Cutting with 1/4 the going back in with a 1/8

Hey guys I’m fairly new to the Carbide Create game, but I had a question. I don’t know if it’s even possible but figured I would ask anyways.

While pocketing an area there are pets that have small areas where I need to use a 1/8 end mill to cut it out. But for the larger areas I could use a 1/4 end mill bit to cut faster. Is there a way to program it to cut the large area with the 1/4th then to get the fine area with the 1/8th without the 1/8th needing to go through the area that just was cut out by the 1/4th.

I hope I have made this clear. Any help would help.

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Hi @Newguy,

Welcome to the community !
We had a very similar thread recently, with a good tip from @fenrus:

In short: there is no built-in capability for “rest machining” in CC (=what you are describing), but there is a good way to emulate it by just doing an inside contour with the smaller endmill after the initial pocketing with the larger endmill, “as long as each next bit is at least half the diameter of the previous”

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I make items with a maple leaf on it and I want the tips to be delicate but just as deep as the rest of the leaf (for epoxy color consistency) so I use a ¼" end mill to pocket out the bulk, then use an ⅛" end mill as a contour then a 1/16" end mill contour to finish out the design and the tips are delicate without being too pointy.

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Heres a flag i did with a #112 end mill.
Made it several times and it turned out great

American Flag 1.c2d (1.5 MB)

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For pockets that you want to hog out with the big bit, you can often do an inside offset operation on the original shape and use the geometry produced from that as you pocket for the hogging. Then make do a inside contour toolpath on the original shape to remove the rest.

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Julian:

Thanks for your insight. I’m going to give that a try.

Blessings,
Mark

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Just be careful with this - some programs apply the offset to the bottom of the pocket as well as the sides.

If I plan on cutting a profile with a smaller bit, say 1/4 then 1/8, I will tell the program that the 1/4 bit is actually 0.26 or 0.27 and leave a 0.010" or 0.005" material, then come back with the profile cut with the correctly dimensioned smaller bit.

What software are you using that doesn’t let you independently control axial and radial stock to leave?

I see that you are not sophisticated enough to have heard of the pinnacle of G-code creation software makercam.com. :joy:

I have. It being written in flash (I believe) was enough to keep me away. :slight_smile:

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I still use it, along with Inkscape for all of my cribbage board designs. I downloaded the standalone flash player and the makercam code and run it from my desktop.

For layout and peck drilling the hundreds of holes, it is a pretty straightforward process.

I am using Vectric V-Carve more and more lately, but I still use them for my cribbage board drilling operations.

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