Re: [Emc-users] New Synergy?
On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 21:57 -0400, Kent A. Reed wrote: ... snip > Google will get you to various expressions of the fix. I thought > http://blog.hulboj.org/pl/2005/10/skype-and-ubuntu-breezy-badger.html > was a particularly clear message but there are others in the skype forum > and elsewhere. There have even been posting of scripts to automate the > fix. Of course, you'll have to make appropriate substitutions for > package names and versions. > > I just downloaded synergy-cad_16.0-8_i386.deb from the Synergy site, > applied this fix, and installed the package to Ubuntu 8.04. It came up a > treat. Now, if I only knew what to do with it :-) > > Regards, > Kent Thank you, Kent. I stopped at trying to figure out the control file. At the least, I know it can be fixed. I am getting better with Synergy. Even for g-code that would be easy to hand code, I find I am doing with Synergy. My recent quest to make gears has made it indispensable. When I get my own website server, I hope to expand my Synergy page. -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC/EMC CNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration Shizuoka ST-N/EMC CNC) - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
[Emc-users] PMDX will show two new products at the CNC Workshop 16-21 June
Well guys, its that time. I leave early in the morning for the CNC Workshop show. PMDX will be showing two new products, a smaller version of our power prep module, and a nifty parallel port tester. These are now listed on our web page at: http://www.pmdx.com Ray will be using the tester in the classes that he is teaching. These products will begin shipping in July. Cheers, Steve Stallings www.pmdx.com - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] New Synergy?
Kirk: I wish I could claim credit for a fix to the libqt3c102-mt problem, but I can only claim credit for remembering that one had to be worked out when Skype was first released to the Debian community and caused the same problem. It seems libqt3c102-mt has transitioned to libqt3-mt but the deb control file still refers to the old library. Google will get you to various expressions of the fix. I thought http://blog.hulboj.org/pl/2005/10/skype-and-ubuntu-breezy-badger.html was a particularly clear message but there are others in the skype forum and elsewhere. There have even been posting of scripts to automate the fix. Of course, you'll have to make appropriate substitutions for package names and versions. I just downloaded synergy-cad_16.0-8_i386.deb from the Synergy site, applied this fix, and installed the package to Ubuntu 8.04. It came up a treat. Now, if I only knew what to do with it :-) Regards, Kent > From: Kirk Wallace <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [Emc-users] New Synergy? > To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" > > Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Content-Type: text/plain > > I think a Synergy for Ubuntu was in the works. Anyone hear anything? I > tried installing my current version and got a dependency error saying > the install needs libqt3c103-mt but this an old version which won't > install with the current libqt3-mt version. I am trying to figure out if > I should pursue this or wait for the new Synergy. > - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Greg Michalski wrote: > > Another thought comes to mind, could wire EDM be used to cut very small > gears and pinions? You bet! For hair-thin wheels and intricate escapement profiles, they are the way to go. Of course, wire EDM is a whole other domain, and you can't buy a $500 Chinese wire EDM machine like the desktop mills. I wish we could get Robert Langlois to come down and show his stuff at the CNC Workshop. I met him years ago at NAMES, and he was working on some incredible stuff even back then. Jon - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Jon Elson wrote.. It just seems to me that if you have a CNC machine of any type, you should be able to cut a master tool for the form required. Then, that tool could cut the gear teeth directly, and reduce a 5 hour job to 15 minutes! Even if you only have a mill, you can mount a disc on the spindle and a lathe-type tool in the vise, and make a gear cutter by laboriously following the tooth profile. Then, you could cut radial slots to form the cutting teeth, > I'm sure you are right Jon but look at my tag line The only way I have so far made a successful pinion cutter as as in the last of the links in Kirk's post of the 12th. i.e. make a form tool for the radius of the tooth top, turn a disk with this cutter, drill an array of holes in the disk, cut slots into the holes and then bend the teeth back to get relief on them before hardening and tempering. This method works but has two major potential problem areas - if all the teeth are not exactly like and bent back by exactly the same amount, the cutter will not cut on all the teeth and, more importantly, there is a significant chance of the teeth going out-of-flat during the bending back process and by warping in hardening. However, I have made this method work although it took me a whole day to get a good working cutter. Even with cnc and a pretty tight machine as