Sequential Mill

[camit]

We are doing some 5 axis parts that require sequential mill. I have looked at CAST and I don't find anything on sequential mill. Does anyone have any info or reference that we can use to get info and figure out how to use sequential mill.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Xwheelguy]

I'm not doing anything related with the manufacturing side of NX, but there is online training available from a company called Cadpo. If you're a registered* GM supplier, you can sign up for all of Cadpo's course content (which includes modeling, drafting, freeform, etc.) for around $650/login or username. I checked & there are Sequential Milling topics in Cadpo's Advanced Manufacturing course.

http://www.cadpo.com/home/home.asp

*Email me for details if you need help with this. Email address is available under my user profile here.

Tim Flater
Senior Designer
Enkei America, Inc.

http://www.enkei.com

 

[wmalan]

First, use the context sensitive help. It has several examples of how it works. A very basic overview is that it's based on Drive, Part, and Check geometry. A very simple ex: You select the Drive surface - the side surface to which the tool will drive along (perhaps the side tool will be profiling). You select the Part surface - the surface the bottom of the tool will cut. Then the Check surface - the surface to which the path will check to (or stop at). There is a bunch more to it but that's the basic format.

Like Tim said, get some classroom training. You paid a bunch for the software and your probubly making expensive parts. There's a bunch to know and by doing it "self taught" you'll really miss out. I've seen programmers blast it for not being powerfull - usually because they were self taught.

--
Bill

 

[larrycoyle]

This is where class room training comes in handy. I have been reviewing this very subject and went back to the book I got during training and they devote three very long chapters to this single subject. It actually consumes half of the book on multi-axis machining. If you take this class, I also suggest its companion class of advanced mill applications. This is a week long class. If you happen to find out something else that is acceptable, I would appreciate a response. With sequential milling, if you cannot cut the part then it probably cannot be cut as it gives you so many options on how to control every aspect of machining. You would think they would also have something included in CAST on this process but they don't.

Larry

Larry Coyle
Cylinder Head Engineering, LLC

http://www.cylinderheadengineering.com

 

[wmalan]

Larry,

I think the reasons they don't cover it in CAST is because of the many options. SeqMill looks deceptively simple to new users. It is far from it. There are times when the drive surface becomes the Part surface. Or, the Drive surface is really an edge with a vector. Creating temp planes gets really crazy to new users. The whole looping thing could be hard to explain in text as well. The classroom is really the best place to learn multiaxis programming because of all the exceptions to the "rules".

--
Bill

 

[larrycoyle]

Bill,

While you are right on in your analysis, I use cast to augment my classroom training because I am/was a new user when I started down this road. I agree, there is no way a new user could pick up on something as complicated as SeqMill from just cast though.

Larry Coyle
Cylinder Head Engineering, LLC

http://www.cylinderheadengineering.com

 

[wmalan]

Larry,

The kicker with SeqMill is it's fussy. Example: you drive along a surface that appears to be tangent to the next check surface so you select a Stopping Postition of Ds-Cs Tangency. Low and behold you get errors for the Check surface. Ends up the surfs are just a hair off so you must either allow the tool to reposition at the check surf (which may gouge or leave stock) or model new surfaces which are truly tangent. Lots of little stuff like that. Seqmill is one that just takes time. It's not always black and white. It would be hard for CAST to cover it very well. Still my favorite tool though!

--
Bill