Surface Mill Toolpath On Tool Tip

[dreweb]

I would like to mill a 3D surface with a 1" ball end mill. However, instead of cutting with the tangent edge of cutter, i would like the tool tip to follow/ride the surface itself. The surface I have is actually offset from the true surface I want to be left by the cutter.

Any help is greatly appreciated, for this could DRASTICALLY improve our current surfacing efficiency using our current surfacing data.

Thank you in advance~

 

[bimbo666]

Hi,


Could you post a picture, or uploaded your model to analyze better.....


its a roughing or finish ?


regards

 

[dreweb]

My Apologies, but I don't have a model or a picture to upload. Hopefully I can explain myself better:

If you are doing a trajectory mill, and you select "no offset" the cutter will ride on the exact curve selected (for example, with a ball end mill, the pinnacle/lowest point of the ball will ride ON the actual curve.).

If you are doing a surface mill, roughing or finishing pass, the cutter will carve away all of the material to one side of the surface using the edges of the cutter. The tool path would not be ON the actual surface, because if the pinnacle point of said ball end mill were riding the actual surface, the edges of the cutter would be gouging the surface and not leave the material intended.

I want to mill a surface and have the pinnacle of the ball end mill ride ON the surface. I don't care about gouging the material. It's kind of like writing a trajectory mill using a surface instead of just a curve, edge, line, etc....

Thank you again for any insight~

 

[dbrainsky]

I don't see an easy way to do this. But the following method shouldwork.


1:Create a mill surface of the area to bemachined You have have to extend the edges a wee bit. Create a datum plane on the edge of the surface. Create another datum offset from this plane with a value large enough to pass through the surface. Hide the first plane. Create anintersect curve between the surface andthis plane.


2: Use trajectory to machine the curve


3: Group the plane, the curve,the surface and the trajectory tool path. Make sure these features follow each other in the model tree.


4: Create a pattern of the group based on the stepover.


Good Luck

 

[dreweb]

dbrainsky...

I didn't think there was an easy way to do this, but that is a pretty cool idea! Thx for the input.

Unfortunately, I did some more testing with point clouds that i have, and converting them to ProE surfaces have proven to be impossible.

SO....next question....

Anyone know how to make a trajectory out of 1000's of points? I know about *.ibl files, and importing them as curves, but making *.ibl files from our point data would take WAY too long.

Thanks in advance~