Use MeshCam I like much , fast and ease ,
Forgive my ignorance Rob, but if there are no extensions .stl . How is it applied (NEW) (PRO) Added 3D Roughing, how do it work?
You go into the Model tab, create a 3D shape there, then using the Modeling toolpaths on it in the Toolpath pane.
While it doesn’t cover the roughing toolpath (it wasn’t an option then), this video covers many other Pro 3D features:
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testing the new roughing feature; one thing I noticed is that while the toolpath shows a depth of cut for the toolpath, when you edit the tool you cannot change this depth using manual settings (unlike normal 2D paths where you can set this)
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draw in the 2D view a box around your stock… and make the 3D toolpath to that box… and it’ll all just work out
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Thanx it works 
Don’t misunderstand me, I love carbide motion and my SO3. However, I find the interface to CC to be, at best, awkward to unusable for me. For the suggested $750 price for pro, I will upgrade from VCarde Desktop to VCarve Pro for $350 and pay for other Vectric charges for years and still not hit $750.
You guys really need to upgrade the look and operation of CC and CC Pro to something more modern and user-friendly. I am quite disappointed in the UI as it stands. However, I will continue to promote CC 3D for its great cnc and especially for your unequaled support staff. These guys are fantastic.
Best regards,
Allen
Thanks for the feedback Allen. This “Modern UI” comment has come up a few times and, to be honest, we’re confused by it.
What program would you point to that has a modern UI?
Is Vectric more modern?
(I ask this to try and understand the comment, not to argue.)
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I was giving 415 a whirl to see whether I can get full instructions for it into the “Terrain Relief Models, Unabridged” docs, and I think I’ve got it mostly figured.
I did have one major issue (may have been me overlooking something). In the 3D roughing toolpath, I didn’t see any way of limiting the depth. A larger terrain relief model is deeper than the flute length on the 1/4" mills I use to rough it out (before finishing with tapers), so I have to be able to set the stepdown (or at least a maximum stepdown) if I’m not going to be trying to rough it out with the shank.
I usually use a 1/4" ball (0.75" flute length) to rough, and the actual carved model depth is about 30mm (almost 1.25") when the taper (31.75mm flute length) finishes with it.
Am I missing something obvious?
nope I reported that as well, you can’t currently set the depth
Rob,
Thanks for the speedy response. Yes, I consider Vectric to be a modern UI, but also any of the tabbed/menu-based software–Word, Excel, etc. come to mind. I find CC frustrating because I cannot see all of the selections all of the time. Stuff seems to only appear when you have certain things selected. And usually I have trouble recreating the steps to make an item appear. Even if something is not available, it is helpful to see it greyed-out. So you at least know where to find it in the future. CC seems to be geared to a “power user.”
Please keep in mind that I do not use CC at all any more. After using it briefly when I got my SO3 I looked around and settled on Vectric. Yes the price is hard to swallow and functionality can be complicated. To offset that, their tech support is very responsive and tolerant of new users.
Therefore, I’m in Vcarve Desktop for all of my work. I’m sure that for someone that uses CC frequently, finding stuff is second nature. But for noobs and infrequent users CC is just not intuitive, well, at least for me.
Thanks for asking for my input. I appreciate that courtesy.
Best regards,
Allen
Thanks for the feedback Allen
Maybe this has already been asked for, but a feature that I wish was inherent in the Carbide Create upon multiple occasions was the ability to perform linear or circular arrays. Linear arrays to rapidly layout a design in rows and columns (ie stars on the US Flag) and Circular arrays to rapidly layout a design item around a specified circle diameter.
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I use the Carbide 3D, CC and CM software, I also use the MeshCam and the results are excellent, I can not complain about it. There are small problems but we are solving them. And many times it is due to failures in my knowledge of g-code and machining, I arrive here without any knowledge and today with the Shapeoko I do what I want and very accurate.
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I believe you’re wondering how to create that in Carbide Create Pro?
Starting on a tutorial here: 8 pointed star in Carbide Create Pro
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No I work whit MeshCam , CC and CM .
Aspire is my go-to, and it hit me today just how different just the design/drawing toolbars are
I am used to the Vectric style of having all the options up there, and if you click something without the right conditions being met then you get a popup with the selections required or changes you need to make before selecting this tool. Rather than the CC way of once you have made the selections you are given available options fitting those conditions. This does make for a less cluttered interface, but can lead to trying to work out what you need to select to perform a certain task.
I personally prefer having everything up there like Vectric, but the more time I spend on CC the easier I find it to work with.
@robgrz: While I was reading @WillAdams (excellent) assistance on this thread I realised that if CC had a vector trim tool this would have been a trivial exercise. Instead he had to create circles and perform several steps involving boolean subtractions etc… I think the reason that Aspire is going to be difficult to replace as my go-to is the abundance of these super handy features. For this to compete with even the likes of Vcarve desktop (At $350) you need to have the majority of features that it provides, reading through the Vcarve Desktop product page here I can still see a lot of gaps.
This only comes from a constructive place, I just want CC Pro to be the most feature-packed and best value software there is, and for people to say in DIY CNC forums “Carbide Create for $750 sounds steep, but it’s worth it”
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