![]() ![]() Again, it all comes down to what your machine can realistically handle. The same model designed with splines will require the CAM system to approximate surfaces and linearize them, leading to many short line segments to approximate the same surface. A CAD model designed with lines and arcs will generate G1 moves for straight lines and G2/G3 moves for the arcs, and will use less line segments. Depending on your machine, a lower tolerance will generally lead to:īefore ever setting your tolerance value, really consider whether your machine will better handle tangent arcs or splines. As we discussed above, you need to know your tools. There’s often the urge to set tolerance values at the lowest possible value, but hold on. A lower tolerance will produce smaller line segments, which will in turn more closely match the surface you designed. Here’s the one thing you need to know about tolerance – how accurately your toolpath matches its desired shape will depend on the number of line segments used. Now that we have the basic concepts covered, let’s talk about what you’re actually here for, tolerance and smoothing settings. Remember, every machine performs differently. Without considering the processing and high speed capabilities of your machine then you’ll never be able to find the “best” smoothing and tolerance settings. The basic constraints discussed above work hand-in-hand with smoothing and tolerance settings. ![]() If your machine can only process a limited amount of code then you’ll get the best cycle times using tangent arcs. ![]() ![]() But consider this, using tangent arcs or splines will affect how much code your CNC machine has to process. There are a variety of ways to get a desired line shape in your CAD software, whether that’s using splines or tangent arcs. The settings for high speed machining and smoothing are generally controllable within the G-Code and can have a tremendous impact on part quality and cycle time. If the path of travel has a lower tolerance requirement then it can move around its toolpath faster. This same principle holds true for your CNC machine. If you make the race track lane wider, than a vehicles can go faster through corners without needing to decelerate. A good way to visualize how high speed machining and smoothing works is with a race track. You might see this setting named differently depending on your machine, but it all comes down to balancing acceleration and deceleration with accuracy and rounding corners. Know Your High Speed Machining & Smoothing Constraints Code processing matters, and it differs between machines. By turning on the Haas High Speed Machine setting, which optimizes code processing, we completed a cycle in 8 minutes that took 12 minutes without the setting on. How much does code processing affect the cycle time to produce a part? We’ve got a Haas VF2SS at the Autodesk Pier 9 Workshop that I tinkered with for this article.
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