Any way to slice this stl model in Aspire?

[Robert Rickard]

I was hoping to cut the attached stl model into slices and then use two sided machining to get the undercuts. But I haven't been successful, as no matter what orientation I use when importing, Aspire fills in areas that I need to leave open. Any suggestions? Or should I just tell customer that although my ShopBot can do the cuts, I just don't have a way to generate the tool paths.

[Brady Watson]

There is no practical way to machine this on a 3-axis machine. The flighting will produce undercuts not accessible by your router in any orientation. The only way to machine this on a 3-axis machine would be to remove the flighting & machine the main body on one side. Then take each flighting strip and set it up to be machined from 2 or 4 sides, depending on what is required.

At the end of the day - it IS doable - as long as the model can be disassembled. However, you should ask yourself if it makes sense and if you will be able to bill the customer for your time.

-B