Why is the cutting bit taking the "scenic tour"?

[BrassBuilder]

After having some really good experiences with DolphinCad, I had to redraw one of my parts and now the cutting bit takes the "scenic tour" around the part. I have three areas where it wants to do odd stuff. On Con_0 at each bottom corner, the bit wants to come up to .125 and then come back down into the work. On Con_1, it wants to go from the bottom right corner, do a really fast move over to the bottom left corner and then go back to the bottom right corner and pick up the cut again.

Any ideas why it is doing this?

I've attached a dxf of the part.

Mike

[John S.]

We need the CNC file s the dzf won't show how you have selected the contours.

You may have to zip it to be an accepted format.


John S.

[BrassBuilder]

Originally Posted by John S. We need the CNC file s the dzf won't show how you have selected the contours. You may have to zip it to be an accepted format. John S.

I got part of it figured out. I deleted my original drawing and pretty much started over. After blowing the drawing up, I saw some not so pretty intersections. I cleaned them up and that seemed to take care of Con_0. I'm working on Con_1 right now. But I need to redraw that part of it first.

I'll post back if my fix does not work.

Thanks
Mike

[metalworkz]

Hi Mike,
I find its a good idea to zoom in and check things out closely before moving to the CAM side. It will help eliminate un-joined contours and lines that go past the intersection etc. and unwanted tool movements. Sometimes during re-examination you may even see a better strategy for the toolpaths.
Regards,

[BrassBuilder]

Originally Posted by metalworkz Hi Mike, I find its a good idea to zoom in and check things out closely before moving to the CAM side. It will help eliminate un-joined contours and lines that go past the intersection etc. and unwanted tool movements. Sometimes during re-examination you may even see a better strategy for the toolpaths. Regards,

Yah. I'm starting to see this. I fixed a lot of little things that looked good from 10' away, but once I zoomed in....oh boy....not so pretty.
Thanks
Mike

[BrassBuilder]

Finally got my part milled tonite. Need to do two more yet.

Wow. The last two weeks sure have been a real learning experience in drawing and running the mill. Now that I am learning my way around DolphinCad, I am not sure I will be able to go back to TurboCad. In fact, I have TC Pro 12 with the CAM plug-in laying on my desk. I got it loaded and messed around with it a little, but the ease of getting around Dolphin is giving me second thoughts on moving back to the TC software. And now...a local shop wants me to start learning SolidWorks to do some part drawings for them.

Going to start on some parts that are a little more complicated. This ought to present a challenge.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

Mike