When I’m setting up a carve I let Estlcam determine the machining order and doing so it generates multiple tool changes, example:
Tool Change 1
1/8 bit
Tool Change 2
Vbit
Tool Change 3
1/8 bit
Tool Change 4
Vbit
Anyone have an idea on how to get all the cutting that requires the 1/8 bit to be done first before changing to a vbit?? I tried changing the machining order and this didn’t appear to help
Thanks!
Estlcam will do everything in the machining order you specify. By default, just clicking in the machining order box, it will increment by 10. Note that negative numbers are processed LAST, so you can set the outside perimeter to -10 to ensure that it gest done after everything else is.
If you leave anything un-numbered, Estlcam will choose what it thinks is the best time for it, which can result in unwanted tool changes, so if you want to specify the machining order, you can’t do it half way.
Mostly though, I’ve started separating the projects by tool, so I will make one .gcode file with only the V carve pieces, then change the tool, and run a new program with only the 1/8" pieces. In general, because the 1/8" bit is often also used to cut the project out, I run the V carve bit program first. I have had success with bit changes, when I assign the machining order to all of the tool paths, though.
Thank you for your feedback and providing a detailed response, however I should have been more specific, my apologies. I’m doing carves with a 1/8 bit pocketing by setting the carve pocketing tool under the specific carve settings with the vbit being the primary tool for the carve. Do you know if these cuts can be separated ( the 1/8 bit pocketing, vbit final cutting) out so that I can make a program for each bit?
For a single job, estlcam only does one tool change, from pocketing tool to carving tool. You can open the text file and separate the two jobs (comments in the text help here), although of course you must ensure that when the carving job starts, it is zeroed exactly as before.