Zero Length Line error

[dgriffiths]

I am trying to use the break many pieces function in X and keep getting a zero length line error. I am trying to break a spline into several different size variations ranging from .002 to .0005. I know this is very tiny geometry but we are trying to output to a specialized diamond turning center that requires a high toolpath resolution. Pretty cool actually. the machine is producing a 45-60 angstrom finish right off of the machine. A measurement I had never even heard of until recently. Brilliant Finish, No polishing. Anyways, is the a tolerance setting I am missing to allow me to break this spline into that many pieces???

[Colin Gilchrist]

Dgriffiths,

 

How long is your spline? I just created a small spline (about 3 inches long) and used break many pieces to break it into .0005 long line segments. This small spline turned into 24,531 small lines. It also took about 3 minutes to do (which is a long time for an entity that was relativly small to begin with. I suggest breaking the spline into several smaller pieces first (I would use Trim/Break and the "trim to point" function to break the spline at its midpoint. Then repeat that process on the smaller splines if necessary.) Are you writing the toolpath in Mastercam? If so you should be able to use the spline as a spline and use the toolpath filter and linerization tolerance of the toolpath to get the accurate code you need. You may have to check the tolerances in your post processor as well.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Colin

[Colin Gilchrist]

sorry about the spelling guys.......

[CHRIS_B]

I've had the zero length line problem if I have my c plane set looking directly at the end of the line that I'm working on. could that possibly be the cause of your error?

[CHRIS_B]

I'm going to try breaking geometry into very small pcs. sounds like it could help me get a better finish in lieu of filtering. this week, i tried to mill a c axis contour on the lathe and the finish was bad. the linearization tolerance block was greyed out in mcx and even setting the filter at .0001 the code only posted as fine as .006 x steps at 1.5 degrees each. I wonder how i can check the tolerances in my post like colinG suggested?