Milling Orientation

Analyze the part, stock and cutter and suggest a best milling direction. This option appears in the Rough Parallel and Rough Spiral procedures.

The following Milling Orientation options are available, in a dropdown list:

As UCS

The milling orientation is defined by the active UCS.
This is the default option.

Automatic

Perform an analysis to find the best milling direction, taking into account the part, stock and cutter - the system automatically selects the direction.

This analysis is performed at run time, during procedure execution, based on user-defined parameter settings.
Upon executing the procedure, the system-defined milling direction is used.

The Automatic mode in Rough procedures can be used for creating multiple Rough procedures that will rough the entire part from different directions.
This can be achieved by creating multiple Rough procedures (typically by a template) with the same cutter and setting the Milling Orientation to Automatic. Each procedure in its turn calculates the best direction for removing the stock, and then calculates the toolpath according to that direction. The remaining stock is then calculated to be used by the next procedure.
Once no significant stock remains, the calculation stops.

The following table parameters are displayed for the Automatic option:

These parameters are similar to those displayed for the Interactive option. See below for parameter explanations.

Process Manager for Automatic mode:
If the procedure has been calculated, the Milling Direction UCS is displayed in the Process Manager and is not editable.

Interactive

Perform an analysis to find the best milling direction, taking into account the part, stock and cutter - the user then selects one of the system-suggested milling directions.

This analysis is performed while the procedure is open (before the procedure execution), based on user-defined parameter settings and enables you to manually select one of the system-suggested milling directions.
Upon executing the procedure, the user-selected milling direction is used.

The following table parameters are displayed for the Interactive option:

Clicking the Access button for Suggested Direction displays the following screen parameters:

These parameters are similar to those displayed for the Automatic option. See below for parameter explanations.

Click Analyze Directions to enable the system to start analyzing the best milling direction, taking into account the part, stock and cutter.

See the example procedures below.

Process Manager for Interactive mode:
If the procedure has been calculated, the procedure's UCS is displayed in the Process Manager and is editable.

Parameters

Angular Resolution

Specify the angular deviation to limit the number of directions analyzed. Using a smaller Angular Resolution increases calculation time, but may result in a better analysis result.
Default = 10°, Min. = 2°, Max. = 90°.

Halt Rough Process on no Machining

If the previous procedure is Rough, with identical parameters, that stopped calculation due to the Minimum Volume to Mill setting (see below), then do not calculate anything and create an empty toolpath.
Default = ON .

Maximum Tilt Angle

The maximum tool tilt angle allowed when calculating the best milling direction. The tilt angle limit is calculated in relation to the NC Setup UCS Z axis, or the procedure UCS Z axis. This parameter enables you to limit the tool motions.
Default = 90°, Min. = 0.1°, Max. = 180°.

Minimum Volume to Mill

Skips toolpath calculation if the estimated volume to mill is less than the defined value.

New UCS Name

This parameter is displayed if Milling Direction = Interactive is selected.
A UCS is created at the selected direction. The default UCS name is the procedure's short name with an integer extension. Duplicate names are not allowed.

Tilt Ref. UCS

Set the reference UCS to be used for tool tilting when calculating the best milling direction. The following options are available:

Setup

Start the calculation from the NC Setup UCS. The calculation is associative to changes of the UCS in the NC Setup. It is associative only if the reference UCS is set to Setup. It sets the "s" symbol, but does not suspend the motions.
If there is no Setup UCS, the option changes to Procedure.
This is the default option.

Procedure

Start the calculation from the Procedure UCS.

Analyze Directions

Start the suggested milling direction analysis, taking the above parameter settings into account.

This calculates up to 3 milling directions and shows them as arrows in the graphics window. The system calculated direction that removes the most stock is initially displayed in GREEN (the green arrow also represents the active direction); the other directions are displayed in BLUE.

Example of the GREEN arrow indicating the active direction:

Arrows that have a flat face at the tip, indicate that the direction is snapped to a planar floor and the faces are highlighted. These type of arrows are displayed as follows:

Switch directions by clicking on an appropriate arrow; clicking a blue arrow turns it green and the previous green arrow to blue. See the example procedures, below.

Beside each arrow, a label displays a percentage number specifying the amount of removed stock. The best direction shows 100%. A tooltip on the label shows the approximated volume this direction can remove.

The 3 arrows with labels.
Note the GREEN arrow on the left indicates that the direction is snapped to a planar floor. Note also the tooltip on the arrow on the right indicating the approximated volume this direction can remove

If Z-Top , Z-Bottom or other user boundaries are set, a confirmation message is displayed that these boundaries will be ignored during the analysis.

Upon executing the procedure, the user-defined best milling direction is used.

Buttons

The following buttons are in the dialog

OK: Accept the changes, perform the operation, and close the current dialog/task.

A UCS is created on the selected suggested direction and is set as the procedure UCS.

Apply: Accept the changes, perform the operation, and keep the current dialog/task open.

A UCS is created on the selected suggested direction and is set as the procedure UCS.

Cancel: Cancel all changes and close the dialog/task without saving the settings.

Exit: Exit the operation and close the dialog/task.

Parameter settings are saved.

Examples

The example below shows three Rough Spiral procedures, using the Interactive mode. For each procedure, the preferred direction has been calculated (shown in the top row of images) and received the best results (shown in the bottom row of images).

This calculates up to 3 milling directions and shows them as arrows in the graphics window. The GREEN arrow represents the active direction; the other directions are displayed in BLUE. Switch directions by clicking on an appropriate arrow.

Some functionality may be dependent on the product package. Contact your Reseller if you require a license.