do I need multi axis for this? we don't have it yet but we are upgrading to multiaxis once our 5 axis has gets here by dec. also I have mc 2017 but im trying this in x9.

ill give it a try but im not sure what you mean by the intersection where the 2 threads meet. there is only one continuous thread but it goes straight then angles up about 30 deg then goes straight again.

I have a solid model that has a shape like a wine bottle od.along this shape there is a course "thread" along the entire length but stops short of both ends so cutting it on our lathe is out.i would like to set it up on our rotary in the has vertical and mill it in with a form ground endmill.I think all I need to do is follow the center of the helix without comp and just do depth cuts but I cant select any geometry in the center of the form.i can select an edge of the thread but that follows a strange contour and doesn't work out. any ideas on creating a line down the center of the helix and driving the tool directly on it wo comp? sorry I cant share the file.

we wound up cutting one and then advancing the compound to cut the other. it worked great. the class left happy! next week we cut the internal. the question came up about cutting a 3 lead thread in the manual and I said I would have to think about it. it might be a little hard to divide up the threads available on the manual into 3 .

ok we will try this tonite. I know already we can cut a even thread pitch by hitting any number or line and it will track down the same path.

wouldn't I have to leave a gap between the 2 wires on the bottom and then advance everything one thread to accurately measure each thread individually?

thanks but your saying it can be done without releasing the part from the chuck? lets say im going to cut a 1 inch 20 double lead thread.ill set it up to cut 10 threads per inch but what should I be hitting on the thread dial to alternate between the two?

we are tryin to cut one of these in class tonite and I was going to cut one to depth and then advance the toolpost one thread pitch to cut the other.one of the students read in an old book that you could just hit different cobinations of lines and numbers on the threading dial.anyone ever do this? our threading dial has 4 numbers and a line between each.

tonite in voc skool we are going to cut a 2 lead thread in a manual lathe. weve already done single lead and most of the class is pretty comfortable doing it. tonite I thought we would try a 2 lead thread.we have been measuring the pitch on the single lead thds with a thd pitch mic. can I still use this on the 2 lead thread? wont it go in one thread on the top and another on the bottom?

I have a job that requires a thread type toolpath driven along a chain of a couple of lines that change angles along the length.(sorry I cant share)is there a way to drive the tool along a chain that isn't straight?

ok im a little confused now. I ran the nci file through the nci filter c-hook and it reduced it by 97% but its still an nci file. how do I get it back to an nc file I can load in the machine?

thanks, I found the nci filter c-hook. I ran it and it reduced it quite a bit. now can I run this to get a visual in mc x9 or only on the cnc itself?

ive never done that. I just posted the nci file. can I do what you are saying in the cimco editor or is this done as a c-hook or something?

im trying to get a good continuous toolpath on a 3-d surface that is a little bit complicated. I tried surface finish flowline,contour,and blend. I can usually get something nice from one of these 3 but not this time so its back to wireframe and just 2 chains and a single line driven along both of them. this works great and looks perfect but there is no filter for creating arcs on the swept 3d page. I could smooth this out quite a bit by forcing arcs but it only outputs line segments. is there a way I could force arcs in areas where it can?

thanks, ive looked at these and there are many styles and sizes. is there one more widely used by you guys than others? I can get others as the jos arrive but is there one that is a good all around vice? this is mainly for first article prototypes and not production.

im looking into tooling for a 5 axis haas mill. besides the obvious holders and standard vices im aware of is there any special tools or fixtures I should be looking into? I see a lot of dovetail vices. should this be considered initially?

its ok though ....I found this out on the next to last part!

thanks , I could have just selected the solid edge feature of the hole but that was on a different level and turned off. the silhouette hole feature looked very round and in the right position but I wont trust that again! it was amazing how far off the circle centers were off on the geo it created!

I have a solid with a wavy top surface that would be difficult to get a 2d flat chain from to simply contour the outer profile. no problem ill just use silhouette boundry on a new level and be done with it.the part also has 3 holes on it that are .343 dia. which it also created geometry for. it created the boundry and it all looked great. I cut the od no problem and accurately.when I went to do the holes I just left that layer active and selected one of the arcs that the silhouetted boundry created.i thought it was a bit odd that it didn't select the whole arc just a part of it but from a top view it still looked quite round and the same size as the model. after making the part I notice the holes were out of location. a careful examination of the geometry the silhouette boundry created showed that it created several different size arcs with way different center points. I always select entity and arcs to define my drill points when possible. just something to look out for.

thanks. this is the kind of feedback I was looking for. we don't need to do anyhing screaming fast as we do single and small lot prototypes in my shop. we are all very familiar and comfortable with the haas control as we have several verticals here. I know what your saying about the construction of the machine though. I ran a haas horizontal for some time and did some pretty heavy work on it. we had to remove the way covers from around the table once only to find out there was a small haas rotary as the a axis!

we are looking into getting one of these in the near future. I know mc has a post for it. most of the videos ive seen on this machine (even on the haas site) don't utilize it at all to its potential.it seems they use it mainly for positioning and maybe chamfers at odd angles. we want to use it for simultaneous multi axis contouring. just curious if any of you guys had any feedback on this particular machine or how mc handles programming it on complex parts.

im machining more and more parts from our printer and im finding that it machines much like raw titanium in standard stock forms. one thing I am having trouble with is boring precision holes. I have brand new very expensive boring heads with titanium inserts but can not get any repeatability from them. I get holes that cut out of round and diameters that are very inconsistent from one part to another. at this point I have tried so many different things and parameters without any success that I have gone back to finishing these bores with an endmill and comping them to size.they are not round but within tol because I comp them a few tenths different in X and Y. I would like to think that the problems im having is directly related to the additive production process of these parts but I cant say without a doubt that it is. im just wondering if anyone else is encountering anything similar.

yes ....I just tried that and I have to exit rast to vect to delete the geometry.

pretty sure I tried that but still have to exit rast to vect to perform the task.

if I use anything but the spline option the geometry goes away when I want to try different settings. this is how I want it to work. if I use the spline option the geometry stays on the screen and I have to exit rast to vect,delete the geo,and then open rast to vect again . is there a way to get the geo to go away like the other convert options?