This is my understanding too. I just checked a pocket and profile toolpath generated in CC and the pocket is indeed clockwise/conventional, while a outer profile is counterclockwise, which would make it conventional too if no material was present on the outside (but most of the time profile cut = slotting cut, so it’s both climb and conventional at the same time)
I can understand why Carbide developers would remove this cut direction parameter (and make conventional the default) to make CC even more accessible to new users, but having the option to override the default behavior would be good. And adding ramping would be a huge step too.
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The more I read, the more I feel I haven’t read enough/anything. I thought my computer science master’s was one of the tuff majors to master. I am wrong, and now, I feel too old for this.
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Don’t overthink it (says the guy who likes to split hairs on these topics…), many shapeoko users just ignore these debates and happily cut wonderful projects using default settings. It’s just rewarding (for me) to know how/why thinks work, but far from necessary.
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The difficulty here is that CNC, unlike computer science, crosses over from the theoretical/digital realm over to the real world of machining, so is at the intersection/interface of a number of disciplines and concepts.
It also doesn’t help that a lot of this is still locked up in proprietary, closed source tools which are not openly documented, nor readily available.
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@WillAdams
I don’t understand “It also doesn’t help that a lot of this is still locked up in proprietary, closed source tools which are not openly documented, nor readily available.” Got example(s)?
Autodesk Fusion 360, MasterCAM, EstlCAM, BobCAD/CAM — all are closed source, and none are documented in such a way that someone who doesn’t use said tools can take advantage of the algorithms — I think I’ve only found one opensource toolpath tool, and it works in Grasshopper in Rhino3D:
FWIW, I’ve been working through this myself:
and will hopefully be making some test cuts before the day is out.
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What will that offer/do?
adaptive clearing goodness ?
Trochoidal toolpaths afford an option to cut a slot only a little wider than the tool which lowers tooling engagement using a series of curves/semi-circles.
As I understand it, it’s the same sort of concept behind adaptive clearing.
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So the cutting depth is gradually increased during the initial (slotting) part of the pocketing operation and the rest of the pocketing operation can be conducted at the “final” slotting depth?
@Julien
Lucky you! I imagine you had high humidity too! 
No, gradually increasing the cutting depth is “ramping in” trochoidal is a series of circles/arcs:
Once you’ve achieved the desired DOC with an initial slotting trochoidal toolpath, why not just use the achieved depth of cut with a reasonable stepover (WOC) to complete the pocketing operation in the usual manner with climb cutting?
I think that’s a viable option, but usually the trochoidal is just used for narrow slots — that’s what I’ve been using it for.
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Thanks - I kind of missed that - sorry!
Not entirely just slots. Troichoidal milling is excellent in metals as it keeps a constant feed-load to the router/spindle so no sudden engagements in corners like in pocketing. I find I can run more aggressive with it and it’s much safer than pocketing. I know the load values will never exceed a certain set amount so I can run near the max my machine can handle.
It also allows one to use more of the endmill flutes on our machines rather than the bottom section. This is just common in high speed machining (HSM) in general. John Saunders talks about it in a few videos and he likes how tool last longer as well.
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So once the desired depth of cut is achieved, trochoidal toolpaths continue to be used to complete the pocketing operation at that DOC? What materials are you cutting like that and what cutting parameters do you use?
So once the desired depth of cut is achieved, trochoidal toolpaths continue to be used to complete the pocketing operation at that DOC? Generally correct, although almost every time I do have multiple depths selected because I can’t just go 10mm depth right away
What materials are you cutting like that and what cutting parameters do you use? Aluminum is my favorite to cut on my Shapeoko with this method. It is only for roughing. I have done it with softer materials like maple with good success since it just makes everything more consistent. You may sacrifice speed for consistency and endmill/router longevity.
I will get back to you with parameters. I don’t have them all entered into my Onenote like they should be and I’m at work currently.
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@The_real_janderson
How do you generate you trochoidal toolpaths? Is this a feature in F360 or some other CAD/CAM software? It looks like very few people here use them.