Taper problem....Agie

I'm trying to burn a convex radiused lathe tool bit in my Agie 100. So basically I am trying to put end and side relief (5 degrees) in the cutter.

My problem is on one side and the end I get the 5 degree angle. Then on the other side it turns into about 8 degrees. This is one continuos cut.

It does it on rough and trim cuts.

I programed the part using:
P01 S01 D01 T01
P01 S02 D02 T02
P01 S03 D03 T03

P01=05.00 in the job file.


The part starts in -x direction = 5 deg
turns in +y = 5 deg
180 deg ccw end = 5 deg
goes -y = 8 deg
turns -x = 5 deg

As you can see, one place it goes to an 8 degree taper

Any ideas why???

I'm totally new to this, and the manuals are worthless asfar as I'm concerened.

How should I actually program tapers.

PS: I did check my wire alignment, and it is aligned in the U and V axis.

[ 10-25-2006, 08:25 AM: Message edited by: emt2688 ]

Tip your part up to 5 degrees to take care of the front clearance (end relief). Program part to taper from 5 degrees gradually to 0 degrees at the bottom of the rad. Then program 0 degrees from the bottom to 5 degrees at the top on the other side. Again with gradual taper. You may need to put a .0001 flat at the bottom of your radius where you are at 0 degrees in order for the wire to have a point to be set at 0 degrees.
I think your problem is a result of trying to tip the wire in two directions at once using standard taper.
There is some math involved with my method however. You must correct the depth of the bottom of the radius for the 5 degree tip (5 degrees cos times the depth). You must also correct the radius for the compound angle created. To do this take your top point of the radius. Correct for depth using method above. Now take that number and multiply it by 5 degrees tan (angle of your wire). The result is the amount you must move your radius start in the opposite direction of your wire tip. In your case the left side will be compensated in +X. You don't have to worry about the bottom of the radius because your wire will be at 0 degrees taper.
There is also 4 axis... That is the recommended method when needing to tip your wire in two directions simultaneously.
Good luck.

emt,

JayCee has no doubt been doing this far longer than I have, so I'm sure his advice is on the money.

Here is my method for doing this. I never use a taper command to do 4-axis work. I just create an upper and lower profile and let the CAM package generate the correct path.

On something like a lathe tool, I usually just create exactly what I want as a solid in the CAD program (makes it easier to envision the final product). Once I have the tool or part the way I want it, I simply extract edge information from the top and bottom surface. The geometry from those edges become the X/Y and U/V profiles. I DXF that into CAM, and let that generate the wire path. This may sound arduous, but it goes very quickly, and I've found it reduces the chances for error (at least for me!).

After that, it's just a matter of precisely measuring the bottom of the part from the zero plane (which I'm sure you're already doing), and touching off an edge to get the start point.

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