Some time ago I found a tool that would optimise gcode for 2D milling operations, so that the cutter moved from one area to another gradually working across the workpiece, rather than bouncing back and forward like a demented bunny, but it could not cope with deeper models which relied on higher stock layers being cut away before lower ones.
Does anybody know of a tool that can optimise and takes depth into account?
In the meantime, I am writing my own optimiser, and I have just added one optimisation that looks for an upwards (Z) movement, followed by a lateral shift at cutting speed, followed by a downwards movement, and replaces this with G0 moves instead of G1s.
I have put this single optimisation on Github. Quick and dirty code, so no guarantees - I use a GCode visualiser to check for unexpected problems. If anybody else might find this useful, it can be found at https://github.com/Squeack/GCodeRapid.
