Best CNC Software Combination

[John S]

About the only decent lathe program I have seen is Dolphin.

Many software writers treat lathe as a two axis mill when in fact it isn't, believe it or not lathe is far harder.
On a mill the cutting tip of a cutter is on the corner and can be mapped very accurately. On a lathe the cutting edge is inside the theoretical corner to take into account the tool nose radius and as you work round a radius on the work this point is constantly changing.

On most jobs that are just 'shapes' this doesn't matter but a good software must take this into account, most don't.

This is an interesting read.

http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCCNCGCod...MForLathes.htm

[Ricardoco]

About the only decent lathe program I have seen is Dolphin.

Many software writers treat lathe as a two axis mill when in fact it isn't, believe it or not lathe is far harder.
On a mill the cutting tip of a cutter is on the corner and can be mapped very accurately. On a lathe the cutting edge is inside the theoretical corner to take into account the tool nose radius and as you work round a radius on the work this point is constantly changing.

On most jobs that are just 'shapes' this doesn't matter but a good software must take this into account, most don't.

This is an interesting read.

http://www.cnccookbook.com/CCCNCGCod...MForLathes.htm

Well im impressed with the dolphin demo but i dont know of any others so cant make any real comments or make any comparisons, Mind you if it turns out to do the job what the hell.. (Good Grief!!! thats not cheap thogh is it) and thanks for the extra info its making good reading....

Thanks John