setting chamfer tools

[mike cncmachine]

Hi Guys,

I have been trying to figre out the best way to set the offsets on chamfer tools. set the hight to the tip or the top of the chamfer, and diamter at the tip (if it has one) or the full diameter? any ideas?
Thanks

[christinandavid]

Have found the most logical way to be to set the length as any other tool and the radius as at the end of the tool. That way, the depth you sink into the part surface will approximately equal the chamfer length and only minor adjustments will be needed to compensate for tool form variations.

Plus, that is the way the latest Fanuc cycles work.

Some people prefer to avoid the issue and use no cutter comp, but that can be very tiresome when sizes/cutters are changed.

DP

[fizzissist]

A little graphical trig goes a very long way on this one. Since you'll want to vary where on the cutter you're chamfering...to get the most out of the tool's available cutting edge.....

Draw up a cross section of the cutter engaged making the desired chamfer.

Make up a chart, with several regions of the cutting edge engaged to the typical chamfer you'll be generating, trig out where the tool goes to depth (based on the bottom flat of the tool being Zero'd on the top of the part),,, and use the appropriate diameter offset and "plunge" depth to get your chamfer.

Once you see it graphically, it's easier to understand, and doing the math yourself will give the confidence you know what's going on.

Think of it as part of your learning curve.