Toolpath preview question

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tlewis
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Toolpath preview question

Post by tlewis »

I am using Aspire 9.512 and I'm having an issue previewing the 3D finishing of a flat surface. One where the Z height of the model matches the Z height of the material. I don't know if this is a settings issues or by design. I don't know if this is new behavior in 9.5 or has always been this way....
To recreate draw a box then create a flat model component from that vector that matches the Z height of the material. Now create a 3D finishing toolpath of the Model Boundary and click on create. You will notice in the 3D preview window that the blue toolpath will show the face of the model getting milled but when you run the actual preview it does not.

Is this supposed to work this way?

Thanks

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Adrian
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by Adrian »

What is it you're trying to do? Sounds like you would be better off with pocket toolpaths if you're trying to flatten material.

ger21
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by ger21 »

Toolpaths at zero depth do not cut anything. So the preview is not going to show it being cut.
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tlewis
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by tlewis »

My point is not whether or not I should pocket or use some other routine. I could just constrain the 3D finish path to a vector.
What I'm saying is that the program is in fact creating a toolpath over the flat area and including that in the GCode but it is not showing that behavior in the preview. I think the preview should be a matter of WYSIWYG.

Again you can recreate this behavior and run it on your machine by:
To recreate draw a box then create a flat model component from that vector that matches the Z height of the material. Now create a 3D finishing toolpath of the Model Boundary and click on create. You will notice in the 3D preview window that the blue toolpath will show the face of the model getting milled but when you run the actual preview it does not.


If the preview is correct the when cutting this toolpath the machine should not move.

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Adrian
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by Adrian »

How could the preview show you anything? There is nothing being cut out of the material block. The blue toolpath will show as that's showing the path of the cutter but nothing will show (correctly) in the actual 3D preview of the toolpath as it's basically cutting air.

tlewis
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by tlewis »

I agree there is nothing to show. But with animate preview and draw tool turned on I believe you should see the tool cut nothing so that you know that the CNC is actual going to cut nothing and you can modify your toolpath accordingly. For example, If you are cutting the bottom of a guitar neck and the left portion of the neck model is flat and the ride part of it is rounded I want to see that the tool is going to pass over that flat part before I start the job so I can allow that or not. In my example I suppose there is no surprise because the whole model is flat but consider the guitar neck example.

So my question now is:
Is it by design or is this a bug that the preview doses not show an animated tool passing over the part of the model that is flat and equal to the Z height of the material?

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TReischl
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by TReischl »

Seems to me you could solve this "issue" of not seeing an animated tool moving over the area where nothing is happening by running it and watching the machine move over the surface and cut nothing. After you do that a few times you will get comfortable with the idea that the animation does not show it to you.

The blue cut line is much more indicative of where the tool is moving than any animation.

I doubt it is a "bug". Why should the software waste time drawing a tool not cutting?

I am running V4.5 and mine works the same way yours does. Soooo, if this were a "bug", and it was causing users problems it would have been "fixed" by now.
"If you see a good fight, get in it." Dr. Vernon Johns

ger21
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by ger21 »

When the tool isn't cutting anything, the preview "skips" to the next time it is actually cutting, presumably to speed up the preview.
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martin54
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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by martin54 »

Easy enough to check if the machine has cut anything or not if you need to by just mousing over the flat area to check the z height :lol: :lol:

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Re: Toolpath preview question

Post by mohamed »

tlewis wrote:I agree there is nothing to show. But with animate preview and draw tool turned on I believe you should see the tool cut nothing so that you know that the CNC is actual going to cut nothing and you can modify your toolpath accordingly. For example, If you are cutting the bottom of a guitar neck and the left portion of the neck model is flat and the ride part of it is rounded I want to see that the tool is going to pass over that flat part before I start the job so I can allow that or not. In my example I suppose there is no surprise because the whole model is flat but consider the guitar neck example.

So my question now is:
Is it by design or is this a bug that the preview doses not show an animated tool passing over the part of the model that is flat and equal to the Z height of the material?
Yes, I believe. We don't animate movement that don't cut anything (i.e. plunges, retracts, etc and in your case feed moves that cut air), so we basically don't refresh the screen unless the move results in a change. I'd have to check but i imagine that's the case even if you draw the tool which seems to be what you're seeing (or rather, not seeing :) )
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