Cutter Profiler – CADucopia

CADucopia Cutter Profiler version 0.1 060824

The CADucopia Cutter Profiler is a RhinoScript that displays the profile of a cutter (defined in Deskproto’s .ctr cutter format) as a polycurve in Rhino.

Installation

1) Download the installation file. Note where you saved it to your hard disk.

2) In Rhino, from the menu Tools / RhinoScript / Load …

3) Press Add… browse to where you saved the file, select Filename: CADucopia Cutter Profiler vxx yymmdd.rvb (note: vxx yymmdd will be the version x.x and build date year month day, respectively) and press Open.

4) Select CADucopia Cutter Profiler vxx yymmdd.rvb (which should now appear in the list); press Load; press Close.

5) If you would like the script to Load automatically every time you start Rhino, from the menu Tools / Options … / Rhino Options / RhinoScript / Startup Scripts to load when Rhino starts press the New dashed box icon then “…” button; browse to where you saved the file, select Filename: CADucopia Cutter Profiler vxx yymmdd.rvb, press Open then press OK.

If you do not do this step, the next time you start Rhino from the menu Tools / RhinoScript / Load … select CADucopia Cutter Profiler vxx yymmdd.rvb (which should appear in the list if added previously); press Load; press Close.

Use

To run the script: from the menu Tools / RhinoScript / Run … select CADucopiaCutterProfiler from the list and press OK.
(Note: if added in a previous session but not set up to Load automatically when Rhino starts, see Installation item 5.)

Upon running the script you will be asked to Open the DeskProto cutter (.ctr) file you would like to display. The CADucopia Cutter Profiler will then create the cutter’s profile as a polycurve (in Y=0 plane) corresponding to right half of the cutter’s profile as seen perpendicular to the cutting axis, starting from the tip (X=0, Z=0), and display a list of cutter file entries and their values for review.

This profile can then be used in conjunction with the CADucopia Offset Calculator which calculates a number, an offset, that can be used to create a 2D contour curve to cut parts out of flat sheet, clean up walls and contours, etc. Cutter profiles are also useful in the close examination of toolpaths displayed by the CADucopia Toolpath Viewer.

The following types of cutters are supported: Flat, Ball, Ball with flat tip (i.e. curved and bull nose), Conic, Conic with flat tip, and Conic with ball tip. A sample .ctr file for each of these is included in the distribution to assist with understanding them. MultipleDiameter is set to True, so if you’d like to view without multiple diameters edit the value for MultipleDiameter to False.

If you are not a DeskProto user, you can create a text file with the .ctr extension and format below, using a text editor like NotePad. If you are a DeskProto user, I strongly recommend you use DeskProto itself to define and modify cutter files. Please note: entries not used by the CADucopia Cutter Profiler, or not required for a particular Type of cutter, are ignored.

DeskProto Cutter (.ctr) File Specification

A DeskProto Cutter is a text file with .ctr extension in Windows-style initialization file format that defines a cutter.

The default directory for cutter files in Deskproto is C:\Program Files\DeskProto 4.1\drivers\, although this may be changed through the Options … menu: Preferences > General tab / Drivers field.

See README.txt file in download for detailed DeskProto Cutter (.ctr) File Specification and Cutter Type Definitions.

DeskProto’s .ctr format is used with the kind permission of Delft Spline Systems.

Disclaimer

This script is made available without any guarantee of fitness for any application. There is no warrantee expressed or implied.