Multi axis question

[Greg_J]

When machining an impeller is there away to extend a curve or surface/solid edge to continue on with the pitch of the impeller blade.

 

I tried trim/break/extend, extend by .3 and it extends the curve but it doesn't extend it with the same pitch as the impeller blade. Same then when it comes to extending a surface.

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks,

Greg

[#Rekd™]

Greg,

 

Try to create surfaces from the solid (on a new level) then extend the surface.

 

John

[Colin Gilchrist]

Another option is to create a surface from the face and then use the Un-Trim command. Then Extend the surface. This is often your best bet, as the extension of an Un-Trimmed surface is almost always correct (follows same tangent direction and maintains the same curvature).

 

You can also try the "Extend Trimmed Edges" command. This will build a new surface that is an extension of the existing (trimmed) surface. There are some options on the Extend Trimmed Edges toolbar that let you control the tangent direction of the new surface.

[Greg_J]

John, I did create surfaces from a solid but I tried to extend the surface but it didn't follow the pitch.

 

Colin, I'll give your first idea a try, is there a way extend the curve then create a surface from the new curves?

 

Is there a way to extend the curve/ surface in the tool path? Using lead in lead out? It didn't seem to work for me, it was just a linear move not an extension of the helix of the blade.

 

Thanks guys for the help.

[Hardmill]

You got a file to share Greg ??

 

 

PEACE

[Greg_J]

Sure but I'll have to get it to ya on Monday, I'm just in the van while my wife is in Walmart. lol

 

On my file you'll notice that at the end of each blade there is material remaining not much but a bit, it would be gone if I could extend things a bit.

[crazy^millman]

Well think of the impeller as a conic with fins on it. The outside on most of the them is a conic section as well. Go to a view where you can project a line to get what would be a revolved line to remake the inside conic. You could do the same thing with the outside. Now project that line which will give you something that is the shape of the inside cone that you want to use. The difference is you want to extend it the length of what you want it to be for your toolpath. Now revolve that to make a new surface. Then trim it to be the one area you are looking for to rough. Now you can do the same thing for the fins if need be. The advanced 5 axis toolpath have some nice things for roughing impellers so take a look at them as well.

 

HTH

[Greg Williams]

Greg,

 

There is a sample of a similar thing on the ftp.

 

Thx to Mike Rosa

Folder = X4_Files

File = TURBINE_MU400.ZIP

[Tyler Robertson]

Greg - if you're using adv. multiaxis you have the extend option,

or you can extend it using a tangent in the Lead in/Out.

 

may or may not help

[Greg_J]

Today I got to play with the advanced multi axis and it works well.

 

Turned my whole impeller into surfaces, and and the end is one surface, if I want to tool to go around the end of the blade do I create separate surfaces for each blade or do I just draw a line connecting each side of the blade?

[Tyler Robertson]

Depends what strategy you're using

 

If it's Morph between 2 surfaces, you also have the option to check or uncheck "Generate tool path only at front side"

 

I like to have seperate surfaces for everything because the Adv. paths do a nice job of blending surfaces together, and it allows you to pick walls, fillets, floors

 

but you can draw the line if you're using tilt line for axis control or parallel to curve to drive

[BadBrad]

I have been playing around with an impeller myself. I was successful extending surfaces using the trimmed surface extend command in X4. I had better success roughing the sides of the vanes using the curve 5-axis toolpath using chains for the path and axis control. I added a slight amount of side tilt to the tool to maintain clearance from the top edge of the vane. The Advanced Multi-Axis toolpaths work good but you do need a good post that interpolates between the walls of the vanes when you are finishing the floor if you add any side tilt to the tool.

[BadBrad]

Anybody out there have any experience working with the NCI file and the surface normals variables. Here is my situation. I have developed a 5-axis post that runs in Microsoft Excel. My post uses the NCI Surface Normal Data along with the X,Y,Z data. It works perfectly for all of the standard 5-Axis toolpaths but not the advanced multi-axis. It seems there is a mismatch between the surface normal data and the X,Y,Z, and U,V,W data in the NCI file. I have observed this mismatch only with the Adcanced Multi-Axis toolpaths the other 5-Axis toolpath are fine and match perfectly. Can anybody give me some insight. Brad