Hi Gaston,

> 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.

Well, in theory yes, but I'm afraid that it would be quite a difficult task to produce such a script.

It's basically like you would be trying to create a toolpath generator. It's just overall the job that I would have expected a CAM program to be doing for you.


> 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).

Ok, I think I understand what you are talking about a lot more now, thanks! :)


> 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?

It's not so much about the distance to the center of the stock - it's about a difference in the distance between portions of each profile curve.

For instance when there is a depression, each projected section will be close to one another in 3D, but when you arrange these same sections in a linear progression, the spacing will be increased there.

How things are spaced is going to have some effect on the lofted result. So that's why you're going to have some difference if you try to use those linear arranged pieces to build a new loft surface through them. You'll probably tend to get different kinds of lumps and bumps in the shape because of that...

But possibly it will give you some kind of close enough result, I don't really know.


Ideally I guess you would never build a new loft surface at all and just take a whole bunch of radial profile curves from the 3D shape and use those as your toolpaths - but I always thought that is more or less exactly the kind of task that a CAM program is supposed to do for you?

- Michael