Trimming a toolpath- want to remove a move i dont need

[mike561h]

Is there a way to trim or remove a move by the cutter that is really useless. im surfacing and the last move it goes back across and goes down and stops on the  surface weird..

 

thanks

[Pitka_Guru]

If you draw a boundary around you want to remove, you then go to toolpaths, trim. Select the boundary you created, then the side you want to keep and that will delete that area of the toolpath. There is likely another reason why it's making this move. A gap in the surface, a tiny surface you can't see unless you zoom right in. It would be best if you could upload the file with the toolpath. hth

 

There is probably an easier way but that's a quick and dirty one I know.

[crazy^millman]

Right click the operation and use toolpath editor. I use it all the time to remove things in toolpaths I do not want. A little trick to to save the back plotted toolpath then if you want to adjust a little area you can move the approach and retract points in those areas and repick and really dial an operation down to a finite level. Extra work, but when you want it exactly the way you want it these are the little things you do to ensure that.

 

HTH

[Jayson Kramer]

if it is just one move you can use toolpath Editor. select the path so it has the check mark on it. Then right click on it and at the bottom you will see Toolpath Editor.

[FTI2007]

Someone should make a tutorial/ webinar video on this.  Its been a while since I have tried but when I did I cound not figure it out.   I should try again when I have more time to play with it.  

[mike561h]

thanks guys i'll give it a try..  its always something

[brandon b]

+1 for the webinar..ive played with tge editor a few times and just give up and edit the code myself..i hate doing that but i need to get the job done..

[mike561h]

I tried but when I do something and click green check mark it locks the operation then I have to unlock.  is there a video out there on you tube

[mike561h]

I have to get this job done so I have to try later it looks kinda confusing

[Thad]

No one trims toolpaths like WorkNC. Period.

[LeoC]

This sounds like a nice tool to have access to, but it seems since I am using MCAM4SW, it doesn't have that option, or am I looking in the wrong place?

[Thad]

... since I am using MCAM4SW, it doesn't have that option, or am I looking in the wrong place?

 

Where are you looking?

[Bridgeportboy]

No one trims toolpaths like WorkNC. Period.

Absolutely True!!!

If only MC could do this, Wow, what a powerful package we would have.

[Jayson Kramer]

Where are you looking?

Thad I think he was asking about the Toolpath editor.

[Thee Rickster ™]

No one trims toolpaths like WorkNC. Period.

Powermill is about the same.

[Thad]

Are PowerMill trims associative? That's the only thing, IMO, that WorkNC could do to improve it.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

But we need Graphical Toolpath Editing!!!

[Thee Rickster ™]

Are PowerMill trims associative? That's the only thing, IMO, that WorkNC could do to improve it.

The training I have had on it, you had many ways to do it, and I dont think they were accociative

 

The  one way i like the most was to just wave your mouse over the un-needed cuts and the

editor put in the retract needed.

 

My powermill guy quit and I didnt and dont have time to learn it any more

so its all MC at the moment.

[mike561h]

any videos on toolpath editor

 

thanks

[Colin Gilchrist]

If you are willing to share the part file where your issue is occurring, I will create a video showing how to use the Toolpath Editor in Mastercam. Just create a copy of your part file, and delete everything except the toolpath and geometry needed for that particular toolpath.

[Aeroguy]

No one trims toolpaths like WorkNC. Period.

 

Actually nothing trims toolpaths better than Powermill. And I've tried a few different packages too.

[Aeroguy]

Are PowerMill trims associative? That's the only thing, IMO, that WorkNC could do to improve it.

 

Powermill trims are associative only if another toolpath is referenced off of it. Think rest roughing or stock model.

However, there are 2 different ways around this. You can copy that toolpath and then trim or edit it then it wouldn't be associated with anything technically, so it wouldn't screw up any previous operations you created. You can also just edit the original, but you might have to recalculate the other toolpaths that follow that particular operation. 

[Thad]

What I mean by associative is say you create a toolpath, then trim it. Now you realize that you need to change the stepover. Will you lose the trim when you regenerate the toolpath (and have to trim it all over again) or will the same trim be applied to the new stepover? Having to re-trim something can be a pain and it's not exactly repeatable like (for example) a containment boundary is. A containment boundary is associative.

[Tyler Robertson]

The only way a cam system could make a trim associative is if geometry was used for the trim.  If you change your stepover you would lose your place of reference that the trim happened at  ... bad bad things would happen if the software decides where it thinks you trimmed things

[Thad]

Tyler,

 

Say you rotate to some obscure Gview and window to trim the toolpath like WorkNC does. At that point in time, somewhere in the bowels of the software, there's a view or plane established (including the size of your window) to trim normal too, no? Why couldn't that be saved and used for re-trimming? I don't know the intricacies, I'm just asking.

 

Changing the stepover was just an example. Any parameter change that would cause the toolpath to become dirty could be substituted here.