot of parts (and money) quickly.

ron ginger