I am trying to rough off a tab and it keep adding in an extra pass or two in the y axis that it doesn't need to remove the stock. When I simulate it all the material is removed on the second y pass but it add a third pass at most depths and a 4th on other. It is a 1" cutter and the tab is less than 1" and I have my step over at 70%. My stock is from a model and I am using rest machining from WIP. I have changed every setting I can think of to no avail. Am I missing something obvious?
Its a little tough to see what you're trying to do. More than likely, you'll want to try playing with the stepover value and also the air segment offset on the "feature options" tab. This is all going to depend on what type of feature you've chosen to machine the part, which would be nice to know. Also, consider making an open profile feature by drawing your toolpath as a sketch first. It is obviously not how the software is intended to be used all of the time, but it is often quicker than the test and check method.
If you are able to attach the file and a description of the requirements we can take a look at it.
EDIT: Another option that might work is to use a face feature with the stepover control set to "user controlled" instead of "automatic". This will run the cutter right up the middle of the part if it is wider than the part. I can't tell from the picture if there are any featues that prevent you from using that strategy though.
I tweaked both the air segment and the stepover to get it where it is now. I was able to get the face feature to work but setting the number of passes manually. The issue is the face feature doesnt have lead in options and I am at the max travel of my machine so i have to come in at 90deg. I cant plunge with my indexable cut as the doc is more then the center relief. I can upload the file later today. It is just a railroad tie plate I found that I wanted to make flat. When I bought my property there was 10 of them in a junk pile. Figured they would work pretty good for fixture plates.
Here is the file. The tie plate is 8" and the max Y travel of my machine is 8.3". I am quite new to solidworks CAM so I could have easily setup something wrong. Thanks for your help.
I'm still not sure that I've captured what you're looking for. I have SolidWorks CAM standard so I can't see your assembly toolpaths. I've attached a quick example of some things you might try to get the result you want.
The first mill part setup uses a standard facing operation with the direction, stepover and side offset controlled. I don't know which direction you're limited in, so you may have to play with the direction and side offsets.
The second setup shows another way to solve tricky problems like this. The toolpath is controlled by the sketch in the SolidWorks feature tree. The key here is to turn off CNC Compensation and Toolpath Center on the NC Tab. That allows the toolpath to directly follow the path with no automatic adjustments. Be careful when using this option, it can cause unexpected toolpath behavior when pocketing or profiling! Always preview your code before running it on the machine!
If I have completely missed the mark on this, let me know and I can take another shot at it. Hope this helps, though!