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B8gger, I knew I had another question. I want to get myself a decent flycutter. I'm not good at grinding tooling, would prefer one with an indexable tip. I like the results the Tormach Superfly Cutter seems to get but are there any UK based similar tools? Or has anyone put an indexable lathe tool in a normal flycutter body and got good results?
Slowly getting there.
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Thought I'd make a tooling holder as a practice project. Haven't quite got the hang of the settings in Fusion 360 for chamfering yet, plus when I had Mach3 in feed hold and was restarting it did a preparatory move and milled a channel right across the piece (under my thumb in first pic) :upset:.
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Fortunately I'm making 2 of them so this one can be the one at the bottom if I can get the second one bang on! :thumsup:
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Hi Lloyd,
There are lots of examples of indexable lathe tools being used in home made flycutters. Here is one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgvbVLfeig8
This Old Tony made one using high speed steel tools:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBDNu_ViHlU
I haven't used any of these as my WC spindle is too fast and the interrupted cut is a bit hard on the bearings. However, Arceurotrade have started selling these micro flycutters which look tempting and are low cost:
http://www.arceurotrade.co.uk/Catalo...Straight-Shank
As for the mess ups, this is how it goes when you start off. There is a list of them and you just have to work your way down them ticking them off and not doing them again. You are getting stuck in and the parts are looking good !
Edit: The preparatory move after a feed hold - was that using the 'run from here' button? I don't know if I'm doing this right but I've found that this moves the tool diagonally (across AND down) from where you are to where the cut wants to start. This can go through the work piece, clamps etc. So I always go to the prep move page which shows where it wants to move to in X and Y, then cancel out of that window and MDI the machine to that X Y position, then do run from here again with the spindle on. It then just goes straight down onto the cut and waits for you to hit cycle start to carry on the cut.
Thats what i do too, got caught once, cutter bit the bullet.Quote:
Originally Posted by routercnc
Have to be really on the ball when using run-from-here.
Yep, it was the "run from here button". Is the prep move page the little box that pops up when you hit cycle start for the first time afterwards? I'll try that next time, really frustrating to spoil a part when you think you've got everything right, but I guess like you say, we learn from our mistakes!
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Cheers for the links, will have a nosey at those. I have a bog standard fly cutter for the Bridgeport but never really got it running sweetly. I've never taken the time to learn how to grind tooling properly. I guess I should but if I can just chuck an insert in it and get cutting then I'm always tempted by that!
Well, bit the bullet in the end and grabbed the Superfly cutter from Tormach. Nice enough looking bit of kit and seems to cut very nicely in the little CNC mill although the unbalanced nature of a flycutter does seem to set up a bit of a vibration.
On another note, whizzed up a pair of brackets at the weekend. Am using Fusion 360. When I'm using the 2D pocket function it never seems to clean up the bottom of the pocket properly. Made 2 brackets at the same time from a single piece of Acetal and it did the exact same cut on both. Using the simulate tool in CAM it doesnt show this. I think the pic shows this ok. Am I doing something wrong?!
Attachment 21484
In the pocketing options, have a look at the setting on multiple depths. There is something that says stock to leave on walls and bottom. It usually defaults to 0.1mm or so.
For pockets in soft materials, have a play at adaptive clearing. It is quicker and really good fun :D
Cheers fella, will check that out. I'm doing something wrong for sure! We never stop learning I guess.
The chamfers are also not coming out right, supposed to be just a 0.5mm edge break. I think its because I add a chamfer in the model, and then use chamfer option in the CAM but you end up selecting one of the edges of the 45 degree feature, rather than the now non existent 90 degree corner. That probably makes no sense at all!
it does make sense. I have faced the same issue. To make it work, I usually make a sketch in the model mode and use that as the profile to mill from. Otherwise, select the inner most chamfer edge and set the heights accordingly
Hi lloyd , can you tell me where did you get all the motor mounts etc.. from ?