I’m experimenting with load-aware pocket feeds for hobby CNC
I’m trying to make ordinary pocket toolpaths a little easier on the machine.
Instead of treating a cut as simply “slotting” or “not slotting,” this mode estimates how much of the cutter is engaged along the path. Normal passes stay at your set feed; tighter corners, crossings, and near-slot cuts slow down toward your configured slot-feed percentage.
It never raises the feed above what you set—only backs off where the cutter is working harder. The colours in the screenshot show the resulting feed changes.
This is not adaptive clearing; the underlying offset or parallel path is unchanged. I see it as a practical step toward more load-aware toolpaths without requiring a full adaptive CAM strategy.
It’s available now in the current development preview version of PureCutCNC.
I’d love opinions from people who run hobby machines: does this match where you see chatter, deflection, or broken cutters? Would you use it, and what slot-feed percentage do you normally run? My default setting is 60% of the specified feed.
For this example I deliberately used a simple plunge entry rather than a helix or ramp, so the feed changes along the pocket are easier to see on their own. Darker segments of the toolpath indicate feed reduction.
