1 Principles of Manufacturing

Facing - A face operation removes all material from the top of a stop to top of model. Produces quick part facing to prepare raw stock for machining.

2D Contour - Creates toolpaths based on a 2D countour. Contours can be open or closed and can be on different Z-levels, but each contour is flat(2D).  You can choose multiple roughing and finishing passes and multiple depth cuts for any contour.

2D Adaptive Clearing- Roughing operation that uses a more optimized toolpath that avoids abrupt direction changes.  taper angles can be defined for any wall or islands.

Parallel - A widely used finishing strategy, the passes are parallel in the XY-plane and follow the surface in the Z-direction. You can choose the angle as well as the stepover in the horizontal direction.  The passes can be linked in a zigzag patern, unidirectional, or split in down or up milling sections. Parallel finishing passes are best suited for shallow areas and can be confined to machine only up to a given contact angle.

Flat - Creates a finishing operation that automatically detects all the flat areas of a part that are perpendicular to the tool orientation.  Machine the flats with a type of toolpath that resembles either the Pocket or Parallel strategy. Obtain better cutting conditions by optimizing the toolpath over open pockets, as well as finish any nearby walls with the side of the tool by adding a finishing pass.

Scallop - Creates passes at a constant distance form one another by offsetting them inwards along the surface. The passes follow the sloping and vertical walls to maintain the stepover.  Although this strategy can be used to finish an entire part, it is most commonly used to machine rest areas of a work piece, folowing a combination of Contour and Parallel Passes.

3D Adaptive Clearing - A roughing strategy available for clearing large quantities of material effectively.  It is unique in that it guarantees a maximum tool load at all stages of the machining cycle, and makes it possible to cut deep and with the flank of the tool without risk of breakage.  The strategy first makes a series of constant Z-layers through the part, and then clears them in stages from the bottom upwards. Because it can cut so deeply, the first step down at each stage should be the effective intermediate layers proceeds into the shallower layers to maximize the efficiency of the tool use.

Steep and Shallow - Creates a finishing operation that machines steep areas using Contour passes and shallow areas using Parallel and Scallop passes. A threshold angle determines the boundary between steep and shallow areas. Passes in steep areas and shallow areas can overlap and distance to achieve a better surface finish.  In shallow areas, Parallel passes are side-by-side whereas Scallop passes are offset inwards.

Flat - Creates a finishing operation that automatically detects all the flat areas of a part that are perpendicular to the tool orientation.  Machine the flats with a type of toolpath that resembles either the Pocket or Parallel strategy. Obtain better cutting conditions by optimizing the toolpath over open pockets, as well as finish any nearby walls with the side of the tool by adding a finishing pass.

Drilling - Provides access to a wide range of drilling, tapping and hole making operations, such as counterbores and countersinks.

Hole Recognition - Automate the drilling process by detecting cylinders  in the model and creating operations.  It evaluates cylinders in any orientation to provide a list of possible operations.  They depend on the hole type. Next, you can sellect an operation that you want to apply.