ARC/FILTER SMOOTHING SETTINGS

[DPARKS]

I AM A RETURNING USER OF MASTERCAM. I HAVE NOT USED THE SOFTWARE SINCE 2003. I HAVE USED MANY OTHERS AND CURRENTLY USE GIBBSCAM. I AM INTERESTED IN ANY FEEDBACK I CAN GET REGARDING ARC/FILTER SETTINGS AND SMOOTHING CONTROL RATIOS. I HAVE SEEN SEVERAL PICS ONLINE COMPARING MOLDS MACHINED WITH AND WITHOUT SMOOTHING APPLIED AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE SETTINGS WERE FOR PARTS LIKE THESE WITH THE EXCELLENT FINISHES. I HAVE TO SAY THAT WITH GIBBSCAM MY PARTS LOOK LIKE THE PART WITHOUT THE SMOOTHING SETTINGS. EVEN WITH CUT TOLERANCES AS LOW AS .00002". I DO NOT CUT MOLDS BUT AEROSPACE COMPONENTS FROM BARSTOCK THAT REQUIRE ALOT OF SURFACING. MY GOAL WOULD BE TO REDUCE PROGRAM SIZE IF POSSIBLE WHILE INCREASING THE CUTTING ACCURACY AND FINISH. I HAVE EXCELLENT NEW TOYODA HORIZONTAL MACHINING CENTERS WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WISTLES. I USE HIGH SPEED LOOK AHEAD FUNCTIONS ON THE MACHINING CENTERS AND SMOOTHING OPTIONS ON THE FANUC 31i MODEL A. I DON'T THINK USING ARCS FOR THESE PART CONFIGURATION WOULD FIGURE INTO THE CONVERSATION AS MY SHAPES ARE NOT PARISMATIC IN NATURE. POINT TO POINT CODE IS PROBABLY THE WAY TO GO BUT AT WHAT TOLERANCE. WHEN APPLYING THE .00002" AS I HAVE IN GIBBSCAM I GET ENORMOUSLY LONG CAL. TIMES. I AM RUNNING A i7 2.70GHS PROCESSOR WITH 8GB OF RAM AND NVIDA2000M VIDEO CARD WITH DEDICATED 2GB MEM.

 

LOOKING FOR SOME EXPERIENCED USER ADVICE.

 

THANKS