Z depth adjustment
Z depth adjustment
Does anyone know of a way to make the Z depth on a profile through cut always be .005" into the spoilboard? I like to cut all the way through for a cleaner bottom corner but everytime I need to adjust the material thickness, I have to remember to change the cut depth on the profile tool path to .005" more than what my material miced out to be. It would be nice if there was a way to make this automatic so that I wouldn't have to do this everytime.
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- Vectric Wizard
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Re: Z depth adjustment
How about a toolpath template that has the cutting depth set as "z+. 005"?
- SteveNelson46
- Vectric Wizard
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- Vectric Craftsman
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Re: Z depth adjustment
When I want to cut all the way through, I set the starting point as the table surface. I use a lot of 1/2" birch which sometimes vary in thickness. This change in my toolpaths made a difference.
Barry
Barry
Re: Z depth adjustment
Thanks for your input! Barry, I'm not sure what you mean by setting the starting point at the table surface - I do have to set Z0 at the machine bed as opposed to the work surface height. Tom, I'm still fairly new at this and haven't messed with toolpath templates - I wonder if there is a way to create one and make it automatically stick to your through cuts? I'll have to see if I can find a tutorial on that. In CV, we have it set up so it just always happens - but, CV isn't great with the artsy side of things.
- Adrian
- Vectric Archimage
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Re: Z depth adjustment
In your toolpath you can enter T+0.005 or Z+0.005 (don't press the = sign as you normally would with variable) into the cut depth field. What that does is to use the defined thickness of the material as the basis of the cut depth and then adds the 0.005 on.
If you change the thickness of the material then hitting the Recalculate All button will adjust the toolpaths to take account of the new thickness. For the ultimate flexibility use good layer management, associate all your toolpaths with layers making sure the automatic option is checked and save/reload as toolpath templates.
I've worked this way for years now and the only time I ever create a toolpath from scratch is when I'm testing a new feature or helping someone solve a problem.
If you change the thickness of the material then hitting the Recalculate All button will adjust the toolpaths to take account of the new thickness. For the ultimate flexibility use good layer management, associate all your toolpaths with layers making sure the automatic option is checked and save/reload as toolpath templates.
I've worked this way for years now and the only time I ever create a toolpath from scratch is when I'm testing a new feature or helping someone solve a problem.