DeskProto user forum

I upgraded to version 8 to try inlays, works great. Not sure if there is a quirk or my misunderstanding with the cutting lengths for V-bits. The vector operation, roughing, layer height, use maximum for this cutter, is only 1/2 of the cutter length for V-bits in the cutter library. I have been using a work around by doubling the cutting length for the tool in the tool library data.

another note -
The tool path animation is a great addition. I was using it for some troubleshooting and found myself wishing I could see which G-code line number it was processing. Would make it easy to find the problem area in a G-code editor.

thanks for a great program!

Hi DSP,

The maximum layer height for conical cutters is a complicated setting. As you say it does seem logical to use the full cutting length. However, the image above shows what then may happen: when machining the second layer the cutter shaft will hit the material colored red. Which may damage the part and/or the cutter. It does of course depend on the distance between the toolpaths, still we decided to stay on the safe side.
This image comes from the Help file.

Showing the current line number in the animation indeed would be very helpful. Unfortunately that is very difficult to program: the problem is that these numbers depend on the postprocessor, and when creating the animation the software has not yet converted the toolpath to the NC file format, so the line numbers are not yet known. I will make a not on our (long) wish list.

Lex.

Thanks. That makes perfect sense when you look at the whole picture.