I am trying to cut a small bodyboard that was designed in Solidworks and imported as STL file.
I have already laminated and surfaced the piece of wood I will be using (400x250x16.5mm), so the file was designed to be 16.5mm thick to make use of the flat top surface.
When running the 3D Finishing Toolpath, is there anyway to position the model so that the toolpath doesn’t need to run over the full top surface and the ball nose bit can just do the rounded edges of the board and the tail shape? The run time here is 1h52min and the surface is already dead flat.
I have attached images of the process I am currently following. Planning on using 1/4 inch DC End mill for Roughing and profile, 1/4 inch Ball Nose for the 3D finishing. Any help or suggestions would be amazing.
I am still new at this, so keep that in mind as you read my response.
If the top is going to remain flat, could you create an outline of the entire shape using the outline tool and use this as a profile to cut the shape out of the stock? The edges can then be rounded with a router. This would be much faster I think.
Create a separate shape for the recessed area on the backend and cut that first. Not sure how, but I think you can taper a tool path to create the shape. Draw a large circle that matches up the your shape and using node editor, trim the circle to just the shape you need. I think a large ball nose bit would work well for that.
I have created objects in Fusion360 and then realized I could have done it in Vectric’s software.
Have you positioned the “model position in material” to have a 0 gap above model under your material setup? That pushes your model to the top of your workpiece. Also, are you using model boundary or material boundary? I have better luck using material boundary when I don’t want to cut the top. I think it still will travel over the top but should cut it if it is flat in the design.
