Flowline Problem

[LA CAMmer]

Trying to flowline the blue and red surfaces.

 

 

If I select both of them together to flowline, I get this error:

 

 

If I select them separately (one toolpath for each) I don't get the error. I ended up making one ruled surface using the wireframe and the flowline worked.

 

Any idea why the error?

[Thee Rickster ™]

are your surface normals for both, in the same direction

 

(long shot)

[LA CAMmer]

Thanks for the reply.

 

Yep, both normals were the same direction.

[jeff]

Try restarting Mastarcam, doesn't look like a toolpath error, more like an error because it's looking for a temp file and can't find it

[LA CAMmer]

Thanks for the reply, Jeff.

 

I restarted Mastercam and the error would still occur. I created a new file, created a flat surface, and put a flowline path on it with no problem. Went back to this part and the error would still happen. I opened a file I created yesterday that had a flowline path in it, created a new flowline path it that file with no problem. Came back to this part and the error still happened. It seems related to THIS particular file or THIS particular geometry. Since I posted this error I have done four other parts, all with flowline paths in them, all without having this error.

 

Weird.

[Festus]

are your surface normals for both, in the same direction

 

(long shot)

 

Rick...is there a way i can change the grain direction of a surface? i've often had issues with flowlines where, if i could change the direction it would save a lot of effort.

[jeff]

Rick...is there a way i can change the grain direction of a surface? i've often had issues with flowlines where, if i could change the direction it would save a lot of effort.

 

Edit/Change Normal this is for individual surfaces, one at a time.

or you can use Edit/Set Normal which I believe will change all surfs to the one that you click on.

[jeff]

Thanks for the reply, Jeff.

 

I restarted Mastercam and the error would still occur. I created a new file, created a flat surface, and put a flowline path on it with no problem. Went back to this part and the error would still happen. I opened a file I created yesterday that had a flowline path in it, created a new flowline path it that file with no problem. Came back to this part and the error still happened. It seems related to THIS particular file or THIS particular geometry. Since I posted this error I have done four other parts, all with flowline paths in them, all without having this error.

 

Weird.

 

Taking a wild guess here, try saving the part with a different name, then re launch it.

If this doesn't work, I'm out of guesses lol.

For some reason it can't find a temp file related to that file name.

[CJep]

LCammer,

What if you use the profile that describes the faces you're trying to cut and sweep a new surface then use the new surface as the drive for the flowline toolpath.

 

Rick...is there a way i can change the grain direction of a surface?

 

Not in Mcam, you would need an add-in like MoldPlus to do that.

[htm01]

its always a crap shoot when you have more than 1 surface,i get the same thing often with 2 surfaces like yours. most of the time i try to make 1 surface. once in a while i get a multi-surface to work but usually have to use another toolpath.

[Festus]

LCammer,

What if you use the profile that describes the faces you're trying to cut and sweep a new surface then use the new surface as the drive for the flowline toolpath.

 

 

 

Not in Mcam, you would need an add-in like MoldPlus to do that.

 

+1 thanks...do you know how in moldplus? i am playing with a trial version?

[Festus]

Edit/Change Normal this is for individual surfaces, one at a time.

or you can use Edit/Set Normal which I believe will change all surfs to the one that you click on.

 

Thanks Jeff...not exactly what i'm after. i know how to switch normals...i was asking about changing the direction of the grain on the pattern.

[CJep]

Festus,

It is part of the 5axis tool kit. There is a utility that allows you to modify the UV directions of a surface.

 

MPlus 5axis Toolkit

[jeff]

Thanks Jeff...not exactly what i'm after. i know how to switch normals...i was asking about changing the direction of the grain on the pattern.

 

Sorry, I misunderstood your question, I've had the grain issue a couple of times in the past, and I don't think that Mcam can change it (from what I remember).

But I've been known to be wrong once before

[Festus]

Festus,

It is part of the 5axis tool kit. There is a utility that allows you to modify the UV directions of a surface.

 

MPlus 5axis Toolkit

 

Thank you sir!

[MotorCityMinion]

"LCammer,

What if you use the profile that describes the faces you're trying to cut and sweep a new surface then use the new surface as the drive for the flowline toolpath."

 

"Not in Mcam, you would need an add-in like MoldPlus to do that." Huh?

 

 

It looks like those faces are parallel to Y axis and the back face is vertical. If so, a simple extrude, then delete a few faces should do it, no sweep needed.

 

From the front plane , trim the surfaces to the CL (y0.00) and create new curves that are parallel to the front at z0. If you know what the geometry is, use that instead of splines. Move or project those entities to the back face plane, or simply recreate it starting at the back face, front plane, then create your sweep path or simply extrude it. Recreate it using both of the entities selected at the same time (profile = 2 entities). Now trim those faces to the front face that is sloped and you should be good to go.

[CJep]

"Not in Mcam, you would need an add-in like MoldPlus to do that." Huh?

 

That was from another post further up, it's an answer to 2 different questions.

[LA CAMmer]

Thanks, guys, for all of the replies.

 

But this post was really about the error itself, not the actual creation of the surfaces or cut direction or anything else. The point is that when I created the toolpath if I selected both surfaces I got the error, but if I only selected one surface I didn't get the error, and only on this part as I did other parts immediately after this one that included flowline paths and never saw the error again.

 

When the problem first occurred I tried a few things then quickly created one new surface to replace the two separate surfaces and finished the job easily. But the error kept bugging me and I wanted to put it out there to see if anyone knew why this happened on these surfaces only, or if anyone had ever seen this error before, as I had not.

 

Why would selecting two surfaces produce a temp file error and selecting only one surface not produce the error? <--- This is the main issue I was addressing.

 

Sorry if I wasn't clear in my original post, but I'm glad this post produced some fruit for some.

[CJep]

Cammer,

Not certain why the flowline toolpaths do that but I do know that they rely heavily on direction and normals of surfaces. I have found that if I'm having an issue with a flowline toolpath that recreating the surface using swept will typically correct the flow direction. The other option I have found, is that flowline toolpaths tend to work better with solids. If I can't get the flowline toolpath to cooperate then I change direction and use something like a surface blend.