Vectric Customer

We have VCarvePro 8.5

Edit Passes: We want to change direction of the last pass (cutting out pieces in plywood) and do not see that feature available.

Anybody know anything? Do we need to upgrade to v9.0 to get this feature?

Thanks in advance.

You don't specify which toolpath type you are looking to do this with so I shall presume "Profile".

See attached image (from v9.512 but I don't recall it being much different with v8.5).

When the "Show advanced..." option is checked you get the "Do Separate Last Pass" panel.

Is this what you were thinking about?

Steven

--
Creep, crawl, toddle, walk, run

Best answer for a simple question? Help > Help Contents

Profile path to cut through a piece of 3/4" Maple plywood. Cutting out pieces.

5 passes, the first 4 are "Climb."
The last pass needs to be "Conventional."

We are basically changing directions on the last pass.

Cannot find the ability to set each pass with a Climb or Conventional direction.

We also might set the first path with an 0.010" offset.

Its all about being able to define each pass with different parameters, such as the direction of the cut (Climb or Conventional).

Makes for a cleaner cut and saves on cleanup and sanding.

Check the "reverse direction" box and the last pass will be the opposite direction to the other passes.

Personally what I do is to create one toolpath for my initial pass and then another which is the last pass and use the Merge Toolpath feature to make it into one toolpath. Can't remember if Merge toolpaths was available in 8.5 or not but doing it that way gives you far more control of feeds, speeds and ramps which can't be altered if you're using the profile toolpath built-in last pass method.

Thank you.

Is there a stacking order for files when merging?
We need to make sure the first pass precedes the first

Yes they will cut in order. Be sure to have the By Part option checked if you want to run all the toolpaths on one part before moving to the next.

By part?

On the Merge Toolpaths dialog there is the option to Merge By Part. If that is checked then all the toolpaths that make up the merged toolpath will be run on each part before moving to the next. Say you have 200 squares that you're cutting out with two toolpaths on each. If that option isn't checked the first toolpath will run on all 200 squares before the 2nd toolpath is run. If the option is checked then both toolpaths will run on a square before moving onto the next one. That way you can start taking parts off the board for finishing etc without waiting for every part to have the first toolpath run on it.

It's all covered in the Help for the merged toolpath feature.

Two Profile cuts per part.
Profile1 & Profile2
Both are merged.
Is there a stacking order to ensure Profile1 cuts first?

Wow, you are being very helpful. I appreciate your focus.

They cut in the order they appear in the toolpath list so if Profile1 is above Profile2 it will cut first when merged.

This subject and the advice given is an example of why VCarvePro and Vectric is "WORLD CLASS."

Now that we know how to edit passes, we can run our machines and cut plywood with efficiency.
As a result, our cutting strategy is much SAFER.

With the edit pass feature, we can be gentle with the first and last pass, more aggressive through the middle passes.

Much cleaner cuts!