A groove is a lengthwise channel cut in a part for an insert: a back panel, a drawer bottom, glass, a divider. In iFurn.pro all the grooves of a part are set in a single form — «Grooving». This article shows where to open it, what fields it consists of and what happens to a groove after it is added. Each parameter is covered in detail in separate articles of the subcategory.
Where to open the form
The grooving form lives in the side panel of CNC operations of a specific part. In the parts table you open «CNC operations» for the part you need, choose the «Grooving» type in the panel — and the form with the groove fields appears. Next to the «Grooving» heading there is a «?» icon that opens this help.
Here, too, in the «Operations history» section, you can see the list of grooves already added to the part: they can be filtered, edited or deleted. The «back» arrow in the panel returns from the form to the list of operations.
The fields of the form
A groove is described by a set of parameters — in the form they go from top to bottom:
- «Operation side» — where the groove is cut: the face or back surface, or one of the four edges. In detail — in the article «Side, depth and position of the groove».
- «Groove width» — the width of the channel. It cannot be smaller than the thickness of the company's tool (cutter or saw) and is substituted depending on the operation side. In detail — in the article «Groove width and saw thickness».
- «Groove type (open/closed)» — whether the groove runs out to the edges of the part or ends within its body. For a closed groove, offsets at the start and the end are added. In detail — in the article «Groove type: open and closed».
- «Depth» — how deep the groove is cut; entered as a number or a formula.
- «Distance to the start of the groove» and «Offset from the side» — from which side of the part (for example, from the face or the back) and at what distance the groove runs. In detail — in the article «Side, depth and position of the groove».
The sizes can be entered as a number or a formula — there is a formula hint next to the fields. The checkbox «Do not reset the values when adding» keeps the entered parameters in the form after adding — handy when you need to add several similar grooves in a row.
Adding, editing and a template
The «Add» button creates a groove on the part. If you open an already added groove from the «Operations history», the form switches to edit mode and the button changes to «Save». If the groove is open and made on the face, a «Create template» button appears below the form — it saves the current groove parameters as a template for reuse (see the article «Creating a template from the groove form»).
Besides manual entry, a groove can be placed with a ready template (see the subcategory «Groove templates»), and identical grooves across the whole project can be changed and deleted in bulk through group processing.
What happens after adding
Every groove immediately goes onto the cutting map, into the part drawing and into the groove report for printing, goes into the machine control program, and its cost is added to the estimate at the company's grooving-service rate. There is no separate «save» button for the operation — the change is applied at once, and the sizes and the calculation are recomputed automatically.