Milling an open ended pocket

All discussion related to the VisualCAD/CAM standalone product.
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1350519287
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 1:05 pm

Milling an open ended pocket

Post by 1350519287 »

I've imported the Alibre AD_PRT as an STP file. In AlibreCAM I'd have just selected the rectangle in the CAD section that outlined the pocket and since the rectangle was outside the edge of the part the correct path for the pocket would be generated to create a straight edge as the tool leaves the work.

With VisualCAM I don't have that easy method. I can select either the surface or the edges but now it makes a pocket keeping the tool inside the perimeter of the edge of the part. So I have rounded edges.

Is this even possible? I tried drawing lines to outline the outer edge of the section I want milled but I can't get any line to automatically line up with the existing lines. Something that was trivial in AlibreCAD.

I've included the vcp file if someone can show me what to do.
Attachments
DrawbarPlate.vcp
(525.32 KiB) Downloaded 301 times
1350519287
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 1:05 pm

Re: Milling an open ended pocket

Post by 1350519287 »

Some more information about this problem.
I've created a rectangle with rounded corners that is more or less aligned with the imported STP part.
1. The only way I could set the radius appeared to be with the mouse as a I dragged it. I failed and now cannot figure out how to change the radius.
2. AlibreCAD has the ability to create constraints like parallel, coincident, concentric, tangent etc. I can constrain the edge of a box I draw on top of the existing part to the edge of that part.
3. AlibreCAD has the ability to add a dimension from one edge to another and with the keyboard I can also set the dimension to a specific value and the line or edge of a box jumps to that dimension.

I've found with using AlibreCAM (MecsoftCAM within Alibre) that often for open edges or certain kinds of milling it's easiest to just draw a box that constrains the tool path. So in the sample in the previous vcp and in the jpg I'd like to be able to drag the top of the constraining box downwards so it's 0.1" from the edge of the part. All I seem to be able to do in VisualCAD is drag the entire box.

So either I'm doing something fundamentally wrong or what I want to do isn't possible. Is there a tutorial on how to do this so I can play and learn?
Thanks
John
Attachments
Screen shot of VisualCAM box outline
Screen shot of VisualCAM box outline
VisualCADBox.jpg (313.45 KiB) Viewed 3781 times
nick952
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Mar 12, 2015 1:59 pm
Location: Wrexham, N.Wales

Re: Milling an open ended pocket

Post by nick952 »

Hi john

At about 20 min in, this video deals with open pockets and should help:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv8vrso ... l&index=13

Also look at the Automatic Feature Detection and Automatic Feature Machining now available to you (that MecSoft couldn't add to AlibreCAM for various reasons). I've seen a video about using these tools fairly recently and will try and find a link for you.

Edit:- Found it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvI8Nzp ... sz&index=6

Regards
Nick
1350519287
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon May 19, 2014 1:05 pm

Re: Milling an open ended pocket

Post by 1350519287 »

nick952 wrote:Hi john

At about 20 min in, this video deals with open pockets and should help:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yv8vrso ... l&index=13

Also look at the Automatic Feature Detection and Automatic Feature Machining now available to you (that MecSoft couldn't add to AlibreCAM for various reasons). I've seen a video about using these tools fairly recently and will try and find a link for you.

Edit:- Found it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvI8Nzp ... sz&index=6

Regards
Nick
Thanks Nick.
I'll watch it later tonight. Just finished mounting the machined aluminium casting on top of the mill. Had forgotten how hard it is to drill cast iron with a hand drill. Either great chips or powder. In either case, it's tapped, helicoils are in, socket head 6mm screws in place holding it down.

And I figured out how to tell the EMC_Inch to tap with a 6x1mm metric tap on an imperial machine. Went up and down perfectly leaving a nice thread using a spiral tap at 100 RPM.
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