OK, I’m new to this subject and have watched a few videos, but I’m still a little lost on it.
What I an doing is cutting a pocket shape that has some detail in it. I’m using a 1/4 in bit to clean out the mass of the shape, but it will not cut the sharp corners or detail. I have to droop down to a 1/8 or 1/16 in bit. I do not want to use a v-bit due to the design, so advanced v-carve is out.
So here is my question: Is it possible to do a clean up cut after running the larger bit with the smaller one WITHOUT having to rerun the entire toolpath with the smaller bit?
This is called “Rest Milling” (i.e. cleaning up the rest of the stock the previous cutter left)
While CC doesn’t have a rest milling path, you should just be able to use a contour to get tighter into the corners.
One thing to note, don’t jump from a 1/4" to a 1/16", you will leave little standoffs in between the 1/4" cut & 1/16" cut. But dropping from 1/4" pocket, to 1/8" contour, then to 1/16 contour should clear everything. You will still be cutting some air along the edges that are finished, but a lot less time than using a pocket on the secondary operations.
Another option is to build some boundaries around the areas that need to be cleaned up & pocket them with the smaller tool.
