Smoothing - Do you use it?

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ashesman
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Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by ashesman »

At the moment I am finding my machine bangs on every direction change even from one small line to the next. This is obviously due to every change in direction causing an acceleration/deceleration of one axis or another. Feedrate jerks around as direction changes abruptly. Smoothing stops this and keeps the feedrate nice and constant. But how much does it impact the final dimensions? I only tried the default "contour mill" setting.

Do you run smoothing all the time?
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by tblough »

If it bangs on direction changes on large moves, smoothing will not help. Your accelerations are too high. Smoothing takes a lot of little moves and replaces them with a longer move. It doesn't fix banging, it fixes stuttering.
Cheers,

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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by cnckeith »

post a fresh report.zip and the g code file. there are lots of details to get right for the best machine motion. smoothing is one of them but there may be other issues to address. the report.zip and g code information is necessary for us to have the whole picture and then to comment effectively.
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by polaraligned »

I have found that when I override the feed rate to greater than 100%, my Centroid cuts like crap and every direction change is banging like all hell. This seems to be a control problem as I can run the same code with a higher feed rate in the program (not overridden) and the machine runs fine. I used to generate my programs at a conservative feed rate and then ramp it up as needed. That caused me lots of grief. Now I generate them with a high feed rate and start the program with the feed rate override turned down. I adjust it up as necessary to get to the sweet spot. As long as I don't go too far over 100%, it cuts fine. I only cut in "precision mill" setting. Why would you want anything else on a precision metal machine?
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by ashesman »

polaraligned wrote: Fri Aug 27, 2021 6:48 pm I have found that when I override the feed rate to greater than 100%, my Centroid cuts like crap and every direction change is banging like all hell. This seems to be a control problem as I can run the same code with a higher feed rate in the program (not overridden) and the machine runs fine. I used to generate my programs at a conservative feed rate and then ramp it up as needed. That caused me lots of grief. Now I generate them with a high feed rate and start the program with the feed rate override turned down. I adjust it up as necessary to get to the sweet spot. As long as I don't go too far over 100%, it cuts fine. I only cut in "precision mill" setting. Why would you want anything else on a precision metal machine?
I think I ran into this same limit today. Check the video here viewtopic.php?f=64&t=6181&p=53693#p53693.
ashesman
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by ashesman »

For any information on smoothing, I am still keen to hear about if and when it is used.

But, for info on my banging and specific control issues, I have posted it here viewtopic.php?f=64&t=6181&p=53693#p53693
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by tblough »

I don't use it. As Polaraligned stated, it's a precision mill, why un-precise it?
Cheers,

Tom
Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understand the situation.
I have CDO. It's like OCD, but the letters are where they should be.
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by ashesman »

tblough wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:14 am I don't use it. As Polaraligned stated, it's a precision mill, why un-precise it?
I was thinking the same thing. What is the point. But it does make a massive difference maintaining a constant feedrate for roughing operations. It can be turned on and off in g code. But that is not something I can do through F360 and would have to do it manually later.
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by swissi »

ashesman wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:25 pm
I was thinking the same thing. What is the point. But it does make a massive difference maintaining a constant feedrate for roughing operations. It can be turned on and off in g code. But that is not something I can do through F360 and would have to do it manually later.
Why can't you do this trough F360?

F360 lets you insert any passthrough command between tool paths and if you use my Fusion 360 Post Processor, it will output the passthrough code into the job file.

Checkout the Chapter Fusion 360 Manual NC Commands of my Fusion 360 Post Processor User Guide for more details about the support of Manual NC Commands.

-swissi
If you are using Fusion 360, check out my CNC12 specific Post Processor
If you are using a Touch Probe, Tool Touch Off Device or a Triple Corner Finder Plate, check out my ProbeApp

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ashesman
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Re: Smoothing - Do you use it?

Post by ashesman »

swissi wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 12:57 pm
ashesman wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 7:25 pm
I was thinking the same thing. What is the point. But it does make a massive difference maintaining a constant feedrate for roughing operations. It can be turned on and off in g code. But that is not something I can do through F360 and would have to do it manually later.
Why can't you do this trough F360?

F360 lets you insert any passthrough command between tool paths and if you use my Fusion 360 Post Processor, it will output the passthrough code into the job file.

Checkout the Chapter Fusion 360 Manual NC Commands of my Fusion 360 Post Processor User Guide for more details about the support of Manual NC Commands.

-swissi
Thanks. The F360 smoothing option seems to just produce lots of little line segments. The file attached above was made with smoothing turned on.

I read through your post processor documentation. Some really handy additions there. I could see a use here to turn on smoothing for roughing operations and off after. I also like the ability to pause between operations.
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