Cutting a contour centered on a curve

[Anonymous]

Is there a way to generate a contour toolpath that is centered or "right on top" of a curve?

Within 2D Contour, I only see options for right/left... which makes a toolpath that is offset by the tool's radius away from the original curve. The workaround I have found is to set the tool diameter to something very low, such as 0.00001". However, then the 3D stock simulation is not accurate. I figured maybe I am missing something obvious, thanks in advance for any advice 🙂

Thank you!

[seth.madore]

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the response!

Interesting, I guess this is better because you don't have to fake the tool size!

Still kind of a hack / hoop to jump through though, don't you think?

[CustomCodeCNC]

Hi,

I am having the same issue. When I turn compensation off like you showed in this post, the tool still stays to the left of the curve, not on top of it. Not sure why...

[seth.madore]

@CustomCodeCNC could you share your file and indicate which toolpath is causing this issue? You aren't giving a lot of information to go on..

[CustomCodeCNC]

Hi Seth,

Yes, sorry for being so brief. As it turns out, as I was thinking about your response and my reply, I figured out what the problem was!

While I did have compensation turned off, I had used "Selected Contour(s)" for the Bottom Height:

This selection offsets the selected contour whether or not you have compensation turned on or not.

Toolpath is offset to the right of the geometry:

I then picked "Selection" and picked the face that I was cutting on with a negative offset, and the center of the tool stayed on the curve like I wanted.

Toolpath is on the geometry:

Cheers, and thank you for your response!

kind regards,

Dave

[seth.madore]

That sounds like a bug, could you share your file?
File > Export > Save to local folder, return to thread and attach the .f3d file in your reply