Can't see the work for the tool!

[lemelman]

I need to drill lots of tiny accurately placed holes in a very small item and decided to use a friend's CNC mill for the job. I'm a total newbie to CNC work and have used Lars's Basic CAM Tutorial-4 as a starter. The first job is to spot drill all the holes and that's where my question arises. I've chosen a 10mm spot drill (which is huge compared to the size of the workpiece and holes - but I only need the tip) for the job, but the representation of the tool totally obscures the workpiece as shown in the screenshot. I can't find any way switch the image of the tool off - how do I do it please?

It's especially intrusive when lots of holes need to be spotted.

[Anonymous]

Looking at your screenshot, it appears that you are driving that spot drill way too deep. So if your drill is let's say 1/16", you only need to spot about .03 deep.

In tool definition, make it something like 1/8" diameter, having web thickness of only .01, program work and then use your 1/2" tool in machine.

[lemelman]

Thanks for responding, but I clearly didn't ask the correct question. I know the spot drill is far too big, but it doesn't matter because only the very tip is used to make the divots. My query is about the images of the spotting drill. The attached screenshot is taken from Lars's video at the point where he has defined the tool-path for spotting the holes prior to drilling them. The spotting drill is invisible - only the tool-path can be seen. Contrast that with my screenshot, taken at a similar point in time, where images of the spot drill obliterate the work piece. In Lars's video the spot drill is invisible, how can I make it invisible in my case too?

[Anonymous]

When you simulate tool paths, you have option to display tool or not, you can make tool transparent, make stock transparent ..., turn model visibility on or off, turn stock on or off, compare tool position with model etc, you manipulate available options to help you visualize activities.

This is part of getting to know your software, experiment with settings and learn what impact they have on what you are doing.

[seth.madore]

@lemelman I can't say that I've ever seen a drilling toolpath display as such. Can you share your file?
File > Export > Save to local folder, return to thread and attach the .f3d file in your reply

[HughesTooling]

To me it just looks like the tool is very large compared to the size of the part.

Here you can see a 4mm drill and hole, if I used a 25mm drill with holes close together I think it would look similar to what you have. Could be the tool's not being displayed at the correct diameter though.

Mark

[HughesTooling]

Re read the thread and you are correct in your first post that the spot size drill is problem, I see the same. Have you got a link to the Lars video? Not sure how old the video is and if there have been changes.

[lemelman]

I apologise for the long delay in responding. I changed the size of the spotting drill, which certainly makes it easier to see the model, but its still visible. How do I control its visibility?

The Lars video is **here** 

I have attached the f3d

[Anonymous]

Click on that eye symbol and say "Abracadabra" to toggle tool path visibility 🤣