Solid sweep, planar chain problem

[Gutty]

Hi all, i'm having a problem creating a solid using the sweep function. It keeps telling me it requires a planar chain set, well i have made them as planar as i can, for some reason i can't seem to get them any flatter no matter how i create them but they are good to 6-7 decimal places.

 

Anyway, i have uploaded the file(to the wrong place i think, sorry) ftp://mastercam:[email protected]/Ma...um/COxxxxNS.MC9

I am trying to sweep the green chains along the red splines.

Can anyone help me out here ??

 

Thanks

Matt

 

[ 10-27-2003, 09:04 PM: Message edited by: Gutty ]

[crazy^millman]

Well I can tell you that your starting geomentry is not the same as your finished. i was able ot create this as a surface but to do this as a soild is something that will not be easy unless you create a center line to go along and still think you are not going to get the desired results. I dont see a way to take a circle and make it into a ellispe doing this as a soild. I took one half and mirroer it along the line usign that line as my normal control and then did the same for the otehr when I sweep the surface alsong the 2 red line they didnt creat the same effect back to the other ways. I think you will want to do this with surfaces not solids. I can put up what I got if you like but I dont think it is what you are looking for is all. I put it up as COxxxxNSCRAZY anyway.

 

Good luck

 

Crazy Millman

 

[ 10-27-2003, 09:52 PM: Message edited by: Millman^Crazy ]

[Gutty]

Thanks for the reply Millman,

 

Well it's basicly just 2 different sized arcs blending along a curve, or a bent cone shape. I'm a little dissapointed if this is too much for Mcam. If it can be done in a surface why not in a solid ?

 

I thought i should be able to pick the start and finsih contours of the sweep and then tell it what to sweep along(either of the red lines will do). And as far as i can tell it should work except for the planar chain error.

 

The problem with doing it in surfaces is that i have many other parts to trim to it, which seems to cause me even more headaches.

 

Am i really that far off the mark on this one ??

 

Thanks

Matt

[Midwest]

If you can create with surfaces first, then convert your model to a solid and add your other parts.

 

I'm at home so I can't download your part to look at.

 

Hope this helps

[crazy^millman]

Well I may not be the best to ask but I have found trying to take a ellispe to a arc is not soemthing done easy with soilds if circle to circle problay no problem but like trying to go from sqaure to round and round to square. i think you will find that the sufraces capability of mastercam will surpise you if I see what you are suign shoudl eb real straight foward ot make what you are looking for.

 

Crazy Millman

[crazy^millman]

I tired that midwest but it is not closing very well for me but I dotn use metrics so not sure where to set them to make it be tighter.

 

Crazy Millman

[Gutty]

Millman, it is 2 arcs, not an arc to ellipse. Just that the top is cut off one of the arcs below the halfway line so it's a bit less than half of a full circle.

 

I can create it using a coons patch, then surface(flat boundry) the ends and top, turn it into a solid open sheet body but this can't be boolean removed to give me the cavity.

Am i missing some thing here ??

 

thanks again guys.

[crazy^millman]

Do you want to create a mold from this geomentry. I understand they are arc but if it is below center then it would create an elispe if mirrored. I am talking about a circle to circle and that I am sorry to say I can not get to work either sorry I tried that already.

 

 

Crazy Millman

[Gutty]

Yeah, i want a cavity from it.

 

Thank you very much for trying, much appreciated.

 

It seems i've got it sorted though.....

 

 

Created a coons patch, used flat boundry surfaces at the ends and on top, turn that into a solid sheet body, remove the top face, then use the thicken function to give the remaining faces some thickness, boolean add them to my other geometry then boolean remove all of it from the die block.

 

The finished job is here ftp://mastercam:[email protected]/Ma...es/COxxxxNS.MC9

 

Thanks again guys.