Messages

1

General Mach Discussion / Re: need help to output commands to coordinate just theta and x axis

« on: April 04, 2013, 12:30:49 PM »

Thanks for the reply.  So you believe that this is something that the CAM software should be capable of doing.  I could go into, say, Bobcad Cam and set a few options and it would generate the correct code?

2

General Mach Discussion / need help to output commands to coordinate just theta and x axis

« on: April 04, 2013, 11:48:27 AM »

How do you program the cutting of a shape (star, gear, etc.) using just a circular axis (theta) and a linear axis (either x or y)? A simple example would be if I had a five pointed star and I want to trace the star's outline by rotating it and having a pen attached to the linear axis follow just the edge. I want to be able to use a .dxf file of the shape and run that through a cam program and output the commands to the two axis.
I want to use a hot wire on the linear axis to cut a foam gear on the circular axis. This is why I can't just use x and y axis to cut the shape. The lower arm holding the element will collide with the work holding device. That is why I need the chuck to rotate and the linear axis to move in and out and the two to be coordinated. In the past I have done this with a series of point to point moves for example when theta = 0 degrees, x = 2.0; when theta = 1 degree, x= 2.15, etc. The finer the moves the smoother the cut. This makes for a lot of code writing and thus my interest in some way to convert a .dxf file into the cutting path.