OK , I see what you are saying. By making a new toolpath for a new fixed rotation position, XY and Z would then take advantage of the revealed undercut areas and cut them out. One new manually created toolpath for each new rotation.
But as far as Visual Mill software and other similar, they don't have the smarts to get to the undercut areas. Am I right on this? They always point the tool right at the 'A' rotation axis, limiting the reach.
What software ( very expensive ? ) goes further ?
Thanks!
-Les
Originally Posted by Carver You can use the rotary axis as a positioning function and machine in any region in the entire model you would like. This would make the under cuts you need. You can also accomplish this by simply rotating your model and workpiece the same amount and generating typical 3 axis path limiting your machining regions to the areas requied. I do this daily and it works fine. A typical indexing head works without having to have an active fourth axis on your machine.
Good luck, Phill |