Cimatron 16

2.5 Axis Procedure Tutorial | i

Description ............................................................................... 1

Part 1 – Facing Procedure Outside In .................................... 1

Part 2 – Safe Open/Close Profile ............................................. 7

Part 3 – Pocket Manager – Slot Likelihood Pocket.............. 18

Part 4 – Slot Procedure .......................................................... 24

Part 5 – Opposite Approach and Retract ............................. 38

Part 6 – Corner Plunge .......................................................... 43

Part 7 – 2.5 Axes – Helical Closed Profile .............................. 48

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 2.5 Axis Procedure Tutorial | 1

The following exercises describe various improvements in 2.5 axis

procedures.

The Facing procedure can parallel machine bidirectional in Climb or

Conventional mode. For example, the milling order of the passes in Climb
mode would be as follows (each region is milled in By Pass mode):

1. Load the file Facing.elt file under the Start folder.

We will start with the facing procedure as the first operation to

prepare the initial stock for milling.

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2. Create a 2.5 Axes - Facing procedure at the beginning of the

toolpath TP.

3. Press the D20 cutter to select another cutter.

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4. Select the F40 cutter:

5. Set the Tool Trajectory parameters as follows:

Cutting Mode to Mixed, Machining Method to Parallel

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6. Save & Calculate the procedure.

7. Enter the Navigator to examine the result.

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8. Note the direction of the motions.

9. Edit the procedure. Change the Cutting mode to Climb to Parallel.

Check the option, Outside-In Parallel. When this checkbox is ON,
it enables the procedure to parallel machine bidirectional in Climb
or Conventional mode.

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10. Save and Calculate the procedure.

11. Re-enter the Navigator.

12. Notice the outside-in direction of motions.

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Safe Open/Close Profile procedure is a new ability to consider check

surfaces and holder usage control for safe milling.

1. Hide the Facing procedure motions.

2. Press the Features tab and then the Sets tab.

3. Show the clamps set.

4. Press the NC Process Manager tab to return back to the NC

Process operations.

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5. Create a new procedure 2.5 Axes / Safe Open Profile.

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6. Select the D20 cutter.

7. Select the Contour tab to set the profile contours.

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8. Select the two contours (select the first edge and Exit to approve
the selection and then select the second one) as indicated by the
arrows in the picture below.

9. Notice the appropriate arrow directions. Select OK.

10. Press the Check Surfaces option:

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11. Select the Select Surfaces By Criteria option.

12. Select the MAGENTA color group and select OK. Exit to approve
the selection.

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13. Set the remainder of the parameters as shown below. Save &
Calculate the procedure.

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14. Examine the results. Note that the tool jumps above the clamps.

15. Press the Features tab. Hide the clamps set and show the Clamp2
set.

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16. Copy/paste the 2X Safe Profile procedure.

17. Edit the copied procedure.

18. Change the Subselection option to Safe Closed Profile.

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19. Reset selection and select the following closed contour. Exit to
approve it.

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20. Press the Check Surfaces tab. Select the Select Surfaces by
Criteria. Select the GREEN color and unselect the MAGENTA one.

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21. Save & Calculate the procedure.

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Slot Pocket Shape Recognition

Slot Likelihood is a new column added to the pocket manager table.

Each pocket gets a slot likelihood rank, defining how close it is to a slot
shape. The values of Slot Likelihood displayed are as integers while the
number 100 represents a complete slot shape.

1. Hide all motions.

2. Hide the Clamp2 set.

3. Enter the Pocket Manager.

4. Click the Advanced Selection tab.

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5. Set the Multi Directions option and press the Select All Displayed
Surfaces button. Press OK.

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The Pocket Manager Table is displayed. Twenty-seven (27) pockets were

detected.

6. Uncheck the Show Pockets from Active Direction Only option

(see above).

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The system automatically creates UCS’s according to the multi

direction created pockets.

7. Right-click anywhere in the header row of the table section of the

dialog and then select Column Chooser.

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8. Select the Slot Likelihood field and add it to the Displayed Fields.

9. Move Up the Slot Likelihood field and place it after the In Use
field.

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10. Select OK.

11. Notice the number next to each pocket, indicating the Slot
Likelihood rank (between 0 -100):

12. Select OK in the Pocket Manager dialog

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The Slot Procedure slots the centerline (skeleton) of slot-shaped pocket.

The procedure uses an input pocket, as well as any Open or Closed
contour.

Generally, milling a slot may take several stages such as slotting,

roughing, finishing the walls, and finishing the floor. The slotting
procedure is the first stage of the slotting process.

1. Create a new procedure, 2.5 Axes / Slotting.

2. As mentioned, the procedure may use a pocket as well as any

Open or Closed contour. Reset the Geometry selection and select
the Pockets option.

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3. Select the pocket (Slot likelihood =100) as indicated by the arrow

below:

Notice that the system automatically recognizes open and closed slot
ends. The milling is done on the skeleton of the pocket. The Skeleton is a
“center line” of a pocket.

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4. The procedure supports simple Slotting and Trochoidal cutting

techniques. Select the Slotting option.

