Re: What exactly is cutter radius compensation?
Exactly!
Cutter comp is handy if you are hand coding g-code, than you can just trace the perimeter of the part you want to cut, and cutter comp will shift the spindle over by the radius of the cutter.
But if you are using CAD/CAM software, it is pointless, since the CAM software will automatically offset the spindle based upon the endmill you chose for each cut... and do a lot better job than cutter comp could do.
Tim
Tormach 1100-3, Grizzly G0709 lathe, Clausing 8520 mill, SolidWorks, HSMWorks.