toolpath surface finish shallow

[foolsh]

it seems this toolpath takes a long time to calculate,and if you make a mistake in your parameter,it will take ages to regen.furthermore with the restriction of toolpath angle relative to the set angle and not to the geometry of workpiece,this toolpath is rather useless.any suggestions anybody?

[Fig sign]

It is very useful .

 

Surface -contour uses constant Z method and you

will not get good surface smoothness on shallow aread .

And there are regions that you will not get it with parallel,radial and so on

Only Shallow and scallop can do it .

Scallop will do over all surfaces

Shallow gives you an option to mill only needed taper angle limits like from 0 to 10 degrees by maximum stepover parameter.

Use surface -contour and surface-shallow together

for getting good surface quality !

 

The shallow add-on inside Surface-contour is still rather primitive to regard it as shallow substitution

Shallow is a nice toolpath it is possible to do a lot of tricks with it !

 

Iskander teh hard to swim in shallow waters

[Müřlıń®]

Surface/Finish/Shallow is one of the most usful cutter path there is for 3-d surface models.

 

I use Surface/Finish/contour and Surface/Finish/Shallow to finish all my 3-d models. Along with Leftover and Pencil when needed.

 

Do what Iskander says and play with the angle.

Also, using the depth cut button will let you filter some of the un-needed shallow cuts that are at the top P/L of your model.

 

Leaving the .01 for the bottom Contour adjustment, will not let your cutter deflect into the shallow floor angles on your model when using Surface/Finish/Contour. And Surface/Finish/Shallow will clean up the cusps in all the corners and finish all the rest.

 

Set your patches per surface to the default value and choose .001 or .002 tolerance if you can get away with it. This will speed things up a little. Also watch your stepover and dont set it to small.

 

 

Murlin teh couldn't live without Shallow

[crazy^millman]

And See I have never used either for my 3-d toolpaths. I use parrelle or scallop or flowline for my finishing and love the results i get from those toolpaths. It is all realtive my way is not better than their way it is all in what you pefer and think and know works the best for you. I cma kinda calling the kettle balck but they everything and not just once and see whcih one suits you taste you liking ad nwill produce the parts you are looking for.

 

Crazy Millman

 

[ 10-14-2003, 08:48 PM: Message edited by: Millman^Crazy ]

[david b]

+1 Murlin

 

I use shallow toolpath alot also i like to set the angle of machining from zero to zero this way i only get dead fleat ereas.

 

A shallow toolpath is needed if u do a surface finish contour toolpath.

To call this toolpath useless is a big call.

 

[Müřlıń®]

Mill what kind of material do you cut on most of your 3-d stuff?

 

Murlin

[TREV]

qoute:

this toolpath is rather useless

______________________________________________

that sounds like your settings are off. i genarlly do a surface contour with remove cuts option selected then go in with a shallow to get remaining. on 90% of my jobs,couldnt machine with out it.

trevor

[pimij]

I use the surf fin contour with shallow cuts removed -- again as others have said play with the angles.

For finishing the flat areas I either use the shallow routines or surface finish scallop with containment boundries - sometimes get a nicer cut that way - depends on your geometry.

 

Jim Pallister

OPM Ltd.

[mayday]

I like the new feature in finish contour, you got shallow and the new FLATS button, that does some nice stuff

[Müřlıń®]

I guess it depends on what kind of geometry you machine.

 

I do 3-d cavities and dies.

So I will do Finish Contours and Shallows on them for finishing. (I pretty much use all the surface toolpaths)

 

On the top areas of my dies I use Finish Scallop because it will follow the inside and outside of a boundary and not leave any cusps.

 

If Scallop were to be used on my impressions, most of the time the cut will get really wierd and un-uniformed by the time it collapses on itself.

 

Finish contour is a much safer toolpath to run unattended, especially if your geometry has many ups and downs and left and rights.

 

All those sharp downward cuts get hairy in the corners and you have to slow down the feed.

Finish Contour runs very fast without worry of tool breakage. And when you collapse inside to outside on the Shallows, your tool will not plunge down a corner wall and pull into it.

 

Machining parts however, there are not as many inside corners to deal with and you can get smoother finishes using Flowline and Scallop like Millman does.

 

 

Murlin

[pimij]

Murlin -- nicely said.

 

I machine automotive checking fixtures - a lot of complex 3-d geometry. I agree with you completely. I run a similar set of toolpaths - just about everything. We lean towards the constant scallop a lot on finishing just for the simplicity of it and the great results.

 

Jim Pallister

[crazy^millman]

I do alot of Plastics, Ren Shape and Aluminum here. Can get away with alot of things you cant in hard materials.

 

You also have some good points and with the flow dyanmics you keep with those toolpath you are correct. It would also be good with the materail you are machining to apporach it with a toolpath that would be safer in nature. I also use the surface/finish/contour but I find for the fine detail that we are trying to achive alot of the time that the scallop is the best all purpose finish path that I can leave unattended. I got a toolpath cruching over night tonight with a .002 stepover that will probaly be 70mb. It is a clear acrylic master model that has to be a optically clear finish when done and I hate hours if not days off hand work if you know what I mean.

 

Crazy Millman

[Müřlıń®]

Yepper...Scallop is the only way to go for plastics

 

I love that toolpath BTW....I have spent alot of time making my post work with arc filters in all 3 axis for that algorythm....

 

14 hrs.....wow......at .002 it ought to come out very nice....

 

I like playin it safe on nickle alloy

 

Specially when I'm 5 miles down the road at another location

 

Hate it when a tool breaks and leaves a gouge in my 5k workpiece.

 

 

Murlin

[crazy^millman]

Yeah NO SHI? you want it be safe toolpaths Murlin. Lucky got that ability to make it safe.

 

Crazy Millman

 

[ 10-16-2003, 08:56 PM: Message edited by: Millman^Crazy ]