Missed wax

[projectcnc]

I'm just a hobbyist, not a machinist, so I don't even know what stepover means but I assume it means that the router bit overlaps previously cut paths to insure that nothing gets missed. Using that logic I always use 50% when I am doing a spiral operation. Despite the stepover my finished pieces usually have some little triangles of wax (red area in the pic) where the bit didn't quite pass over it. Why is that?

[LesNewell]

This is a deficiency in SheetCam's spiral pocketing algorithm. All you can do is reduce the stepover. Unfortunately the results are very dependent on the shape you are cutting.

[projectcnc]

This is a deficiency in SheetCam's spiral pocketing algorithm.

Wow! I'm shocked at that answer. The last thing I would've considered is a deficiency in the program. Did you mean to say reduce the stepover? Seems like I would need to increase it.

[LesNewell]

Sorry, this has been an ongoing problem for a long time. I haven't yet found a good way round it.

Stepover is the distance between successive passes. Decreasing the stepover makes the passes closer together.

[projectcnc]

Sorry, this has been an ongoing problem for a long time. I haven't yet found a good way round it.

I appreciate your honesty. As it turns out though, the problem is essentially non-existent, at least, for me. Tossing the chipped bit has eliminated it. I'm sure anyone reading this must think I'm a real idiot to be working with a busted bit and asking about quality. It's not as crazy as it seems. I saw something strange and thought I might as well inquire even though I knew I needed some new bits. I didn't realize just how bad the bit was. After all I'm machining wax only at this time. But I'm all tooled up now and getting beautiful results. SheetCam rocks!