Depth Cuts

[MSlanker]

Is there any way I can get this toolpath to cut all the way down to final depth then move in and repeat until finished? I'm using 2D Area Mill

[Leon82]

There is a depth cut sort in depth cuts of I'm not mistaken. Could be in multipass also. Cut by depth or pass I think

[kyle528]

In the depth cuts tab you can select between by region or by depth. I believe by depth is what you're looking for

 

[MSlanker]

22 minutes ago, Leon82 said:

There is a depth cut sort in depth cuts of I'm not mistaken. Could be in multipass also. Cut by depth or pass I think

 

18 minutes ago, kyle528 said:

In the depth cuts tab you can select between by region or by depth. I believe by depth is what you're looking for

 

I tried changing it from by region to by depth and it changed nothing.

[Aaron Eberhard]

Honest answer is it doesn't matter.... Opti that thing! 

 

If By Depth doesn't work, you may have discovered a bug.   I don't think many people use Area Mill anymore, so it could have been there for a while.

[Leon82]

If you want that motion use contour and then you can trim it and the sorting should work

[MSlanker]

4 minutes ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

Honest answer is it doesn't matter.... Opti that thing! 

 

If By Depth doesn't work, you may have discovered a bug.   I don't think many people use Area Mill anymore, so it could have been there for a while.

We're using a 2" facemill taking .100" doc, If I used opti rough toward final depth there would be a thin sheet of material and I'm trying to eliminate that. Unless there's a way to do that with opti rough.

[Aaron Eberhard]

28 minutes ago, MSlanker said:

We're using a 2" facemill taking .100" doc, If I used opti rough toward final depth there would be a thin sheet of material and I'm trying to eliminate that. Unless there's a way to do that with opti rough.

Ah, I haven't used a facemill for that sort of application in a long time... I don't believe there's a way to do it with Opti, as it would do each layer at one go. 

I can't tell due to lack of scale, but you may have a lot less tool cost & cycle time if you slot that feature off with Peel mill.  

[sharles]

1 hour ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

If By Depth doesn't work, you may have discovered a bug.   I don't think many people use Area Mill anymore, so it could have been there for a while.

I look at the suite of programs under 2d high speed and Multiaxis and have only used 3 of them (under multiaxis) but when I try to get our employer to get us more training, the request always dies, sigh. Our reseller is even doing a multiaxis class, and I passed along the email about it and never heard back...Hard to care about improving one's skills when it's not supported at all. I can't remember the last time I was sent for any training: probably about 15 years ago...

[Aaron Eberhard]

29 minutes ago, sharles said:

I look at the suite of programs under 2d high speed and Multiaxis and have only used 3 of them (under multiaxis) but when I try to get our employer to get us more training, the request always dies, sigh. Our reseller is even doing a multiaxis class, and I passed along the email about it and never heard back...Hard to care about improving one's skills when it's not supported at all. I can't remember the last time I was sent for any training: probably about 15 years ago...

"The company is there to look out for their brand  You're there to look out for your (personal) brand.  Employment is an agreement that both goals are aligned.  Sometimes they don't align anymore."

[sharles]

57 minutes ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

"The company is there to look out for their brand  You're there to look out for your (personal) brand.  Employment is an agreement that both goals are aligned.  Sometimes they don't align anymore."

I think it's just more a counter-productive attitude of being penny wise and pound foolish. Of thinking it's 'good enough' and 'we've always done it that way' and so on and so forth rather than seeing it as an investment that will make the company better....

[danatoem]

So i was just messing around here with a similar situation , and finishing to the final depth before stepping over and i got it to work fine by using (inside of depth of cuts) toggle on "By contour"  and it will accomplish what he wanted at the beginning of this thread?

[Aaron Eberhard]

17 hours ago, danatoem said:

So i was just messing around here with a similar situation , and finishing to the final depth before stepping over and i got it to work fine by using (inside of depth of cuts) toggle on "By contour"  and it will accomplish what he wanted at the beginning of this thread?

There's no file posted, so I didn't try it, but he said that changing the Depth Cut Order from Region to Depth didn't work?

[cruzila]

Once I "fully" understood radial chip thinning, my perception of machining changed dramatically. I remember doing something that resembled HSM WAY back in the Bridgeport days, but it was just what looked and felt right. Now I understand what I was doing.

The dynamic paths or HSM are really the best!!!

