Hey you’re right, it does have all of that. But at least on my version, only for 2D profile toolpaths. For pocket toolpath, I only get what you see in the screenshot. Weird.
1 Like
Yes - only on 2D profiles. I just confirmed that in both the Desktop and Pro trial versions - which indeed seem exactly the same so far in all other respects.
Better than nothing - and actually very useful IMO !
Sorry about another thread hijack…
2 Likes
Autodesk has a history of discontinuing free tools, such as 123D Design and 123D Catch, and even paid ones such as ArtCAM. I’m sure these moves were best for their bottom lines, but they caused me to need to find alternatives. 123D Catch was a really nice photogrammetry phone app. Support for Meshmixer also seems to be less than it used to be.
I’m not saying this would happen with Fusion 360, because it seems to be the CAD/CAM architecture Autodesk is betting on for the future, just that I don’t expect anything good to last forever.
1 Like
Well I have pro and as @Hooby Hooby said my ramping strategies do not include zigzag and spiral for pockets, 3D or molding toolpaths, zigzag and spiral ramping is only available for profile toolpaths.
1 Like
Was not aware this book was out, let alone that version 2 is out there. Looks good–just the right amount of detail.
Was wondering if you considered putting anything in about vertical work holding? I managed a fairly simple affair on the front of the machine that takes advantage of the overhang you can get on the y axis. I’ve used it to make some very simple but solid finger joints and mortise and tenons.
Even if you simply mention the capability and link out of the book to some of the very well-thought out examples by Will Adams and others, it could affect some decisions that people make early on when getting set up if they want to add the function later.
2 Likes
So, in a nut shell, the bottom line is that Fusion 360 is the only game in town, unless Aspire (which costs a pretty penny) can do it? Sounds like a real opportunity for Carbide 3d to me! 
1 Like
The only game in town for what? Yes it has more efficient toolpaths for adaptive clearing and 3D parametric modeling and an overly complicated interface but Vcarve has built-in toolpaths for molding, engraving, texturing, Vcarving, inlay, photo engraving. Carbide has a lot of work ahead if it wants to come close to match its capabilities. As I said, you need different tools in your toolbox, it is not because you own a screwdriver that you should forego a hammer.
3 Likes
Estlcam has trochoidal milling capabilities, along with a full array of features that I wish CC had. It does require that the user create the 2d or 3d project with another application as it is only a CAM software. But for a $60 perpetual license, it has served me well for everything that I have used it for and I haven’t touched a tenth of its features yet.
CC should take a note out of their own playbook about essentially hiring someone that has already developed a related product that works well with theirs, and try to hire the estlcam guy to help improve CC Pro’s capabilities - especially since they plan on charging a lot more than a one time fee of $60.
@Julien sorry for getting completely off topic from the point of this post.
1 Like
Some people are grandfathered in at under $400 a year for fusion…no matter what
3 Likes
@Gray: that’s a good point, currently there is a just one sentence mentioning this possibility (in this section), but it would be much better to show an example: I don’t have such a setup on my machine, but if you can send me one or two pics of your vertical holding jig, I’ll definitely add a dedicated paragraph on vertical workholding in v3.
@Michael: good reminder, and definitely not off topic: I should also mention that CAM option (Estlcam) in v3. I see it has a full-featured evaluation version, but since I don’t really want to add this to the long long list of “things I should give a try”, would you mind sharing one or two screenshots from your own projects that would best illustrate its trochoidal milling abilities, for use in the ebook ?
@Hooby, @luc.onthego: thanks for setting me straight on these ramping options in VCarve, somehow I had never noticed that before. Still a bit puzzled as to why they would not also provide the full variety of ramping options for pocketing, but it’s still very useful to have them. Anyhow, it makes sense that VCarve is not “ideal” for HSM/HEM, it seems to me that their core user base has a different focus anyway (intricate/artsy carving in wood).
@Vince.Fab: hey I was never curious enough to go and check the Fusion360 pricing, to be honest 495$ per year is not completely crazy for people using it for their business.
1 Like
I agree that these ramping options would be very useful especially for pockets and 3D roughing. I understand that they have a way of getting feature requests for future version. I’m not sure what it is maybe it is part of the Vectric user group, they have an annual meeting in Denver soon and another one at Vectric Headquarter. I think this core group has a lot more influence than Joe Average user that they know little if at all.
I don’t know anybody who is going but if anyone is going, I wish they would make this known to them.
2 Likes
The 1st (inner) pocket should probably be a scaled down version of the final pocket regardless of the shape. Both CC and Vcarve support doing that.
indeed, hence my comment that the “offset profile” feature in CC would be a good way to do this
1 Like
Thank you all for the hard work that embodies a positive educational maker culture! Excited to read the e-book and play with all my F&S based on the various worksheets in Vectric V-Pro V10.
Looking forward to the day that Carbide3D comes out with something comparable!
Feel free to hit me up if anyone wants me to compare / test anything in V-pro 10.0!
1 Like
Since you’re asking: now that VCarve 10 does chipload computation in the tool setup menu, I’m curious whether it takes chip thinning into account ? i.e. if you set stepover to say 10% of the endmill diameter and then to 50%, does the chipload value change ?
1 Like
@Julien - you know you can check that yourself to your hearts desire by installing the V10 trial… it installs in its own directory and runs independently of all else. It would be interesting indeed to see if you agree with its chiploads compared to yours and @gmack spreadsheets
Good to know thank you, I was on the fence whether to upgrade or not to v10, and was too lazy to check if installing a trial version of V10 would interface with my paid v9.