Any tips on Pencil Surfacing appreciated

[DCOPE17]

Trying to make a clean cut through a corner on a weird shape. As the surface goes around a diameter, it drops down then back up, so when the part rotates, its pumping something up and down. 

Anyway, I cannot get a clean cut to run through that corner. Any tips or any other ideas on getting that to clean that corner would be appreciated. 

 

Dan

[Guest]

If you can get it to zig to zag at the whooty to do...then perhaps the inkle and the dinkle will twinkle   

 

Seriously, what?  A picture, a file...

 

[crazy^millman]

10 minutes ago, JParis said:

If you can get it to zig to zag at the whooty to do...then perhaps the inkle and the dinkle will twinkle   

 

Seriously, what?  A picture, a file...

 

Exactly. My throwing darts in the dark facing backwards blindfolded after spinning for 10 minutes makes it really hard to hit the dart board with a bowling ball in my hand.

[Matthew Hajicek - Singularity]

What they're saying is you haven't given enough information for anyone to be able to help you.  Best option is to post your file for people to look at.

[Mark VIII]

33 minutes ago, 5th Axis CGI said:

Exactly. My throwing darts in the dark facing backwards blindfolded after spinning for 10 minutes makes it really hard to hit the dart board with a bowling ball in my hand.

 

Funny. I do it all the time...left handed.

[DCOPE17]

I did an edit and put in a pic... here it is again. 

 

OOPS, I did link the photo but went back to MCam while waiting for it to upload, I never came back and saved it. 

[crazy^millman]

So you want to use a pencil in that sharp corner? Might need to make a surface of just the area you want to cut and not drive to drive it through the whole solid would be my 1st thought.

[DCOPE17]

I'll give that a shot. 

[DCOPE17]

Okay, I swept an 1/8 radius around that transition and got the surface, then did a flowline toolpath and it cuts it twice, but whatever, It does it. 

 

thanks for the help. 

[mike93]

if you are using a .125 cutter offset the top chain .0626 and try sf project.

[Colin Gilchrist]

My go-to for weird stuff like that is Surface Finish Project, and Surface High-Speed Project.

Draw the centerline chain that you want your cutter to follow (offset the top edge by the cutter radius). This gives you total control over exactly where your cutter will go...

[Colin Gilchrist]

With Surface High-Speed Project, you can play with the Gap Settings, and the Chain Direction, to choose if you want to keep the tool down, or retract. If you "zig-zag" chain (next chain starts close to where the last chain ended), then the tool will "stay down" and you can get the tool to simply move from chain to chain, on your part. If all the chains are pointing the same direction, you can play with the gap settings to force the tool to retract at the end of each chain, and start at the next chain.

Keep in mind that you'll need to "draw" your lead in/out moves, if you want them. Also, I usually take the "floor surface", and untrim, and/or extend it. There must be a part of the surface "below" the entire chain, or some of the chain motion might get "skipped" if there is no surface to "project onto".

[DCOPE17]

I'll give that a shot too, I didn't get the swept surface exact through the part, I had about .005 variations. 

[jlw™]

Colin beat me to it, project all day.  Make a 2d contour that has the path you want then use project to put it on the drive surface.  Ghost the original 2d contour.

[DCOPE17]

So I try surface project and I get a calculation error, contact my mastercam reseller.  DOH, is it my license or am I doing something wrong? 

[Colin Gilchrist]

1 hour ago, DCOPE17 said:

So I try surface project and I get a calculation error, contact my mastercam reseller.  DOH, is it my license or am I doing something wrong? 

Dude,

Post up a file and I'd be happy to take a look at your path, or create one that works. If you were able to program it with Swept and/or Flowline, it is likely not a licensing issue. (*you might have "Mill", and not "Mill 3D". Look at your Hasp settings, what license level do you have?)

[jlw™]

Can you upload a file?  Strip out all but the two surfaces needed for the path.

[Fred @ Slate Industries]

Contact your reseller error 

Only means it cant calculate the path with your current settings selected.

[DCOPE17]

Thanks for all the help everyone, this projected toolpath is new to me and if I wasn't out of town all weekend, I would have done some researching on it. 

I do have MCam Mill 3D hasp. ( we have 2 licenses one 2D and one 3D ) 

I uploaded a simplified file, I had trouble with the .IGS file and had to do a little cleanup of it to get things started. Hopefully that doesn't cause you any problems giving me an example of the projected surfacing toolpath. 

 

Thanks again everyone. 

Dan

FORUM FILE.mcam

[Guest]

Here's a couple options, Pencil & Project

 

 

 

JP_FORUM FILE.mcam

[DCOPE17]

That project toolpath worked great, however, I only have the option of High Speed Project and it is very different and actually couldn't get it to work. I exported your operation and imported into mine and just selected the surfaces and it worked. 

[Guest]

Nope, look under the old paths...you won't find them in the tabs, right click in the OP Manager, they're there 

Edited September 17, 2018 by Guest

[?Mark]

On 9/14/2018 at 10:12 AM, 5th Axis CGI said:

Exactly. My throwing darts in the dark facing backwards blindfolded after spinning for 10 minutes makes it really hard to hit the dart board with a bowling ball in my hand.

You just described our quoting department 

[DCOPE17]

1 hour ago, JParis said:

Nope, look under the old paths...you won't find them in the tabs, right click in the OP Manager, they're there 

Haha, yep, there it is. They are hiding things from us? 

Thanks for that tips, this will solve a lot of my corner cleaning difficulties in the future. 

[gcode]

57 minutes ago, Mark @ PPG said:

You just described our quoting department 

customer gives the salesman a "target price"

salesman gives the "target price" to estimating

estimating works backwards from the "target price" to get the correct "estimate"

Project goes south, programming and manufacturing get blamed for an unprofitable job