Free post to calculate centerdrill depth

[rich]

Hello forum,

I have a .PST that I thought might be of use to other Mcam users.What it does is calculates the drilling depth of a center drill given the chamfer diameter you want to obtain.The CDRL.PST uses a user defined buffer file (CDRL.TX1) that contains your centerdrill dim's for your particular brand of centerdrills.The buffer file can contain as many centerdrill entry's as you would like.Just number them as you create them in the .TX1 file.When you run CDRL.PST it will prompt you for the drill table number(that you create in the CDRL.TX1 file) and the chamfer diameter. In the example I will give you I used KEO brand 60 deg plain type centerdrills the table contains 13 entry sizes #5-0 to #7.Below is a picture of the centerdrill dim's that you will use to customize your .TX1 file.Also when you run MP, it needs an -.NCI file, even if it doesn’t read it, so CDRL.NCI is a dummy file. CDRL.NCI and CDRL.TX1 go in your Mcam9/mill/nci folder and CDRL.PST goes in your posts folder.I Also created custom tools that corresponds to the drill table numbers for part verification.I will put everything on the ftp in the Text & Post file called CDRL.ZIP so you can download and try it.

 

 

[Rekd™]

What a great idea! Thank You.

 

'Rekd teh B-Line for the FTP site.

[robk]

Rich,

 

Could you please e-mail me the file. No ftp access

 

Thanks in advance.

[rich]

Rekd,

It is a little bit more cumbersome then your tap drill calculator, But I know nothing about VB. Maybe you have some ideas?

 

Rob, not sure how to get your e-mail address to send it to you?

[robk]

Rich,

 

It's in my profile.

[rich]

Rob, It's on the way.

[robk]

Thanks Rich

Just received it. Will check it out tomorrow.

[crazy^millman]

Thank you Rich I will check it out.

 

Crazy Millman

[tfb2000]

Hey Rich,

That is sweet.I can't figure out why mastercam has not addressed this yet.I always analize my mcam9 geomerty to get the depth, not no more.

[Code_Breaker]

This is kool, thanks

[chopsley]

Yeah, this is another thing I'm surprised M/C has

not made more user friendly. We are trying to phase in M/C here at work. We have been Bravo users for about 13 years here. Even back in the late 1970's, Compact II handled this very nicely. The grammer just calls for what # center drill he/she is using and what chamfer dia. is required and the Z depth is calculated for you. No Problem. No VB. Works every time. I know M/C is very powerfull, but on some of this simple stuff they are 20 years or so behind other systems.

When and if things slow down a bit at work I hope to get more M/C seat time and slog my way thru the learning curve. Right now it's "We need that program yesterday."

This is a great forum.

[Hardmill]

Very cool Rich. Thanks

I would imagine its has'nt been addressed because

its so simple that minds like rich's can figure it out.

We have all the tools at our disposal, all we need to do is use them.

We have the ability to configue Mastercam to our

individual needs, no matter how different they

may be.

Thanks Rich and all the great Mcam minds that keep

this software going.

 

PEACE

[jballs]

Some good points have been made about calculating center drill depth to get a certain diameter chamfer.

 

How about this idea:

 

Never use a center drill again!!!

 

We haven't used them in years. We use 90 degree spotting drills and you get any chamfer diameter you want by just drilling to a depth that is half of the chamfer diameter. Works every time and looks sweeeeeeeet!

 

Also super easy to resharpen.

[Rekd™]

Not to mention you can deburr with them too!

 

'Rekd

[chopsley]

I agree about not using centerdrills for spotting hole locations. A centerdrill should be used for preping shafts that will get a grinding op in the next operation, or a part that will need to be dogged between centers etc. For spotting hole locations for drilling I have been very happy using the Vermont Tool "Spott" drill. It is an indexable one insert tool that will give you a 144 degree start hole. This will nest the chisle edge of any sort of drill with a tool point angle of 140 degrees or less. Run them fast (2000 rpm or so in mild steel) but feed them about .001 IPR. No resharpening and they repeat. .7 dia is the largest chf. dia. you can get but I'ver never tried for one that big with this tool. Yeah, I've engraved with centerdrills and used them as 60 degree chamfering mills in close quarters.

Please do not take my previous post the wrong way Hardmill. There are always ways of figuring out how to do things because you have to. The only thing I was trying to say was that easy works for me every time.

Still learning....

[jballs]

good points chopsley.............

[Camdude®]

rich,

could you please email me this pst file as i have no ftp access:

 

[email protected]

[rich]

Phil,

it's on the way.

[crazy^millman]

Jballs I would have to disagree with not using Center Drills. I would ask what type of work are you doing wuold be the reason to or not to use a Center drill. It has been my experiecne that when doing hole that require a high tolerance you should always center drill the holes frist and not spot drill. I have seen as much as .003 center to cneter divation on drilled holes. If you are making a part with a True position of .005 that only gives you .0014 and .0016 in your axis direction to be off. I buy center drill up to #7 just to get the desired chamfer effects on holes but anything over a 1/4 most times I run a chamfer mill on. This is just my thought on this not trying to attck just invoke thought is all.

 

Crazy Millman

[Peccator]

I have no access to the FTP either. Could you please email that to me also. Thanks for your time.

 

Shane Teh Rookie

[rich]

Shane, send me your e-mail address and I will send it to you.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I've got a C-Hook that asks you to pick full circles usinf the usual selection methods, and a Center Drill 00 - 7 with two open customizable positions (that are defined in a user editable text file) and based on that diameter will create a point at the appropriate depth. It's been around for some time. It was written for a customer while I worked as a reseller.

[rich]

Hey James, That sounds cool. Can I get a copy of that c-hook from you? I would like to try it.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I'd love to but it's not free. It's not a lot but it's not free. You can e-mail me privately if you're still interested.

[jenks]

I am with jballs on this one. The 90 degree spotdrill is the simplest way to handle this task.