Tapered Column with VCarvePro

[Rcnewcomb]

Here is a trick for making a tapered column in V-Carve Pro...

Use the Fluting Layout Gadget and give it a large number of lines (For a 3.5" diameter column and a 1" ballnose use 110 lines)
Use the Fluting toolpath
For Flute Type choose Ramp Over Complete Length
For Ramp Type choose Linear for a straight taper or Smooth for a curved taper
For Flute Depth enter half the amount that you want the diameter to change by (remember that it is getting machined on "both" sides of the column) Example: if the column is 3.5" in diameter and you want it to taper down to 2.5" in diameter then (3.5-2.5)/2 = 0.5
Try previewing the results using both the isometric and X axis views. Try checking and unchecking the toolpath preview.

Now, where the I come up with 110 for the number of lines? When doing 3D work, a stepover of 10% (or smaller) works well. If I'm using a 1" ballnose bit then a 10% stepover would be 0.1". If I divide the width of the material by the stepover I get the number of lines.
(Material Width)/(Bit Stepover)=Lines
(10.9956/0.1)=110

->Video on the Web

[larrybadgett]

Everything looks more like Aspire versus VCarve Pro

[cabnet636]

excellent randall!! larry the functions of aspire and vcp are the same with the exception of the 3d functions and tool paths.

jim

[Rcnewcomb]

Larry,
You are correct that I was running the video demonstration in Aspire, but the technique works for Vcarve too. I was not using any of the Aspire features.

[DavidCousins]

Randall
Nice video. A perfect tutorial for the VcarvePro users.
Dave