If Pockets is selected, the Z Values Source parameter is locked to

From Each Center Line and cannot be changed. The Z-Top and Z –
Bottom parameters are driven from the top/bottom contour of the
pocket/Center Line. In the case of General Values, the user should
input values.

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5. Set the following parameters and select the D20 cutter.

6. Press the Save & Calculate button.

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7. Rerun the procedure. Change the Extend Open Slot By value to

15. Save & Calculate the procedure and examine the result.

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Note that the extension of the motion in the open side of the slot is
larger now.

8. We will now perform a slotting procedure on a closed slot pocket.

Copy / paste the Slotting procedure.

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9. Select another pocket (uncheck the previously selected pocket) as

indicated by the arrow below:

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10. Save & Calculate the procedure.

The system recognizes the closed pocket and sets the toolpath
accordingly.

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11. Edit the procedure. This time set the Shrink Closed Slot By value
to 5.

12. Save & Calculate the procedure.

Notice the different between the two results. The motion path becomes
shorter (from both sides), while enlarging the Shrink Close Slot By value.

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Finally, we will use a Center Line as input geometry.

13. Copy and paste the last procedure.

14. Switch to CAD Mode.

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15. Enter the Sketcher. Select the face as indicated by the arrow
below:

16. Sketch the following contour. Select OK. Switch back to CAM Mode.

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17. Edit the copied procedure.

18. Unselect the pocket. Select the Center Lines tab.

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19. Select the previously created contour.

20. Exit to confirm the selection. The default Z Value Source is From
Each Center Line. Both Z Top and Z Bottom are set to the Z Value
of the sketch (-19.05).

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21. Save & Calculate the procedure.

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1. Create a new 2.5 Axes / Chamfer Open Contour procedure.

2. Enter the Cutter tab. Create a new chamfer cutter. Select OK.

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3. Set the Parts Safe Milling to No and define the contours as

indicated by the arrows below:

4. Select OK.

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5. Set the Motion Parameters as follows, then Save & Calculate the
procedure.

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6. Note the tangent approach and retract motions:

7. Edit the procedure. This time add Check Surfaces.

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8. Select the check surfaces as indicated by the arrow below:

9. The system creates an opposite approach and retract motions to

avoid collision or shorten motion.

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Create plunging motions with a plunge cutter at rounded corners of

pockets. The toolpath has already a rough procedure. We would like to
remove material left in corners to prepare the part for a finish milling. To
do it fast, we will use the plunge procedure to plunge only at the corners.

1. Load the Helical.elt file.

2. Enter the Pocket Manager.

3. Select four pockets as shown below:

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4. Select OK.

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5. Create a new Remachine / Corners Plunge procedure.

6. Set the Flat Drill 6 as the cutter to be used.

7. Click the Pockets tab to define the pockets.

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8. Select the four pockets and click OK.

9. Set the Number of Passes to 3 to define the forward length

between passes. This length must not exceed the tool cut length.

10. Set the Stock to Advanced mode. Save & Calculate the
procedure.

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11. Enter the Navigatore to exemine the result.

Note: The plunging motions are parallel to the cylinder of the corner that
may be vertical or slanted. The approach is parallel to the cylinder and
the retract is horizontal.

1. The cutter moves at the clearance distance and then plunges at the
top of the plunge axis (it includes the DZ/Feed Start).
2. The cutter plunges along the plunge axis, all the way to the lowest
point of the plunge axis but avoids gouges and collisions.
3. The cutter retracts, horizontally from the lowest plunge point on
the horizontal line that connects the plunge axis and the midpoint
of the arc of the pocket's round corner.
4. Retracts to the clearance distance (absolute or optimized) and then
goes to the next closest point.

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1. Hide the Plunge procedure.

2. Create a new procedure, 2.5 Axes / Helical Closed Profile.

Notice the cutter compensation option available in Helical Profile.

The Cutter Compensation available is by Cutter Tip Location.

This option enables the creation of G-Code with an offset (equal to
the cutter radius) to the user contours and compensates with the
difference between the actual cutter radius and the programmed
radius.

The Helical Closed Profile procedure creates a closed profile that

enables milling the entire part in a single pass, without
approaching and retracting each layer, creating better surface
quality and faster machining.

3. Select the FINISH 8 cutter instead of the FLAT DRILL 6.

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4. Click the Contours tab to define the closed profile.

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5. Select the edge as indicated by the arrow below:

6. Set the Cutter Location to Tangent, Milling Side to Outside and

Cutter Mode to Climb mode. Exit (middle mouse button) to
confirm the selection and select OK.

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7. Set the Z Top and Z Bottom values as shown below:

8. Save & Calculate the procedure.

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9. Copy and paste the last procedure.

10. Select the contour as indicated by the arrow below:

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11. Apply a Draft Angle of 8 to the contour. The maching will be

preformed according to the defined draft angle. This is usefull for
walls with a draft angle. Set the rest of the parameters and
execute the procedure.

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 2.5 Axis Procedure Tutorial | 54

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