Machining Margins

I got the basics of the machining margin code working.  Below you can see the roughing limited to .25″ around the standard MeshCAM model.  This should make 2-side machining, and machining using supports, much more attractive.  No longer do you have to define the border size either, the supports run to the edge and you just define how far beyond the model to machine.    I still need to figure out where to put the setting for how far to machine. I think I’ll probably put it in the global parameters section...

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New Support Examples

I’ve got most of the new geometry support code working and it’s much better than before.  First, the way that each position is selected is much more robust; you should no longer have any trouble placing them where you need them.  You can also see that they have a new shape in the pictures below, they’re now elliptical.  Each point on the ellipse is intersected with the model to ensure an accurate fit.  This means that you should not have any gaps at the edges of the support if it meets a curved surface...

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New Supports

The next thing in the list to be updated is the code for adding supports to the geometry.  I didn’t know how many people were using them until recently so they had not received much attention.  I spent some time redoing part of the code to make them applicable to any type of machine job- not just 2-side jobs.  The support changes probably won’t take too long but it dovetails into some other changes I wanted to make to optimize the machining regions.  I’m going to try adding a way to machine only the area...

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Build 6738

I just uploaded Build 6738 to http://www.grzsoftware.com/files/MeshCAM2-6738.exe .  I’m posting it here only until I get some feedback to make sure I didn’t break anything.  In this build you’ll find the new stock dialog, the new menu, and some new rendering code.  All are pretty significant either in terms of lines of code or because they modify parts of the program that have been static for years.  I really want to get whatever feedback you can provide to make sure everything is...

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