stl to toolpaths

[Robin Hewitt]

I'm assuming he's figured out inside v outside for the toolpaths?

Apparently you get that from the facet normal command which preceeds the facet or something like that, he did explain but it's a few nautical miles above my head.

I think spiral roughing with a depth increment, CW round lumps, CCW round pockets is a good idea?

Watermarks for finishing upright faces, flat nose cutter for finishing horizontals and something clever in the corners where they don't quite meet up.

Output as something a bit more compact than G-code perhaps, maybe I should let him talk to the steppers?

[irving2008]

Apparently you get that from the facet normal command which preceeds the facet or something like that, he did explain but it's a few nautical miles above my head.

I think spiral roughing with a depth increment, CW round lumps, CCW round pockets is a good idea?

Watermarks for finishing upright faces, flat nose cutter for finishing horizontals and something clever in the corners where they don't quite meet up.

Output as something a bit more compact than G-code perhaps, maybe I should let him talk to the steppers?

Yes, every surface in STL is made up of triangles whose edges rotate clockwise round the external perpendicular to the surface, so the order of the edges determines where inside and outside are...

talking direct to steppers isnt a good idea, IMHO, unless he replicates a lot of the capability of Mach3, e.g. acceleration control, limits, homing, etc...