rotary index aspire

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PATRICKCUES
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rotary index aspire

Post by PATRICKCUES »

Hello
I am very new to this. I am trying to figure how to cut a pocket and then automatically rotate the part and cut another pocket .. I custom build pool cues and this is for doing inlay work

Thank you in advance !

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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by 4DThinker »

I haven't found an easy way to do it using aspire, but if you can enter g-code commands in your controller software then all you need to do between cuts is type in G0A90, then re-zero A. Use whatever angle of rotation you want instead of 90. You could insert the line in your G-code file if your don't want to make separate file for each pocket.

Vectric's software could benefit from a clever way to drop in A axis command within regular XYZ post processor file. JMHO

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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by Leo »

It sounds like you want to rotate to a particular rotation angle, then use X & Y & Z to cut a pocket. That is a perfectly normal process using a rotary axis.
IF - your controller has a separate drive for the "A" or rotary axis - then you can do it.

Normally in the world we are in here the rotary axis is used with what is called axis swapping. That means unplugging one of your axis motions - say "X" and plugging in the rotary axis. That way all you "X" axis commands will go to the rotary. You will not have "X" per se to work with.

I suppose you "could" do it with the wrapping feature and a flat bottom end mill, but that is a little bit odd, at least to me.
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IslaWW
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by IslaWW »

4D..
There is, using the drilling toolpath and tool notes variable as a rotation tool. I will be demoing this process at Jim McGrew's in a month or so.

Leo...
Very few of current controllers require an axis swap these days. This was prevalent with most Mach machines on a parallel with limited axes support. Now most can accommodate 6 simultaneously.
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by 4DThinker »

IslaWW wrote:4D.. There is, using the drilling toolpath and tool notes variable as a rotation tool.
You must either be a magician, or have a different version of Aspire than I do. All I can get the drilling toolpath to do is a plunge pass at the center of any vectors selected. It won't make rectangular or odd shaped vector pockets in my version. Looking forward to you revealing this trick here some time in the future perhaps. ;)

4D

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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by Leo »

IslaWW wrote:4D..
There is, using the drilling toolpath and tool notes variable as a rotation tool. I will be demoing this process at Jim McGrew's in a month or so.

Leo...
Very few of current controllers require an axis swap these days. This was prevalent with most Mach machines on a parallel with limited axes support. Now most can accommodate 6 simultaneously.
Are you saying that most machines today are manufactured WITH the drivers for a rotary axis? That would require the stepper drivers to be installed in the control cabinet. Even on industrial machines that is an add on. When I bought my machine I had to request it and pay extra to have it installed. Mach3 does in fact handle the 4-th axis. I guess I am just missing something.
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IslaWW
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by IslaWW »

Leo...
Almost... Of course they are options, but even my REZurrection control boxes are setup and predrilled for up to 6 drives, as are most commercial and hobby products out there.

4D...
No magician, just a hack. I am at O'Hare, on my way home from a 2 day training. I will be posting something regarding this process after we see what is in Vectric's "bag o rotary tricks" at the end of next month.
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PATRICKCUES
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by PATRICKCUES »

I searched every option I can find and it isn't there . I would think this would be a easy fix for vectric. I am sure that I am not the only one needing indexing. Hopefully they will put a patch in for this soon.

If someone has a fix for this please post it here.

Thank you all in advance.

Doug Patrick
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IslaWW
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by IslaWW »

Doug...
There is some clarification needed and I can answer your question.

Are you looking to cut a pocket in XYZ without the rotary turning, then rotate the blank, similar to what might be done on a stair newell post?
Vectric does not support rotary rotation from within the program currently. You will have to cut a pocket and enter the code via the keyboard to rotate the blank.

Or are you pocketing shapes on a cue blank as the female for an inlay?
This action is supported. Simply place as many copies of the pocket vectors on your tapered blank model as required and cut away.
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by 4DThinker »

Cutting an XYZ pocket was what I assumed he needed, then rotating (A axis move) to a new position do another XYZ pocket. That's what I have done many time before but not automatically in one tool path file. Cut one XYZ pocket. Issue an A move in linuxCNC, then load a second XYZ file (unless the pocket is the same) to cut the next pocket.

PATRICKCUES
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by PATRICKCUES »

Yes I am cutting a pocket into x y z and looking to automatically rotate . I am using a Laguna IQ cnc. It also runs off of the hand held controller I can rotate manually after each cut. Now I know hectic doesn't support this. Maybe they will do something about this. So far I haven't been able to load my Laguna processor into Gibbs cam or i could use this program to post 4th axis movement .

Hopefully vectric will make a gadget for this .

Thank you for all your input.

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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by IslaWW »

With a pendant controller and no keyboard for input of exact rotary position your easiest option may be to take the file that has the pocket code and add this to the end, right before the file ends: Where the rotation increment for each pocket would be {360 / number of pockets}...

I'll assume 4, or 90 degrees of rotation. I also assume the rotary was at zero degrees at the start

G0 B(rotary axis) 90
G92 Z0

That was one option

The other would be
G91 G0 B90
G92 B0
G90

Which would rotate 90* (positive) from where ever it happens to be.
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by randyr »

What I have done is taken the Aspire supplied Post Processor for Mach3 rotary and modified it to add indexing capabilities. What it does is encapsulate the generated gcode into a subroutine, and then add some code that calls that subroutine a specific number of times, automatically advancing the rotary axis each time, based on an indexing variable. I have attached the post-processor. Note that it is specifically for my system, a Kflop based controller that uses KmotionCNC. But for the most part, the Mach3 post processors work for KmotionCNC with just a slight change. You will see in the generated code that there are two variables. One controls the rotary indexing, and another a repeat count. Normally that will stay 1 but sometimes I like to repeat a cut...like when using a v-bit....the second cut cleans it up a bit, particularly in some woods....like african blackwood.

randy
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Kmotion_Wrap_Y2A_index.pp
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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by randyr »

Even though the PP that I changed was the one for rotary axis swapping, you could make an indexing pp version of the standard pp as well...which would probably be better for the inlay work the original poster is doing.

Rr

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Re: rotary index aspire

Post by Wayne Locke »

Maybe i am not understanding your query because it seems to be a basic wrapping job. You set it up with the "Wrapped Job Setup" in the Gadgets menu. Whether straight or spiraled you can do anything in the delineated area. Here are two examples of inlays on a tapered shaft in this case a college ceremonial mace.

The first is a spiraled representation of the Rio Grande with brass banks and a resin river. followed by the Aspire window and wrapped rendering.
FullLower.jpg
RiverShaft.jpeg
The second is an array of representations of turtles which were cut with a 1/16" bit. First a pic of the piece then Aspire with a flat rendering and then the wrapped rendering.
TurtleInlays.jpg
FlatTurtles.jpeg
RoundTurtles.jpeg
Note that there is some distortion of the turtles where the handle narrows.

The wrapping is not as straightforward as the rest of Aspire but is a powerful feature as it is none the less. Like Gary I anxiously await Vectric's improvements. Do the wrapped tutorials to get started.

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