Has 2D contour stay down ever worked?

[Greg_Haisley]

I have a machine with limited memory (64K) to be exact. Was trying to use 2D contour so I would get 2D arcs and get a smaller program size. Thought it would be nice to see the tool stay down while cutting the part. Can't find the magic button that enables this stay down function. Or has it ever worked is the question. If it is not ever going to work please remove the stay down UI.

FYI - In my part the 2D contour program is 33% smaller in size when compared to the 2D Adaptive program using the same step over settings, tool path tolerances and stock size. Just thought I pass this little tid bit of info along for those with older machines with small memory. I'm cutting aluminum so constant cutter load is not that big of a deal. The large program size is.

[Laurens-3DTechDraw]

Greg Haisley wrote:
I was expecting the tool stay down to behave like the 2D adaptive. Not like the 2D pocket where the tool path snakes from one pass to the next. Another question is - if this gets fixed where's the high feed rate value for the tool stay down setting? I see the lift amount but no high feed rate value.

Well that's a new feature and something that is built into the Adaptive code.
I would love to see a stock aware stay down for all toolpaths but don't think that's going to happen.

[Greg_Haisley]

I did some more testing and this 2D contour has a big limitation. The tool stay down will work when the toolpath has a continuous path around the island and doesn't have to lift. But the whole idea of the tool stay down is just keep the tool down when there are areas where the tool path is not continuous in nature.. Open contours like open pocket.

We pay full price for a fully functional CAM system. Not a partially done CAM system. Especially on the 2D side, the 2D stuff should have been proven long ago.

This company started in 2007. Isn't 8 years enough time to have the 2D tool paths perfect?

We have time to develope the 2D auto chamfer strategy, right? But not enough time to fix toolpaths that are not right.

Help me understand the logic here?

[lenny_1962]

Greg Haisley wrote:
This company started in 2007. Isn't 8 years enough time to have the 2D tool paths perfect? We have time to develope the 2D auto chamfer strategy, right? But not enough time to fix toolpaths that are not right. Help me understand the logic here?

Can I hear an AMEN

[Stan_A_]

lenny bucholz wrote:
Greg Haisley wrote: This company started in 2007. Isn't 8 years enough time to have the 2D tool paths perfect? We have time to develope the 2D auto chamfer strategy, right? But not enough time to fix toolpaths that are not right. Help me understand the logic here? Can I hear an AMEN

  😉 got one here. I still  want 2D pocketing to have control inside or out.... Seems simple to me If the pocket is open give me the choice.

[Steinwerks]

Open pockets are a huge PITA that no one wants to acknowledge exists.  😠