I sat in on a seminar the other day. I'm not running this plug-in so I'm just laying it on the table as something interesting to look into.
I am playing with BobCad right now but this plug-in will work with other cad/cam software. The core is an improved algorithm that evens out the load on the cutting tool. It also raises it clear and increases speed when looping back to make another pass. This also has a cooling benefit I would think. I prefer cutting uphill all of the time and this software makes that simple to do too.
With typical tool paths we have to set speeds and feeds to what the tool can tolerate at maximum load in corners and tight turns, with this if it works as advertised we can increase load on straight parts of a cut and decrease load in the corners and bends resulting in much more even loading in the tool. They are claiming major time savings and doubling tool life or more. Tool life is what caught my eye. Of course my NC router isn't the stiffest machine in the world and if I can lighten the load while increasing cutting speed it might let me make a dollar with it a few ways besides cutting inlays and pockets.
Speaking of dollars, I don't know the cost of this yet. Just found it interesting and thought that others might. No connection to these folks or BobCad and not recommending it as anything but something that might be interesting to check into.
Hu
http://www.volumill.com/
I am playing with BobCad right now but this plug-in will work with other cad/cam software. The core is an improved algorithm that evens out the load on the cutting tool. It also raises it clear and increases speed when looping back to make another pass. This also has a cooling benefit I would think. I prefer cutting uphill all of the time and this software makes that simple to do too.
With typical tool paths we have to set speeds and feeds to what the tool can tolerate at maximum load in corners and tight turns, with this if it works as advertised we can increase load on straight parts of a cut and decrease load in the corners and bends resulting in much more even loading in the tool. They are claiming major time savings and doubling tool life or more. Tool life is what caught my eye. Of course my NC router isn't the stiffest machine in the world and if I can lighten the load while increasing cutting speed it might let me make a dollar with it a few ways besides cutting inlays and pockets.
Speaking of dollars, I don't know the cost of this yet. Just found it interesting and thought that others might. No connection to these folks or BobCad and not recommending it as anything but something that might be interesting to check into.
Hu
http://www.volumill.com/