[Shinosky]

Haha....Yes, the leadins "are" supposed to cut. In this case you would not want the cutter to plunge directly down onto the finished path because the cutter will tend to gouge the profile. The recomended method is to plunge away from the finish profile and then feed into the profile through a gradual arc and then gradually move away at the end of the profile. The other variations are for times when you don't want any leadin/out such as a radial slot. I hope this is clear now.
Andy

[Fatboy]

Haha....Yes, the leadins "are" supposed to cut. In this case you would not want the cutter to plunge directly down onto the finished path because the cutter will tend to gouge the profile. The recomended method is to plunge away from the finish profile and then feed into the profile through a gradual arc and then gradually move away at the end of the profile. The other variations are for times when you don't want any leadin/out such as a radial slot. I hope this is clear now.
Andy

Ok, then cutting just a simple circle is not what is going to happen here?
My thought was that the ramping would be done in first few moments in the cut of the actual circle path, like what happens with cutting a pocket.

Also, why is there no such half moon lead-in cuts in the "On Center" selection?

I must be missing something here.

Hope that I'm not being difficult, I thought that I was gaining an understanding of cnc and I still have a truckload to learn but for some reason this makes no sense to me. I tend to play with all the buttons to see what each does and the effect on actual cuts...like I said earlier, I've got nothing but time to experiment. Even built a router to play with which to learn all I can.

Did you look at or try to dry run the code that I posted, I think that you would see what I'm trying to explain.

Thanks,
Fatboy

[Shinosky]

Sure I looked at the code. It does what is intended. Conventional cut is used most often when your machine has backlash or slop in the mechanism. Climb cutting is preferred and used when your machine is tight without any slop in the screws and bearings. If you attempt to cut using a climb cut and you do indeed have backlash in your system the tool will climb ahead taking too great a bite resulting in a poor finish, or quite often in a broken cutter or worse. That is the reason for the climb/conventional option in the wizard.

[Fatboy]

Andy,
I completey understand the difference in conv and climb milling as I have been "playing" with machining for over 9 years...with the amount of backlash in my junk machines it was a quick lesson, however it's cnc that is new to me.

Let me ask just one more question. In the circle wizard written by Kiran, I get a good circle that includes the requested stepdown in the circle cut. Why is this not the case for me with your wizard?

I really like your wizard in that the dros are lined up unlike the Kiran (and most of the other wizards) which use the shotgun dro placement method. I hope to use it for pocketing, on line circles, and arcs.

I really appreciate all of your time and effort in writing this wizard and in helping me here.

Thanks,
Fatboy
My third grade teacher wrote on my report card that I was "Argumentive". Little did she know...

[ger21]

Let me ask just one more question. In the circle wizard written by Kiran, I get a good circle that includes the requested stepdown in the circle cut. Why is this not the case for me with your wizard?

I'm guessing because Andy wrote the wizard to work the way He wanted it to, not the way Kiran wanted his to.

[Shinosky]

OK...one more time
The "Outside Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the outside and creates lead ins/outs. The finished part is a boss of the programmed size.
The "Inside Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the inside and creates lead ins/outs. The finished part is a Hole of the programmed size.
The "On Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then centers the toolpath to it without leads. The finished part is a Circular Slot of the programmed size.
The "Pocket Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the inside and clears out the interior of the programmed circle. The finished part is a circular pocket of the programmed size.
The "Arc" routine takes the programmed circle diameter with start and end points then centers the toolpath to it without leads. The finished part is a Circular Arc Slot of the programmed size.

Finally....slotted holes/arcs can't have leads, but bosses and holes can benefit from them. I really hope this clears it up :drowning:

[Fatboy]

OK...one more time
The "Outside Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the outside and creates lead ins/outs. The finished part is a boss of the programmed size.
The "Inside Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the inside and creates lead ins/outs. The finished part is a Hole of the programmed size.
The "On Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then centers the toolpath to it without leads. The finished part is a Circular Slot of the programmed size.
The "Pocket Circle" routine takes the programmed circle diameter then offsets the toolpath to the inside and clears out the interior of the programmed circle. The finished part is a circular pocket of the programmed size.
The "Arc" routine takes the programmed circle diameter with start and end points then centers the toolpath to it without leads. The finished part is a Circular Arc Slot of the programmed size.

Finally....slotted holes/arcs can't have leads, but bosses and holes can benefit from them. I really hope this clears it up :drowning:

Ok, I came out to the shop and cut three different circles (inside, on center, and outside) using the same dro setting for each. Material is .042" vinyl siding scrap. Took a still pic from the video cam and posted below.

One thing that stands out in the above post is the word "boss". I don't want to create any bosses, all my work is thin material. However, I do understand feed-in to allow an end mill to reach a set depth while in motion to create a desired boss in a piece of stock. I guess the difference in the words CIRCLE and CIRCULAR in this context confused me. Also the use of lead-in to me means that the tool is not cutting while transversing to the point of a cut.

Sorry for being difficult.

Fatboy