wireframe geo vs surfaces

[cherokeechief79]

i have a part with some slots at angles in the side of a block.the upper edge of the slot has a .06 radius around it.im doing this on a horizontal haas with the block mounted upright on an "a" axis rotary which is built into the machine.i an rotating the block as to give me the best acess to the .06 surface at the top of the slot.i thought this would be easy to just use flowline or contour and use the surrounding surfaces as check surfaces.i cant seem to get a good constant flowing toolpath in this manner.i have tried about every option but it still lifts and reverses where i would like it to be continuous.i can get it to run very good by using wireframe toolpath and driving the the radius chain around the slot edge.

is it possible to get a nice flowing toolpath like the wireframe when using surfaces?

ps i am still using ver 9.1 on this project.

i am moving up to 10.5 once this is done.

[Jayson Kramer]

What version is 10.1 . can you share the file of at a lest a picture of the area. but file would be better.

[cherokeechief79]

sorry i meant x5

[MotorCityMinion]

"is it possible to get a nice flowing toolpath like the wireframe when using surfaces?" Absolutely.

 

SF Contour cuts in z depth increments. If the faces adjacent to the radius are on an angle, you'll never get one continuous cut when starting the tool path. It will only flow nicely when 100% of the surface area is at the same z depth. Use a boundary, include the adjacent faces for drive surfaces and do not use a check surface if this is the case.

 

Flowline and check surfaces don't always get along. You may have to trim an area around the radius, equal distance all around, and include that in the drive surfaces. Check your surface normals and make sure they all point in the same direction.

 

SF blend, 3d enabled sounds like a viable option.

 

If possible, let the tool enter the slots and use depth limits. This should stop / limit the hop.

 

HTH, MCM.