I have, its still easy to get errors of a few thous. when making a profiled disk cutter less than 3/8" diameter and about 1/32" thick and that error is then a significant percentage of final size and can have a serious effect on the action of the resulting gear. I will, however, give some though to what you say and it may be possible to make maybe a 4 or 5 tooth cutter by generating relief with the form tool. At the moment my machine is our of action as I had problems with the electronics and so I am taking the opportunity to rebuild my controller so as to tidy things up a bit and add in a couple of extra features I want... -- Best wishes, Ian Ian W. Wright Sheffield UK "The difference between theory and practice is much smaller in theory than in practice..." - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 20:29 +0100, Dave Caroline wrote: > Idea is ok but Dremel stuff is in no way suitable for the scales that > Ian Wright or us need when cutting watch pinion sizes. I just used the Dremel term to describe a type of abrasive disk, because most people are familiar with Dremel tools. I believe that appropriate abrasive disks should be available. Maybe a steel or carbide disk with diamond coating. > The positional > accuracy needed to get a good form to the result is also a problem. > Involute form is easy as a hobbing action and generation is possible > but not for cycloidal form. It's too bad that hobbing is not an option for most people. It would be nice to have a hob machine, but it's hard to justify if you don't make gears every day. (Which came first, the gear hob machine or the gears to make the gear hob machine?) > On 6/13/08, Kirk Wallace <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 09:40 +0100, Ian W. Wright wrote: > > > > Another thought comes to mind, could wire EDM be used to cut very small > > gears and pinions? > > yes I have seen .2 module pinions made as examples by Davall gears in the UK > also I know a company in the States using Laser to cut internal gears > for a freefall height meter > > Dave Caroline - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 13:17 -0500, Jon Elson wrote: > Ian W. Wright wrote: > > > One of the main reasons I want to try to generate gears and, > > particularly, pinions is the great problem I have in trying to make > > working pinion cutters small enough for the watches I work on. > It just seems to me that if you have a CNC machine of any type, > you should be able to cut a master tool for the form required. > Then, that tool could cut the gear teeth directly, and reduce a > 5 hour job to 15 minutes! Even if you only have a mill, you can > mount a disc on the spindle and a lathe-type tool in the vise, > and make a gear cutter by laboriously following the tooth profile. > Then, you could cut radial slots to form the cutting teeth, > harden it, and you'd have a pretty professional gear cutter for > any tooth profile you need. > > Jon A full gear tooth profile cutter is only accurate for the particular involute gear you are cutting. If you change any parameter, you have a different profile. It's worse with cycloidal gears because the mating profile is different, even when all parameters match (or so I have read so far). The problem is that gear cutting seems to be like house painting, 80% of the work is in preparing the surface and the rest is painting, and preping one house doesn't make the next one any easier. It would be nice to have a system where it takes 10 or 20% of the project effort to make the tool, or 50%, and have a tool left over to use on the next project. The more I think about using face mill inserts and a CNC four axis surface grinder, the more I think you could have it both ways. It would be almost as easy to make a full tooth form cutter as it would be for a semi-generic cutter. It seems to depend on where you prefer to develop the g-code. -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC/EMC CNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration Shizuoka ST-N/EMC CNC) - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Installing a second parallel port
On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 17:07 +, aaron Moore wrote: > Alan > Thanks for reply. > I am using steppers, so do I add my read and writes to the servo thread or > the base > thread? The step (and direction) pulses that steppers or step/direction servo and stepper controllers use, need to be very fast, so if your step and direction signals are coming through your parport, your parport driver needs to run as fast as possible. The base thread is the fastest thread. The servo thread is a little slower and among other things, monitors and controls what goes on in the base thread. The servo thread also is used to control things that don't need to to be fast or particularly accurate timing wise. If you are not connecting your steppers to the new parport, you most likely can run the driver for the new parport in the servo thread. > My .hal file still has all the original configuration lines in, which I know > work... will > it run once I make these changes or is there still more to do? > > Aaron When you mention that your original .hal file worked fine, it makes me think that your steppers are already being controlled, So what