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Mirroring toolpaths without mirroring direction of cut


TOM S
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I need to machine 2 parts which are mirror images of each other.  I have programmed the first one.  I will mirror the geometry to create the second one.  Is there a faster / easier way of changing the toolpath?  I usually "reverse" and "change side" each operation individually, alternatively I have exported and imported the toolpath group and rechained the geometry.  

Both methods can be time consuming.  It seems to me there must be a better way when a complete part is mirrored to automatically reverse the chaining.  Am I missing something?

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23 hours ago, TOM S said:

I need to machine 2 parts which are mirror images of each other.  I have programmed the first one.  I will mirror the geometry to create the second one.  Is there a faster / easier way of changing the toolpath?  I usually "reverse" and "change side" each operation individually, alternatively I have exported and imported the toolpath group and rechained the geometry.  

Both methods can be time consuming.  It seems to me there must be a better way when a complete part is mirrored to automatically reverse the chaining.  Am I missing something?

What version of Mastercam do you use?

A chook or nethook could automate your chain reversal across multiple operations.

I think this is a good point the software should do it, I've been in this situation lots of times.

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1 hour ago, Thee Byte™ said:

What version of Mastercam do you use?

 

I am running Mastercam Router 2021 with Curve 5 axis

I don't know much about chooks or nethooks, but will start looking into them.

The Toolpath Transform the pullo (Gracjan) suggested worked perfectly.

It seems to me though that perhaps Mastercam should automatically do this, or prompt you when mirroring geometry associated to an existing toolpath.  But perhaps I am a rare exception...

 

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51 minutes ago, TOM S said:

 

It seems to me though that perhaps Mastercam should automatically do this, or prompt you when mirroring geometry associated to an existing toolpath.  But perhaps I am a rare exception...

 

You are not the exception

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This might not work as well on a 5-Axis Path, but I've had some decent success with making "As Shown" and "Opposite-Hand" parts, by creating a series of "Transform > Mirror (Geometry-Type)" Paths.

The real trick is to not try and grab "all operations" in one-shot.

I typically will do "groups of operations", where I know I want to perform the same "modifications" on everything. For example, "swapping lead in/out", "Reversing", Maintain Start Point/Entity".

 

Transform Mirror - Reverse Order.PNG

On 4/8/2021 at 8:25 AM, TOM S said:

I need to machine 2 parts which are mirror images of each other.  I have programmed the first one.  I will mirror the geometry to create the second one.  Is there a faster / easier way of changing the toolpath?  I usually "reverse" and "change side" each operation individually, alternatively I have exported and imported the toolpath group and rechained the geometry.  

Both methods can be time consuming.  It seems to me there must be a better way when a complete part is mirrored to automatically reverse the chaining.  Am I missing something?

The reality is: it is never as easy or as straightforward as you would expect it to be.

Honestly, I will typically use Mirror to create "new Operations and Geometry", because it is often easier to just have the new geometry/operations, so you can fix the Ops, without having to rely on a "source operation", and maintain that associativity. It just gets to be "too much", when you've got a part with dozens or sometimes hundreds of Operations.

It is the same reason I still use "Surfaces" for much of my toolpath operations. I want to be able to keep groups of Operations "semi-independent" from each other.

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4 hours ago, denkizz said:

I have the same problem. One of my machines y+ is north. the other y+ is south. I would like to edit the post for the different machines. Not edit the program for the different machines.

With the correct posts you are correct in your thinking. Get a hold of your dealer and get what you need. 

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