Replacing Contour and Shallow Toolpath???

[Jason @ CPM Industries]

What are people using in place of the old school toolpaths?  

We machine molds and it seems like all the new toolpaths don't have the options to start at the top of a cavity and work its way down.  The waterline would work great but adds cuts on slightly angled floors.  The Hybrid makes cuts right in the middle of the vertical wall.  

The only toolpaths that work for us are the surface finish contour and surface finish shallow.  The contour starts at the top and evenly cuts down.  The shallow comes and cleans up everything left.

Seams like these toolpaths are going away in the new versions.

 

Please any guidance would be appreciated.

 

 

[gcode]

What are people using in place of the old school toolpaths?  

We machine molds and it seems like all the new toolpaths don't have the options to start at the top of a cavity and work its way down.  The waterline would work great but adds cuts on slightly angled floors.  The Hybrid makes cuts right in the middle of the vertical wall.  

The only toolpaths that work for us are the surface finish contour and surface finish shallow.  The contour starts at the top and evenly cuts down.  The shallow comes and cleans up everything left.

Seams like these toolpaths are going away in the new versions.

 

Please any guidance would be appreciated.

The legacy surfacing toolpaths are still there

In the Toolpath Manager

right click

Mill Toolpaths/Surface Finish/ select the desired toolpath

 

You can also build a custom tab for them in the ribbon bar if you want

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

What are people using in place of the old school toolpaths? 

 

The oldschool toolpaths.  They're still there, just hidden.

[crazy^millman]

The rock solid backbone of what make Mastercam Mastercam is still there, they are just being placed in a place where people have to go looking for them is all. If it were to easy to find them people might not having such interesting days trying to find them as you are having.

[jlw™]

I think he's asking for alternatives and not where they are.  I really haven't found that many that I like more than the originals.  I'm using the 5ax paths locked to 3 more and more.  For 3 axis flowline, blend, and contour are my gotos.

[Jason @ CPM Industries]

I think he's asking for alternatives and not where they are.  I really haven't found that many that I like more than the originals.  I'm using the 5ax paths locked to 3 more and more.  For 3 axis flowline, blend, and contour are my gotos.

Yes, thank you.  Id really like to use the latest and greatest but haven't found any that doesn't leave me benching out the molds after they come out of the machine.

[crazy^millman]

Yes, thank you.  Id really like to use the latest and greatest but haven't found any that doesn't leave me benching out the molds after they come out of the machine.

 

When the latest and greatest respect check surface as check surfaces then we can have a good conversation about the new finishing toolpaths, but until then they are just new toolpaths that need work IMHO.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

Just because something is new doesn't mean it's good, and just because something is old doesn't mean it's bad. A 4000 year old bronze hammer would work as well today.

[Redfire427]

I can't imagine a situation where the highspeed toolpaths won't give you what you are looking for. There is no comparison between the quality and flexibility of the HSM toolpaths and the old legacy toolpaths. 

 

Carmen

[Jason @ CPM Industries]

I can't imagine a situation where the highspeed toolpaths won't give you what you are looking for. There is no comparison between the quality and flexibility of the HSM toolpaths and the old legacy toolpaths. 

 

Carmen

Can you give me an example of the toolpaths you would use to machine out the inside cavity of a mold?

[crazy^millman]

I can't imagine a situation where the highspeed toolpaths won't give you what you are looking for. There is no comparison between the quality and flexibility of the HSM toolpaths and the old legacy toolpaths. 

 

Carmen

 

Yes please show me also where they treat check surfaces as non machinable surfaces just like the old school toolpaths, Multiaxis toolpaths and others do in Mastercam.

[MIL-TFP-41]

The legacy surfacing toolpaths are still there

In the Toolpath Manager

right click

Mill Toolpaths/Surface Finish/ select the desired toolpath

 

You can also build a custom tab for them in the ribbon bar if you want

 

The one thing that p1sses me off about mill-turn is the "legacy" toolpaths are gone. No flowline, blend, ect. While not a deal breaker it does make the job more difficult.

[Jason @ CPM Industries]

Not sure why they don't just make the old ones better.  All the High Speed ones just don't cut the same.  The Pencil Toolpath has a mind of its own.  The old leftover toolpath was flawless.

[gcode]

Personally, I'd like to see the old tool paths upgraded to the new tree format.

[crazy^millman]

Personally, I'd like to see the old tool paths upgraded to the new tree format.

 

+1000000 encase those at home are not following along.

[kostiuk]

Can you give me an example of the toolpaths you would use to machine out the inside cavity of a mold?

Scallop or Raster. We are having very good luck with them here. I do wish all the new paths supported check faces but we usually can find ways around it. You still can contain them with boundaries and if you select the entire solid or the adjacent faces you don't have to worry about violating them.

 

Kevin K.

[crazy^millman]

Scallop or Raster. We are having very good luck with them here. I do wish all the new paths supported check faces but we usually can find ways around it. You still can contain them with boundaries and if you select the entire solid or the adjacent faces you don't have to worry about violating them.

 

Kevin K.

 

On a solid with over 36K faces I prefer a better solution than having to pick the whole solid. I want to make a finishing toolpath like I did for years without having to create any extra geometry. When I need to okay I get it, but why has this becomes the accepted way?

[Roger Peterson]

I believe the only HST toolpaths that currently do NOT support check surfaces are scallop, horizontal, and pencil.  No doubt they all need it.

 

But imo, Scallop is the one that really needs check surfaces first.  Once Scallop does get check surfaces their are still many times they would NOT get used.  Using a containment boundary to limit the cut area instead of check surfaces in many cases can results in much smoother motion at the toolpath edges, especially where vertical or near vertical walls are adjacent to the check surfaces.

 

 

The good thing is we still have the "Classic" toolpaths whenever they are needed.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

 

The good thing is we still have the "Classic" toolpaths whenever they are needed.

 

Unless you're in Millturn apparently.

[crazy^millman]

Unless you're in Millturn apparently.

 

Yes I have gotten to the point in Mill/Turn if I want certain motions out of toolpaths I draw the geometry and drive the tool like we did for years before. Kind of going backwards, but when you know what works you take the time to make it work.

[Redfire427]

Can you give me an example of the toolpaths you would use to machine out the inside cavity of a mold?

It all depends on the topography of the mold. In very general terms, waterline is the best choice for surfaces between 30 and 90 degrees of slope which would be considered the steep portions of the cavity. For the "shallow" sections, there are multiple choices being raster, scallop, spiral, etc, but as I said, the strategy is based on the topography. I have 24 years experience with Mastercam and mold making so my techniques might be a little different than some users.

[Redfire427]

Yes please show me also where they treat check surfaces as non machinable surfaces just like the old school toolpaths, Multiaxis toolpaths and others do in Mastercam.

I'm not sure how to respond to your query. Check surfaces have been supported by many ( not all ) of the HSM tollbooths for years. Mastercam is a piece of software that demands that the user has lots of experience to get the most out of it. You certainly are aware of that.

[Redfire427]

On a solid with over 36K faces I prefer a better solution than having to pick the whole solid. I want to make a finishing toolpath like I did for years without having to create any extra geometry. When I need to okay I get it, but why has this becomes the accepted way?

The easiest solution to a job like you describe is to convert your solid model into a surface model and select the surfaces you need rather than solid faces and go from there. Much more flexibility and reduced processing time going this route. 

 

Carmen

[Gary]

The old paths need holder collision added to them. 

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

The impression I get is that CNC won't update the old paths because it wants to kill them.  This would be why they're not on the ribbon; if you make them hard to find they'll be used less, and then you can use that as an excuse to kill them.