Very Slow Toolpath Calculating Time

New here, and fairly new to Carbide Create. I am working on some designs that are not that complicated, but do involve a fair amount of material removal. When I create the toolpaths in Carbide Create, it takes a tremendous amount of time to calculate the Pocket toolpaths - we are talking an hour or more. Contour and others are fine, takes seconds to calculate the toolpaths. Perhaps relatedly, it takes about 15-20 minutes for the GCode to save once the toolpaths are calculated. This is the same on various computers. The GCode works great once it is is used. GCode is too large to attach here, but I have attached the .c2d fileTest1.c2d (892.6 KB)

What sort of computer do you have?

What 3D video card does it have?

What tool was used to create the vectors in this file?

Thanks for responding.

It’s similar on two Macbook pros and 2 PCs.

I’m not sure what kind of 3D video card they have, but they normally can process pretty complicated video and VR files quiclkly.

The vectors were created in Illustrator and exported as an svg file.

Thanks for your thoughts…

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Part of the problem may be that the shapes you are trying to pocket are smaller than the 1/4" tool you chose in the pocketing toolpath.

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But the intention is that the pocket just carves out, then I go in with the smaller 1/8" bit go contour. I’ve intentionally set it up so that it doesn’t go into those smaller spaces…but perhaps there is a different way to define the pocketing space versus contouring space? Thanks so much.

PS Also just tested DXF files exported from Illustrator, same thing happening

@Ed.E 's conjecture is good.

You need to deselect all elements which the tool won’t fit into.

I apologize for not understanding - but if I de-select those, won’t they then get cut out? In other words, I want to make two passes - one to rough out and remove the space around the shapes, and then one to come in with a finer tool to contour and smooth edges. If I deselect the elements the tool won’t fit into, then they end up being cut out as well…thank you both so much for your help.

You need to deselect the smaller geometry when cutting w/ the larger tool — the smaller geometry will then be completely pocketed out by the smaller tool.

Please note that what you want, “Rest machining” is not supported by Carbide Create — you would need to do the offsets required to do this manually. See:

Thanks so much for the response. I’m actually not pocketing the smaller geometry, but leaving them untouched - think of creating a rubber stamp. So I want to carve out the exterior, everything around the shapes, using a bigger bit for faster removal, then come in with an 1/8" bit to get between the shapes, but leaving them at their original surface level. So when I deselect the smaller geometry, it says it will just pocket the whole thing. I’ve attached a simpler file - it only works when I keep the ovals selected. This one doesn’t hang because the bit size fits, but hopefully it makes sense…I’m fine to do the manual rest machining, but just not clear how to define the pocket area properly. Sample.c2d (37.1 KB)

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