4th Axis machining

[R.DesJardin]

I ran a part using SprutCam's true 4th axis machining today. What I didn't know was the difference in feed rates from conventional x-y machining. I changed the rotational feed rates to 60ipm to get the right feed for what I was doing.
Oh yeah the part is perfect.

[MichaelHenry]

Congrats - care to share a picture?

Mike

[saabaero]

How many axes simultaneous did you run?

I'm guessing the high feed rate was due to the gear ratio of the rotary table. Do you know what it is? I see the Tormach rotary tables have a ratio of 90:1 whereas most that I see at machinery supplies are 72:1.

What is your max. speed for the rotary table?

I'd love to see a photo of the part you machined also.

[Cairns]

I ran into this a couple of weeks ago. In Mach there is an option to set the radius of the part being machined. Just below the A axis readout to the left of the Machine Coords button there is a spot to enter "A Correction radius", just set this to the radius of the part being turned and then be sure to set your feed back to something appropriate.

[Freddy Bastard]

Here's another 4th axis project... It's a custom winch drum. It roll two cables at a calculated pitch. Done in aluminium, then anodyzed.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32648353@N03/3229182020/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32648353@N03/3229182000/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32648353@N03/3229182030/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/32648353@N03/3229182026/

[R.DesJardin]

Thanks for the feedrate tip. I've only had my Tormach since Dec. so I'm learning all the time.

[philbur]

IIRC the max speed is 5 rpm on the 8". I think a 90:1 ratio is quite common on 6" - 8" rotary tables.

Phil

Originally Posted by saabaero How many axes simultaneous did you run? I'm guessing the high feed rate was due to the gear ratio of the rotary table. Do you know what it is? I see the Tormach rotary tables have a ratio of 90:1 whereas most that I see at machinery supplies are 72:1. What is your max. speed for the rotary table? I'd love to see a photo of the part you machined also.

[justgary]

I haven't quite broken the code on SprutCAM's 4th axis yet. I can get simple Y-Z or X-Z action by inverting the facets on the model page and other fun stuff, but I gather from other websites that I need to set up a local coordinate system. Unfortunately, how to do that is not readily apparent.

My next project would be much easier if I could coax SprutCAM into true fourth axis behavior. Anybody got any tips (other than to send me to the subscription forum)? For some reason people tend to keep this a secret like an old family recipe.

You can tell me. I won't leak your secret.

Regards,

- Just Gary

[David Bord]

Gary,

Contact Dave on the sprutcam forum(SprutUK screen name). He offers consulting and instructional videos on a monthly basis. If anyone can help you, he's the guys! He really really knows his stuff and great guy to boot.

I think you can get some help for as little as $40 a month.

David

[justgary]

David -

Thanks for the reply. I suspected before I asked that it would be the only answer I got. Dave's site does not directly have the information available, and I'm not sure I agree with the business model that Dave has. The fact that Tormach supports it does not make it good.

Dave and Tormach are distributors for a product that has a poorly written manual. While I don't think that Dave should answer every question for free, things that are advertised as a capability but not documented in the manual are a poor excuse for charging for "support." As a distributor, I think that he and Tormach are hurting themselves and the product by not helping to augment the manual. Sales might improve if people knew how to use the product.

If I read the manual and can't figure it out, then by all means, I'll pay for support. In this case, though, it is clearly not in the manual, but is definitely advertised as a capability.

I thought that the purpose of this site was to help each other with troubles. I know I asked this question under the Tormach forum, but I figured that it's pretty much the same people, and I would definitely get that answer on the SprutCAM forum.

Since the answer to every question about SprutCAM is now, "give Dave money," perhaps we should just ask the moderators to close the SprutCAM forum. We could then just browbeat anyone who dares to ask a SprutCAM question on any other forum.

I'm not always right, but I try to answer questions on this and other forums as I can. Perhaps I should ask for money too. You can see where the concept of open forums will go when the only answer is "go pay your distributor for the answer."

Anyone care to answer the question? Thank you very much in advance for your time.

Regards,

- Just Gary

[RTP_Burnsville]

justgary,

I just went through similar issues with corrdinates so maybe I can help a little. Take a look at what I believe is called 'Transforms' it shows up as a command button in the 3D model mode when the drawing has the focus.

I needed to use the zero tab of this function to shift the coordinates of a DXF file I had imported. Before shifting the coordinate system my generated G-Code had an offset based on what the original DXF file contained as a location between it's zero and where I wanted the part zero to be. Several long days of frustration in figuring this one out!

I agree the support is lacking for SprutCam (however Dave and been helpful and answered a couple of my newbee questions.) A $1500.00 program should have some limited support or as you say much better examples. It was also a surprise that everything was a download unknown to me at time of purchase.(thanks to a local coffee house WI-Fi link or I would still be attempting a modem download). I also don't get why the program updates are not posted somewhere so we can all get and use them. After all it's apparent that we the users are actually beta testers.

I do like the program now that I have been able to cut a few simple parts. However, the learning curve has been very steep. I feel for those that have limited computer and software knowledge it must be close to impossible to figure anything out!

A tip on the manual.... if you reverse some of the words in sentences which appear to have no meaning it will help big time. I asked a couple Russian guys that work here about their language and was told that they do not a defined structure in the form of subject, verb as we do. When I mentioned that by reversing the words things became clear he was not surprised by my finding. People laugh at me when I tell them, but try it as it helped me.

Oh by the way, no charge for the babbling....
Robert

[philbur]

Sorry I can't help you with your problem, only commiserate.

I've been waiting more than a year for Sprutcam to clearly demonstrate that it will do what they imply on their web-site with respect to 4th axis capability.

The last time I when through the Sprutcam web-site it was clear they were dodging the issue. I began to think, well maybe it really is that difficult to describe exactly what is possible when there are so many alternatives on how to run the 4th axis, so I found an upmarket Cam package with claimed “full” 4th axis capability. The definition of what it could do was as clear as day. So I believe Sprutcam are exploiting the hobbyists lack of experience in order to sell their software by generating customer confusion. Not an uncommon ploy I think.

Phil

Originally Posted by justgary David - Thanks for the reply. I suspected before I asked that it would be the only answer I got. Dave's site does not directly have the information available, and I'm not sure I agree with the business model that Dave has. The fact that Tormach supports it does not make it good. Dave and Tormach are distributors for a product that has a poorly written manual. While I don't think that Dave should answer every question for free, things that are advertised as a capability but not documented in the manual are a poor excuse for charging for "support." As a distributor, I think that he and Tormach are hurting themselves and the product by not helping to augment the manual. Sales might improve if people knew how to use the product. If I read the manual and can't figure it out, then by all means, I'll pay for support. In this case, though, it is clearly not in the manual, but is definitely advertised as a capability. I thought that the purpose of this site was to help each other with troubles. I know I asked this question under the Tormach forum, but I figured that it's pretty much the same people, and I would definitely get that answer on the SprutCAM forum. Since the answer to every question about SprutCAM is now, "give Dave money," perhaps we should just ask the moderators to close the SprutCAM forum. We could then just browbeat anyone who dares to ask a SprutCAM question on any other forum. I'm not always right, but I try to answer questions on this and other forums as I can. Perhaps I should ask for money too. You can see where the concept of open forums will go when the only answer is "go pay your distributor for the answer." Anyone care to answer the question? Thank you very much in advance for your time. Regards, - Just Gary