Started writing GCode for Novena case...

Post date: Jul 2, 2015 3:21:53 AM

...and it's going to take a while. To execute, I mean. And probably to write, but it's a lot of rectangles, so not as bad as it could be.

Just milling out some of the rib pockets will take around an hour with my current feed rates and cut depths. I can probably get a little/lot more aggressive on both*, but it's still going to take a while. I can also almost certainly improve my rectangular pocket algorithm- it's fine for nearly-square pockets, but as the rectangles get less square, it becomes pretty inefficient. Improving that should go a long ways towards reducing the cut time.

I'm also planning to use the giant manual mill to rough out the giant cavity where everything sits- that would take FOREVER to do on my machine. I figure I can get it to within a tool diameter around the edge, so I just need to do a finishing pass around the perimeter with the CNC mill. Or if I'm feeling fancy, I can learn how to use the CNC capabilities of the giant mill and actually get it exact. We'll see, I guess.

Slow gcode...

*current settings are a 25 mil cut depth and 45 in/min feed- at 24krpm, I should probably bump the feed up so I get at least 0.001 IPT chip load, if not more