Tube/pipe coping or notching

[mckoz]

I can't seem to find the right topic, so my apologies if this has been answered.  I'm finishing up a Mach 3 machine with three axis plus a rotary table that mounts in either vertical or horizontal orientations, and I'd like to know if there is a plugin or relatively simple method to program in various tube / pipe fitting cuts.   It could be done with an end mill similar to the way RMD does it with their manual TN-800, or with a profile cut using a small mill or plasma torch with the pipe rotating. 

Cheers

[BR549]

GO to the CandCNC website and look at their 4th axis plugin. It does what you need I believe.

(;-)TP

[Cartierusm]

I don't know if there's s a simple way to do it, i just checked out the CandCNC website out of curiousity and couldn't find the plug in.

Anyway, what do you use for CAD/CAM? What I use is Rhino and RhinoCAM and what I do is draw the part and the thing it's going to go to and then slice the tube from the other part to create a tube miter, then I use Curve>Duplicate Edge and that gives me a line that is the shape of the miter, then I use the 4th Axis engrave option to follow that line.

NOW I've never actually cut a tube miter this way YET, but will be later this week and this seems as though it might work.

[mckoz]

I looked at their website as well and didn't see the plugin.  I use Solidworks, but haven't picked a cam program yet, still undecided.  Very interested to hear how your miter works, but designing the cutout inside of Mach3 would make fabrication of racing frames much easier than drawing each one.  I found an interesting program called http://digitalpipefitter.com/ , and if it worked with Mach3 (it doesn't), it looks ideal.

[BR549]

MY BAD it is called rotary plasma, But it appears to be for HIS products only. But you may want to ask Tom anyway.

Sorry.   I saw several others in the past that may work I will look them up.

(;-) TP

[BR549]

Digital pipefitter >>> outputs in DXF >>>>>> import into Cad and clean up the drawing>>>>>>import into Sheetcam to convert to Gcode >>>>>>

Into CNCwrapper to convert to 4th axis Gcode.

Kinda long winded BUT it works, (;-) TP

[mckoz]

Whew!  Considering all the different ad hoc cuts you have to make during fab, that would be a large body of work.  Well, if no one else has any other ideas, I'll contact the guy at digitalpipefitting and see if he'd be interested in doing a plugin/screen set for Mach 3 - I don't think I'm the only one who could use this, especially for more exotic materials where a hole saw type cutter won't work.

[BR549]

Digital pipefitter does not output Gcode(;-)It only does prints and DXF drawings. What type of exotic materials are we talking about???

(;-)TP

[mckoz]

Chrome moly, titanium, thin wall mild steel, some types of aluminum alloys; they all get hosed up or don't work at all with a hole saw type coper/notcher.  Sometimes you have very long copes due to curves and small angles between tubes, and even with the right material and the right holesaw, I'll have more than 10" of travel to get the coping right. 

[BR549]

OK we have done the the same here except I use a carbide tipped boring mill to do the cutting on the hard stuff.

Plasma WILL make it a lot easier but requires some cleanup.

(;-) TP