Strange "star" appearing on my simulation & toolpath

[WillAdams (William Adams (Carbide 3D))]

Tabs should be explained in:

https://docs.carbide3d.com/assembly/carbidecreate/video-tutorials/#holding-tabs

It’s simply a matter of assigning their width and height to match the holding necessary:

and of course, they only make sense for cuts which go all the way through:

If you want them larger, just increase the size:

Note that it’s best to not cut a slot just as narrow as the endmill — that results in 100% tooling engagement, so add offset geometry ~10% wider than the endmill you are using;

Cut as a pocket down to tab depth:

Move the pocket above the profile cut:

edit the profile cut to start at the bottom of the pocket:

to arrive at:

For an optional improvement, increase the out profile offset distance and add a second offset of the original geometry to create a roughing clearance:

Adding geometry to cut as a pocket with a finishing pass

One technique which is often suggested to avoid slotting is to add geometry around a part which one wishes to cut out and cut as a pocket down to tab depth — here’s one technique for that. In this case, the project is a bevel gauge which will be cut out of 0.0625" (~1.5mm) thick aluminum: [bevelgauge] Due to the narrowness of the angles, an 0.03125" endmill has to be used, so after importing and scaling the file (we will be cutting out one which is 3") we select the perimeter and offset it tw…