Plugins: Spiral

The Spiral Plugin is a basic 4th axis roughing function.

This utility is designed to reduce stock mounted in a rotary axis. There are two patterns available: Spiral and Lines.

X Start – position on the X axis from which the cutting will begin.

Y Start – position on the Y axis from which the cutting will begin.

Z Start – position on the Z axis from which the cutting will begin. Use the outer face of the stock.

Rotary Alignment Axis – Which axis is the rotary axis is parallel. (X or Y)

Rotary Axis – Which axis is the rotary axis electrically connected to the controller (A,B or C)

Length of Stock to Reduce – The distance from the start position that will be cut parallel to the Rotary Alignment

Axis Depth to Reduce – How much to reduce the radius of the stock.

Max Depth per Pass – What is the maximum depth to allow the Z to advance for a single cut

Step Over – In the Spiral mode this will be the maximum allowed step over per pass. In Lines mode this will be the number of degrees the Rotary axis will advance per pass. (Using a larger number will result in a faceted part. With the correct bit, using 60 degrees would result in a hexagon)

Approach Height – This is a substitute for the default Safe Z. This is the Z height the cutter will be raised to prior to moving into start position or between passes. This value is absolute, not relative to Z Start.

Cut Pattern-

Lines: This mode will move the cutter parallel to the rotary axis at a selected depth, then rotate the part and repeat until the selected depth has been reached.

Spiral: This mode will continuously turn the rotary axis while slowly (step over value) moving parallel to the rotary.

Cut in Both Direction – Cut in both the positive and negative direction parallel to the rotary axis. This is faster, but switches between climb and conventional cutting.

Lift before Rotate – Move the cutter to the Approach Z prior to rotating the stock. Useful with a large step over in Lines mode to create faceted stock.