It should be very easy. You want to use the Solids > Sweep function. Create your geometry on a flat plane, the use Create > Helix to define an upward helix using the length and amount of rotation you want. Finding the proper place to put the helix to get the results you want in the tricky part. Extrude the geometry using the helix as the "along" chain. You might get some funky krinkling on the top or bottom (I don't know why) so I would suggest making the helix twice as long as you need, the trimming the solid to the length you want:

 

Capture.JPG

that's pretty cool right there.   Never needed to try that but maybe some day. 

Done that too. :laughing: :laughing:

Yea, me....   But it didn't crash,  so its all good.

This thread makes me nervous to hit that green button!    

      Have someone else push it.    

One of my favorite Ron Branch quotes:   You cant step over dollars to pick up pennies.      Penny wise, dollar dumb.    

Doesn't apply to what Bobs talking about,  I just like the saying.

Using lathe with no stock model? The OP has no right programming. How reckless...

It takes 2.5 seconds to set up stock and makes life so much easier.    It also gives the best roughing passes because Mastercam knows where to cut and where not to.   Pointless not to use it.    I guess we just have no imagination. 

It should be perfectly legal to throw rocks at people like that.

Ouch!!!!!!

 there seems to be craft beer coming out of every faucet.  

Pretty awesome - the people are great and I absolutely can't argue with the products. Lot of machining goes on in the tooling dept. and I've got kind of a blank slate with regards to robotics. It's a big company with a lot of aspects of a small company. 

 

The weather, haha yeah I'm glad I came in the 'winter'. I might die come summer but right now I'm loving it. 

 

I'll come back to the off-topic soon, I'm just behaving as a regular user rather than abusing my once magical admin powers. 

Summer in San Diego is not bad,   always have a breeze off the water.    Glad it's working out for you.

Hows the new gig Tyler?   You adjusting to the weather down here?

Ive said it before and I will say it again. I wish this tool was also available in mill.   But it fell on deaf ears last time so I don't expect much.

Holy cow I never knew about that! Wow, that's going to help out a lot going forward!

Learn somthin new every day huh.   

I see what you're saying.

I've only played with stock preview a couple times, sounds like I could get some use out it as well.

going to play with that now.

 

Huge time saver.    One of my favorite tools. 

Say you rough turn a part, then send it to heat treat, and then finish turn.  If you do it all in the same machine group you have tool list issues with your roughing and finishing tools jumbled together, but if you use another machine group for after heat treat there doesn't seem to be a good way to transfer the stock to the second group.  Any easy answers?

I always use a separate file for rouging and finishing.  Less confusion...    With the stock,  try the lathe stock preview.   And save that into the finishing file.

Works great!!!!

Wonder where you an idea like that from. :scooter:

The CRAZY MILL GUY that trained me a few years back.     

I don't like the face t/p.   I use regular roughing and change the direction of the cut in the rough direction/angle drop down.  

As far as the stock,   I always draw my stock for the first operation, I use stock revolve then lathe stock preview after I finish the first operation and use it for the next operation and repeat.   

 (you can check your version by going to the "help" dropdown and selecting "about" and the version is in the upper left)

 

 

You can also hit ALT V

Good information, but now the bottom of your screen becomes very cluttered and with the way the names get chopped off would make a lot of the work I do a nightmare.

Correct me if I'm wrong Ron,   but aren't all the jobs you do a nightmare?  Nothing you do is easy.   

. V&M in Brea still has some hones that can broach almost 4 foot in one stroke.

 

.

Why does that name sound so familiar?  

Now that's funny weather you meant to do it or not.

Well then,  lets say it was on purpose then.  

I hired a guy last year, supposedly a top gun multiaxis lathe guy.

On his first day I gave him a proven X7 VTL file and asked him to port it over to our Okuma VTM and add the milling tool paths.

The next day I saw he was struggling and tried to help.

When I told him to open the Level Manager he said "What's that?"

At that point I knew things were not going to end well.

Heck G,   I coulda lied to you and taken that job too.   

Trust me when I tell you I have seen it

 

Multiple OPs in one file all tossed on 1 level

LOL.    When I went to school for Matercam,    it was the first thing they went over.   I guess some people don't mind punishing themselves.  

How in the world can you even use Mastercam without it?  I mean, unless you are just using wireframe to do simple single tool paths.   Making a multi operation program with lots of tools would be a huge P.I.T.A. without levels. 

About an hour.

58 minutes.    It always takes fish longer. 

There was a webinar on Friday with some good info for you.  Here is the link for a replay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tEmIaGOFeI&feature=youtu.be