Need Help!- Programming woes!!!!

[bunyanblueox]

hello there, I have a ajaxcnc retrofit mill, I am wanting to make a concave dish, but I don't know how to program it easily. Is there an easy way to program it?

[ajaxscott]

Hi Buny,

This is really a job for a CAD/CAM program but there are a couple of ways to do this in the conversational as well.

The simplest is to simply program an arc in the XZ or YZ plane and then use the "rotate" feature to rotate the original arc about it's center 180 degrees in 1 degree increments (or whatever increment you like). This won't do any roughing but it will mill the shape. You could use a couple of concentric circular pockets to do some roughing first if you like.

On to the CAD/CAM solution; I found Meshcam http://www.grzsoftware.com/std.php they offer a free 30 day demo. I've never used it but it seems pretty slick. I'd download Blender or a demo of Rhino, Turbocad etc.. etc.. to create the geometry and then use Meshcam to lay a toolpath on it.

If you provide further specifics of your geometry I could probably take some time to take Meshcam for a spin (you can't beat the price) and help you out at the same time.

Regards

Scott

[Grifftek]

Did you solve your programming problem? If Not I may be able to help you

Bill

email me at grifftek@grifftek.com