[john_t_h]

Is there a tutorial or guide available that will help me create the part as shown in the below pic?



I am assuming that this will need to be machined using more than one operation i.e. machine one bit, reposition the part on the table and machine the next bit??

[cam1]

Hi: The part looks familiar, did you post a similar question a while ago?
I recall that a couple of good suggestions were posted.

regards

[john_t_h]

.....
I recall that a couple of good suggestions were posted.

regards

Not for DolphinCAD.

The other questions were relating to designing the part in Solidworks. My Son did have access to a school computer with Solidworks for a while, but now I need to learn DolphinCAD

[metalworkz]

Hi John,
Are you planning on making this part from one piece of material? What type of material will it be made from? Not sure what the application is for this part but it looks like a good candidate to be made from 2 pieces. Would be easier to machine and then asemble &weld etc?
Regards,

[john_t_h]

The part is for a model power boat. It is the strut that supports the prop shaft at the rear of the boat.

My plan is to make this out of one piece of aluminum stock. Welding is not an option as I can not weld aluminum. I have a commercially made one that I based my drawing off and it is machined in one piece.

The only DolphinCAD tutorials I have found use 2D drawings only so I can see how I can draw this part in DolphinCAD in 3D and then machine it in 2.5D.

[metalworkz]

Since it needs to be made from one piece it looks like if you imagine it with a parting line thru the center and draw a top and bottom views accordingly you should end up with the blank of the strut with the obround slot included. Perhaps you can manually drill the hole for the prop shaft.
What level of Dolphin Partmaster do you have?

[john_t_h]

Ok, I understand what you mean.

To get started I can't workout how to draw the part in 3D so it will show the blade part and the external shape of the propshaft. None of the tutorials I've found show this?

[Dolphin USA]

You won't be able to draw a 3D model in Partmaster. You would need our 3D program that allows that. Partmaster can draw 2D / 2.5D / machine 2 / 3 / 4 axis.

[metalworkz]

I think it can be done in 2D if you make 2 opposing views(top and bottom).Then the blank can be machined one side at a time being careful to flip it correctly and gauge from the same sides of the blank. I think the wedge area could be done in a 2nd operation and also the drilling of the shaft hole if not done manually. I would sketch the part views and add the dimensions and then start drawing in the CAD. It does seem tricky but I think it can be done. Otherwise you will need to obtain a 3D CAD/CAM program and this part does not seem that complicated that you could even fab it up manually.

[john_t_h]

You won't be able to draw a 3D model in Partmaster. You would need our 3D program that allows that. Partmaster can draw 2D / 2.5D / machine 2 / 3 / 4 axis.

Ok, going with the idea of drawing half the part. Is there a tutorial that shows how to draw a 2.5D part?

Couldn't DolphinCAD machine the blade area in the same operation as the rest? Drilling of the hole would obviously need to be a seperate operation. So this part could possibly be done in three operations??:

1. Machine Side A
2. Machine Side B
3. Drill propshaft hole

[metalworkz]

I think so. I'm not sure about the wedged blade area as far as doing it in the same operation with the other sides. Might need the 3D machining because of the angled plane. I was just visualizing how to do it without 3D and it can be done as a flat rectangular shape and the angled section can be done in a later operation. You may find someone with a better and or different idea how to make this when it is read tomorrow.

[john_t_h]

From what I have been reading it should be doable in theory as the blade area is within 2.5D

I see the images on DolphinCADs website like the one below which shows curves. It should be the same thing in principle I would think.

[metalworkz]

Try drawing it up with all the features included and see if the CAM will produce the needed program. I have level 3 milling but have not tried anything like this yet. You will still probably need to do a tool change(ball nose) for the angled section so if it does not look right (check Z depth changes) you could always do it in another setup and just angle the part to use flat end mills. I'll check back later when I get home from work to see your current status.
Regards,

[john_t_h]

I'm off to bed so I'll have to re-visit this tomorrow.

I was looking for a tutorial/guide on how draw this up. The only ones I found demonstrate 2D drawings only and setting depth of cut.

I have no idea on how to do the blade angle or the chamfer for the propshaft bit.

[wwendorf]

I have a similar part i'm making, at least in regards to the octagonal thing. I'm milling it flat and using a 45 degree slant angle cutter ($40 per cutter) to get the angles on there.

To draw it out into Dolphin, take the dimensions as if you were looking straight down at the piece and just draw the various lines. You have already modeled it in a 3d program, so take your dimensions from that.

As far as the angle in the long piece, I think i'd probably make a fixture to tilt it at whatever the angle needed is, then drop my jog speed down to like 10-15% and manually machine that angle in there. You could program it, but it looks much easier to just manually cut it.

I am using Dolphin Partmaster L3 for my work too.

Hope this helps.

Later,
Wade

[john_t_h]

hmmmm, manually machine it?

kinda defeats the purpose of having CNC doesn't it?

[wwendorf]

If you are doing a one-off part, doing a few of those steps manually is just quicker. You are still using your electronics to make your life easier. You can do as my post suggests and clamp the piece and do about 1 minute worth of key jogging to get the angle that you want on your part, flip it over, and do the same.

If you program an area clear, then you have to worry about positioning it, then setting your x0 and y0 perfectly. If you plan to produce a few of these, but all means program it. There are a few parts that I make that are very simple and it's just quicker to either key jog to make them, or type the coordinates into the ALT-2 window of mach 3. I could program them, but in the time it took to do the setup, I could have the stuff done.

At any rate, it was just a suggestion. By all means do it as you want. The creation of your part will be about a 4 step operation tho.

Wade

[sqatch]

I quickly whipped this up, nothing is scaled or true just for you to look at.

[metalworkz]

Yes, that looks like the part modeled!! Can you explain how the profiles are defined? I was hoping someone would see Johns post that knew how to do this.

[john_t_h]

I quickly whipped this up, nothing is scaled or true just for you to look at.

Yep that looks like the stuff!!

So in the drawing, it needs to have the arc/chamfer of the prop shaft bit defined and then the angle for the blade defined separately to the main drawing?