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I have a disk with a cutout. I want to face the surface of the disk, but restrict the machining area so the bit does not pass over the cutout. With other toolpaths, I can select the machining boundary using a Sketch selection, but that doesn't seem to work for the Face toolpath.
Under Face: Stock Contours, the pop-up info says I can select any size or shape area to Face. But I must be missing the trick.
Any suggestions? Thanks!
Solved! Go to Solution.
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Thanks for the response. That's a good idea. The paralell toolpath does avoid that area while cutting, but the toolpath still passes over the cutout, which I want to avoid.
In the actual design, there is a block taller than the disk occupying the cutout space. Originally I defined the stock to include that block, but the Face operation still passed though the space of the block. That stumped me. I tried removing the block and replacing it with a cutout just to simplify the problem while I looked for a solution.
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Yes, that's where Avoid surface comes in, it's in the geometry tab in the Parallel toolpath. Or you could put the block back in I think that would work with parallel.

Joshua Aigen
Workshop Supervisor
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Adding in the block I just had to turn on model and select the 2 bodies.

Joshua Aigen
Workshop Supervisor
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Thanks for the response! Hmm. I wonder what I'm doing wrong? It doesn't seem to work for me.
Any chance you could upload your modified .fsd file so I could see how it works in practice? Thanks!
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Have you tried using a simple 2D Contour and using it`s sideways "Roughing Passes" to step across the plate, see images below and attached file, might not be what you want but it seems to be fine here
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First image is using the Disc as "Stock Contour", second image is using your square "Relative Stock" as the "Stock Contour", the toolpath starts and finishes off the Stock which is "best practice" IMHO, I just had to add an extra pass for the bigger stock to face it off completely
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Here is the file I created, just make sure to check your step-over, feeds & speeds etc.

Joshua Aigen
Workshop Supervisor
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Looked at your Parallel file and it doesn`t appear to cover all the area needed to face the disc off, see image below, the Red rectangles show where the tool doesn`t cut.
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Thanks, Joshua. The example file helped a lot. I just ran the parallel toolpath and it avoided the block area as desired. Thanks for the support!
Fusion