Question on Contour rough of finish path Help please

[cadmonster66]

Ok Guys Here we go again,

I posted a iges file called 454015 core plugged. I wanted to use a radial rough path which works out good,But I want to use Contour finish path to finish the part But I cann't get my 3/4 ball mill to cut on the very top.

Could you please take a look at it,And if some-one comes up with a answer to cutting tthe very top please leave directions how you got it to cut the top

thank you

john c

[bryan.davis]

Without looking at the file Im guessing that your cone has a flat or very shallow top, in which case whilst contour is probably the correct operation for machining the sides, it will not machine shallow or horizontal surfaces.

What you need to do is to use a second toolpath to finish the top, if its a flat top then a 2D toolpath should be fine, however if its not, or you wish to use the same cutter then parallel, scallop or shallow are probably the best bets, each with their own advantages...

Parallel is simple, it will give you a simple toolpath, but you will need to define a tool center boundary, depth limit or check surfaces, its often a good toolpath to use if you want to finish a flat bottom in a cavity.

Scallop gives a lot more complicated toolpath, but has much better control over the cusp height, again you need to set limiting factors.

Shallow is supposed to be made for this job, however its not a toolpath Ive much experience with, ive just looked it through, and it appears to have most if not all the functionality of Parallel and scallop combined in one toolpath, plus the addition of being able to define the limits using the angle of the surface. This is probably the better toolpath to go for, but if you have problems then try the others