4th axis action - wrapped 2D Adaptive test

Let's try this thing out!
There are only 3 simultaneous 4th axis operations available in Fusion (2D Adaptive, 2D Contour and 2D Pocket) - unless you fancy coughing up $125 per month ($1500 a year). I don't bloody think so. Although Autodesk are currently allowing free access to the manufacturing extensions for the time being, that will soon end and anyone who's been gorging themselves on the fancy 3D toolpaths will find themselves getting strung out. So I won't bother even playing with them, to avoid getting pissed off later. Clever, eh?

Swissi has created a 4th axis post processor for the Centroid systems. Apparently there was an issue with the workpiece unwinding back to A0 between moves. Can't be having that and it seems that he has a "beta v3" out now that should fix the issue. Let's try it out.

Test piece and wrapped CAM:
Let's have a go at machining this simple test piece. It's a wrapped 2D Adaptive roughing operation.

I'm not about to risk a decent carbide cutter on a job like this, particularly as the stepper motor on the 4th axis unit is clearly on the verge of stalling most of the time. Instead, I'll use an old HSS cutter that I won't lose any sleep over. It's actually a 3/8" (~9.5mm) diameter, not the claimed 10mm but that's fine for now.

I found a piece of 32mm mystery metal. It's clearly some form of aluminium alloy but beyond that I couldn't say. I've deliberately cut the stock as long as possible so I can get several trials out of it before I have to reach for another piece. 

Again, I can't be bothered to set it up "properly", so will touch off on the stock manually to set WCS zeros etc.

So this won't be pretty - lots of unsupported overhang, HSS steel cutting end mill, adaptive roughing operation etc. But if the tool survives, it will tell me if the post processor etc is outputting sensible g code.

Here's the thing in action:

And a closer look at the finished article. As expected, it's not pretty.

It's a reasonable start. But I don't like the look of those sudden, jerky movements! I must try to understand what that's about...