Robert, That is similar except the sweep is a full 360. I can get arcs as well with flowline but not with waterline or scallop in the HSTs. I should be able to get arcs in the xy-plane with waterline as in good ole flowline. If I can't get it by the time comes to cut it, I'll use flowline. Otherwise I would like to use waterline ideally. Thanks for all the input guys. You're the best.

I opened up arc tol and it did nothing.

Basically i am cutting half of the inside of a sphere. Trying a few different paths like waterline and scallop, I can't get arc output. I have tried changing my tols to no avail. Any suggestions? Basic 3 axis mill using 3/4 ball. Ø approx 8in. Thanks

Heck, we have 30 year old Hurcos making chips everyday.

Great info guys. Thanks for sharing. Chris, Can the column A be frozen like in Excel? That way it stays visible as you scroll across. Thanks again.

^^^Hmmmmmmmm......

SOUTH PAWS UNITE!!!

Yes, I have learned to be ambidextrous in a lot of things in my life.

quote: 62 rc d-2 is hard as f**k quote: jeff, thats what it says in the machinery handbook.Yup, it's right next to "Nat's A$$" and "Dead Nuts".

quote: I don't see any way a lefty could use this thing.Yup, we always get the shaft.

You will need to start off with the parameter prvided by the tool manufacturer. No different than traditional SFM and FPT. By inputting the slot width (gives radW) and the tool dia, you can optmize w for the best cut in the fastest time. I am interested in looking into the kr-theta. obviously if theta is to large you get chatter and vibration. I would like to know what kr is and some baseline stats for optima theta.

What is it you want to know about it? Are you trying to use it to est machining times, calc ACT...?

^^^No, problem! That will be $1/mile both ways and I'll be there in about 8 hours.

What toolpath are you trying to use? If you are roughing with an HST, use smoothing.

Shoot me the file and I'll take a look at it. The network our machines are on is down. I got the time.

update Well, I cut a straight slot 1.050 deep (thru) in 6061 using dynamic mill set at: 10k (max) 200 ipm 10% WOC 20% Toolpath Radius I used a 1/4in 3 flute micrograin carbide EM with 1.250in LOC. It cut okay. Got the material out in about a minute and didn't chatter as bad as I thought it would. Even though I had 200IPM grammed the control only showed about 13IPM. I know it never reached 200, but it was definitely well ver 13. The slot geo is .406in wide and I left .010 stock on walls (.386in). It came out to be .366in.

I got sidetracked with training someone on one of our T-beds and haven't cut anything yet. Hope to cut it this week though. Jay, It is not an open slot, so I did not use peel mill. Keith, I've done depth cuts before, I just wanted to try cutting full depth.

I will cut some feestock in the morning to test it out. Thx

I am running a large Monarch VMC175B mill with a Fanuc 15-M control and 10k spindle. I have 76" in X and 36" in Y (big table). I will be slotting through 1" thick 6061. The slot is about .400" wide and is "C" shaped. I would like to use Dynamic Mill to cut them out using a 3 flute EM with 1.250" loc. Looking at previous threads I am guessing I should be starting @: 10k (max) 200 ipm 25% WOC ??? Toolpath Radius My question do these numbers sound good and are they attainable? I don't think the machine will reach full ipm in the cut because the width is narrow (accel/deccel). Should I lower the rpm to achieve higher consistant chipload? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

We do all one-off with our wires here, no production. 3R fixtures have really helped reduce our setup time.

quote: as supervisor, I need to know all our cam systems ... SSSSHHHHHHHHH..... Talk like that will get you fired here. They think anybody can run a shop here. You don't even need to know the difference between a drill and end mill, literally.

That works great in a lot of cases (cutting a part right now that way). Just be careful. It extends tangent to the surf. If it is curved, it will not follow the curve where extending the surg does. HTH

Use plane rotate. Create a plane with the origin where you want it or edit an existing planes origin and select it. Then use plane rotate and it will make a copy of your current plane where you want it. HTH

You can also create a surface from solid face and extend the surface whatever you want.

Very cool. Unfortunately, my station is offline.