Setting Rounding Endmill
Not actually used rounding end mills before, but set one up in the machine today and put it in my FeatureCAM tool crib and did a trial rounding of a square boss. Tool showed up on the FeatureCAM virtual screen as cutting a nice rounded edge as I wanted, but the tool path took my physical tool, whipped it round the boss at a height with the end at Z=0 so no cutting.
Setting tool height I'd done exactly what I do for all the tools - use a Z height touch off sensor on the end of the tool.
Now the Round feature dialogue box lets you set an X,Y,Z offset, and by setting Z = -5.00 mm (it's a 5 mm radius rounding end mill), Now the virtual screen shows the rounding 5 mm lower, so wrong, but the physical tool cuts in the right place.
I can overcome this by fiddling my tool length by reducing it by the radius (5 mm) of the rounding cutter, but what should I be doing, here - what do you do to touch off a rounding end mill ?
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex, UK