2d pocket selection issues - is this a setting?

[linus.nikander]

I'm creating a 2d pocket mill setup which contains a lot of paths. Selecting the paths is a PITA (multi-select anyone?) but something I guess I'll have to suffer through. What does irritate me tough is that I'm wasting a lot of extra time correcting the "direction" of the arrow which shows if the selection is internal or external. What I've noticed is that when I exceed some sort of threshold the paths are interpreted as external (or is it internal? not sure which is which, the wrong one anyway). Is there a way to change this threshold?

If you look at the video you'll see that smaller circles are correctly identified whereas the larger ones aren't.*

If there are more efficient ways to select my outline then I'd be happy to hear that too. The speed at which this worksis just silly. I'm running a high-end computer with lots of RAM and still it takes several seconds per select, a lag which seems to increase at least linearly as I select more pockets. 

The shapes aren't extruded (yet) if that matters.

Video of issue

[LibertyMachine]

Yes, working off a sketch is a very painful arrangement. You will generally have much better performance working from a solid.

Directional understanding of 2D contours is a crap shoot with a sketch. I find that working with a Solid makes a world of difference.

Can you export and share your file? 

File > Export > Save to local folder. Return to thread and attach the .f3d file in your reply

[linus.nikander]

Here you go, this is the file. 

I'm pretty new to fusion so if my workflow is all ass-backwards please give me pointers! I want to 2d-mill this at a depth of 4mm in wood. 

[linus.nikander]

I just noticed something strange. When i zoom out (as in zoom out from the model) everything is a lot snappier. Maybe the selection-lag has something to do with the number of points/paths it has to render and zooming out reduces the complexity with a more responsive GUI as a result.

[LibertyMachine]

So here are the options:

1) When in 2D Contour operation dialog, it's a quick thing to select the Sketch from the CAM Tree, not the one displayed, but this one:

 

It will do an acceptable job of applying a toolpath to everything, and be very quick about it. The downside is that it will include EVERYTHING in that sketch, such as perimeters and other features. If you want to exclude anything from the CAM, you would need to exclude it from the Sketch.

2) Model selection is quicker than selecting directly from the Sketch, but after a point, that also starts to bog down. I've got a very beefy computer (Ryzen 7, Vega 56 yada yada) and it started to falter.

3) Use 3D Pocket.  This is a "Model Aware" toolpath and it will compare against the solid model. The calculation time isn't too bad, roughly under 30 seconds for this file:

[linus.nikander]

I'll try these out ASAP, thank you!

One sort-of related question. Some of the holes are smaller than the diameter of the bit (1.5mm) which leads the them not being part of the milling instructions and me getting a warning (expected behaviour). Is there a way to override this and say "yes I know the hole will be bigger but plunge there anyway". Or do I have to enlarge the holes to match the bit?

[LibertyMachine]

You will need to either enlarge the holes to allow for entry, or turn off cutter compensation. That should allow a plunge to ignore those limitations. Your Lead-in and out may need to also be tweaked

[linus.nikander]

I think I might look into getting some really small diameter bits and doing a separate path with them. Had a look at ebay and there are really tiny bits out there.

A follow-up question to your suggestion to select the sketch. Selecting it worked but I'm wondering what will happen with the rectangle I added to my model to simulate the stock I want milled and to achieve the correct cut-out-effect.

When the rectangle is present everything is selected as I want it, i.e. the circles and features are the areas that will be milled are correct. The thing I'm unsure of is what will happen to the contours of the rectangle? Will the bit try to follow them or leave them alone? As far as I can tell from the path it looks ok.

I did another experiment where I removed the rectangle and selected everything using the same technique. If I do this I end up with the inverse of what I want. Also, as I'm now defining the stock as a set size, where do I set the milling depth? 

[johnswetz1982]

Your milling depth will be set in your heights tab, see attached. If your rectangle is in your sketch as you describe, it will be included in your contour pocket operation. I would have it in a separate sketch if you just want to see where your other ops line up against it.

[linus.nikander]

Ok. is that true even if stock size is set 1:1 with the block I created to simulate it? The reason I'm asking is because when I generate the tool-path for it (top picture) the path doesn't seem to touch/travers/move to the outline. Or maybe it does but I'm just interpreting it wrong? 

Or maybe whatever milling operation the outline represents is to narrow for the bit to handle and thus skipped? 

[johnswetz1982]

"Or maybe whatever milling operation the outline represents is to narrow for the bit to handle and thus skipped? " 

Actually I think your right, I saw the spindle in the lower right of your image but looking again I see it does not move to any of your rectangle points.