Hi Michael,

>Sorry, no there isn't any automated way to take a radial arrangement of curves and move them
> along a straight line path.

Could scripts be helpful in this? I have not written scripts for Moi yet but I'm willing to give it a go if that may ease the process.

>Could you possibly give some more details on your equipment and your overall plan of how you
> want to produce your finished design?

My machine has 3 axis to move the tool in space: X (left/right), Y (front/back), Z (up/down) and a fourth one, A axis ( 0-360deg) that rotates the stock.

In my setup,the stock axis is oriented parallel to the y axis, the X axis locked with the tool right above the stock axis. And the x axis info in sent to the rotating axis. The machine is set so the one rotation correspond to the linear path (object 4).


>the distances between different peaks and valleys in your shapes is different in the "straight"
>one versus the 3D one, that produces different shaping when you loft a surface through the
> straight one for example.

As the distance between the 3d ogject surface and the center is identical to the distance between the unwrapped surface and the center of the stock it seems to me the two should be identical, no? Of course more Intersection Lines would produce a closer lofted surface.
But you are probably right. I will need to cut a part to put my head around this one :)

Gaston


Gaston