[Shinobiwan]

Hi folks,

I have the trial version of SolidCAM to test out see if its worth stepping up to from VCarve Pro. At the moment I'm struggling to get to grips with it as its far less user friendly than Vcarve but clearly more flexible (read: easier to mess up!).

My problem is SC is treating my pockets as closed loops. This is fine normally but not for the operation I want to achieve on a particular part. I'm obviously missing something.

It did occur to me that if SC allows sketches to be used then I could manually draw in an enlarged version of the pocket which would solve the problem. Hardly elegant or time saving though.

Can anyone help me out here please?

[cncDecoder]

If using pocket function, go into your operation, click edit geometry, then right click on your chain and select "Mark open edges".
Now select the open edges of your pocket - the ones that break out into the deeper groove.
Click OK and re-calculate your operation. The tool should now go "beyond" the selected edges.

After marking some open edges, back in your operations technology page there will be a tab called "Open Pocket" - which will have an extension feature (percentage or value of cutter).

[Shinobiwan]

Many thanks for your help cncdecoder. I shall give this a try later today.