problem - milling direction

[spaltiel]

Hi all,

I'm using Cambam software as CAD2CAM convertor. Everything was looking fine until I was started to cut, then I realized that the milling direction is incorrect. I get lots of problem at the edges when the milling direction is CCW.

I didn't find how to change the milling direction. I attached image which shows the problem, part of the milling is clockwise and part is counter clockwise. I wish do define that the direction will be only CW. Does anyone know how to define it in Cambam or may be help me solve the problem.

BTW I can't contor the router spin direction.

Thanks in advance
Amir

[CarveOne]

Amir,

Select the pocket that you want to change. Then click on the machining operation for that pocket. Near the bottom of the list of operations you will find "Spindle Control". There are two operations there, Milling Direction and Spindle Direction. Click on Milling Direction and your choices are "Conventional", "Climb", and "Mixed".

The Spindle Direction changes rotation direction if you have that capability.

CarveOne

[spaltiel]

Amir,

Select the pocket that you want to change. Then click on the machining operation for that pocket. Near the bottom of the list of operations you will find "Spindle Control". There are two operations there, Milling Direction and Spindle Direction. Click on Milling Direction and your choices are "Conventional", "Climb", and "Mixed".

The Spindle Direction changes rotation direction if you have that capability.

CarveOne

Hi CarveOne,

I don't have control of the spindle direction. I have home made CNC and I use Black & Decker router. Because I can't control the spindle direction I would like to control the milling direction.

The program does choose milling direction however I would like to reverse it.

Amir

[Aryantes]

CarveOne is correct.

Under the Spindle Control section, there is one field labeled as MillingDirection.

This does not change how the spindle spins or anything, it simply changes the path that the router takes as it cuts.

If you change this from Conventional to Climb, or from Climb to Convention, then recalculate your toolpaths, you will see the paths change from Clockwise to Counterclockwise or vice versa.

The SpindleDirection field, you don't have to bother with. Only the MillingDirection is important.

[CarveOne]

Hi CarveOne,

I don't have control of the spindle direction. I have home made CNC and I use Black & Decker router. Because I can't control the spindle direction I would like to control the milling direction.

The program does choose milling direction however I would like to reverse it.

Amir

Yes, I assumed that you have a standard non-reversible router. (As do I)

As Aryantes states, it is the Milling Direction that changes the direction that you want the spindle (router) to move around the pocket that you are cutting. When you make changes to the climb versus conventional settings you need to generate the gcode again in order to update the gcode file with the new settings. Running the new gcode file should then move in the opposite direction.

For the few projects that I have cut so far I have used the default value (Conventional) and it has worked well for me. I just noticed that the Drill and the Lines machining operations do not show the option for Milling Direction, so there is no obvious way to change them for these two operations.

CarveOne

[spaltiel]

Yes, I assumed that you have a standard non-reversible router. (As do I)

As Aryantes states, it is the Milling Direction that changes the direction that you want the spindle (router) to move around the pocket that you are cutting. When you make changes to the climb versus conventional settings you need to generate the gcode again in order to update the gcode file with the new settings. Running the new gcode file should then move in the opposite direction.

For the few projects that I have cut so far I have used the default value (Conventional) and it has worked well for me. I just noticed that the Drill and the Lines machining operations do not show the option for Milling Direction, so there is no obvious way to change them for these two operations.

CarveOne

Thanks. I can see the milling directions on screen after regenerating the toolpath, however, when I create gcode from 3D object the conventional vs. climb options did not changed the direction of the arrows. In addition, part of the gcode is CW and the other are CCW. Anyway I'll try it again and let you know if it solve the problem.

Amir

[CarveOne]

Thanks. I can see the milling directions on screen after regenerating the toolpath, however, when I create gcode from 3D object the conventional vs. climb options did not changed the direction of the arrows. In addition, part of the gcode is CW and the other are CCW. Anyway I'll try it again and let you know if it solve the problem.

Amir

As a last resort, you can always edit the gcode file and change the appropriate codes to what they need to be. MS Notepad can do search and replace to make this relatively easy.

CarveOne

[lancut]

See the attached picture, hope this helps.