Machining cycle
Archimedean spiral
A face spiral thread/groove following the Archimedean spiral
The cycle form: start/end diameters, pitch, insert width and number of starts, with a live 2D path simulator on the right.
The Archimedean spiral cycle cuts a groove or thread into the face of the workpiece, following a spiral with a uniform pitch from the center outward or the reverse.
The cycle runs on a spindle-synchronized threading move (G32/G33) — the same principle as regular threading, just radial along X instead of along Z, and only on the part's face. Because of that, the generated program only works on machines where the controller and spindle drive track rotation through an encoder (a spindle position sensor): without one, feed can't be synchronized to rotation, and the machine can't run this G-code correctly.
Who needs this cycle
Needed for non-standard face spiral profiles — for example, spiral grooves or a thread cut into the face of a part.
Key form parameters
- •Start and end spiral radius
- •Spiral pitch
- •Groove/thread depth
- •Feed rate