Smooth Arcs

[jcnewbie]

Is there any way to smooth arcs without using the filter option ?

[Mike Mattera]

Need more info. What version of MCam? Is this a 3d Toolpath? What type of NC control? Does your post do arcs now?


Mike Mattera

[fizzissist]

Originally Posted by jcnewbie Is there any way to smooth arcs without using the filter option ?

Smooth arcs?? Heck, I can't seem to even GET arcs sometimes. All I get is 14gazzillion points no matter what I set the filter to. What I have found is that if you cheat and set your stock-to-leave setting somewhere off the finish surface it'll give you arcs,,,and if you're using cutter comp, then lie to the control about what the real dia is to offset the stock-to-leave.

But why, pray tell, with $15,000 worth of software should I have to lie to get what I want??

X4 MU1

[charger19690]

It all comes down to the Toolpath strategy.

I have found that if I am doing a 2d contour that has a spline, the filter works pretty good. Normally I try to convert the spline to an arc before snapping it to generate a toolpath.

As far as surfacing goes, it mostly comes down between the mix of the CAD your are using, the shape and the toolpath strategy. There is no perfect solution for surfacing paths to automatically spit out arcs all over because of geometry involved. It's best just to play with your filter settings and see if your toolpath size changes to an acceptable amount.

Mike in MN

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[Superman]

When doing 2D contours on splines, mastercam usually outputs point to point code when the offset is zero, if using a roughing offset Mcam will tend to put in arcs (most times).
Point to point is not desirable, if you can fit an arc in place of the splines, then do, it if possible.

Try using "Simplify", this will convert your selected splines to arcs if they fall into the tolerance you set on the simpify toolbar options

to run it,
--> change color
--> edit (pull down) --> Simplfy --> all splines --> ( alter the deviation tolerance ) --> accept
( any splines altered will be deleted and replaced with arcs in the current color )
--> check endpoints for trim by chaining to another color

[Mike Mattera]

You can only get arcs if your toolpath conforms to some kind of standard plane (XY, YZ or ZX) you cant to a Parallel cut at 37° and expect it to create arcs. There are no arcs to be found. A contour cut moves in the XY plane and therefore (if your surfaces are curved) you will get some arcs. Mastercam cant create something that's not there.

Mike Mattera