Undesirable 3D Toolpath Characteristic

[mwpfeifer]

I have been doing a few recessed 3D scenes using the wildlife files from the VectorArt 3D Design and Carve Series and have a somewhat minor issue that I would like to resolve or at least understand. If you review the attach picture you will notice the rectangular flat (just inside of the red squiggly lines) carved during the finish tool path along with the with the 3D Scene. It turns out this flat area is the same dimensions as the material X&Y dimensions I set within Aspire (3.5) when I developed this carving but I can't figure out how it is being included with the 3D scene when the finishing toolpath is generated. Obviously I can sand it out or just run it thru the thickness planer and get rid of it but it is adding to the machining time which is long enough already.

Any insights or explainations would be greatly appreciated. I will also post this on the Aspire forum.

[Brady Watson]

You need a boundary vector around the carved portion to restrict the tool to within the vector only. Select the component & the vector boundary when doing your 3D finishing toolpath.

-B

[mwpfeifer]

Thanks Brady.
So apparently the Vector Art figures do not have a defined boundary?? Seems strange but, Ok I can easily add one if that is what it takes to correct this minor issue. I'll give it a try in the morning.

[Brady Watson]

You can create your own boundary the long way (tracing etc) or with one click, under Modeling Tools, choose the 'Create Vector Boundary from Selected Components' tool and it will wrap whatever component you have selected with a vector suitable as a machining boundary.

-B

[adrianm]

You can download EPS outlines from the VectorArt3D site for most of their models. Not sure about the Design and Carve ones though.

It's easy enough to generate them in Aspire though. With the latest versions there is a "Create Vector Boundary" tool on the modelling tab as Brady says.

With the older versions (I think 3.5 was before that tool) you can use the "Fit Vectors to Bitmap" tool with the black and white representation of the model selected.