Cutters and Holders : Machine Parameters > Materials

Access: Open this function from one of the following locations:

The Cutters and Holders dialog (or the minimized version - the Select Only Mode):

When not editing or creating a procedure, select NC-Process > Cutters > Cutters from the menu bar or select Cutters in the NC Guide Toolbar.
While editing or creating a procedure, use one of the following methods (in both methods, the Select Only Mode is displayed):
- In the Advanced Mode, click on the cutter name in the Procedure Parameter Table.
- In the Wizard Mode, select the cutter button.
In the Process Manager, click on the cutter name in the procedure row (in this case, the Select Only Mode is displayed).

For each cutter, in addition to the general values defined for it (in the Cutters & Holders dialog and the Cutter Library dialog), additional sets of values can be defined per (predefined) material. In many cases, one cutter can be used to mill different materials; however, each material requires different cutting conditions. For example, feed (FZ) and spin (VC).

In Cimatron, a cutter can contain different conditions for different types of materials; for example, a different feed and spin for different materials. When a cutter is used in an NC procedure, it brings with it the relevant cutting conditions according to the part material specified in the NC Setup. This is illustrated in the chart below:

The chart on the left shows the cutter BULL D20 R3 with the cutting conditions for P20, with three different hardness levels.

In the NC file, the material defined in the NC Setup is P20 35-HRC. Therefore, in the NC procedure that uses this cutter, the P20 35-HRC cutting conditions are used.

These additional values are a pre-defined set of parameters taken from the Machine Parameters and Motion Parameters tabs of the Cutters & Holders and the Cutter Library dialogs.

The Materials Related Values dialog is displayed, showing a table of values; these values differ depending on the Technology setting of the current cutter.

When the Technology setting of the cutter is Milling or Special, the following values are displayed:

When the Technology setting of the cutter is Drilling, the following values are displayed:

Each row in the table represents the values for a specific material; for example, Feed, Spin, Vc., Fz., Coolant. In each row there exists the same mathematical relations (between, for example, Feed, Spin, Vc. and Fz.) as exists in the Machine Parameters tab of the above-mentioned dialogs.

The top row of the table is reserved for representing the values of the Machine Parameters and Motion Parameters tabs of the previously mentioned dialogs. The material name or this row is Default and cannot be changed. Changing a value in the other columns of this row, changes the corresponding value in the relevant tab.

The last row of the table is empty, ready for adding more materials. Select a material from the dropdown list and then set the associated values.

Except for the first row in the table, the Material Name cell contains a dropdown list of material names that are defined in the Material Library, excluding the names of materials that are already displayed in the table. If multiple cutters are selected in the Cutter Table (in the Cutters & Holders dialog or the Cutter Library dialog) prior to clicking the Materials button, the dropdown list of material names only shows those that are common to all the selected cutters.

The table rows can be sorted by clicking on the column headers. The table rows can also be filtered by a filters row below the column headers.

In this dialog, it is possible to set the default or multi/additional coolants, per material.

Right-click the table to displayed the following popup menu:

Copy	Copy selected rows. One or more rows can be selected.
Paste	Paste full rows - materials and their values. Notes: If a material already exists, a message is displayed prompting you to either overwrite the existing value or to cancel the paste operation. Since the paste operation can done to cutters with different diameters and/or number of teeth, some of the values (Feed, Spin, Vc. and Fz.) may change in order to maintain their validity (to keep the mathematical relations between them). In situations where a recalculation of the values yields an error, the paste operation of the current material to that cutter is canceled and an appropriate message is displayed.
Delete	Delete selected rows. One or more rows can be selected.

Notes:

When there is an active material (defined in the NC Setup), the values of that material appearing in the Materials Related Values table are transferred to the procedure. Values of empty cells and all other parameter values are taken from the Machine Parameters and Motion Parameters tabs.
When there is no current active material (defined in the NC Setup), all the values defined in the Machine Parameters and Motion Parameters tabs are transferred to the procedure.
All the values of all the different sets participate in the Remove Duplicate Cutters - Advanced mechanism.
All the values of all the different sets are saved with the cutter.
All the values of all the different sets are used for the Editing Multiple Cutters mechanism.

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