Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

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pknvectric
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Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

Post by pknvectric »

I'm cutting a straight line (profile tool path ON the line) and I'd love to be able to tell it to simply "reverse" after the pass. (Kind of like the keyhole gadget instantly reverses back to it's starting point.) I'm currently telling it to make 2 passes (same depth for both passes) but this still doesn't "clean" the slot too well because it is simply doing the same thing on the second pass.

Yes, I could create a duplicate set of vectors and alternate the node starting points so it starts at the other end of each vector on an additional tool path) but this sure seems like a lots of work... Surely there is a way to do this.?

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Adrian
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Re: Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

Post by Adrian »

The way I do it is to draw a line that overlaps on itself. That's basically what the keyhole tool does. So you have a line that starts from point a, goes to point b and back to point a as one vector.

You can do a similar thing using the spiral ramp setting.

4DThinker
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Re: Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

Post by 4DThinker »

Draw your line, but instead of ending it with an ESCape or right click, continue with a second line segment that returns to very near the start point.
ESC or right click.
Now use the Node feature to drag the end node over to where the starting node is. If you end the second segment at the starting point it will automatically join them.

This should leave with a 2-segment vector where your Profile ONtheLine will do what you want.

4D

pknvectric
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Re: Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

Post by pknvectric »

Thank you. Doubling back on the line solved the issue. I assumed Aspire would see this as a "duplicate vector".

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martin54
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Re: Reverse direction after cutting ON a line?

Post by martin54 »

pknvectric wrote:Thank you. Doubling back on the line solved the issue. I assumed Aspire would see this as a "duplicate vector".
No it's not a duplicate vector because it is all one line so is only one vector. :lol: :lol:

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