Cutting a deep V groove in HSM express

[Anonymous]

Hi there, 

First time user trying to do what I can only imagine is extremely simple, yet I can't get it to work - cutting a deep V groove in a piece of stock.

I have a 90deg  v cutter with a width of 12.6mm and want to cut a groove trough the middle, almost through the stock which is 40mm thick.

Apparently there is no such thing as a v groove bit in HSM, so I am using a chamfer tool with a tip diameter of 0mm. Is this the appropriate way to do it?

I've tried all the different 2D tool-path strategies, but either they can't generate a tool-path, or the tool plunges to the bottom and either moves in a square the size of the top contour or just along the bottom edge (which would obviously break the tool and doesn't cut the sides of the grooves).

I have attached a part file showing what I want to accomplish, can anyone describe (like they are talking to a 10 year old) how to achieve this?

Thanks!

[Steinwerks]

Trace will do a great job here and it can be done with a 2D Contour as well but things seem to have gone a little funky (I swear I used to be able to make a faux trace with 2D Contour but it doesn't seem to like it here so I made two workarounds).

File attached.

[Steinwerks]

Ugh, sorry, I went to edit my response because of my poor reading comprehension skills and found I was too late.

So a few questions: are you using HSMWorks or HSMXpress? If the former there are 3D toolpaths that will do this just fine. If the latter, it becomes a bit more interesting but still possible.

Attached is one way to do it. The Chamfer Mill has to be defined with a tip diameter or it will fail, so I made it .001mm (about .00004" so essentially nonexistant).

[Anonymous]

Thanks @Steinwerks ! I am using HSM express (as mentioned in the title), but with Solidworks 2016, so I can't (I think?) use HSM Express 2017. Maybe that is the reason the first file you've posted doesn't work correctly on my computer? Because it does exactly as I have described before: Just plunges to the bottom of the groove, and tries to cut that out three times, once for each tool path.

The second file works really good, but as I am using HSM express I'm can't replicate your usage of Adaptive and Contour.

But you inspired a partial solution; a 2D Adaptive can be used with a flat end mill, multiple depths, and a 45deg wall taper angle to remove most of the material, leaving only the small steps. As the 45deg wall taper is done on all four sides, the stock needs to be defined wider than it is, leading to quite unoptimal paths, but it will work.

But if I try to do the same thing with the chamfered mill with a tip diameter of 0.001mm, I get a tool-path error that "Error: (minimumCuttingRadius >= 0) and (minimumCuttingRadius < cutterRadius)" which doesn't make any sense to me.

I guess I can cheat and use a 12.6mm flat end mill in HSM and then use the actual V bit in the mill, but I find it hard to believe there isn't another and more simple method.

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After writing the above, I found I could get the program to do as i wanted by drawing the tool-path I want as a sketch and the just follow the sketch using a trace operation. But than only works because the part is so simple and the solution kind of takes the point out of automated CAM.