I make pockets that are necessary for precise contours. Now instead of running back and forth for the first layer getting the width of the cut before the bit cuts deeper to the next wide level the bit runs at the same path deeper and deeper, before it cuts the outer path. That way the bit again just cuts a deep cut getting deviated in the same way as if it would cut just a straight contour.
That behaviour is unpredictable. With some designs it works well, with others it does not. I always are excited to see, how it turns out.
Is there any way to influence that behaviour, that the bit cuts the one layer of the pocket completely running in both directions, instead running the full depth first, before working the outer rim from top to bottom?
I hope I could it describe properly. I could not find an appropriate post, although I remember there was a discussion once. Probably there is a name for that, which I do not know.
The only way to properly clear pockets with CC right now is to have a separate toolpath for each depth layer. It a problem that been around at least since Nov '22.
Otherwise, what happens is that CC divides the pocket up into ‘regions’, and each region is cleared to full depth before moving on to the next regions. So, if the pocket is simple enough that there is only one region, you get the correct behavior. This behavior was first noticed as ‘slotting’, even when a pocket was created specifically to stop slotting.
It is also possible to use just simple back-and-forth around pocket/contour cuts. I separated those kind of cuts from “real” pockets, and could get it working as intended (at least in the simulation: it is such a progress to have the toolpath simulation included in CC!!!)