4th axis question

[Randy Wolff]

I have a cylinder with two od's with a transition area between them. I have not done much 4th axis work other than using a flat layout. The part has a 7 inch id. The major od has a 5.072 radius the minor od has a 5.042 radius. The transition radius is 4.47. Looking from the end of the part the minor radius runs +- 76.5 degrees from vertical, the transition radius runs from that point to 92 degrees from vertical. I have the part created in Mastercam, planning on ball milling the surfaces, I just don't know how to have Mastercam create the toolpath. It doesn't seem like it should be that hard, just don't know where to start. Using X2 version of Mastercam.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Randy

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

Randy,

 

Can you upload the part to the FTP site?

This way we will be able to offer more help.

 

Justin

[Randy Wolff]

I will try tomorrow. I don't have it with me at home

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

I'm sure you will get plenty of help

 

Justin

[John Summers]

Ow. Ball milling a convex part is tedious. It would be better to use FLOW5AX with the 4-axis option and use a lead-lag angle of 5 or 10 degrees (the lower the better, without dragging the heel). You can use a flat mill or bullnose, even if the part is not completely convex.

[Randy Wolff]

The file is in ftp://www.ppcadcam.com/Mastercam_forum/MC...OD_CYLINDER.MCX

 

Hopefully this is the right place to put things. Thanks for any help.

Randy