I finished up the new truck program and got it running today!
I'm honestly shocked how smoothly everything went; I only had to make a few minor changes before it was better than the previous programmed operation. I'm finding that it's not as complicated as I initially thought it would be to draw out most of the sketch references. I've got several instances in this disconnected sketch geometry program that makes up the entire finishing toolpath!
This whole program only took about 5 hours to put together completely from scratch compared to the accumulated almost 20-30 of the previous one.
I haven't quite gotten the operation setup settings to where I want them yet as it still requires a body as a reference, but I'm toying with the idea of lying to it and just creating a bounding body around the 3D model. That way, I can get the benefits of the default height planes while not worrying about having all the toolpaths connected.
I'm also building a habit of always locking my toolpath once it's simulated and proof checked; that way, I can move on and not have to worry about it failing if I make a change to a previous one.
I also got to finish off one of the anodized setup trucks and cut the windows and engravings on it. I'm super pleased with the result, and the raw machine marks really catch the eye! Putting them back on the machine was actually not as difficult of a task as you might think. Using the cut-off stock from the first operation, I could locate the part on the 5-axis and only had a few minor tweaks to get it all aligned properly!
I ran through the next batch of anodized rocket kits today and got those packaged up! I thought it'd be fun to take a short time-lapse of putting them all together :)