3+2 face milling many faces.

Qwan · Nov 16, 2021

What's the best way to approach milling faces, approximately 50 of them, in a 3+2 setup in Mastercam? Having a NX background, I have looked thoroughly for an operation setting that automatically sets the tool axis. It's probably right in front of me, but at this point I need a little help lol.

NX 1996.XXXX
MC 2022

Mike1974 · Nov 16, 2021

Planes
Plane from solid face. It will put the zero in the center of whatever face you pick, then you can rotate, transform etc from there

Mtndew · Nov 16, 2021

Are they equally spaced to where you can Transform/Translate the toolpath about an axis?

Qwan · Nov 16, 2021

Mtndew said:
Are they equally spaced to where you can Transform/Translate the toolpath about an axis?

Possibly, great idea, thanks. I need to look at the geometry closer and see what I can do. The part is a large diamond out of acrylic that will be polished to museum quality. I'd still prefer a face milling op that could automatically set the tool axis normal to a face; I have about 50 facets on this part.

Qwan · Nov 16, 2021

Create a plane for each face?

empower · Nov 16, 2021

Qwan said:
Create a plane for each face?

yes, you'd need a plane for every tool orientation.

jimk1960 · Nov 17, 2021

As stated you should not need a plane for every tool orientation as these are symmetrical.
You will need to make a plane for the first cut then use the rotate tool to copy the tool path around to the other faces you want to cut.

CNC_Chip_Thin · Nov 17, 2021

Make a program for one face, retract, rotate 7.2 degrees, repeat 49 times?

Mtndew · Nov 18, 2021

Qwan said:
I'd still prefer a face milling op that could automatically set the tool axis normal to a face; I have about 50 facets on this part.

What about Multiaxis parallel or something similar?

Qwan · Nov 18, 2021

CNC_Chip_Thin said:
Make a program for one face, retract, rotate 7.2 degrees, repeat 49 times?

The part is a large diamond out of acrylic that will be polished to museum qualitY, the facets are all over the place. I might be able to create a handful of operations then rotate tem about an axis.

len_1962 · Nov 18, 2021

here is something I did in SolidWorks\HSMWorks out of aluminum, it is in 2 halves hence the seam.

this was a 3 Axis Scallop finish pass with a .002 stepover, don't have 4th or 5th axis.

Qwan · Dec 1, 2021

len_1962 said:
here is something I did in SolidWorks\HSMWorks out of aluminum, it is in 2 halves hence the seam.

this was a 3 Axis Scallop finish pass with a .002 stepover, don't have 4th or 5th axis.

Nice work! Creativity to get the job done is paramount!

Qwan · Dec 1, 2021

Long story short, not wanting to do any sort of scallop path with small stepovers, my part should be finish cut by face milling.

So, if the faces are non-uniform with the normals are all over the place, to face mill this part I need to create a plane for every path?

empower · Dec 1, 2021

Qwan said:
Long story short, not wanting to do any sort of scallop path with small stepovers, my part should be finish cut by face milling.

So, if the faces are non-uniform with the normals are all over the place, to face mill this part I need to create a plane for every path?

probably not for every path, depends on the layout of the facets, you should be able to make a path for say the center face, then rotate that about an axis, one for the face above/below it etc, and rotate them.

Mtndew · Dec 1, 2021

Qwan said:
Long story short, not wanting to do any sort of scallop path with small stepovers, my part should be finish cut by face milling.

So, if the faces are non-uniform with the normals are all over the place, to face mill this part I need to create a plane for every path?

Are you able to share the part file? Or at least a dummy part file? Myself or someone else can probably help you out better.

Radar987 · Dec 1, 2021

Qwan said:
So, if the faces are non-uniform with the normals are all over the place, to face mill this part I need to create a plane for every path?

It's not as bad as it sounds.

What do the rest of you reckon this would take, time-wise? A couple hours if he's meticulous?

OP's been pondering this question for 2 weeks...

empower · Dec 1, 2021

Radar987 said:
It's not as bad as it sounds.

What do the rest of you reckon this would take, time-wise? A couple hours if he's meticulous?

OP's been pondering this question for 2 weeks...

depending on the size of the ball, i could easily have that programmed in an hour or so in fusion. tool orientation is STUPID simple in fusion.

CAMasochism · Dec 1, 2021

empwoer said:
depending on the size of the ball, i could easily have that programmed in an hour or so in fusion. tool orientation is STUPID simple in fusion.

And in NX.

Booze Daily · Dec 1, 2021

Or you could hand write a 20 line program that rotates the A and mills every facet at that angle by incrementally rotating B. Sheesh, sometimes CAM isn’t the answer.

empower · Dec 1, 2021

Booze Daily said:
Or you could hand write a 20 line program that rotates the A and mills every facet at that angle by incrementally rotating B. Sheesh, sometimes CAM isn’t the answer.

what you're describing would create a cylinder, not a ball. for a ball, one would need to rotate A/B AND C. if you know all the correct angles, sure, go for it. i know i could do it way faster in CAM

3+2 face milling many faces.

Cast Iron

Diamond

Diamond

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Titanium

Aluminum

Plastic

Diamond

Cast Iron

Stainless

Attachments

Cast Iron

Cast Iron

Titanium

Diamond

Hot Rolled

Titanium

Stainless

Titanium

Titanium

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