[thereclinerman]

hello all. i am using version x5. all of my cutting is contouring with a single depth. i am trying to have a .5 cutter go down 1.5 inches and hog out a 4 inch circle. i cannot just contour cut the circle as the plug gets sucked up the vaccum hose. is seems as most of the mill entries are complex entries for metal.
i just need a simple plunge to depth in the center of the circle and step over .25 inches at a time until the circle is turned to sawdust. thanks for any help

[cadcam]

don't use Contour use pocket.

[thereclinerman]

this is off the top of my head because i am at home. i think when i tried pocketing, it had a spiraling entry which took forever when i need a straight plunge to depth. i could be cutting as many as 50 of these circles at a time and the spiral entries took forever. will check again in the morning. thanks

[WOTDesigns]

uncheck helix entry? set plunge rate to desired entry rate and it will plunge from your feed plane to the pocket depth at that speed and start spiraling outward.

[John Bennett]

Use pocket- Cut parameters - roughing - pick "parallel spiral" under entry motion -turn off , you might want to look at "finish parameter" and just turn it off (no pass) if hole is good enough for what you want.

Use the "Backplot" and see if the cutter action is what you want, if not try a different style of roughing.

[cadcam]

if you use the pocket true spiral you will get a constant cut and will be able to speed up the cuts.
What kind of material are you cutting? there are allot of cuts that can move out the material quickly can you share a sample? Also what type of machine are you using.
I have cut allot of different types of materials using vacuums.

Hope you are finding some of what you want here.

[poster]

under toolpaths select circle paths>>>circle mill and fill out the rest?? or am i missing something

[WOTDesigns]

toolpath 2d - pocket - (as cadcam suggested) use "roughing" style "true spiral" (make sure "spiral inside-outside" is checked) - uncheck "entry/exit" (to remove the helix entry) - set your depth and feed parameters