rest milling

[MetalSlinger5]

not sure if I can explain this properly, but here goes..

when using any of the 3D or multiaxis toolpaths, and you want to use the stock/rest feature in the parameters, does the toolpaths that you want to use have to be in the same plane as the current toolpath you are creating?

Does not seem to work to me if the previous toolpath, for example, is tilted 25 deg. the toolpath that I am creating basically ignores the selection in the parameters...

[Chally72]

Hi MetalSlinger,

 

The short answer is you're free to use whatever toolplane you want if you're using a rest stock model, but plane definition for stock models can be tricky if you're moving toolplanes around and don't understand what's happening to the stock model orientation in the background. If you can upload a file, we could step through how to set it up best for your particular example.

[MetalSlinger5]

4 minutes ago, Chally72 said:

Hi MetalSlinger,

 

The short answer is you're free to use whatever toolplane you want if you're using a rest stock model, but plane definition for stock models can be tricky if you're moving toolplanes around and don't understand what's happening to the stock model orientation in the background. If you can upload a file, we could step through how to set it up best for your particular example.

I was not using a rest stock model, I was just selecting the toolpaths from previous operations. Is it better to create a stock model up to that point and use it for rest milling?

[Chally72]

Correct- if changing planes while doing rest roughing, setting up the Stock page to directly calculate based on previous operations in different planes can have adverse effects.

I attached a simple little example showing a block with a 2D dynamic, a Stock Model based on that operation, and then an Optirough rest rough that references the Stock model.

Usually, I tout best practice as modeling your stock as a solid body, and creating a Stock Model operation as the very first operation in your toolpath tree and referencing that solid. This skips Stock Setup stock (under the properties of the machine group) entirely. In this example, though, I wanted to show how 2D Dynamic automatically picks up on Stock Setup stock settings, so I've used Stock Setup here to create the initial stock.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Stock.mcam

[jwvt88]

1 hour ago, MetalSlinger5 said:

I was not using a rest stock model, I was just selecting the toolpaths from previous operations. Is it better to create a stock model up to that point and use it for rest milling?

Yes, this is how we do it. We have an abundance of stock models sometimes, and can take a while to regen dirty operations, but it is the best way I think. 

[MetalSlinger5]

thank you guys for your input and information, much appreciated.