Re: Lathe solid model to G code

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "John Stevenson" <john@...>
wrote:

> Why do you have to piss about changing things?

Oh sorry, I have this habit I developed in 1987 when I helped a
machine shop transition from manual to CNC. There was only one
under $1000 Cad-cam and was quite limited (Ok, it sucked). I made
it better and then moved on to Vector and DeskCNC where my efforts
are appreciated and rewarded with supportable and usable software
and enhancements.

> When you select lathe it should be set up for lathe.
> Bottom line it's either a lathe program or two axis mill.

Dear Mr. Stevenson, Bottom line Vector Cad-Cam is a VERY powerful
integrated, 3D cad and cam system. It's not the simple 2D cam
program that you seem to want it to be. 3d-cad-cam-integrated, get
it?

It is used commercially and profitably for lathe, 2 1/2 axis mill,
3D mill, 2 or 4 axis wire edm and foam cutting, sheet work machines
such as routers, plasma, laser, water jet, and engraving, and rotary
axis machines such as rotary tables, articulated spindles, and
rotational tubing plasma and torch piercing.

Vector has 3D surface modeling, and can store the entire process for
multiple jobs and parts and all the associated CNC programs, within
one drawing. It's an integrated package that permits you to plan
and process jobs with multiple machines and multiple workholding
steps with the same CNC machine. It has reorderable job process
steps and can modify many parameters within job steps. For example
drilling feed, speed, depth and peck depths can be directly
addressed and the toolpath is immediately updated onscreen. Active
job steps can be simulated in 3D within the Vector integrated cad
and cam program.

It has a CNC program text editor function with renumber, find an
replace, text string coloring, text substitution, printing and also
backplotting and rs-232 file transmission, and includes post
processors for not only most flavors of rs274-D g-code, but also non-
standard things like Shopbot, Heidenhain and Agie. Other
capabilities include heads up digitizing of image files, arc fitting
of complex splines, reorganization of drawing geometry to eliminate
duplicated entities re-combine broken lines and arcs, and shorten
total machine motion, traveling salesman solution for drill
patterns, point to curve routines, ordered and random point cloud to
nurbs surface routines, and drawing and NC key/command scripting for
process automation.

The lathe functions permit turning "behind" ( like a trailer hitch
ball) without heeling the tool, there is a right-hand tool, left-
hand tool clearing routine and groove tool roughing and profiling
support. Vector has CAD routines to draw under cuts for threading
and shoulder grinding. The Vector turning routines permit tool
origin definition and the resulting toolpaths are properly comped
for the way the tool offsets are set and for tool nose radius.

Vector can also create turning programs from a surface model of the
part.

The really nice part about Vector is that we continue to offer the
basic Vector Cad-Cam to hobbyists for $395.

Fred Smith - IMService
http://www.cadcamcadcam.com/hobby