will you be connecting to your new parport? -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC/EMC CNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration Shizuoka ST-N/EMC CNC) - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Idea is ok but Dremel stuff is in no way suitable for the scales that Ian Wright or us need when cutting watch pinion sizes. The positional accuracy needed to get a good form to the result is also a problem. Involute form is easy as a hobbing action and generation is possible but not for cycloidal form. On 6/13/08, Kirk Wallace <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 09:40 +0100, Ian W. Wright wrote: > > Another thought comes to mind, could wire EDM be used to cut very small > gears and pinions? yes I have seen .2 module pinions made as examples by Davall gears in the UK also I know a company in the States using Laser to cut internal gears for a freefall height meter Dave Caroline - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Another thought comes to mind, could wire EDM be used to cut very small gears and pinions? I know I've seen someone take a rotary tool similar to a Proxon (beefy dremel type) and true out the spindle and cut his collets using EDM and they were fairly small. So I don't see why doing gears - as long as they are straight cut - couldn't be done with EDM. My .02x10^-10 YMMV Greg Michalski www.distinctperspective.com - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Installing a second parallel port
aaron Moore <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > > Alan > Thanks for reply. > I am using steppers, so do I add my read and writes to the servo thread or the base > thread? > > My .hal file still has all the original configuration lines in, which I know work... will > it run once I make these changes or is there still more to do? > > Aaron > Aaron, It was supposed to say "Note: Using steppers requires adding them to the base-thread not the servo-thread". Sorry about that (can I blame it on my spell checker)? Alan - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Bad Weather, EMC FEST 2008 - not really
I spoke to Roland a few hours ago and it was 75 degrees and clear. Forcast on weatherunderground shows afternoon thundershowers possible for a couple of days, but definately not a blowout. Cheers, Steve Stallings www.PMDX.com From: Dale Ertley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>Sent: Fri, 13 Jun 2008 12:03:00 -0700 (DST)To: emc-users@lists.sourceforge.netSubject: [Emc-users] Bad Weather, EMC FEST 2008 Hello all, Is Galesburg still floating? No, that's not a joke. I have a real concern and hope all is well in Galesburg. With all the rain and bad weather you have had, will there still be an EMC Fest 2008? Thank you Dale- Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
On Fri, 2008-06-13 at 09:40 +0100, Ian W. Wright wrote: ... snip > The big problem making a cutter is all down to the size and the > difficulty in measuring and working to exact tiny dimensions. The 5-leaf > pinion I need to make at the moment has a flat in the bottom of the > tooth spaces of just 0.2mm width and a tooth depth of 0.45mm or > thereabouts. Have you ever tried to get accurate measurements across > sloping faces at this scale?? ;-) ... snip > I have used my little cnc miller to successfully make cutters but it > usually takes a couple of goes at least and it is a problem to get > relief on the cutting edges. My idea for generating the pinions - (which > are one-offs and not multi productions, therefore the time involved in > making them is of no consequence) - is to use tiny grinding disks like > the thin cut-off disks they sell for Dremels but thinner ( dentists use > ones of 0.2mm thickness ) and grind the blank to shape. I have used this > technique to grind small shafts and it works fine provided the speed of > the disk is high and the feed is slow. I was actually very surprised how > well the disks worked and after half an hour's grinding, the disk was > still virtually the same size as when I started. So, if I can just work > out the way to compose a G-code file with the multiple loops, I think > the idea is well worth a try. Do you have pictures of your setup? > Maybe for your purposes, you could consider using a similar idea by > finding a supply of larger grinding disks - angle grinder cut-off disks > maybe? > > -- > Best wishes, > > Ian My original concept was to use generic tooling and have the CNC magic do the custom shapes. It's turning out that there is no generic tooling that will work. So a compromise of being able to easily make generic tooling with basic shapes may be the way to go. I was thinking that the generic tooling would do the roughing and your Dremel style disks would do the finish work on the mesh areas. The roughing tools would be like slot saws, only with side relief, so the sides could take light cuts. You would still need a set consisting of square cutters for square bottom roots and half rounds for radiused roots. Different widths in round and square cutters would also be needed, but they should be easy enough to make, so you make them when you need them. I am thinking that regrinding end or face mill inserts might be the way to go. A small insert would be easier to