@bill
bill wrote: ↑Sun Oct 07, 2018 4:28 am
From what I can see, drop-cutter still needs to execute path generation as follows; according to drop-down parameter:
dropcutter.gif
Right! The current execution is only good for wax and styrofoam; No!
Good afternoon.
I am new to the forum, but I have read some of the content posted when looking for answers for questions about FreeCAD. Before continuing, I would like to say a big THANK YOU to all those who make FreeCAD possible and available to the public. I understand it is a work in progress, but it is great for what it is! I have been using FC off and on for a couple years now. Currently, I am using nightly builds. I have the following setup:
OS: Windows 10
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.18.15860 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: master
Hash: 3b708c7f84b0425076b520e1d95627b20fd75fe0
Python version: 2.7.14
Qt version: 4.8.7
Coin version: 4.0.0a
OCC version: 7.2.0
Locale: English/UnitedStates (en_US)
Last summer, my dad and I fabricated a basic CNC machine from 1 1/2" steel angle iron. It has a bed size of 35" x 35". Its precision is probably 1/64", which makes us very happy for a $300 father/son project. It uses NEMA 23 steppers at 269 oz.in. - one per axis - and run off GRBL on Arduino uno board.
As for your post on integrating the StepDown parameter into the Path 3D Surfacing Op, I have done just that. Only about a month ago did I locate this path feature - I had to add it my PathWB toolset, as it is not visible by default in the current FC builds. I too noticed that it would surface the object in one pass. I have modified the PathSurface script by @sliptonic. I added layering support per the StepDown parameter available in the Op's settings window. I also added some code for a simple optimization algorithm, separate from the linear optimization already available. This additional optimization is based on height. I have created an account on GitHub and forked the FC source repo. It is my goal to contribute the code to the FC community for discussion, collaboration, revision, debugging and adoption - through the proper channels.
I have included screenshots with current and modified versions of the Path 3D Surface Op and the model file I used.
Thanks