Selecting the appropriate toolpath strategy

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When selecting a toolpath strategy, it is imperative to be familiar with the geometry of the part.

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Toolpaths can be adjusted to work with other toolpaths, or to work with unique faces of the part.

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Therefore, it is important to understand not only which tools are best to use,

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but also the order of operations in which they will be applied.

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The list of tools that are planned to be used can be found under the setup.

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For this video, open the file Toolpath Plan.f3d.

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To begin, in the Manufacture workspace, from the Browser, select Setup1.

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The stock displays around the part, and you can see the list of planned tools.

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With the stock displayed, you can see how the part is held by the machine.

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For instance, the stock extends past the part so the chuck jaws can safely hold it while it is being machined.

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Navigate the view to examine the part and determine which toolpaths will make sense.

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Notice that there is extra material at the front of the part.

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To clear the extra material, a facing toolpath is needed to start the machining process.

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Back in the Browser, under Setup1, select the Face1 toolpath.

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The toolpath displays, facing the front of the part.

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Now, select the Groove1 toolpath and review it.

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While it does take most of the stock material away,

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it is not the most efficient toolpath for this part,

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as it would take too many passes to remove the bulk of the material.

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Next, review the Profile Roughing1 toolpath.

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Notice that this toolpath removes most of the material at the front of the part,

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but it begins to angle between the two flange faces.

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Often, this is not desirable, as is the case for this part.

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Now, review the Profile Finishing toolpath.

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It follows the contour of the part, but because radial grooving is allowed,

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the finishing tool dives into deep cuts, which forces it to remove much more material

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than the tool can actually handle.

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So, this is not an ideal toolpath for a finishing operation.

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Lastly, review the Profile Roughing2 toolpath.

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This is a boring operation that clears the center of the part.

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However, if no pre-drilling is done to the part first, the boring operation would fail.

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You can edit these toolpaths so that they remove the material much more efficiently,

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starting with the Profile Roughing1 toolpath.

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From the Browser, right-click Profile Roughing1 and,

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from the shortcut menu, select Edit to display the Profile Roughing dialog.

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Now, open the Passes tab.

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Recall that this is the toolpath that begins to angle between the flange faces,

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which is unnecessary for this operation.

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Under Cycle and Direction, expand the Grooving drop-down and select Don’t allow grooving.

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Click OK.

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Now, the toolpath cuts across the flange faces, ignoring the groove.

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Next, edit the Profile Finishing2 toolpath.

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Again, this toolpath attempted to groove the part.

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This time, from the Browser, right-click Profile Finishing1 and select Edit.

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From the Profile Finishing dialog, open the Passes tab.

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Under Cycle and Direction, expand the Grooving drop-down, and select Don’t allow grooving.

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Click OK.

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Next, edit the Groove1 toolpath.

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This toolpath machines the entire part, when it only needs to machine the material between the two flanges.

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In the Groove dialog, open the Geometry tab.

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Then, enable Rest Machining.

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This specifies that only stock left after any previous operation should be machined,

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so now, it will ignore all the material at the front of the part.

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Now, you need to contain the grooving toolpath by defining the front and back of the toolpath.

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Under Front, expand the Front Mode drop-down and click Selection.

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Then, in the canvas, orbit the model and pick the interior face of the front flange.

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Then, return to the dialog.

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Under Back, expand the Back Mode drop-down, and click Selection.

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Back in the canvas, pick the opposite face of the back flange.

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Then, in the dialog, click OK.

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The toolpath updates, and now it will only machine the groove

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between the flanges to rough out that material.

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Once toolpaths are selected, understanding the capabilities of each tool,

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the best use of each toolpath, and the order in which to apply toolpaths

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is essential in creating an optimal workflow.