get the proper geometry on. The first rough cuts would be a slot across the gear face for the right and left root corners. Then, in my setup: http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/gear_cutting-2b.png the A axis would be rotated a little, the Z would come up a little to match the first tangent of the curve. Y could stay the same if the cutter doesn't touch the opposite gear curve, otherwise it can be adjusted for clearance. Then the "slot" is cut. Since we a roughing, six or seven tangents may be all that are needed. The X sweep will always be the same, the coordinates of the tangent point can be derived by a drawing program, so you would have six or seven loops that increment Y, Z and A which can be mirrored for roughing the opposite gear face on the "back" side of the setup. These two loops would be run for each tooth by incrementing A by a constant. A gear with a few teeth should be managable to g-code by hand and could be a model for a software utility. The tips of an involute gear could use the same method with an standard end mill (shown in violet in the link above). The tips of a cycloidal gear should already be done. So, at this point, we have a rough gear. Since the cutting load would be light, I think a Dremel style diamond disk would work. The roots should not need to be touched, so only the side of the disk will be used, which is good because I don't think the circumference is meant to be used anyway. The same method of sweeping X on tangents could work for finishing but allot more tangents would be needed. I think sweeping A and incrementing X might make a smoother profile and I think my CAM has a five axis processor so the g-code should not be a problem. Either way, with sweeping X or A the key is to derive the tangent points of the mesh area (30 or 40?) and looping those points a gazillion times. If this system could work, the only semi-custom tooling would be the face mill inserts. A standard surface grinder would make square inserts. Adding an A axis might do the half-round inserts. I suppose you could cut a large number at one time. Darn, now I have to buy a surface grinder. Another thought comes to mind, could wire EDM be used to cut very small gears and pinions? -- Kirk Wallace (California, USA http://www.wallacecompany.com/machine_shop/ Hardinge HNC/EMC CNC lathe, Bridgeport mill conversion, doing XY now, Zubal lathe conversion pending Craftsman AA 109 restoration Shizuoka ST-N/EMC CNC) ---
[Emc-users] Bad Weather, EMC FEST 2008
Hello all, Is Galesburg still floating? No, that's not a joke. I have a real concern and hope all is well in Galesburg. With all the rain and bad weather you have had, will there still be an EMC Fest 2008? Thank you Dale - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Ian W. Wright wrote: > One of the main reasons I want to try to generate gears and, > particularly, pinions is the great problem I have in trying to make > working pinion cutters small enough for the watches I work on. It just seems to me that if you have a CNC machine of any type, you should be able to cut a master tool for the form required. Then, that tool could cut the gear teeth directly, and reduce a 5 hour job to 15 minutes! Even if you only have a mill, you can mount a disc on the spindle and a lathe-type tool in the vise, and make a gear cutter by laboriously following the tooth profile. Then, you could cut radial slots to form the cutting teeth, harden it, and you'd have a pretty professional gear cutter for any tooth profile you need. Jon - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Installing a second parallel port
Alan Thanks for reply. I am using steppers, so do I add my read and writes to the servo thread or the base thread? My .hal file still has all the original configuration lines in, which I know work... will it run once I make these changes or is there still more to do? Aaron > - Original Message - > From: "Alan Condit" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Installing a second parallel port > Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:36:54 -0700 > > > Aaron, > > Since you indicated that you are adding a second port you need both > ports in your config statement: > > loadrt hal_parport cfg="0x0378 0x9000" > > Here is how I set up my reads and writes: (not using steppers > requires adding them to the base-thread not the servo-thread). > > # next connect the parport functions to threads > # read inputs first > addf parport.0.read base-thread 1 > addf parport.1.read base-thread 2 > # hook functions to base thread (high speed thread for step generation) > addf stepgen.make-pulses base-thread > # write outputs last > addf parport.0.write base-thread -1 > addf parport.1.write base-thread -1 > # The following two lines are needed if you are running "Double step" > addf parport.0.reset base-thread > addf parport.1.reset base-thread > > Alan > > --- > > Alan Condit > 1085 Tierra Ct. > Woodburn, OR 97071 > > Email -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Home-Office (503) 982-0906 > > On Jun 12, 2008, at Jun 12, 2008--5:44 PM, emc-users- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > > Kirk > > I have added.. > > loadrt hal_parport cfg="0x9000 > > addf parport.0.read servo-thread > > addf parport.0.write