Specifying Machining Plain?

[waynegramlich]

I'm a FreeCad newbie (first post too)!

I really, really, like what I'm seeing for the CAM support. Good work!

Is there way to specify the machining plane yet? All of my machining operations are occurring in the X/Y plane even though I'm trying to drill a hole in the X/Z plane. The feature may already be implemented, but I'm not seeing it.

BTW, I'm using freecad-daily:

OS: Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.17.10958 (Git)
Build type: None
Branch: master
Hash: df1e2642d0f1b7e43f2f0e0f66159804bea58681
Python version: 2.7.12
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.1.0

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

-Wayne

[herbk]

Hi Wayne,

Is there way to specify the machining plane yet?

No.

FC Path only works at xy plane (now...);-)

[chrisb]

If you need machining in another plane you can make a clone and turn it accordingly. That is the recommended workflow until the other planes are ready to be machined diretcly.

[sliptonic]

If you need machining in another plane you can make a clone and turn it accordingly. That is the recommended workflow until the other planes are ready to be machined diretcly.

To machine shapes in odd orientations, we either have to translate/rotate the part model into a the machine orientation, or we have to work on the part in position and then translate/rotate the resulting commands. It really amount to exactly the same thing in terms of output but is a very different approach under the hood. The first is pretty straight forward and the second seems like a nightmare to me.

The current approach is just like chrisb said, the user rotates/translates the part into the correct position. In the future, I imagine we'll have tools to help identify the correct translation and rotation values. We'll do the translation and rotation without the need for the clone but we'll actually still do exactly the same thing. The freeCAD global coordinate system will match the machine coordinate system when looking at the Path backplot.

If someone wants to help out the following macros would be great:

(align using face) The user selects a face of the part and runs the macro. The part is rotated so the face is aligned to the XY plane and the rest of the part is in the Z+ orientation. This macro could be further improved to allow using the top face instead and to optionally place the part in either Z+ or Z- space.

(align using edge) The model might not have a flat top/bottom so we should have something equivalent using edges. The user selects an edge and runs the macro. The part is rotated to align the edge with Z axis and place the part in the Z+ space. Like above, it could be further improved to optionally place the part in Z-

(align X) The user selects a horizontal edge and runs the macro. The part is rotated around Z axis to align the edge with the X axis placing the part in the X+ space. (or optionally X-). Further extend to use Y axis instead.

Aligning a face and the X axis will correctly orient the part but the placement could still be wrong. To fix that, we need one more macro.
(set origin) The user should be able to select a point, run the macro. The part is translated (not rotated) to place the selected point at (0,0,0)

[waynegramlich]

(Sorry about misspelling "plane" in the topic heading.)

I can't help you with the macros, I'm too new to FreeCad. The ultimate requirement is to specify an origin point, a +Z plane normal axis, and a +X axis. Once you have those three items, the appropriate transform can be applied to the part/body. (I'm still not sure what the difference between a part and body is yet.) I don't know what the user interface will be, but I'm sure it will be fine.

So far, I've managed to clone an object using Draft=>Clone as per chrisb's suggestion. I have not gotten a CNC operation back plot to show up yet, so I probably have to click on something that I have not figured out yet. I'll experiment some more.

I repeat, this path stuff is looking really good to me.

[chrisb]

If someone wants to help out the following macros would be great:

(align using face) The user selects a face of the part and runs the macro. The part is rotated so the face is aligned to the XY plane and the rest of the part is in the Z+ orientation. This macro could be further improved to allow using the top face instead and to optionally place the part in either Z+ or Z- space.

(align using edge) The model might not have a flat top/bottom so we should have something equivalent using edges. The user selects an edge and runs the macro. The part is rotated to align the edge with Z axis and place the part in the Z+ space. Like above, it could be further improved to optionally place the part in Z-

(align X) The user selects a horizontal edge and runs the macro. The part is rotated around Z axis to align the edge with the X axis placing the part in the X+ space. (or optionally X-). Further extend to use Y axis instead.

Aligning a face and the X axis will correctly orient the part but the placement could still be wrong. To fix that, we need one more macro.
(set origin) The user should be able to select a point, run the macro. The part is translated (not rotated) to place the selected point at (0,0,0)

Perhaps we can take advantage of the new datum planes. They have already all this fancy alignment stuff: plane, edges, edge+point. Then it boils down to the single use case of turning the object so that the datum plane is aligned to XY.

[waynegramlich]

I'm still struggling with getting a path to stick to a cloned part. First, I create a simple cube and save the result to a file.

Next. I switch to path workbench. I create a path job for the part, and click on contour, and the beautiful contour path shows up.

Next, I exit freecad and reload the cube. I create a path job for the part with "Create Linked Clone" checked off. Now, I create a contour. No contour path shows up.

I'm probably doing something really stupid, but I can not figure out what it is.

Any help would be greatly appreciated...

-Wayne

P.S. I running the latest freecad-daily:

[herbk]

Hi Wayne,
sorry, i don't understand what you are doing... Did you try to get a "contour path" from a clone of the cube ore clone a existing path?

[mlampert]

I create a path job for the part with "Create Linked Clone" checked off. Now, I create a contour. No contour path shows up.

I'm not sure about the state of the "make clone" checkbox is. You're probably better off to make a clone manually (Draft Bench) and then use that as the base object for the Job.

[GeneFC]

Wayne,

If you simply create a clone and do nothing more, the clone will lie exactly on top of the original object. This can cause confusion in selecting the correct faces and edges.

The primary reason to clone an object before a Path operation is to adjust the position and/or orientation. Otherwise there is little benefit in creating the clone.

Make sure that you are working with the clone and not the original. The simple way is to make sure the original is invisible and only the clone is visible.

I use clones for virtually everything I do with the Path workbench. They work well.

Gene