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Tool holder avoidance.

C

ckirchen

New member
I'm working with the following part:


View attachment 4604


The first operation was done on the lathe and now I'm using the mill to machine out the ribbed area.


I've set up a Machining Window to select the geometry (purple in the picture).


I'm using a solid model for the tool; in this case a
 
Couple of things to try. Go to customize tool path and reorder the regions.
Customize->redefine->buildcut->order regions.

Hope this helps.

Tony
 
TonyJager said:
Couple of things to try. Go to customize tool path and reorder the regions.
Customize->redefine->buildcut->order regions.

Hope this helps.

Tony
Click to expand...


Thanks for the tip.


I tried your suggestion, but it only removes some of the rapids through the center. Also, the rapids from one region to its neighbor do not pass through the center, but they do bump it by about .025" to .050"; those I can't change or get rid of.
Edited by: ckirchen
 
dbrainsky said:
You did not mention the version of Wildfire. Set a value for PULLOUT_DIST greater than the top of the model.
Click to expand...


I'm using WF 5.0 build M020.


Setting PULLOUT_DIST greater than the top of the part had no effect. The rapids still pass through the center.
 
The part had to go out, so after spending most of my Sunday working on this problem, I gave up trying to make ProNC do what I wanted.


I made a dedicated fixture that reduced the Z axis requirements and moved the retract plane above the part.


Problem (sorta) solved.


I will be calling PTC about this; I'll post my results here.
 
how about changing the retract option to optimize? I have a similar part here that I was working on, and it seemed to work. the e-mill stayed down in the part.

Tony
 
I don't think it is a problem of keeping the tool down. He
can do that by setting a low retract plane. The problem
appears to be that the tool is trying to traverse through
the shank of the part between regions, and he wants to set
the shank as an area to not be violated.
 
TonyJager said:
how about changing the retract option to optimize? I have a similar part here that I was working on, and it seemed to work. the e-mill stayed down in the part.

Tony
Click to expand...


That worked a little bit. The rapids straight through the center are gone, but the rapids that bump the center (from region to region) are still there.


View attachment 4608
 
with setting the retract option to optimize the tool will stay down in the part and feed to the next region.
left picture with optimized on right not optimized
View attachment 4609
moz-screenshot.png
moz-screenshot-1.png
 
TonyJager said:
with setting the retract option to optimize the tool will stay down in the part and feed to the next region.
left picture with optimized on right not optimized
Click to expand...


That's what I thought Optimize should do, but Vericut shows that it crashes the holder on the center section.


The thing that really bothers me is that I bought ProNC specifically for the tool holder avoidance capability...
 
Ckirchen,


I would also recommend upgrading wildfire5.0 m020 to the latest version m050. M020 was quite buggy in manufacturing it seems.
 
Did you try setting one or two of the segments of the mill window as an 'approach wall' so the tool will plunge in a controlled area.
 
Kent Hanson said:
Did you try setting one or two of the segments of the mill window as an 'approach wall' so the tool will plunge in a controlled area.
Click to expand...


I thought you might be on to something, but alas, the rapids still pass through the center.


I'm going to upgrade to build M050 on the weekend and see if that makes a difference.
 
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