Many thanks for all the replies. I definitely have a better understanding of this now and was able to finish the project with some nice looking surfaces.

I'm only looking for arcs in the XY plane. A slightly different radius at each Z depth. Will it not do this?

Here's another question: I tried changing the cutting strategy to One Way, reasoning that the surface then becomes just a series of circles at different Z depths. When I post this, however, there's not a single arc to be found; just linear X-Y moves. Why? Is there a way to get arcs?

crazy millman: Wow! Thanks so much for this explanation! Looking at the linked images, am I right in thinking that endpoints are white and line segments are green? I'm confused about filtering settings. Does moving the slider to the right produce more arcs in your code or am I not understanding this?

crazy millman: Is spiral not a good idea? What strategy and settings would you suggest?

JParis: My contract prevents me from posting the actual part file, but I've attached a sample piece that shows the problem. I'd sure appreciate any suggestions on eliminating the faceting! Also, what's with the crazy motion when the tool gets to the +Z extreme? surface test.mcam

I have a part with an odd-size round-over edge and would like to cut it with Surface Finish Flowline Toolpath and a bullnose endmill. My problem is that there are very obvious facets. How can I eliminate these? I've tried reducing the total tolerance from 0.001" to 0.0005", but the facets are still apparent. Instead of using the solid geometry, I also tried creating a surface by sweeping a 90-degree arc along a path of lines and arcs. This had no bearing on the facets. What else can I try?

I installed the latest MC update and that solved the problem.

Ok, now I'm really baffled. Yesterday the Curve All Edges command worked fine. Today it's dead. I can select the geometry, but clicking the green checkmark does nothing - no response at all. Likewise, the Help question mark and the red X to close the command also do nothing. The blue checkmark is grayed out. Hitting escape is the only way out. I've tried different MC files where the command previously worked and I've tried creating new files from various SolidWorks and STEP files, but the behavior is the same. What happened overnight? How do I fix this?? Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm working in MC 2002.

If I use the Silhouette Boundary command to create wireframe geometry of a part's perimeter, curved edges are either a series of small arcs or (worse) a group of lines and arcs. As examples, the edge of a hole will be created as four (or more) arcs of unequal length. A simple 90-degree curve will be two lines plus an arc. The Curve Edges command, on the other hand, creates arcs that accurately reflect the part's geometry. A continuous arc on the solid model will be a single wireframe arc. Why do the two methods produce different results? Is this controlled by a setting?

JParis: Cover surfaces??

In an OptiRough toolpath, how do you keep the tool out of specific areas? Picking Avoidance Geometry doesn't seem to do it.

Where can I find the switch for dependencies?

I have a toolpath group and the final operation is a Stock Model that reflects the results of all of the operations up to that point. If I copy an operation within the group, MC adds a second Stock Model at the end of the group. Why? Is there a way to prevent this?

JParis: Perfect! Thanks! I wasn't seeing the Ribbon with all those choices because the "Minimize Ribbon" option had somehow got checked.