Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

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tor_erickson
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Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by tor_erickson »

Hello,

Does anyone know if it's possible to create multiple limit planes in Vcarve pro?

I want to run a few different 3d toolpaths on a carving, but I want each one to go to a different depth. I can kind of cheat this using vector boundaries and whatnot, but it's pretty frustrating.

Also, does anyone know where I can find more info on limit planes in general? They seem to be completely absent from the manual.

Best,

Tor

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Adrian
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by Adrian »

You won't find information on limit planes as there is no feature of that name in VCarve.

I'm not totally understanding what it is you're trying to do. What do you mean by a different depth for the 3D? The depth of a 3D model is defined by the size of the model itself.

Are you wanting to slice the model up into vertical sections for gluing up into a large model? If that's what you're doing then you need to use the slice tool, the second last icon on the 3D Model Tools section.

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by Leo »

In Solidworks I can create a Sketch plane just about anywhere.

Vectric does not have any such feature.

What are you trying to do - there is most likely a way.
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by ger21 »

He may be talking about "Levels"?
In the 3D finish toolpath, there's an option for the boundary by "levels", but that option is not listed in the manual. I couldn't figure out what they are, or how they work.
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by mezalick »

Gerry,
That option will only create a toolpath for the components on a specific level....
I'm sure it could be useful if , let's say, your cutting the same plaque but with different 3-D components.
Plaque 1 has a fish, where plaque 2 has a deer ,,,and so forth..
Each component is on it's own level.
The rest is V-Carving...

So,,,calculate the V-Carved items then run each roughing and finishing toolpath as needed for each level..

Michael
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by Leo »

Another option I just thought of is model placement in the MATERIAL SETUP area.
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by tor_erickson »

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies.

As best I understand, Limit Planes are layers that control how deep on a 3d model a given toolpath will cut.

The issue is that you may sometimes want to cut deeper in certain areas than in others, which would require multiple limit planes.

Perhaps Michael has answered my question: every 3d component has an associated Limit Plane (what you guys are calling 'levels'?). But in Vcarve you can only have 1 3d component, so you can only have one Limit Plane. Does that make sense?

I'm attaching a screenshot of the 3d part I'm trying to machine. In the area labeled "1" I'd like to machine down to the level indicated by the red line. But in the area labeled "2" I want to go deeper: basically all the way to work surface. As Leo suggests, there are ways to accomplish this... creating various boundary vectors, for example, but they're really a pain to work with.

The "Limit Plane" feature (what I think you guys are calling "Levels", which I can't find in my version of vCarve), is designed to address this, but it seems like you can only create one limit plane per component.

Best,

Tor
Attachments
limit planes.jpg

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Adrian
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by Adrian »

Levels are a totally different thing to what you're trying to do.

Still not seeing why you would want to cut deeper in some areas than others. Surely that's part of the design of the model itself?

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by tor_erickson »

Hey Adrian,

Thanks for the reply.

It's mostly a time-saving issue. For example, with a 1" diameter sphere, I really only want to cut down about a half inch before flipping it over and doing the other side. vCarve lets me determine that 1/2" in a couple of different ways, one of which is by setting a "Limit Plane."

By the way, I just looked, and the "Levels" option is actually almost exactly what I am looking for. It allows you to set a given depth for any particular 3D toolpath. The problem here is that I need to combine it with a boundary vector.

So, does anyone know if you can create a vector on a particular "Level" or "Limit Plane" layer in vCarve (these terms seem to be interchangeable)?

Best regards,

Tor

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by joeporter »

Some of the Aspire tutorials talk about using the Zero Plane with a negative value to limit how deep the tool will cut. Is this possible in V-carve? Is this what you are looking for?...joe

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by dealguy11 »

The concept of "limit plane" has to do with the new 2-sided machining functionality. It is in one of the video tutorials, but is not discussed in the documentation at all. It's been awhile since I looked at it and I don't pretend to understand it yet...haven't needed to use it at this point.
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tor_erickson
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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by tor_erickson »

dealguy11 wrote:The concept of "limit plane" has to do with the new 2-sided machining functionality. It is in one of the video tutorials, but is not discussed in the documentation at all. It's been awhile since I looked at it and I don't pretend to understand it yet...haven't needed to use it at this point.
Yes! I think you're right. Also, what a relief to hear you say that it's not in the documentation b/c I thought I was losing my mind looking for it.

Yeah, it's a two-sided carving thing that is supposed to help you with how deep you cut into the carving from each side. They do talk about it in the marlin carving video, but don't really go into details.

Okay, well if you stumble across any more info let me know, I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure this out!

Best,

Tor

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by tor_erickson »

joeporter wrote:Some of the Aspire tutorials talk about using the Zero Plane with a negative value to limit how deep the tool will cut. Is this possible in V-carve? Is this what you are looking for?...joe
Hey Joe,

It's weird, there are zero planes, and limit planes, and level planes, and they all seem to do kind of the same thing. It seems like they are primarily functionality for Aspire with some carry over to vCarve, but not full support.

Best

Tor

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Re: Multiple limit planes in Vcarve Pro?

Post by joeporter »

I know what you mean about pulling your hair out...If I do learn how to do something, that doesn't mean I will remember it next time :D :D :D ...joe

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