approach: pre-drill does nothing

[kendo]

nothing at all

I follow the directions in the help file, set a drill point at the depth of the pocket I'm roughing, drill it 1st to full diameter depth
The help file says "specify" a drill point for this function, but how do you "specify" it? It seems like edgecam just decides wether theres a point there or not.

I can never get anything but a ramp or a helix approach to work when Im roughing a pocket
why isn't there more control over where the ramp or helix enters the material at?
Why cant I plunge to depth outside of an open pocket when theres no need for a ramp, a helix, or a pre-drilled hole?

[helix77]

YOU HAVE TO LITERALY DRAW A POINT (DESIGN SIDE/GEOMETRY/POINT.) DRAW IT IN THE POSITION NEEDED..THEN TRANSLATE IT DOWN TO THE ACTUAL DEPTH YOU INTEND TO DRILL... THEN IN THE ROUGHING CYCLE..SELECT IT WHEN PROMPTED.. BUT ADD ANOTHER .001 OR SO (NEG) IN THE DEPTH ..OR IT LEADS IN FUNNY

[kendo]

Thats exactly what I do
but I never get prompted for the point,

you can't see it in the shot, but the point is there
it was at Z-.5, now its Z-.501

the pocket depth is -.5, the drill depth is -.501, the point is at -.501
drill size is .625
endmill size is .5

after I OK that roughing dialogue box, nothing happens
no change in toolpath, no text at the bottom left prompting me to select any points

[helix77]

TRY LEAVING THE MAXIMUM PLUNGE DEPTH BLANK..LINK METHOD ALWAYS RAMP...IS YOUR CPL AT FLOOR LEVEL?

[kendo]

maximum plunge - blank
link method - always ramp

the approach goes vertical, but its still not on the point, it plunges to the same point that it had been ramping to

the CPL is at top

[helix77]

... I DREW THE POINT TO THE EXACT DEPTH THAT I STATED IN THE DEPTH TAB AND IT WORKED... AND IT WORKS EVEN IF THE DEPTH IS LESS..BUT NOT MORE..MY PREVIOUS INFO WAS TO GO A BIT DEEPER.. I WAS MISTAKEN

[kendo]

well thats how I was doing it to begin with
just like the help file says and illustrates

GOOD LORD
how hard should it be to do this?

I just hope this doesnt turn out like my last experience with tech support.
They tried to put me down saying how utterly simple it was to do what I couldn't get edgecam to do, and that I should just attend their training classes.
Then at the end of it, the function wasn't available to me since I got entry milling license - AND they knew that from the beginning.

So, since the help file just says "some functions may not be available to you"
is this one of them OR WHAT?

[helix77]

SO DID YOU GET IT TO WORK.... I KNOW THAT ITS A PAIN IN THE BUTT DEALING WITH THOSE GUYS..IS THAT WHY IT DIDNT WORK THE FIRST TIME...BECAUSE YOU ONLY HAVE ENTRY LEVEL????

[kendo]

I accidentally got the pre-drill to work
I was re-generating a roughing op and it asked me to digitise a start point in the process

What I noticed was the points it picked were all at the top of the feature, at Z0, not at the bottom Z-.5
this is not the way the help file says, there's even a little diagram there showing the point right at the bottom

This only works when I'm creating a cycle
When creating an operation it never asks for the start point even if everything else is the same

This would be fine except...
when I create a roughing cycle instead of a roughing operation, it won't let me specify XY offset, its grayed out
and I NEED XY offset, why would it gray the option out like that?

why would this program act this way?

[kendo]

nevermind

I came into work this morning and it won't work anymore
no matter what I do,
it asks for the start point, and I select the point, but now it won't use it even though it asks for it and I select it.

[jstikeleather]

Have you tried to contact your Edgecam reseller for technical support?

[John Holmes]

maybe comp was greyed out because you had optimised picked in first tab instead of climb or conventional milling.