Tool Library Problem

I’ve searched the forum but can’t seem to find an answer for my problem.

I can add new tools and later edit them. I cannot edit any of the existing tools, 101, 102, 111, 112, 201, 202. No matter whether I double click the tool or right click then select Edit. Neither the “OK” nor “CANCEL” are visible in the editing pane. I can type over existing entries but have no way to say OK.

I’ve added an 1/8" Ball Mill with 3 Flutes as 103. I’ve added both a 90 and 60 degree Vee Mill as 301 and 302 respectively. No problem. And as I said, I can edit any of those.

Perhaps someone could straighten me out on LOC and Flute Length. I was under the impression they were the same and the Flute Length determined the Length Of Cut.

On another issue… the LIbrary reports both the 201 and 202 1/4" end mills have a Flute length of .375 yet the labels on my new ones state .75 LOC and actually measure closer to 1". And additionally, in both cases the Library says they are 2 Flutes yet the new ones are 3 Flutes. I’ll be happy to add them as 203 and 204 with the Label information if that’s correct. But, either way, a .375 Flute length seems incorrect on the existing 201 and 202.

Sorry… one more thing. The 103 that I added appears at the bottom of the Library. Is there no way to sort or reorder by Tool Number???

I would appreciate any light someone might shed on this for me.

Thanks,
Bill

Still learning my way around this — apparently you can right-click on a tool entry to interact with it.

Here are my notes on my efforts to understand this:

  • to get to the Tool library, click on Toolpath, Under Tool, click Edit, click Edit Library
  • right/control click on a Tool listing to access a contextual menu for Edit Tool/Delete — choose Edit Tool
  • When a tool is edited it is actually added, and seems to get moved to the bottom — I think there’s a trick where one has to double-click on it or something
  • sometimes a tool will only be allowed to have two digits display for the Tool #
  • I could have sworn that at some point in time there was a sub-menu which allowed moving a tool up or down — find it? check old versions?
  • investigate where this file is stored and edit by hand?

On the Mac, the tools you’ve added can be viewed (all values stored as mm) from the Terminal by running:

/usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c print ~/Library/Preferences/"com.carbide-3d.Carbide Create.plist"

On Windows, they’re in the registry; search for “Carbide Create” and look in the “tools” entry.

The default tools seem to be compiled into the binary, so no love there, either.

It would be great if it could import/export the format used by MeshCam, and awesome if it read GWizard’s exports.

-j

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Thank you for that.

Is the Gwizard copy-paste interface no longer working? EDIT: sorry, that’s a MeshCAM feature — it should be added to Carbide Create.

No idea; I’m mostly using VCarve Desktop, and only using CC for quick surfacing jobs and initial feeds/speeds for Carbide 3D tools (basically a supplement for the printed chart).

-j

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Hey William,

How did I know you’d be the first to reply? :slight_smile: Thanks.

Here’s the procedure on my CC for editing a tool.

First of all, if this is a new project, the “Toolpath” button is not active until you put an object (Circle, Rectangle, etc.) on the work area and then select it.

Then you must select either “Contour” or “V Carve” in order to get to the first “Edit” button.

After selecting that now the “Edit Library” button is available.

Unfortunately, for me anyway, my original problem still exists… I can’t edit any existing tools, either by double clicking a tool or by right-clicking a tool then selecting “Edit Tool”.

I’m still confused as to how the 201 and 202 1/4" end mills show a flute length of 3/8" when they actually measure nearly 1".

I’m hoping someone who might have had this problem has a solution for me. If I’m the only one experiencing this issue, maybe support can give me a reason and a suggestion for it’s resolution.

EDIT:

Thinking that since I’m able to edit a new tool,

I would delete one of the original tools
Add it back as a new tool
Edit the parameters that might need changing.

WRONG… just found out I can’t Delete an existing tool either. :slight_smile:

Thanks to all.
Bill

You can’t edit or delete the built in tools. They’re built in to the software hard. CC just makes it look like you can edit it and doesn’t tell you it isn’t going to save your changes out delete the tool. It just silently refuses to comply. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the note. [quote=“markwal, post:7, topic:4058”]
You can’t edit or delete the built in tools.
[/quote]

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the note. At least I’m not dreaming. If I missed it I apologize, but I would think there would be a little more info in the documentation concerning Tool Library maintenance.

Earlier I asked for help regarding the difference between the 3/8" Flute Length of the 201 and 202 end mills in the Tool Library and the Flute Length of nearly 1" of an actual end mill, but didn’t get any information. Maybe you could address that?

Thanks,
Bill

Well, I’m out of my depth here, but it seems like length of cut of an endmill is the maximum depth of cut. That is likely the length of the cutting edge which may be less than the whole visible flute which may continue for clearing purposes. It seems like once it is longer than any actual DOC you’d take on your machine it doesn’t matter very much though, right?