Generate GCode

I have a question about generating GCode in Easel.

In the Advanced Settings under the Machine Tab there is a section to generate your own Gcode.

by pressing the tab, Easel produces Gcode for your project, 3 options to be exact.

1.Export Gcode
2.Export Roughing Gcode
3.Export Detail Gcode

Can someone please explain the differences in these 3 paths? i understand the obvious that the Roughing Gcode is for one size bit and only for the areas that this bit can reach and that the Detail Gcode is for a smaller bit and is only for the areas that the Roughing Bit did not reach.

but what information does the #1 option Export Gcode produce?

basically what i am asking is Why are there 3 options? what am i missing? can someone please explain this to me or send me to the location where this information is simply explained?

Thank You

If you do not use the rough/detail option (two different size bits) then just one gcode file is all you need, and that is what is produced in option 1.

If you do choose to do a two pass cut with a rough and detail bit then you will have two separate gcode files a rough cut file for the larger bit and a detail cut file for the smaller bit.

Thank you, Allen.

So let me see if I understand this correctly

1.Export Gcode will use the smaller diameter Detail Bit Size and generate Gcode for the entire project. (or does it use the larger diameter Bit Size?)

2.Roughing Gcode will generate only reachable areas by the larger diameter Bit Size

3.Detail Gcode will generate the remaining carve area with the smaller diameter Detail Bit Size

Close, The first option is the gocde to cut the entire project with a single bit.

When you create your Easel project your will choose a bit. In the picture below only a single bit is selected for the job (a .125 inch bit). If I generate a tool path and export the gcode from this one bit project then that is option 1 (Export Gcode). Clicking the “+” sign will add a second bit. I will show that later.

If you add a second bit (by clicking the “+” sign) then you are doing a two pass job with a rough bit and a detail bit.

Now I have clicked on the the + to add a second bit (I added the .0625 bit) so now the .125 is my rough cut bit and the .0625 is the detail bit. When I generate the tool path now, there will be two tool paths. One for each bit.

ok so option number one will only use the larger diameter Bit Size selected and it will generate the entire code for it, although the larger bit will cut outside the actual line?

With option 1 you only have the one bit so that is all it can do, If the bit you selected is to large for some of the cuts then Easel will skip those cuts (it will try to show you the problem by drawing missing sections in red). It also will display a message telling you the current bit is to large to carve some of the path.

So you have two options if you get this message (or see red lines on the preview)

Change the one bit you selected to a smaller bit (for this example that would be the best option). Or add a second smaller bit and convert the project to a two bit job (Rough/detail). The rough / detail option is best used when you have a project that combines some large areas that need to be cleared (like pocket cuts) plus some fine detail cuts (like lettering in the pocket)

the link for Export Gcode will use the larger diameter bit size, but it only produces the Gcode for the areas that can be reached?

i am referring to a 2-stage cut. that is what i am doing now. i just want to nail down which files do what exactly

The way that Easel will generate your toolpaths (gcode) is very different depending on if you have selected to do a rough/detail job versus a single bit job. If you only have one bit selected then Easel will cut everything it can with that single bit. Areas that are to small will be ignored and not included in the toolpath (gcode).

If you choose two bits (rough and detail) then Easel will cut close to everything it can with the larger bit, but it will leave the last little bit around the edges uncut (even if the lager bit could reach it). It does this since it knows that you will be doing a second pass with the smaller bit and that it will produce a better finish by completing the edges with the smaller bit.

yes, i do understand this.

what i am trying to figure out is exactly what the third Gcode is for.

i have not looked at a single bit carve using this feature yet just a 2-stage cut. the 2-stage cut gives me 3 paths,
two of the paths are dependent on the size of bit.
1.Roughing Gcode is for the larger bit and only for areas that the bit diameter can reach (ignoring the areas around the edges for Final Pass by the Detail Bit).
2.Detail Gcode is for the remaining of the project that the Larger bit did not get (even the final passes around the paths made by the larger bit) using the Detail Bit size

this still leaves the plain jane Export Gcode. which leaves me to these questions

Which bit is used while generating this path? Primary Bit or Detail Bit

Is this just a partial generation of Gcode generating code that only access the area using the larger bit size or is it a full rendition of the project ignoring that the bit will cut oversized?

and again i am only referring to this when 2-Stage cut IS selected. please ignore anything to do with just a single bit cut

That first option only makes sense when you have a single bit. If you have selected two bits the first option in not valid.

ok, so just ignore it then?

it seems like to me it might just be a redundant of the Roughing Gcode

now if I am NOT doing a 2-stage cut and I have too large of a bit selected (easel will warn me), will the Export Gcode just give me a path that allows for paths reachable by that bit? or will it give me the entire path cutting the object oversized?

Yes just ignore it, no telling what the toolpath is doing. Someday if I am bored I may compare the gcode form the first option with the rough cut toolpath to see how different they are, But I would need to be very bored.

Easel will not generate a toolpath that overcuts any section. So anything to small for the bit to cut correctly will just be skipped and will not be in your toolpath.

Thank you for your explanation and answers. Much Appreciated.

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I also assume that the Detail Pass does not take into depth of cut or feed speed for the smaller bit.

if i am correct on this the only way to currently get the correct Gcode path is to first generate the the Gcode with the Bit Size using its DC and Feed.

next to get the proper Gcode path for the Detail pass, one needs to go back and change the DC and the Feed for the Detail Bit Size.

only by doing this will it properly give us the correct Gcode pattern? am i correct

I don’t think you can select the 2-pass gcode if you don’t have that option in
Easel (testers). Correct?

That is correct.

do a search for 2-stage cut here on the forum. you can request to become a tester for this feature, all they ask is for you to test it and provide feedback. Once they have authorized you, it will automatically show up the next time you log into easel