# Fusion 360 Adaptive Clearing



## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

I have used 2D and 3D Adaptive Clearing in Fusion 360 before but I've never used it correctly. The concept behind the toolpath profile is easy to understand but hard to commit to doing, at least it was for me. Each time I've used it with a 1/4" spiral bit, for instance, I've used a max stepdown of 0.20". So if I had a pocket that was 0.375" deep it took two passes to reach the bottom. And with the way the Adaptive Clearing toolpath works it is slower than other profile choices so it takes a while to clear a path.

Well, today I decided to use it the way it was designed and that's to cut the full depth of the pocket in one pass. I had a very large Maple trivet to cut, 15" square, and doing it my 'old' way the toolpath projected time was 56 minutes. I changed the stepdown depth to allow for cutting in one pass and I cut the entire toolpath profile in about 20 minutes. And the shavings are large and clean - no burning or dust, just large chips like they're supposed to be.

So here's what I cut - 








You can see the chips here - 








Full path completed - 








After 20 minutes of full depth cutting I touched the bit and spindle as soon as it stopped - it was cool to the touch.








Trivet with mineral oil -








David


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## hawkeye10 (Jul 28, 2015)

David, if I am doing my math right that is 3/8" deep. It seems to me that is a lot of wood to take out at one time but it looks like the bit handled it just fine. Maybe I should push my 1/4" bit to do more in my router table.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

Yes sir, that is 3/8" deep with a 1/4" bit. Speed was 18k rpm, 125 ipm, and the Optimal Load was 0.10". The Adaptive Clearing profile maintained the Optimal Load at 0.10" for the entire cut. The way it successfully does this cut is to use the side of the cutter, not the bottom. So once it gets to depth the toolpath maintains an arc and feeds into the stock. That would be difficult to replicate on a router table.

This is what the toolpath looks like -








David


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## beltramidave (Jan 6, 2016)

Adaptive clearing is a very good way of utilizing the length of your cutter instead of just the bottom. I have used in when machining aluminum and cut the same chip results as you did. I used a program called CamBam for the toolpathing as Aspire doesn't have that option and I can't figure Fusion 360 out, yet..

On a side note, rpm seems kind of high, but if the tool was cool and making chips, go with it. I like it!


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## Tagwatts (Apr 11, 2012)

difalkner, 

Just a quick question, what is the size of your router and the shank diameter of your bit that you used?
sorry Two Questions.


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## difalkner (Jan 3, 2012)

beltramidave said:


> Adaptive clearing is a very good way of utilizing the length of your cutter instead of just the bottom. I have used in when machining aluminum and cut the same chip results as you did. I used a program called CamBam for the toolpathing as Aspire doesn't have that option and I can't figure Fusion 360 out, yet..
> 
> On a side note, rpm seems kind of high, but if the tool was cool and making chips, go with it. I like it!


I run about 95% of my jobs at 18k rpm, Dave. I remember Nate telling me that wood likes speed and so far it has worked out ok. When I surface the spoilboard with a 1.5" cutter I slow it down to 15k rpm. And, as you noted, the chips are perfect and the tool was at room temp - amazing, really. My infrared digital gun isn't working and I couldn't get an exact temp so I figured my hand would work to see if it was warm. Glad it wasn't hot! :wink:



Tagwatts said:


> difalkner,
> 
> Just a quick question, what is the size of your router and the shank diameter of your bit that you used?
> sorry Two Questions.


It's a 3 kW (4HP) water cooled spindle, Frank. The bit is a Whiteside downcut spiral, RD4700, 1/2" shank.

David


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