Hey folks. I'm hoping i can get some help with a tool path issue. I've attached a photo and a copy of the file in question. It is a copy of a Rolex watch face that I had to sketch from scratch. Probably the most complex design I've done to date. The issue is with the needles on the center sub dials. If you look at the left and right dials, the tool path for the needles are good. However, if you look at the center dial, the tool path refuses go near the center circle. That circle is supposed to represent the pin in the center that the needle rotates on. The needles are exactly the same. I made one, and then made a copy of it and positioned them where I needed them. If you are looking at the file, it's the first "Dark Silver", tool path. The next one is a duplicate, but I removed all other geometry selections so I could work on it separately. Anyone got any ideas why it won't machine that one pocket?
Toolpath not the same for same geometry
It's somehow related to the orientation of the part in relationship to the toolpath. As an experiment, I aligned the "X" axis 90 degrees to how you set it, and lo and behold, the feature at 2:30 gave me issues. I think the easiest way to solve this is to use "Tool Orientation" and align the X axis to the edge of the feature:
Result:
Seth Madore
Customer Advocacy Manager - Manufacturing
To be clear, this is more of a work around, as this is not the intended usage of Tool Orientation. Typically speaking, Tool Orientation is used when machining features on different sides of the part, such as in a 4 axis setup. This just happens to be one of the "hacks" I've grown accustomed to using in cases like this. The issue in your part lies in the Setup (not that you did anything incorrectly) and how the CAM Kernel calculates out the toolpath. Forcing a different alignment at the toolpath level (with Orientation) provides for a quick work around
Seth Madore
Customer Advocacy Manager - Manufacturing