Ward,
I haven't used the Rest Robot yet. I am anxious to do it, but it seems like I never try something until its time to actually cut a part!
But the concept of the Rest Robot makes me wonder, how did you ever know, when using Mill2000 (or any other gouge free software) , that you had actually machined the entire model right down to the surface?
Example: I machined some fancy molds for forming pulp trays for apples. The customer sent me the models, so I never actually knew what the smallest radii were. It was a nurbs (
Not
Understood
Really
Bizarre
Skin) surface so that gives you an idea, that we have no idea what the surface is
Anyway, it didn't really matter in this case whether I did machine right to the surface in small radii. But, in using Mill 2000, there was really no way to know in what area the cutter I was using had left excess stock, because the software will not permit the tool to gouge. It always looked good in the simulation, but you cannot measure a simulation.