@Zach_Kaplan @JeffTalbot You asked for feedback on this feature. I am using it for the first time and one thing I noticed is that rather than just smoothly cutting along the outline the roughing bit made, for the most part, my detail is is going Z axis down to depth, cut a mm or two in X and Y then raising Z, moving over a couple mm, lowering Z and repeating. It’s wasting A LOT of time just having to raise and lower every time.
No, @Zach_Kaplan, I’m only carving 3/8 in into a 3/4 piece of MDF. It’s still running the detail cut right now, only 42% and it’s been taking way longer than the rough cut because of the constant shifting up and down.
Edit: I made a quick video of what it’s doing: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-9xb32Gki6gZHFHcHZMVXdWcWc/view?usp=sharing
@Ruwan would know better but it looks like the detail carve is not using his new optimizations.
@Ruwan is that the case?
@Zach_Kaplan, @Ruwan It’s STILL cutting the detail pass. I think it would have been faster to cut the whole thing with the 1/16 bit instead. And worse than that it looks worse than the rough cut because with all the little jerking movements all the smooth curves and angles were lost and now they all look like steps (see first photo) . I hope it fixes it in some kind of final clean up pass but looking at the toolpath on Easel that doesn’t appear to be the case (see second photo)
@JeffTalbot might have some insight into it as well. This is an experimental feature that’s why it’s in the Early Access mode.
@Zach_Kaplan, I totally understand about it being experimental, I’m just trying to let you know the problems I am running into with it so they can be addressed for actual release.
BTW, it did finish finally and as I predicted it is really rough and “steppy” as my previous pictures showed.
Hi @JonathanYarum,
I know the following isn’t a solution to the issue. I also agree that the detail bit should follow the outline.
As far as using the feature as is, you may find less “steppy” if you measure the bits both rough and detail with calipers and enter those numbers for your bit sizes. As an example, my most recent bit labeled .125" is actually .112" when measured, and my 1/16 bit is .065" and not .0625"… Give it a try and see if you get smoother results.
The feature works really well when using a spoilboard bit, mine is 3/4 inch and works great with the feature. I’ll take pics next time
@JonathanYarum would you mind sharing your project? I would like to have a look at it.
Thank you
Ruwan
@Ruwan here is the project. Easel - Batman Chocolate Mold
@sketch42 thanks for the advice I’ll try that but looking at the toolpath in Easel it looks like the “steppy” lines are actually programmed in, not a result of bit size variation. Regardless, that’s a good tip for better accuracy on cuts in general, I appreciate it since I assumed they would be perfect sizes.
Thanks @JonathanYarum, I see the toolpaths you are referring to. I will look into this and get back to you.
Ruwan.
Hi Jonathan,
I’ve looked a little bit into your example, and I think some of this “pecking” behavior could be due to a quirk in the way the feature currently works if your detail bit is exactly 1/2 (or very close to 1/2) the size of your roughing bit. I am going to make a few tweaks to the feature that should be coming out soon, but in the mean time, if you tell Easel that your detail bit is just a tiny bit smaller than it really is, it should generate much cleaner paths for you. I tried setting it to .062 with your project, and that seemed to help a lot. The detail bit will cut a little bit more than it needs to if you do this, but it won’t hunt and peck nearly as much (if at all).
Jeff
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@JeffTalbot, thanks! I’ll try that until the update comes out. I really appreciate you guys looking into that.
Woha please let me test!!
Hi Christian, you now have access to early access features.
Hi Everybody,
We’ve just pushed some updates to Easel that hopefully improve the smoothness of the cuts when using the roughing/detail functionality.
You can read more about the changes on our Inventables dev blog here:
Please try it out and let us know what you think!
Cheers,
Jeff
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I’d like to give the detail cutting ability a shot, if possible!