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Hi, I'm new to the forum and need some help setting up a Boxford A3 machine for two sided batch production of small wood items. I'm in NW London and happy to pay on a consultancy basis for some hands on help setting this up.
Any of you gurus out there able to help? Parking and great coffee!
All the best,
BobE
I am sure you will get help in no time but double sided milling os not that difficult. You need fix references that's all. Experiment manually with a paper sheet and you will see. I am doing 5 sided milling on my three axis machine...
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Sure, single component is OK and I can produce tool paths in V Carve. It's how to gang up similar components for a batch of say 4 and then flip them.
Bob,
Knowing your machine controller and CAM system would help.
Mach3 has an included Nesting Wizard which allows you to create an array of parts in a grid with X and Y offsets of your choice with the G Code for just one.
Many CAM systems have nesting options.
It's often possible to set your part zero or a known coordinate in an area of your stock which doesn't need to be removed until the second side is machined, place a through hole at this point and you have a reference for setting zero on your second side.
What you do in CAM for your second side will be dictated by your chosen work flow.
Hi Magiciner,
Thanks for your reply. I have bought Boxford's latest software control package with a refurbished A3HSRi2/auto 4th axis. I will be working exclusively in hardwood.
I was thinking of getting V Carve Pro for carving and text. Also to import STL files and export tool paths to the Boxford control software. This was my anticipated workflow, but I have found out that it will create a batch for single sided production, but only for a single component 2 sided.
As you will have realised, I am completely new to all this. Your thoughts on any alternative workflow would be most appreciated.
Bob
You just cam Side 1 and Side 2 as two separate jobs, you have to plan your own set ups to ensure alignment.
Hi Magiciner,
Thanks for your thoughts and sorry for the late reply.
It's starting to make sense now and I can see what I need to do.
Doing it is another matter, but I'll get there be it takes a little while.
Bob