What’s the status of the ramping feature with Pockets?
I started running a project today which has a number of pockets. I had tested everything on scrap, but I don’t think I had opted for Ramping until very recently. May not have tested that yet, although I’ve looked at it closely in Toolpath Simulation. There, it appeared to have worked OK. However, when I started running this afternoon, it looks to me like actual depth of cuts were the same when the Toolpath specs were different.
It’s in CC Pro:
Note that it only applies to entry of the toolpath — cutting pockets at an incline is a separate feature (one which I’ve been asking for), but which Carbide Create does not (yet?) have.
Understand; that’s what I’m running. Going back and double checking Toolpaths in CC Pro 741.
Procedurally, I create separate files for CM for each group of steps. This job has a couple dozen NC files, each with 4 to a dozen steps.
In the first file, I’ve done a 1/4" downcut to a dozen areas to a depth of .04". In the second NC file, I’m using an upcut bit starting at the .04" depth and ranging from most obvious case, I’ve got one area set to start cutting at .04" and finish at .245" Immediately adjacent area finishes at .395"
Looking at wood, it looks like the second file must have not even touched the wood. Depth of cut everywhere is a shade less that the thickness of my flexible steel office ruler. My calipers have gone into hiding.
I remember getting all excited that I might be able to create an angled pocket and being told WRONG. I understand what it IS supposed to do. And I like the idea, especially with the more fragile bits.
I don’t see from a preview of the G-code that the bottom wouldn’t be flat:
I would suggest adjusting the depth per pass so that the final pass is removing a very thin layer of material, e.g., if you’re cutting a 1/2" deep pocket, and your depth per pass is 0.125" (4 total passes), change the depth per pass to 0.124", so that 5 passes are made and the final one is removing only 0.004" of material.
Thanks for the final skim pass idea. I finally found the “What” of my problem. Don’t know about the “How” or “Why”. The second NC file was a duplicate of the first. No wonder it ran in such a short time and didn’t remove any wood.
I do have a valid question, however. I read a comment that the Pocket Ramps were a bit “Wonky”. Can you provide any specifics for what I need to watch for or when they should simply be avoided? Thanks for all the help.
There might have been issues w/ early iterations of the algorithm, but in my testing, ramping works as expected and greatly reduces the stress of cutting pockets when entering them.
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