I'm new to Mach3 Mill and would like to know if there is a wizard available to mill a hex bolt? I restore old motorcycles and some of the bolts which are non-standard need to be made. Should I modify a bolt circle program?

Joe

Bolt circle wouldn't work good it's Gcode is like a compus with arc from center point. If you have cad program a simple hex with the offset for the size you need will do.
Ther are nut and bolt libraries available for cad also.

Good luck
Steve

Thanks, Steve, but I don't have a cad/cam program and was hoping there was a Mach3 wizard out there.

There is a shapes wizard in Mach that does polygons and you select the number of sides but seems confusing to use. Might be able to dig something out of it.
Has other shapes too.

Steve

The Mach3 Shapes wizard will do the bolt head but setting up that wizard will take a little practice.  

Tweakie.

(Steve beat me to it  )

Tweakie and Steve

Many thanks for the Shapes suggestion. I pulled it up and will start messing around with it. Looks like it will fit the bill once I smash a few end mills against the stock......

once I smash a few end mills against the stock......

 

Tweakie.

Joe,
Take a look at CamBam for like $150.  Life is too short to manually write G-Code.  I've written tons of G-Code by hand years ago. Damn I'd have given the thumb on my right hand for a simple program like this back then!  I am of course left handed.

the freebie shapes wizard is the way to go, just, you may have to research bolt hex size standards, as the wizard measures from point to point, not across the flats. took me a few goes to get a good 13mm size nut, and now i realise that a plain tommy bar was better for the job(toolpost)


theres a few alternate methods, all involving not much really.

you could do some maths and use the bolt circle wizard, modified slightly with notepad.all my experiences with bolt pattern say it doesnt make arc moves, it makes definite straight line interpolated moves from one point to the next. it calculates the coordinates.  "Create arc" and "circle pocket" are making arc moves. 

with a rotary table, you could use a simple Z to depth, X to face, (or whatever suits the machines capabilities....) retract, return, index, repeat ad nauseum. get to use one of those m98(or g98?) sub routine thingies run the table in any old orientation, A,B, or C

could use an endmill, could use two saws and a spacer on an arbour, centralising spacer on centreline,this making for only 3 rotations, um...

could even pull it of on the lathe if you can mount an appropriate nut to the screw and turn it 1:1 with the spindle,cam driving the slide... nut size determined by depth of cross feed...

could even use the spline wizard with a rotary table just a really wide tool. dont tell it that but! the computer says no