First off this is a really simple design. I think it could be done on a normal manual lathe with no CNC. Just use the correct thread cutting gears to drive the carriage.
The trouble is that writing g-code by hand or turning handwhels with no computer breaks the chain that goes from your design file to the product. You have to in effect re-design the product. It is easy in this simple case but what if the product was something like the housing for a motorcycle transition? There is no way on Earth you'd hand-code that. So I can see the need to perfect a workflow that connects CAD models to a 4-axis mill that has no air gaps. So what you are looking for is traditional "CAM" software. This is the software that looks at you model and figureout a toolpath. It might do roughy cuts first then change the tool and do more. The software has to figure this out based on using only the tool you already have and it needs to know about you mill so it can get the spindle speeds and cut rates right. It is not simple. It is so non-simple that there is not much open source software to do this. If you Google "CAM Software" you get a lot of hits. This websites lists the top 16 CAM software systems, these that can drive a CNC mill or lathe https://www.g2.com/categories/computer-aided-manufacturing?tab=highest_rated If you are looking from free software, the list is short. FreeCAD can do some things but is limited to "mostly flat" 3D and 2.5D milling. Fusion can generate g-code for laths and do full 5-axis milling It can do a simulation and can pretty much do anything. but the free version is limited to 3-axis only with no automatic tool changes. So you have to set up one job for each tool. There is also PyCAM but it is more limited then FreeCAD I think that is the full list of free software. On Sun, Feb 13, 2022 at 8:58 AM gene heskett <ghesk...@shentel.net> wrote: > Greetings all; > > I have composed a simple butress thread in OpenSCAD, which can save many > formats besides the .stl's I feed cura with. Those choices are shown in > this list: > STL > OFF > WRL > AMF > 3MF > DXF > SVG > CSG > PDF > image (png) > > The latter being what you see in the attached png images. > > What is out there that can make gcode out of one of those formats, > assuming I can do some creative editing to make the bolt code carve an > 18" bolt from a hard maple 2x2 being spun by a B axis as Y slowly > advances with aux tables to make the Y axis long enough on both ends on > my 6040 mill, and I till use a 60 degree engraving mill in it with a 30 > degree wedge under the motor mount to tip it to make the 0 degree load > face of the thread with the side of the tool's V. I intend to make the > wedge as a hinge if I can print it rigid enough. And PETG seems like it > could be the Right Stuff. > > The target of all this tom-foolery is a wood workbench vise screw. The > 2nd half nut is about half done on my BIQU HX printer as I send this. So > its beginning to look do-able. > > I faintly recall that inkscape had a gcode generator plugin at one time, > does anyone have a clue how well it works or if it even exists today? > > Synaptic does not look promising but I installed inscape and friends > anyway, and of coarse pycam, and I just found dxf2gcode, so that got > installed. > > Does anyone else have a better idea? > > Thanks All; > Cheers, Gene Heskett. > -- > "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: > soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." > -Ed Howdershelt (Author, 1940) > If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable. > - Louis D. Brandeis > Genes Web page <http://geneslinuxbox.net:6309/gene> > _______________________________________________ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Chris Albertson Redondo Beach, California _______________________________________________ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
