For discussing the merits of alternative 3D CAD programs.

Demo of processing the collet through ECam to generate gcode.

Without any form of commentary, it was more like a conjurer pulling rabbits from a hat.

Mrs Blowlamp had the telly on when I made it.

I'll make a Director's Cut for you when the noise dies down.

I have not really looked into CAM and CNC much as I don't have the machines to use it but that does look quite an easy way to get the part machined rather than writing G-Code that I seem to read about a lot on here. There is no way I could understand that list at the end but I could get a good idea of what you were doing on the screen.

Jason.

All CAM apps use a thing called a 'post processor' and all that does is ensure the list at the end is written in a way your controller (Mach3, FANUC, LinuxCNC, etc) can understand - it's mostly the same 'language', but with slightly different dialects.

Given the right post processor, you'll hardly ever need to fiddle with the produced gcode.

Updated video, which I hope helps someone.

Thanks Eddie, very informative and explained in easy to follow language.

Finished parts.

Thank you Eddie, that was much clearer. Did you drill the centre before or after turning the profile? If after, how did you hold it?

Many thanks for that Eddie, very informative and, although I don't have the capability at the moment, I can see that it's the way forward.

Brian

Thanks for the feedback.

I drilled the holes first to maintain concentricity and before cutting the profile so as not to start drilling on a curved surface. A spotting drill was also used in an effort to keep the holes on centre and prevent wandering.

In retrospect, I think I'd have been fine either way because of the spotting drill's rigidity, although doing it the way I did let me drill a little deeper into the waste to ensure the tip of the 'bore-size' drill was fully contained at the start.

After parting off, they were held backwards in an ER11 collet and drilled @ 2.7mm to about 7mm from the front end and then tapped M3.35 x 0.8mm pitch. I had to make a tap due to the non-standard size.

Martin (Eddie Walker)

Modelling an oval shaped screwdiver handle in MoI with just two curves and the Rail Revolve tool.

You could, for instance, export this from MoI as an STL file to a 3D printer, if you so wished.

Edited By blowlamp on 02/12/2018 23:44:51

Thanks Eddie, that was very clear and interesting. I've never seen Rail-revolve before.

Keeping this topic alive.

Drawing an adjuster knob in MoI, using Extrude and a few other features to get the shape I'm after.

Hopefully this has not been covered and I've missed it in this thread. Was wondering if anyone had recommendations of a CAD package to run on Apple Mac please? I believe Alibre only runs on Windows.

Thanks

Dave

Have you tried MoI?

Martin.

Thanks Martin, no the only package I have used is Sketchup and that was years ago for woodwork projects. I was just interested what others would recommend. I'll check out MoI.

Thanks Dave

I am a little late spotting this post, but I use Fusion 360 on my Mac. It does parametric CAD, CAM, animation & stress analysis for free (if you are a hobbyist). Your work is stored in "the cloud", which gives some people a wobble, but I am comfortable with this.

Regards

Dave

In response to DrDave and to add to what he says viz; "Your work is stored in "the cloud", it is important to know that your work is also stored locally in a location of your choice.

The programme is also resident as 'stand-alone' on your computer and runs quite happily without an internet connection. It does require you to sync with the cloud ebery 30 days or so.

One other added value of Fusion360 is that you can choose to share any files or projects with other colleagues to the extent that they can edit/work with those projects to the extent that you as the project owner allow.

Edited By Swarf Maker on 26/12/2018 22:43:23

The Cloud = Someone Else's Computer.

DrDave and Swarf Maker, many thanks for the information on Fusion360. I'll check it out.

Chris, I'm comfortable with storing some information on the cloud especially if it is locally stored as well, just need to be selective on what is put on the cloud.

Dave