Milling Strategy
- If I were to simply 'unroll' this model none of the undercuts of the flowers or leaves would be cut. Not only does this leave a lot of hand carving the geometry of what is milled is distorted more than is desirable.
- To properly handle these undercuts requires that the cutting tool always be perpendicular to the surface. Moving the wax simultaniously in 3 linear and 2 rotary axis gets pretty close to achieving this. Another rotary axis isn't that difficult to add BUT the software to generate a 5 axis tool path is slightly expensive.
- A more affordable, and limited solution for the present is to unroll the model twice. In addition to replacing the circumferential X axis with a rotary C, now the Y linear axis is also replaced with a rotary A. Not ideal, but the improved geometry and partial undercuts make the final form easier to visualize when hand carving.
- The linear X and Y axis are used only to initialy position the wax blank with respect to the mill's zero ( 0,0,0,0,0) position. Very minor errors here can produce very interesting distortions.
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