Simple contour no finish feed & speed change

[Darin]

I have had this issue since I started using Mastercam...We use contour alot for quick effective metal removal.. We also use the same tool for rough and finish operations.. Is there any way to contour rough a hole with multi passes then keep tool down in the hole and change feeds and speeds for the finish contour pass without coming out of the hole? I know it seams like not much savings but after a few hundred holes the rapid up and down take its toll on time a machine wear.. We have hundreds of hole we do this with.. With the new technology of the high end end mills we rough at high speeds light radial cut and finish with same tool. Saves time and end mills this way.. Will X6 have this? Thanks

[gcode]

Have you tried circle mill

[Darin]

Have you tried circle mill

 

 

Thanks

 

That works fine for a round hole..But I forgot to tell you that we have some ob-round holes and other shapes.. The pocket paths take way to long... Basically I need to take off .100 to .040 of the wall and then finish at different feed and speed..

[NOTW Programmer]

Try using the standar pocket routine, it has an option on the tree for finishing and you can override the feeds and speeds for your Finish. You might have to use two chains ir order for the toolpath to only cut the wall you need.

[neurosis]

I have had this issue since I started using Mastercam...We use contour alot for quick effective metal removal.. We also use the same tool for rough and finish operations.. Is there any way to contour rough a hole with multi passes then keep tool down in the hole and change feeds and speeds for the finish contour pass without coming out of the hole? I know it seams like not much savings but after a few hundred holes the rapid up and down take its toll on time a machine wear.. We have hundreds of hole we do this with.. With the new technology of the high end end mills we rough at high speeds light radial cut and finish with same tool. Saves time and end mills this way.. Will X6 have this? Thanks

 

It would be nice if you were able to use a separate feed rate in the rough area of contour/multi-passes.

 

You can actually change your feed rate for the finish passes using the tool path editor. Right click on the operation and select tool path editor, step through your "passes". Once you get to the pass that you want, you can change the feed rate. It is a bit of a pain and will add some programming time but it will get you what you want.

[mill programmer]

I've wondered about this since the ability to change speed & feed first showed up. It's available in several toolpaths mentioned above & others, but not contour. Does anyone know if that will be added in X6? It sure would be nice!

[huskermcdoogle]

Use two operations set your retract and clearance planes inside the hole/pocket then use reference points to get the tool into and out of the hole.

I attached a picture and also a link to a mcx file to look at.

 

 

Is this basically what you are trying to do?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29828272/Example.png

 

 

File Link

 

X4 Rough Finish Example

 

 

Husker

[Darin]

Use two operations set your retract and clearance planes inside the hole/pocket then use reference points to get the tool into and out of the hole.

I attached a picture and also a link to a mcx file to look at.

 

 

Is this basically what you are trying to do?

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29828272/Example.png

 

 

File Link

 

X4 Rough Finish Example

 

 

Husker

 

 

Wow cool thanks... worked perfect..Ref points... never used them..That was easy..

[huskermcdoogle]

Wow cool thanks... worked perfect..Ref points... never used them..That was easy..

 

 

Not a problem. Its nice when you can get good answer on the forums isn't it. Now if I can just solve my own problems.......

[Reko]

Husker,

 

Awesome! This is why I love this forum. I was just browsing around today, and I ran across this thread, and I learned something new today. That can really help control the toolpath and I never knew it was there.

 

Thank you!

[huskermcdoogle]

Yeah I ended up figuring out that that feature was useful when I was doing a lot of multi-part transform operations with a single tool. Combine 4 or five operations, (contours, drill ops...), then transform the group onto the next part with a retract and approach in between the parts. Comes in very useful. It is nice for operators proving out new parts too, breaks up the code a little more.

 

 

 

Husker