Dan Davis said:
"Does anyone else have any thoughts to add to the viability and
availability to Hexapod-based mills?"
Dan:
I did a little research on hexapods when Giddings & Lewis first invented
theirs based on the Stewart Platform (the Stewart Platform is used for
flight simulators). My initial impressions were that the working volume was
too small (I believe it was 3 cubic feet) to be of much practical use for
the majority of aircraft tooling work or parts and that the rigidity of the
machine was a question - it looked OK for plastic or aluminum work but not
for hard to machine materials like inconel or titanium.
It is a neat concept - instead of moving the part, move the tool all around
the part. It just needs more development to be a practical machine tool.
Regards,
Glenn Whiteside
Cessna Aircraft Company
e-mail: siderwhite@worldnet.att.net
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