Charlie : It also will stall with the mountain layer even thou it is less then 1/2 of the letters. This is with any depth setting, not even touching the bottom layer. So I just set Text layer as the active profile cut, works fine then. Is there any way to stop the calculation once it begins ? Otherwise I have to close and reopen program. Thanks
For anyone who comes across this thread in the future, Joe was running into a bug that exists in v1.53a that prevented PixelCNC from showing an error if a toolpath fails to generate. This was since fixed for the upcoming v1.55b release. The issue was that he was not setting a Contour Z that intersected the contents of his canvas, which occupy only a section of the full canvas Z size being used. It's a good idea to only make your canvas Z size as thick as you want your deepest cuts to be and keep your canvas contents ranging the full thickness of the canvas, at least in most situations, and not leaving a portion of the bottom section of the canvas solid or a large portion of the top of the canvas empty, particularly when using operations that employ a Contour Z level.
Here's a GIF showing how the Contour Z level affects the toolpaths that are generated by the Profile Milling operation. The Pocket Milling and Medial-Axis Carving operations also rely on the user specifying a waterline contour level for PixelCNC to trace for generating toolpaths from. If the contouring Z plane is set lower or higher than the contents of the canvas then no contours will be produced and no toolpaths generated. Something for everyone to keep in mind and be aware of :)
- Charlie
That was the problem, got it working now. In your explanation you said It's a good idea to only make your canvas Z size as thick as you want your deepest cuts to be. Most things I do require a cut out, so I set my canvas Z size to my material depth (.75 ) . Is that the best way to set canvas Z ? I use profile operation to cut it out, and max depth will only go to Z size ?
Hi Joe,
Yes, the maximum depth of an operation will only be able to go as deep as the canvas' Z size. I see what you're saying, you're effectively modeling the workpiece in your canvas to accommodate the cut-out. If you're not doing a cut-out (e.g. just engraving or v-carving into a workpiece that's already the shape it needs to be) then it's a good idea to set your canvas Z size only to the deepest you need your cuts to go. If you need them to go through the workpiece then set it as thick as that at least, if not a little more as room for error to make sure it cuts all the way through :)
- Charlie