When the start depth of the v-carve toolpath is set to 0mm with a max depth of 5mm, it shows a time of 8 mins for the pocket tool and 13 mins for the vee tool, for a total of 21 mins.
All of the tool settings are the same as well as the retract height for the tools.
Any idea on why the times would be so drastic when doing the same amount of cutting? I checked this file in v7 of CC and it gave an estimate of 22 mins.
For those wondering why I’d be switching between a start depth of 0mm or 35mm, I will often do this on tray projects were I disable the overall pocketing toolpath so I don’t have to wait for it to render in the simulation and still see what my detail/artwork toolpaths will do. This saves a decent amount of time when you have to tweak a design a lot.
Interesting, but a huge waste of time. Is there a way to get around that nearly hour of just retracting for no reason? The only think I can think of off the top of my head is to reset the Z to the bottom of the pocket after it is cut out. Then I’d have to reset it again back to the original setting to cut the tray from the stock.
Can anyone think of a better way than that?
Edit: I’ve increased the plunge rate on the vee bit which reduced the time by 19 mins, but it is still a ton of wasted time.
You can also lower your retract height. I don’t suggest using zero, but if you feel confident in your work and your holding is 100% out of the way, then you can set it very low. That will definately speed up your process.
Also on the V-bit set your plunge to maximum. I use 100 ipm on the V-bit section of my Advance V Carves.
I already have my retract height set to 1.5mm (0.59"). I also increased my plunge rate to
600 (roughly 23.6 ipm which is what I normally run it at, but there is still a 37 minute difference when doing the V carve at the bottom of the pocket. That is just pure wasted time
I’ve never ran my V-bits at 100 ipm, I typically only run them at 889 mmpm (35 ipm). I’ll look into pushing that a little more.
I forgot to ask you what machine you have.
I have a SO5 PRO. It can handle the speeds and feeds no problem.
If you have an SO3, then you will need to keep it slower; a 30/60 IPM should be fine.
I tweaked a few things and it knocked a bunch of time off.
For one using a .125 EM really slows things down. I do not use those unless Absolutely necessary.
I suggest getting a 3/16 bit. It’s a good compromise between the .25 and .125. I have found the .125 bits break too easy.
Agree with SDGuy, I routinely start with the largest bit that will work with the specific tool paths and then work down for finer detail when/if needed. This is inline with the “roughing pass first then the finish pass” process. This also depends on wood species as well.
Thanks for messing with my file and reposting it for me to look at. When I open your file, I see two sets of Pocket/Vee toolpaths that are completely identical. Is that on purpose and if so, what does that accomplish?
With my initial feeds and speeds, using the 1/4 EM to clear out pocketed area of the design was actually slower then using the 1/8, hence why I was using it. With your drastically faster setting for the vee bit, it does make more sense to use the 1/4 EM. I should also get a 3/16 EM as you suggested. There have been several projects where something between 1/4 and 1/8 would have made things much faster.
I do this as well when I can do the Rest machining. I’ve not practiced enough to manually create Rest machining style toolpath manually. I really wish CC Pro would do Rest machining during an Advanced V Carve.
This practice is used for all milling operations, not just V-carving. This includes the order of the actual tool paths as well. If the wood displays brittle characteristics then I will run the smallest bit tool path for fine detail first and work back up to the largest bit diameter for roughing the pocket with a finishing pass last. This does not always work, each project has its own design issues, which is why I run the file on scrap wood to dial it in before I make the expensive donation to the fire pit!
Good tip and thinking about brittle woods. I’ve pretty much always hogged out the bulk of the wood and then did the finer details last. My thinking was that it was easier on my detail bits. But I have ran into issues where edges and details have chipped off.
