Greetings from Texas...

The previous programmers here have always programmed toolpath to "print" dimensions rather than centerline of tool. This practice has lead to countless correcting of programs due to "TOOL DIAMETER TO LARGE" errors on our Fadals.I am considering a change to tool centerline programming and would like to know if anyone can share any pros or cons to either method..

Thad, I did work around the problem..Thanks again to all.. Holomon

Thad, This feature has 3 walls and is open on one end therefore it has a corner on two sides..Selecting a start point will only let me move the heavy cut from one side to the other.. Holomon

I did a backplot and saved as toolpath to determine the .0023 distance..When the cut direction is rotated 90 degrees the toolpath WILL go all the way to the wall but this approach will force the tool to plunge into a heavy cut(corner) rather than working into the cut..My cut and filter tolerance is set to .0002..I will just add a flowline path to finish the feature..Thanks to all for taking the time to respond..This forum is a very valuable tool!

Yes..I have tried negative values as well..I have had this problem on many different parts..

Code_Breaker, If you can send me your address I will send you the zipped file..

Thanks to everyone for the sugestions. There are many ways to work around the problem but I would like to know if I'm missing something. Does anyone else have any problems getting toolpath to go all the way up against a wall with parallel surfacing?..Thanks again..

This case doesn't seem like a good candidate for Flowline..

I have put it on the FTP site(AGAINSTWALL.MC9)..Many Thanks to all..

I'm not using a check surface but have added a containment boundary. The tool will stop .0023 short of the wall face.

I am having a little difficulty with parallel surfacing inside of a cavity. When the tool feeds up against a wall it usually stops about .002" short of the wall. I am not using a containment boundary. Usually I can work around this problem but would really like to find out what I am doing wrong or if anyone else has encountered this. [ 03-25-2004, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: holomon ]