Is it possible to set a continuous roughing pass? I saw the GRZ blog where someone suggested using a finish pass and a pencil pass where you lie and set the finish pass bit slightly larger than it really is. That causes it to leave that much extra material behind. Then when the pencil pass is made it cleans up the previous cuts. But technically you only get a finish pass on all except the last, pencil pass with is a one pass only cut. And, what if you want to make more than one pass on the real finish pass, can't.
When I set a simple 2D gear up and choose to do a rouging pass, the toolpaths generated jup all over the part rapiding back and forth from side to side in a basically round part. Instead of making one continuous pass around the part like a finish pass. All that back and forth is loaded with plunges that aren't needed IMO.
Any (other) way to control that? Any way to make it do to finish passes, then a pencil path? This was the same issue I saw on Cut2D, which led me to look at other CAM's.
if you can afford mastercam, and try to make this work with pocketing, as you tried here with meshcam, you going to get same result..
the difference will be about 20K of dollar..
this is not as meshcam or cut2d works
this is as pocketing works, regardless of programs..
within pocketing as the routin fill up one, pocket will jump to the next ""pocket"" ... not as the clock going around but from Y- to Y+ or from X- to X+ ..
I think you need to try to approaching cnc as is..
particularly this work don't need pocketing, but if you want anyway you need to choose some offsetting method..
that will be equal as simply cut out with 2.5 d toolpathing method..
if you have a solid model, and edge is chamfered, then simplest is, cut it to half, and you need to derivate the contur or you call outline where you cut your model.. using that contur or outline you can cut out this shape.. without jumping..
your situation shows that without prior experiments, simplest tasks will becomes very difficult..
theres no program can be made that can replace school, or years of experiment..
you also need to read several times trough the tutorial.. that explain how you can make it in multiple pass..
again, it I snot as meshcam works, it is as cam programs generally working..
im testing at this time the program, and for me very impressive that meshcam don't use a snapshot of the model for toolpathing but calculate the toolpath directly from the model surface..
means what was always my concern, meshcam don't alter my models like easy to use programs.
Last edited by victorofga; 01-24-2014 at 12:43 AM.
I just upgraded from V3 to V5, and there is a lot of improvement in how Meshcam generates a toolpath efficiently.
Robert just recently released V6. It will be interesting to see what it has to offer.