Stockmodel limitations and slowdowns

[Bill Craven]

Is there a limitation to the number of Stockmodels that Mastercam can handle before the generation and regeneration of the stock models slows down to make it unusable?

I am currently stuck in 2021 because of a customer.  

The first few Stock models generate fairly quickly.  Then they start to slow down, even to the point where I have to just turn delete tham because they are taking an hour or more to generate.

What are solutions that you have come up with to stay efficient?

 

I am not curretnly using them for stock for subsequent operations just visual verification that I havn't missed anything.  

 

I have also noticed over the years that Stockmodels don't always start regenerating right away.  I have a desktop gadget on one of my monitors that shows what the cores of the CPU are doing and a lot of time when I create a stock model, it just sits there with nothing happening. Then after several minutes or more, it will start crunching and the cores will light up.

 

Edit: My primary use of Stockmodels is to be able to run verify from an intermediate point of the program rather than starting from the beginning each time with hundreds of operations.

[Zoffen]

Stock models can be somewhat moody at times.

Things I will try:

-Delete the stock model and create a default new stock model instead of copying one and changing the settings. Sometimes this magically makes things work.

-Look for thin sections of stock (<.001 thick)  with weird triangle layout. This can make it go whacky depending on your tolerance settings.

-Sometimes you can remove toolpaths from a stock model to figure out which one is giving you troubles.

-Ram Saver to clean the Database

-Toolpaths using tools with Custom Profiles will make the stock models take wayyyyy longer...

-Select less toolpaths per stock model and use more stock models. Lots of "lighter" weight stock models seem to help with stability.

 

Good Luck!

 

 

[byte]

There is a multi-threading enabled option in the config, on the off chance that it's disabled..

[cncappsjames]

I use the method Ron Branch showed me.

Make a stock model of the selected paths and let it generate. Tighterntolerances are better. Activate a new empty level and set as main level. In the ops manager right click on your stock model and create a mesh. It will save that mesh to your main level. Go into the stock model op for stock, select the new mesh. Deselect all the toolpaths associated to it. Regen. 

Create the next stock op, the previous mesh will be your current stock model, select toolpaths to machine that stock model. Let it generate. 

Rinse. Repeat as often as necessary.

[Bill Craven]

4 hours ago, ___ said:

There is a multi-threading enabled option in the config, on the off chance that it's disabled..

The Multi-threading option in config is enabled.  Thanks for the suggestion.

 

1 hour ago, cncappsjames said:

I use the method Ron Branch showed me.

Make a stock model of the selected paths and let it generate. Tighterntolerances are better. Activate a new empty level and set as main level. In the ops manager right click on your stock model and create a mesh. It will save that mesh to your main level. Go into the stock model op for stock, select the new mesh. Deselect all the toolpaths associated to it. Regen. 

Create the next stock op, the previous mesh will be your current stock model, select toolpaths to machine that stock model. Let it generate. 

Rinse. Repeat as often as necessary.

Thanks for the response James.

The wash rinse and repeat is my normal way of creating StockModels.  Including the CTRL mouseclick to deselect the operations so that it is not regenerationg the toolpath, just using the Pmesh.

But after i get a large number of stockmodels, it takes longer and longer to generate a new stockmodel.  

Watching the status of the multi-threading dialog box is painful.  The offseting slices update so slowly.

I am using a lot of Dynamic toolpaths with small stepover and I expect that those toolpaths will take longer to generate, but I really can't afford to wait an hour or more for a single stockmodel.  

Sorry for the rant, I am frustrated.

Before anybody asks, I can't share the file it is an ITAR part.

 

[JParis]

23 minutes ago, Bill Craven said:

But after i get a large number of stockmodels, it takes longer and longer to generate a new stockmodel.  

The answer is, don't create a large number of stock models...

As noted above, once you create it, save it as a mesh and delete the stock model....doing it in this method you'll not have any, except perhaps the final one one,,,

Though I will note, the more complex a stock model gets, it will slow....don't over tighten those stock model tolerances....doing that will eventually hurt performance, even in just 1 stock model...

One thing I do is I will create a stock model....and I will keep adding to it incrementally as I go along until that position is finished....I then create a pmesh...and continue in the next position using the pmesh as stock and again incrementally adding OPs to the current stock model until again I get to the end of the position...save a pesh, next position, new stock model using the previous pmesh as the stock..

In doing it this way, I have 4 positions on a tombstone and only 4 stock stock models

[neurosis]

4 hours ago, cncappsjames said:

I use the method Ron Branch showed me.

When I have a lot of stock models, or multiple stock models for a machining operation, this is what I started doing as well. 

I wish there were an easy button inside of the interface that just allowed you to disassociate the stock model with the tool paths after generating. 

I also wish you could unselect all paths used to create the model easily inside of the interface rather than having to do the <ctrl-click> dance to unselect them.