Need Help!- Radial Slots around a circle

[lamina]

Hi, I have been tearing what remains of my hair out trying to figure out how to code my CNC machine (which runs Mach 3) to produce radial slots 2mm deep at 36 degree intervals in a disk 9mm in diameter. I am sure there is a way to do this but for the life of me I can't figure it out. The disks are made from 18 carat gold so I can't afford too many mistakes :-)
Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Regards
Richard

[ProProcess]

I'm not familiar with that control, how is your knowledge of Trig?
You just need to interpolate along a 10° line.
Another way would be if the control has a Bolt Hole Circle Helper, you could do 2 bolt hole patterns.
One for the starting (close to center) location and one for the ending (away from center) location and interplolate between them.
HTH.
Good luck

[angelw]

Originally Posted by lamina Hi, I have been tearing what remains of my hair out trying to figure out how to code my CNC machine (which runs Mach 3) to produce radial slots 2mm deep at 36 degree intervals in a disk 9mm in diameter. I am sure there is a way to do this but for the life of me I can't figure it out. The disks are made from 18 carat gold so I can't afford too many mistakes :-) Any suggestions would be much appreciated Regards Richard

A drawing would be handy to ensure a correct understanding of what you require, however, I assume you mean radial slots as in the spokes of a wheel. That being the case, and if the slots start or finish at the center of the disk, then the following is the solution.
1, X coordinate = Cos(angle) x disk radius
2. Y coordinate = Sin(angle) x disk radius
3. The angle used in the calculation for each successive slot end point is simply increased by 36degs, ie 0, 36, 72, 108 etc. The sign (+ or -) of the coordinate will also result from the calculation.
4. If the slots go to the center, then 5 diagonal slots can be cut using two opposing end point coordinates as the start and end point of the slot being cut.
5. Use a radius in the calculation that will allow the cut to finish off of the disk if the slots are to go to the circumference of the disk.

Regards,

Bill

[Maxter]

Richard,
I had a similar but more complex program that I made in the past for an Okuma VMC. My disc was 10 inches in dia and .250 thick. I needed to machine 4 sets of .390 long x .062 wide slots through the plate. I used a Center drill & drill to drill out the inner and outer points of the slots then milled them with the program code below. The end mill had a .025 depth of cut which meant it did 10 passes per slot x 90 total slots.

The local variables were: SA= start angle
CV= # of slots
BI= inner point
BO= outer point
AI= angle index

If I needed to restart where I left off I turned on block ship and then started the program on line N91. I hope this example program helps you.
--------------------- Partial Pgm below -------------------------------

N91(T91 .062 1/16 4F CARB E.M.)
T81M6
M1
/3M8
G0X0Y0Z1S6000M3
NN1 CALL OSLOT SA=30 CV=6 BI=.0905 BO=.4805 AI=60
NN2 CALL OSLOT SA=15 CV=12 BI=.471 BO=.861 AI=30
NN3 CALL OSLOT SA=7.5 CV=24 BI=.9035 BO=1.2935 AI=15
NN4 CALL OSLOT SA=0 CV=48 BI=1.4435 BO=1.8335 AI=7.5
Y20Z20
M2
OSLOT
/VC1=1 VC2=CV VC5=.05
NQ0 IF[VC1 GT VC2]NQ9
VC6=[SA-AI]+[VC1*AI]
VC3=BI*COS[VC6] VC13=BO*COS[VC6]
VC4=BI*SIN[VC6] VC14=BO*SIN[VC6]
G0X=VC3Y=VC4
Z.05
NQ1 G1Z-VC5F.002
X=VC13Y=VC14
VC5=VC5+.025
Z-VC5
X=VC3Y=VC4
VC5=VC5+.025
IF[VC5 GT .25]NQ8
GOTO NQ1
NQ8 Z0 F.02 VC5=.025
G0Z.05
VC1=VC1+1
GOTO NQ0
NQ9 G0Z1M9
RTS
EDITS AS OF 07/01/97

[dpuch]

Or lust program in polar coordinates
CNC Mach3 G-Codes