    
support (Support)
Moderator
Username: Support
Post Number: 383
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, December 28, 2002 - 03:45 pm: | 
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You may be cutting the "mountain" condition. As StlWork cuts multiple passes in Z, the top of the mountain gradually sticks out from the plane of cut. Rather than recut the surface of the mountain for each pass, StlWork will rapid the tool in an up-over-down pattern to avoid recutting surfaces that have already been roughed out. The total time for cutting is greatly reduced because rapids are used to avoid the recut surfaces.
This does not occur if you are taking a single pass to finish the mountain. In that case the cutter follows the surface throughout each zig and zag.
There is a setting in StlWork under Setup-Options-Options. It is called "Avoid cutting air during roughing". However, if you uncheck this dialog, your total machining time will be longer in most instances.
Fred Smith - IMService |
