3D milling with a Fadal...I just aint getting it :(

[Joe sweep]

OK so I have I's and K's but does cutter comp take in the diameter of a ball endmill? I am manually trying to program a simple 180 degree contour around a ball and am banging my friggen head against a wall here. Do most of you guys use a expensive program like Mastercam? I am have 1/4 ball mill and am trying to go .050 deep and follow a .9375 radius starting at the top and going to one side..then I am starting at the top and going to another side. I am running a Fadal 88hs controller and have read the books but it isnt clicking.

Anyone out there help me?

[Mitsui Seiki]

You can try this.It's without comp .
Adjust speeds and feeds to your material.
%
O0000
(PROGRAM NAME - 09375-1)
(DATE=DD-MM-YY - 10-03-08 TIME=HH:MM - 23:29)
N100G20
N102G0G18G40G49G80G90
( 1/4 BALL ENDMILL TOOL - 1 DIA. OFF. - 1 LEN. - 1 DIA. - .25)
N104T1M6
N106G0G90G54X0.Y0.S5000M3
N108G43H1Z2.
N110Z1.0375
N112G1Z.9375F6.42
N114G2X-.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N116G0Z2.
N118X0.
N120Z1.0375
N122G1Z.9375F6.42
N124G3X.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N126G0Z2.
N128M5
N130G91G28Z0.
N132G28X0.Y0.
N134M30
%

[DareBee]

Do most of you guys use a expensive program like Mastercam?

I don't and won't.

I use VisualMill Pro (around 5g (now)).
They have versions of there CAM built into Alibre Xpert (1.5g) available as a Rhino plug-in (RhinoCam) and FREE (FreeMill).
Give FreeMill a go for what you are doing.

I have honestly never used cutter comp on my 88HS, I just change stock allowance in my CAM.

Maybe someday, someone (or me) will teach me how to use cutter comp but for making tooling (one offs) it is likely not all that necessary (5 years of CNC and never felt I needed it yet).

[Joe sweep]

You can try this.It's without comp .
Adjust speeds and feeds to your material.
%
O0000
(PROGRAM NAME - 09375-1)
(DATE=DD-MM-YY - 10-03-08 TIME=HH:MM - 23:29)
N100G20
N102G0G18G40G49G80G90
( 1/4 BALL ENDMILL TOOL - 1 DIA. OFF. - 1 LEN. - 1 DIA. - .25)
N104T1M6
N106G0G90G54X0.Y0.S5000M3
N108G43H1Z2.
N110Z1.0375 Dont we need a G18 somewhere?
N112G1Z.9375F6.42 OK so I am following the curve without any depth here?
N114G2X-.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N116G0Z2.
N118X0.
N120Z1.0375
N122G1Z.9375F6.42
N124G3X.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N126G0Z2.
N128M5
N130G91G28Z0.
N132G28X0.Y0.
N134M30
%

Ok so is G18 only used with cutter comp?

[Mitsui Seiki]

No,you always use G18 when your machining in the ZX plane (G17=XY and G19=YZ).

Here''s your G18.(RED)

%
O0000
(PROGRAM NAME - 09375-1)
(DATE=DD-MM-YY - 10-03-08 TIME=HH:MM - 23:29)
N100G20
N102G0G18G40G49G80G90
( 1/4 BALL ENDMILL TOOL - 1 DIA. OFF. - 1 LEN. - 1 DIA. - .25)
N104T1M6
N106G0G90G54X0.Y0.S5000M3
N108G43H1Z2.
N110Z1.0375
N112G1Z.9375F6.42
N114G2X-.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N116G0Z2.
N118X0.
N120Z1.0375
N122G1Z.9375F6.42
N124G3X.9375Z0.I0.K-.9375F16.
N126G0Z2.
N128M5
N130G91G28Z0.
N132G28X0.Y0.
N134M30
%

OK so I am following the curve without any depth here?

I thought you wanted the radius with the depth included.
If you want it 0.05 deep from the 0.9375 radius, you have to change the 0.9375 values to 0.8875.

[dpark1]

Do you have a dfx or print to look at?