Im burning brain cells by the thousands trying to figure this out!!

[dray]

How can I cut a 3d radius model and not raster it instead have it cut on the radius??

Is there any documentation on any prog available to do this?

I have artcam 8 and misc prog but I cant find a way to machine along the radius.

To think about it a different way. Is there a way to trick the shopbot into thinking that itself is round if that makes any sense.. Like if I could just tell my bot that your x,y, travel is now a radius instead of a cube raster?

If that makes any sense.

I can see making 10,000 radiuses toolpaths but thats just lame

Im trying to cut this but by following the radius




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[garyb]

Selected vector with offset strategy instead of raster

[dray]

I tried tat but I get this error

Well if the forum here worked the error would say..
"error: toolpath manager library
group to area clear contained no closed contours

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[tuck]

Jig saw.

[jhicks]

Danny, there are probably other ways to accomplish but you might creating a closed vector outline around the arch. Then do as Gary suggests.

[dray]

thx ill try that

[garyb]

Just close your vectors.

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[dray]

Thx guys!! I got it!!
Now if I can only figure out what the offset is referring to so that it doesnt circle from outside to inside or vice versa but instead just sweep back and forth then move fwd as it sweeps right to left then fwd etc. Heh I hope that makes sense lol

[fleinbach]

Danny,

The sweep from outside to inside or vise versa is realy not that big of a deal. You only lose the sweep at the ends of the piece and its not that hard to sand them out in that small area. But if you didn't even want it there you could just make your image slightly longer and discard the waaste when done.

[kfitz]

What is REALLY needed for radius moldings is a quick-change mini-molder head that is connected to a 4th axis. I envision it changing angle to keep it "perpendicular" as it sweeps the arc. Once that bit of hardware and programming was in place the only thing you would need is the molding cutters (blades) themselves and Bill Young's Trim Wizard.

One additional thought; would it be possible to distill molding cutter shape needs into a minimal "modular" system? In other words, is someone here smart enough (I think we all know the answer to that) to design, say, three cutters for the above imaginary mini-molding head, so that by varying offset and depth, those three can meet 80% of profile needs? Something to think about in the back rooms of ShopBot Labs.

[don_roy]

Danny,
You can do what yo want with Bill Youngs extruder program in the progect lab(free).
I've tried it and works great. I made a china cabinet with a similar arch. no problem. lol
Don

[lto]

Kevin,
It's already available!

Arch CNC;
click #1 on the diagram,
http://www.stegherr.net/us-englisch/frameset.html

[jhicks]

Nice to know about another arch profiler. Knew about US concepts and Micron but this is a new one to me. Don't forget Woodmaster also can run arches but not as sophisticated as the other 3. Not as expensive either so it works well on small runs. OOPs forgot William & Hussey is out there also.
In general, the above are ideally suited if one wants to run quick & easy with repetitive arch business but extruding is at least a nice option for one offs on the Bot.
Guess legacy can do also but last on my list for this type of work.

[kfitz]

I kind of figured mine wasn't an original idea, but then again, I'm saying that this should be an attachment for our beloved ShopBot, not a separate machine. I'm not familiar with Bill Young's Extruder. I'll check that out.

[rhfurniture]

Would this work?
They are happy to do it with a 16mm shank.

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[henrik_o]

Ralph, from which page in the Titman catalogue is that? Looking for it but can't seem to track it down.

[rhfurniture]

On the website it is 148
In my 02 catalog it is 160

[henrik_o]

Got it, thanks.

To me, that's an especially interesting item, since I have a supplier who makes custom cutters for that system for around $15 per pair, with 48h max delivery. Mail the cad drawing before lunch, and I usually have it in the mail the next day. Gotta love suppliers like that.