Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Hotwire CNC on mill

You need to look up the G codes to tell it to redefine the cutting
plane into a YZ plane and not the standard XY plane. Then, you can
spec the move using a standard G02/G03 circular interpolation as well
as G01 linear moves.

For this particular application, I would write the g code manually if
at all possible.

Michael

On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Danny Miller <dannym@...> wrote:
> I have a long, thin block of polyethylene foam which needs both internal
> and external cuts parallel to the long axis. Basically looking for a
> cylinder with a hole in the middle like a pipe insulator, and there will
> be a slit where the wire entered to cut the internal hole. The slit is
> undesirable but necessary. The long axis will be put on the X axis but
> it is bigger than the table's X axis, maybe 3 ft even.
>
> My approach for this one is to replace the Taig cutting head with a
> hotwire bow spanning way out on the X axis. Stiffness is going to be an
> issue but there's very little resistance force from the work in
> speed-controlled slow hotwire cutting.
>
> So the Taig can enter a block of foam through motion on the Y axis and
> make the cut profile with a combination of Y and Z moves. The X axis
> is unused. This seems workable. If it proves to be a good idea maybe
> I'll build a more "proper" rig.
>
> Anyhow, my question is this- how would you CAD this shape out and tell
> Mach3 (or some other software approach) to make it? This is a different
> approach than we see for the traditional milling. The toolpath is kind
> of nonsense for standard 3D milling in that the top half of the circular
> cut is directly on top of the bottom half as well as the internal cut.
>
> Danny
>
>