[danatoem]

So  Aaron, just to be clear I was actually just using a   contour path   when i got this to work.  Makes 1 pass across lifts to clearance and repeats until depth is reached. Than it steps over and repeats until it gets to the final cut. I know what he was saying is a problem with having that thin web at the bottom if your not going to full depth  before stepping over! It can damage a cutter and make quite a rucus in process!

[Aaron Eberhard]

1 hour ago, danatoem said:

So  Aaron, just to be clear I was actually just using a   contour path   when i got this to work.  Makes 1 pass across lifts to clearance and repeats until depth is reached. Than it steps over and repeats until it gets to the final cut. I know what he was saying is a problem with having that thin web at the bottom if your not going to full depth  before stepping over! It can damage a cutter and make quite a rucus in process!

Right, I understand what he was asking for and why, but it sounded like an 2d Area Mill problem..  Which I haven't used in a long time   I've done the same as you with 2d Contour and it works fine.

[crazy^millman]

Just now, Aaron Eberhard said:

Right, I understand what he was asking for and why, but it sounded like an 2d Area Mill problem..  Which I haven't used in a long time   I've done the same as you with 2d Contour and it works fine.

My thoughts exactly were a good programmer will used methods and process to get the exact toolpath they are after verses thinking there is an easy button to get them there.

[cruzila]

LOL, there is an easy button??? This is machining, it's never "easy" 

[danatoem]

so this is not area mill but it kinda looks like its doing the same thing? 

step over examp.mcam

[neurosis]

If we ever get stock recognition for 2d contours we'll be unstoppable.   

 

 

[crazy^millman]

2 hours ago, cruzila said:

LOL, there is an easy button??? This is machining, it's never "easy" 

Exactly and why every part has its own process and method for us to try to figure out. The more complex the part the more chances we have to get it wrong. End of the day there can be many methods to make a part and make it correctly. The hardest part is being willing to stop and pick a direction sometimes. I can spend hours thinking of several methods and ways to make some parts. Others can be in an instant and fly right through them. Not being in front of the machine hearing and seeing the cuts is becoming more and more difficult as we push machines to places I never imagined we could push them. I can make toolpaths all day long that will make a good part. The question I find myself asking more and more is how much can I push it? How much more can the machine, tool and setup take. Running 18,000 rpms on tools with 252 mm gauge length is insane in my book. The things need to be micro balanced to better than 2.5 I would prefer 1.4, but the holder vendors keep selling this lie that they are good enough at 2.5 to 25,000 rpms. I say maybe for 5 or 10 minutes on short runs, but when you need to produce thousands or parts I think this is were things will show themselves much quicker for wear and tear on a machine.

[cruzila]

Agreed very Much Ron!!!

Right now, we are trying to deal with making a good part that is steel angle and channel welded together from a drawing with multiple datums and implied tolerances projected over 36 inches from a 1-1/4 wide datum plane on an angle not in the same plane. I wish Ingineeeers had more real-world experience. Then all we'd have to do is worry about the job itself. Don't get me wrong I enjoy these challenges most of the time.

The ways a job can go wrong are as varied as the specks of dust in the universe. Starting with shift change..........

Still aside from that, I would be happy to never have to machine Tantalum ever again.

 

:Hijack off:

[ajmer]

3 hours ago, neurosis said:

If we ever get stock recognition for 2d contours we'll be unstoppable.   

 

 

+10000000000000000000000

[sharles]

You guys who do programming for high-volume machining are in a completely different place than I am... where I'm in a mold and pattern shop and everything is one-off and so speeding and pushing things aren't a huge factor for us. I'm afraid if I ever left my company or they closed down(which is a constant fear because of how many of our competitors have closed over the years and how few quality guys we have left at our company), I'd be completely worthless trying to do what you guys do because it's a totally different mindset. It's a little frustrating after nearly 30 years to realize I'd have very few employment opportunities outside the little niche I'm in...

[Jake L]

3 hours ago, sharles said:

You guys who do programming for high-volume machining are in a completely different place than I am... where I'm in a mold and pattern shop and everything is one-off and so speeding and pushing things aren't a huge factor for us. I'm afraid if I ever left my company or they closed down(which is a constant fear because of how many of our competitors have closed over the years and how few quality guys we have left at our company), I'd be completely worthless trying to do what you guys do because it's a totally different mindset. It's a little frustrating after nearly 30 years to realize I'd have very few employment opportunities outside the little niche I'm in...

I see both sides where I am. Sometimes it's 2000 pcs and sometimes it's 1. While it's true we look at jobs differently depending on qty, the initial goal is always to make a good part. It's better to make good parts slowly, than scrap parts quickly.