Containment on a surface toolpath.

[TXFred]

I'm a MasterCAM user that is transitioning over to SprutCAM. I'm trying to program a surfacing operation, and want to tell Sprut to ignore certain sections of the surface.

In MasterCAM this was done with a containment boundary, which was just a 2 dimensional line drawing that fenced in the tool and kept it away from certain areas. Does SprutCAM have a similar feature?

My test part is a tetrahedron milled in the 4th axis. I need to contain it so that the surfacing operation doesn't cut into the 4th axis chuck or cut the part loose from the stock too soon.

Sincerely,
Frederic

[TXFred]

Nevermind. I figured it out. There are Job Zone and Restriction Zone designations in the Job Assignment tab of each toolpath.

Frederic

[mayhugh1]

Sometimes these work the way you need and sometimes they don't. Another way that I've found that is a bit more reliable is to go into the 2D Geometry Tool and use the "Draw Profile" tool to draw a closed segmented curve around the area that you want to machine. It will store this curve in the Global CS folder under your part heirarchy and you can then use this curve in the job assignment as your job zone. This is probably how you are used to working. Or if you want to create a "keep out area" you can use the curve as a "restricted area." If you examine its properties under the job assignment you can define the curve as the boundary for the tool's center or inside or outside edges. I only use the 2D Geometry tool for simple things like this because I find it rather 'clunky' to use. When doing 4-axis machining, though, the problem becomes more complex and nothing seems to work 100% of the time. Here, 'Faces" seem to be the best bet but often the software generates toopaths which include other areas as well. - Terry

[C*H*U*D]

I wish there was a way to do this easily as well with 2D geometry, but the model isn't visible when 2D geometry is being used.

I'm used to drawing a simple rectangle around the part to define air walls. Then do a pocketing procedure with the part as the island and everything else removed.

Now that I'm using SC more I'm getting used to doing things different, but I still wish there were some features that were easier to use.

[saabaero]

C*H*U*D,

You can turn on part (model) and geometry visibility when in 2D geometry tab by clicking on the buttons on the bottom of the screen.

The one thing I haven't figured out how to do however, is to "Import curve from model" in 2D geometry tab. The button is always greyed out and non selectable.

Anyone have any ideas?????

I can use "Project on plane" in the model tab but you can't use these entities as 2D entities in the 2D geometry tab.