servo-thread > > to my hal file (hopefully in the right places). Can I not > > configure the pins through the step config wizard? > > Aaron > >> - Original Message - > >> From: "Kirk Wallace" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > >> To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" > >> Subject: Re: [Emc-users] Installing a second parallel port > >> Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:56:00 -0700 > >> > >> > >> On Thu, 2008-06-12 at 06:11 +, aaron Moore wrote: > >>> Hi > >>> You guys are going to haveto hold my hand here > >>> I run lspci -v and I get.. > >>> :00:06.0 Parallel controller: Timedia Technology Co Ltd: > >>> Unknown device 7268 (rev 01) (prog-if 02 [ECP]) > >>> Subsystem: Timedia Technology Co Ltd: Unknown device 0103 > >>> Flags: stepping, medium devsel, IRQ 9 > >>> I/O ports at 9000 [size=8] > >>> I/O ports at 9400 [size=8] > >>> which is the address and where do I find the hal file to put it in > >>> > >>> Thanks > >>> Aaron > >> > >> > > - > Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. > It's the best place to buy or sell services for > just about anything Open Source. > http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php > > ___ > Emc-users mailing list > Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users > -- Powered by Outblaze - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
We should talk one day, I work with Chris Lowe at Richards of Burton, and have made a cnc to cut gears here, I still use a Safag for the really small stuff though. I want to do profile work for escape wheels, verge and normal. Dave Caroline archivist on the #emc IRC channel on freenode - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
Re: [Emc-users] Gear Cutting
Hi Kirk, One of the main reasons I want to try to generate gears and, particularly, pinions is the great problem I have in trying to make working pinion cutters small enough for the watches I work on. I could get cutters made but, as you have said, a different one is required for each individual pinion or small subset of wheels and, at a cost of 50+UKP ($100) each, any repair using more than one of them would probably become uneconomic. This is compounded by the fact that most of the watches I work on are more than 200 years old and their wheels and pinions were hand cut or made with 'home-made' cutters which do not comply to any current standards. So, if the watch is to run properly, I have to try to match the size and shape of the original teeth exactly and no currently obtainable commercial cutter has exactly the same form as these old wheels and pinions. Consequently, even where I have a cutter which is very close to size, I usually end up having to hand finish the profile of each tooth by filing and polishing - a very tedious and lengthy process. :-( My wheels and pinions are cycloidal and not involute and have radial flanks to the leaves with a rounded or ogival top so that, in my case, the cutting can be in two stages - the straight radial flanks and the rounded tops. However, I think that the basic process should be the same whatever the tooth profile - maybe mine would just need an additional step to move the cutter a bit in Y before starting the rounded tops to the leaves whereas an involute would need the curve generated from the start. The big problem making a cutter is all down to the size and the difficulty in measuring and working to exact tiny dimensions. The 5-leaf pinion I need to make at the moment has a flat in the bottom of the tooth spaces of just 0.2mm width and a tooth depth of 0.45mm or thereabouts. Have you ever tried to get accurate measurements across sloping faces at this scale?? ;-) I have used my little cnc miller to successfully make cutters but it usually takes a couple of goes at least and it is a problem to get relief on the cutting edges. My idea for generating the pinions - (which are one-offs and not multi productions, therefore the time involved in making them is of no consequence) - is to use tiny grinding disks like the thin cut-off disks they sell for Dremels but thinner ( dentists use ones of 0.2mm thickness ) and grind the blank to shape. I have used this technique to grind small shafts and it works fine provided the speed of the disk is high and the feed is slow. I was actually very surprised how well the disks worked and after half an hour's grinding, the disk was still virtually the same size as when I started. So, if I can just work out the way to compose a G-code file with the multiple loops, I think the idea is well worth a try. Maybe for your purposes, you could consider using a similar idea by finding a supply of larger grinding disks - angle grinder cut-off disks maybe? -- Best wishes, Ian Ian W. Wright Sheffield UK "The difference between theory and practice is much smaller in theory than in practice..." -- Best wishes, Ian Ian W. Wright Sheffield UK "The difference between theory and practice is much smaller in theory than in practice..." - Check out the new SourceForge.net Marketplace. It's the best place to buy or sell services for just about anything Open Source. http://sourceforge.net/services/buy/index.php ___ Emc-users mailing list Emc-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/emc-users
