re:Re: 5-axis cnc

Hi Elliot,

It's a three stage process;

1) Create the lines that describe the toolpath, for 3D objects by
projecting the design or roughing pattern onto the object or
by 'waterlining' the object.
A design can be imported from a CAD program or from the likes of
Corel Draw or as G-Code.

2) Determine the cutting angle at each point along the toolpath by
getting the surface normal vector of the object at that point or by
taking the angle from an arbitrary point, control spline, etc. A
vector indicator is produced at each point.

3) Determine where all the axes have to be positioned for each point
of the toolpath and output the G-Code. This process is machine
specific, but it's relatively straightforward to modify for
accommodating different machines and axis arrangements (even
Hexapods).
In a way, this stage does what a post processor would often do,
translating the toolpath to the machine. In fact, the whole plugin
could be treated as a 5-axis post-processor if you wanted to use
another CAM program to do your toolpaths.

Drop me an email off list if you want to use it.

Regards,
Rab

> Is there any way you could give us some idea about how your five

axis

> software works?
>
> Are the 3DS Max designs described as 5 axis solids, or is there

some magic

> way the plugin fits them to the capability of the machine?
>
> Thanks for the inspiration.
>
> regards-
> Elliot B.