Indexer/Spiraling discussion

[myxpykalix]

Ron,
Thanks for your reply and link:
http://cncsb.onlinestoragesolution.com/Indexer/indexer.htm
Do you have a secret or two you can share with us? lol. I think where i get hung up is trying to figure the number of spirals.

As in Waynes example he quotes a pitch of 9 inches per rotation. That example seems more relevent to wrapping text or an object around a cylinder.
In using a spiraling bit to create a traditional rope molding you are confined to a rotation or "pitch"(travel in the X axis) of no more than the radius of the bit you are using.

By using a long pitch what you get is illustrated
in this pic which is not what i want.

8619

Now i'm not a programmer but it seems to me that something could be written that turns the indexer a specified speed while the carriage travels in the X axis but what determines the rotation speed and carriage travel would be the bit size. Am I oversimplifying it?
This would be what i would want to accomplish

8620

Has anyone been able to create a rope spiral as in this example? If you notice the bit actually creates half the hill, the valley, half the hill of next cut. That is why the pitch has to be so tight, or you end up like the top example. Thanks Ron for your help. (or anyone else?)

[waynelocke]

Jack,
You have it. I think you need to make your depth a little deeper. When you make your second and third starts the rope will appear.

If you will set your arc resolution higher, you will be able to eliminate the flats on the disc that is your most ambitious project.

Wayne

[bill.young]

John,

Spirals that have to fit a bit like that...that need to have a specific spacing between strands...are a special case because for a particular bit, blank diameter, and number of strands there's only one twist that will fit. That's what the file that I put in ShopBot Labs does...creates a file that will give you that specific spacing.

[bill.young]

The Rope Twist program in ShopBot Labs has been updated with a second program that lets you input the settings for your twist and then calculates the number of revolutions you'll need to enter in the Indexer Virtual Tool to create that particular twist.

Bill

[myxpykalix]

Wayne...those examples were done on my legacy not the indexer. What i'm still confused on is the number of "starts" that have to be made with the indexer. Does it operate similar to the legacy in that it creates one spiral returns to the beginning, offsets itself (or do you do it manually?) then starts another "start" or rotation. Or does it cut it all in one pass?

Bill.. Maybe some of those questions will be answered in this update i will go get it...and thanks for all your help and efforts they are appreciated.

[waynelocke]

Jack,
When you go to the Indexer Virtual Tool fill-in sheet, the box, "Number of Copies" will do the trick for you. If you put in 3, it will make a file with three starts of the spiral. You don't need to do anything else but start the file and relax...maybe not relax.
Wayne

[rg_engravers]

Yep Bill and Wayne are correct.
Jack use the new program it will solve your problem, the trick is the bit to use and the depths to get the results you want. Like Wayne said.
The picture I posted came from the server, it was made by the Marshalls I believe, other members cut the same pattern with the same outcome