topic Re: PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath in PowerMill Forum

PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 10:46:50 GMT

Hi everyone,
I am trying to print this simple thinwall cylinder. The thickness of the wall is made by a single pass of the laser beam. My intention is to print it continuously with an helix/spring trajectory, turning on the laser at the beginning and turining it off at the end. Does anyone knows how to reproduce a trajectory like this?

I tried the Feature Construction command, with Profile Style selected. The problem is that it builds it layer by layer (2.5-axis type) and not in a continuous way.

Thanks in advance

Re: PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath

Jonathan_Artiss19 — Mon, 13 Sep 2021 19:57:50 GMT

Hey @Anonymous

What about creating a helix pattern, then using a pattern finishing toolpath. Once you have what you want, convert the toolpath to additive.

Check out the attached.

Re: PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath

Anonymous — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 09:20:22 GMT

Thank you very much @Jonathan_Artiss19

So basically I can plan every toolpath that I want, as long as I am able to draw it as a pattern. Am I correct?

Re: PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath

Jonathan_Artiss19 — Tue, 14 Sep 2021 12:35:10 GMT

This is one way to get what you want. There are other toolpaths specific to additive, but also all PowerMill toolpaths can convert to additive.

Re: PowerMill Additive continuous toolpath

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Sep 2021 13:39:56 GMT

Ok, thank you very much!