Ends for wood curtain rods

[johntwo]

Can anyone tell me if they are able to manufacture those end patterns needed for curtain rods with there shopbot? Also what program they use? I have insignia and an indexer but have no idea if any of them can do it.

[bill.young]

Hey John,

Are you are talking about the decorative knob-y things on the ends of the curtain rods themselves? If it's a turned profile shape like an acorn or something vase-ish you can do it using the "Carve the blank to a shape using a Part Wizard Profile" option in the Indexer Virtual tool. Instructions for using it are in a pdf file in the "C:\Program Files\ShopBot\Virtual Tools\Indexer" folder on your computer.

Bill

[johntwo]

I am not sure what you refer as acorn but yes it is the decorative vase-ish or many other styles)end of the rod, so i think it is the same thing. Thanks for the information, i will work through it. This link is similar to what i mean. http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/Products.aspx?DeptID=0&CatID=028370&Grptyp=SIZ&Ite mId=0fa4cea&CM_REF=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.jcpenney.com%2 Fproducts%2FC031426.jsp

[johntwo]

i looked at the pdf and word file under indexer. Based on information from it Bill would i need to install the part wizard programme or it is generated from the virtual tool file already? when i usually update my control box software it usually say something like unable to update part wizard. i think i might end up doing lathe work from scratch too now thanks.

[bill.young]

Hey John,

You're correct...to use the profile part of the Indexer Virtual tool you'll need to draw and toolpath your profile in Part Wizard ( probably Insignia or ArtCam Pro too though I'm not positive about them). Basically what the Indexer Tool does is take the Part Wizard toolpath that's on the XY plane and "flip" it up so that it's either in the XZ or YZ plane, depending on how your indexer is setup. It also breaks up any long straight sections into shorter ones so that they don't end up as long spiral.

Any software that will let you generate a toolpath from a profile in the XZ or YZ axis' will do what you want...Jim Loehman does some amazing things on his indexer using ArtCAM Pro and people say good things about RhinoCAM. Depending on the shapes you might also be able to do them without the indexer by standing them upright and cutting them like a regular 3d file.

Bill