Stock definition

The stock defines the actual material around the machining surfaces. The main use of the stock option for the roughing is to trim the air cuts out of the tool path. When using the depth cuts and multi passes a 3 dimensional field of cuts will be created in the area above the machining surfaces. This cut field usually looks very different form the actual stock geometry so that the resulting tool path has many air cuts. They can be trimmed when the system knows where the material actually is.

Shrink/ expand:

The stock model can be expanded or contracted by the given value. The offset is 3 dimensional, in every dimension

Check tool tip:

If this flag is turned on, then all motions where the tool tip is touching the stock geometry are kept in the tool path.

Note: This parameter is always true for this collision control operation that uses Stock. This is why only a function for getting its value is provided, and not one for setting its value.

Check tool shaft:

If this setting is turned on, then all motions where the tool shaft is touching the stock geometry are kept in the tool path.

Check tool arbor

If this setting is turned on, then all motions where the arbor is touching the stock geometry are kept in the tool path.

Check holder:

If this setting is turned on, then all motions where the holder is touching the stock geometry are kept in the tool path.

Avoid trimming in case gap size is smaller than

Due to the stock definition the tool path will be trimmed by the shape of the stock. But the trimming can be avoided. When the check box will be checked in the tool path the trimming will be avoided in case gap size is smaller than a value that can be specified numerically or as a percentage of current tool diameter.

The animations shows a machining of a cylindrical surface. The blue area is the stock. The stock has some gaps of different sizes. Here the 'avoid trimming' is not activated. All gaps will be skipped and relinked.

Due to the threshold the smaller gaps will be avoided, the tool stays down. The big gaps will be relinked.

Trim contours shorter than

If this setting is turned on, then all motions where the holder is touching the stock geometry are kept in the tool path. Only those cuts smaller than a specified value, which are defined inside gaps, will be trimmed.