See attached screen shot of a sheet of parts I machine from .065" aluminum. I'm running the latest version of BobCAD/CAM. I have been struggling for over a year trying to learn to use it efficiently for my work and I'm giving it a heroic effort to break through a few remaining issues like this. I am very experienced with VCarvePro and for my 2-1/2D work it has been very useful and efficient. I am starting to get more into 3D so invested on BobCAD but have not been successful cutting parts until a month ago or so.

Attachment 314522

I need to rough out all of the small holes and shapes and then do a finish path on them. What is the most time efficient way - both time programming the CAM as well as machining time - to do this? I can imagine 2 strategies but perhaps there are others (particularly with the CAM):

1) machine each feature rough and finish passes one at a time. This is what I currently do in VCarvePro and it optimizes the finish pass so the tool is not extracted to start the finish pass (which is fill depth, material is .065" aluminum). Pros: seems to be the most time efficient, at least in VCarvePro, since extra retracts between rough and finish are eliminated. Cons: requires a lot of time to copy/paste the operation and then select new geometry.

2) machine all the features rough in 1 pass then go back and do the finish operation. Pros: minimal number of operations needed since all the geometry is selected at once. Cons: potentially takes longer to machine than 1 but I don't know this for sure.

I'd prefer to optimize for machining time since I make lots of these. I don't have the time to conduct experiments to see how these actually machine so I'm hoping someone here can help.

cheers,
Michael