topic Re: Perpendicular slots in tube in Fusion Manufacture Forum

Perpendicular slots in tube

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 02:01:41 GMT

I'm sure this is going to be a stupid question for y'all. But hopefully you can help me wrap my brain around it.
I'm trying to machine slots in a PVC tube, with the tube on my machine table at a 45º angle.

I can't get a smart toolpath on this thing. What I ended up using (pocket) resulted in a lot of cutting air.
Can someone give me some pointers?
I'm going to try to attach the fusion file here.

Re: Perpendicular slots in tube

lee_sanders — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 09:57:21 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

Does this look any better? I've attached a file with the updated tool path

Thanks

Lee

Re: Perpendicular slots in tube

engineguy — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 10:03:39 GMT

@Anonymous

Not sure if this is exactly what you need but it is just an idea of a different method that doesn`t do a lot of cutting, you can play around with lead-ins/lead-outs/selections/feeds/speeds etc, etc, done using the "Trace" strategy with a 3/8 End Mill.

You can try using the "Axial Offset" option to do multiple depth cuts but you may need to do a sketch to offset the bottom contour to get the tool to start away from the stock more, you also only need to toolpath the first slot and then you can use a "Linear Pattern" to do the rest of the slots so you only have to select edges etc on the first slot as I did in the attached example, hope that was clear, all these little things do make life faster and easier 🙂 🙂 🙂

Example file attached 🙂

Hope that maybe gives you some better ideas 🙂 🙂 🙂

Regards

Rob

Re: Perpendicular slots in tube

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:35:10 GMT

@lee_sanders , That toolpath does look better. What's confusing though is that it gives Fusion less information than the toolpath I had programmed. I mean, there's no model selected, no machining boundary, etc. What makes that toolpath looks so efficient versus the one I had done?
This toolpath still cuts the air in the middle of the pipe more than I'd like, but . . . it is certainly cleaner.
From there, if I want to clean up the edges to remove the remaining .02 of stock, would I use a trace toolpath?

Re: Perpendicular slots in tube

Anonymous — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:48:45 GMT

@engineguy , This trace operation is what I originally envisioned, but using the axial offset passes option to cut through the pipe wall in multiple depths. It's great! Takes the operation down to less than 5 minutes as opposed to the almost hour-long process I did before.
But
I'm limited by tool sizing on this desktop machine. If all I have to work with is a 1/8" endmill, how do I machine out the center material of each slot? It's like trace needs a radial offset passes option, too!

Re: Perpendicular slots in tube

lee_sanders — Wed, 17 Jun 2020 13:50:42 GMT

Hi @Anonymous

I change the stock to fixed-size tube

Then changed the rest machining to use 'from setup stock'

if I want to clean up the edges to remove the remaining .02 of stock, would I use a trace toolpath?

try the 2D contour strategy

Lee