[cordvision]

I was wondering what would be the best way to mill a simple 2d pocket. The HSM horizontal toolpath seems to be a good choice but I get a lot of air milling with it. For example, I use opti area for roughing, and then the horizontal toolpath for finishing. Unfortunately, the horizontal toolpath tries to mill everything, even the parts that have already been removed by the opti area toolpath. In other words, there's a lot of unnecessary air milling. Any solution for this?

[cnc-king]

Use one of the 2D high speed tool path for the 2D pocket. The Dynamic Area Mill works great for 2D pockets. set your depth of cut and stepover and go to town. it will react the same as the HSM but will not cut in 3D. then use the 2D Dynamic Contour to finish the walls.

[cadcam]

Sounds like you are picking 3D hst paths to do a 2d profile. you should show a picture of what you are cutting or share your file.