[3Eagles]

I am totally uninformed when it comes to CNC but hope this is a simple question. I have a small CNC machine that uses G-Code. I bought it specifically to score parting lines on stained glass. These are the line that you snap or break the excess material away for a project. I have a family friend that understands the coding but can't help with this problem. The cutting head is a roller wheel like you would find on a glass cutter. It's my belief that the rolling wheel will have to be turned to follow the curved lines of our project. There in lies the problem. The machine is fitted with a special head that will accomdate this action. I just need to know how to tell it to turn as it follows the design. Do I have you totally confused? I hope not. I recently saw some diamond tipped etchers but I don't know if they would work for scoring glass. An help will be greatly appreciated. Chuck

[ger21]

What control are you using? You need a control that has a tangential mode, with your etcher's rotation handled by a stepper motor.

[awerby]

Either that, or a spring-loaded diamond drag tool like this: Spring Loaded Engraving Tools engrave flat and uneven surfaces

[3Eagles]

Thanks for the response. I saw the spring loaded diamond tips but was told they were fine for etching but not for scoring.

[3Eagles]

The unit came with Mach3 loaded. I am completely uninformed on CNC. My gransons father in law is familiar with G-code and is trying to get up to speed on it. My grandson, bless his heart, is taking a college level G-code introduction course. He's a sharp cookie and will probably be able to handle all our needs but not for a few months. The unit has a seperate motor for the scoring that mounts in place of a router. I'm assuming/hoping this is the stepper motor. Thanks for any assistance you can provide. Chuck

[awerby]

Often machines like that mount the cutter behind the center of the spindle on a swivel, so that it's dragged along in the right direction. It's not altogether necessary to power the rotation. Look up "drag knife" to see what I'm talking about.

If this machine was intended for this purpose, and has a motorized swivel, did it come with proprietary software as well?

[3Eagles]

The machine has motor that mounts in place of a router and turns the glass scoring blade. The seller provides tech support but right now it wouldn't make sense to me. I am way too much of a novice. I'm hoping to find a place to refer a friend that is CNC savy. The machine is set up with Mach3 which from what I've read here can to the tangential operation. Thanks for the response. Chuck