2D Spiral Toolpath

[tiredtoolmaker]

For anyone who can think way back to X7....For example, a 2D toolpath that has a constant inward spiral with a .050 stepover so I can use a 5" slitting saw to part off pieces of 2" plastic round stock on a vertical mill. I've played with Dynamic Core but can't control the stepover. I know Circle Mill will do the trick but I wanted to know of a constant feed-in spiral if there is one. As you can see in the Dynamic Core image, the spiral doesn't have a constant stepover distance.

[Corey Hampshire]

I have played with something similar once before. I used a C hook (Alt+C). I think it was ZSpiral that I used. You could set the z start and end at zero and get the result you want. I'm no expert in this though, just an idea.

[tiredtoolmaker]

Thanks Corey...I don't have that C hook in my library...apparently Mastercam downloads are only available back to X8.  

[gcode]

this is how to do it old school

use the curve/spiral command to draw a spiral representing the C/L of your tool

then use the command Break Many/arcs . Some experimentation will be required to get the tolerance right so you have a smooth

toolpath made up of arcs, not a million tiny point to point lines

Chain it,  set the toolpath to C/L and call it a day

 

 

[David Colin]

@tiredtoolmaker I guess Spiral Chook is now standard in Mastercam (wireframe/shape/spiral).

With this you can create a spiral geometry (a nurbs spline entity) as you wish then directly chain it with a 2D contour. Use toolpath filter to get clean arcs.

 

 

[tiredtoolmaker]

Thanks guys...that did it. I was stuck on finding a toolpath instead of creating geometry to drive the tool on.