Turning Cable Drums

[ketherington]

I'm using X2 MR2.

 

Trying to turn a 1.25 dia. cable groove across some drums that are 17.0 in dia. I am using a .315 wide iscar groover and programming multiple start points to generate the desired profile, but have been plotting points and programming all the individual G76 cycles by hand.

 

Is there any way that I can get Mastercam to program all of these multiple start points for me so that I can save TONS of time doing this?

 

Thanks

[Tim Simmermon]

Welcome to the forum!

 

On the thread cut parameters page, in the top right corner is a button for a multi start. Click that and enter your parameters for the mutli start.

[ketherington]

Well, I'm not looking to do a multiple lead thread, I just need to be able to program multiple different start points so that I can follow the profile of my 1.25 dia cable groove/thread. I am not using a 1.25 dia. tool so I need to be able to , in essence, "surface" the threads with a smaller tool.

 

I don't see anything in the threading parameters that will allow me to define the shape of my thread, aside from the standard sizes that are already there. Just FYI, the thread is has a Major Dia. of 16.75, minor dia. of 16.0, pitch of 1.375 and the diameter of the cross section of the thread is 1.25. I can program this by hand but figure that I'll have aproximately 150-200 different G76 cycles in order to achieve the desired surface finish.

[John Summers]

I'm sticking my neck out a bit here. I think you just want to create the 200 points perhaps as a pocket, as if you were milling. Then at each point, call the threading cycle. I'll help if I can. Let's start by establishing the depth of cut for roughing out the groove. Then establish the whole pattern. You can e-mail me directly. Actually, I think you can get away with way fewer than 200 cuts. Are you going to use a round finish tool? What diameter, what depth?

[John Summers]

The call to the threading cycle would be made by modifying the post. It should be simple.

[Bruce Caulley]

I have done augers the same way. What I did was draw the profile, split it into segments, projected lines across to X0, and drilled the ends of these lines. The used find replace to change the G81's to G76's.

 

This was in a different programme than MC, but the same thing could be done. Just need to remember to adjust the geo in the mill programme to allow for the radius vs diameter issue.

 

After just reading what I posted I guess then answer is no, there is no easy way. Maybe CNC can add a "surfacing" toolpath for lathes using the threading cycle??

 

Bruce

[Bruce Caulley]

http://www.emastercam.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...t=015219#000007

[JDowe]

Never tried it for something like this but

On the thread cut parameters page under

NC Code format is path called alternating

which has the tool cut on the front edge of the

thread path and then on the trailing edge of the thread maybe this would work in this case

[JDowe]

OOps that will give straight walls - I think you

can do it by creating one toolpath at each depth

then translating it along the axis to get multiple cuts at that depth the distances can be obtained graphically by creating a circle of

1.25 - .315 then drawing parallel lines at the

desired depths then trim these lines to the circle and break these lines in lengths equal

the amount of cut in the z direaction then translate each depth cut by the cut amount - it appears that each initial cut will need to be offset in the positive and the negative direction from the center of the groove

[OTOMMYO]

use an 1.25 ball endmill and mill it in.