Advanced milling builds an arbitrary milling contour manually — from a start point and a sequence of trajectory points. This article is about the operation form as a whole; the movement types and the point parameters are covered in separate articles (links at the end).
Where to open
The operation opens from the part's operations menu — the «Milling» item. Next to it is a «?» button with this help.
The start point
First the start of the contour is set:
- Name — the operation name;
- Side — the front or back side of the part;
- Cut edging — an edge band on the resulting cut (only bands fitting by height to the part's thickness are listed; for thin parts the field may be hidden).
The start point has the movement type «ms» and sets the beginning of the trajectory. The contour can be open (a plain cut) or closed; it must be closed for a pocket (see the article «Point and trajectory parameters»).
The operation form
In the operation itself the name and the cut edging are edited, and below is the list of trajectory points. Each point can be opened for editing or deleted. Next to the operation name, the calculated milling cut length in metres is shown — you can see what the machining is charged for.
Adding points
To add a point, press add at the needed place in the list — the «Movement types» window opens (see the article «Cutter movement types»). After choosing a type, the point form opens with its parameters (see the article «Point and trajectory parameters»). A point can also be inserted between existing ones.
Number of points and distance between them
The contour must contain at least 2 points, and the distance between neighboring points must be greater than 1 mm (otherwise the form shows an error and saving fails). Individual movement types have their own minimum distances and radii that depend on the cutter diameter (see «Point and trajectory parameters»).
Saving
The «Save» button at the bottom writes the operation to the part.
If you need a typical contour (a worktop, a shaped cut-out), it is faster to take a ready template — see the section «Processing templates».