Getting Started with

FeatureCAM 2007
Delcam USA
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this document may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, for any purpose,
without the express written permission of Delcam USA. The software described in this document is
furnished under a license agreement. The software may be used or copied only in accordance with the
terms of the agreement.

© 1995 – 2006 Delcam USA. All rights reserved.

FeatureCAM, EZFeatureMILL FeatureTURN, EZFeatureTURN, FeatureMILL3D,

FeatureTURN/MILL, FeatureWIRE and FeatureCAM and are trademarks of Delcam USA in the
United States of America and other countries. Microsoft, MS, MS-DOS, Windows, Windows NT,
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
All other trademarks used herein are the property of their respective holders.

Restricted Rights Legend

The Program and Program Materials are provided with RESTRICTED RIGHTS. Use, duplication, or
disclosure by the United States Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph
(c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software Clause at DFARS 252.227-7013,
Manufacturer is the Licensor: Delcam USA.

Permission to Copy for Licensed Users

Delcam USA grants permission for licensed users to print copies of this manual or portions of this
manual for personal use only. Schools that are licensed to use FeatureCAM may make copies of this
manual or portions of this manual for students currently registered for classes where FeatureCAM is
used.

June 2006
Thirteenth Edition
Delcam USA
275 East South Temple, Suite 305
Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Fax 801-575-5017
 Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 - INSTALLATION
FEATURECAM PRODUCT LINE .................................................................................................................................. 1
INSTALLING THE DONGLE.......................................................................................................................................... 2
INSTALLATION PROCEDURES ..................................................................................................................................... 3
ENTERING TEMPORARY/EVALUATION CODES ........................................................................................................... 3
Hints on Entering FeatureCAM Registration Codes............................................................................................. 4
REGISTRATION .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
Filling Out Registration Forms ............................................................................................................................. 4
After Receiving Your Code .................................................................................................................................. 5
FEATURECAM MAINTENANCE RELEASES................................................................................................................. 5
EVALUATING PRODUCTS YOU HAVE NOT YET PURCHASED ..................................................................................... 6
INTERNET WEB SITE ................................................................................................................................................. 7
FEATURECAM NETWORK LICENSING ....................................................................................................................... 7
FEATURECAM 2007 – WHAT’S NEW ........................................................................................................................ 7
CHAPTER 2 - STEPS FOR CREATING A PART
STARTUP: NEW PART DIALOG BOX ........................................................................................................................ 10

STEP1: STOCK .............................................................................................................................................. 10

STEP 2: GEOMETRY ...................................................................................................................................... 10

STEP 3: CURVES ........................................................................................................................................... 10

Closed Boundary.................................................................................................................................... 11

Open Boundary ...................................................................................................................................... 11

STEP 4: FEATURES ......................................................................................................................................... 11

STEP 5: TOOLPATHS ..................................................................................................................................... 12

STEP 6: NC CODE ......................................................................................................................................... 14

Optimize Feedrates................................................................................................................................. 14

Display................................................................................................................................................... 14

i
 Save ........................................................................................................................................................14

Remap Tooling .......................................................................................................................................14

CUSTOMIZE MANUFACTURING ......................................................................................................................15

Manufacturing Preferences .....................................................................................................................15

Material Database....................................................................................................................................16

Configure Post Processor ........................................................................................................................16

OPTIONAL STEPS ......................................................................................................................................................17

Surfaces.......................................................................................................................................................17

Solids ........................................................................................................................................................17

AFR...........................................................................................................................................................17
On-line Help ........................................................................................................................................................17
Reference Section................................................................................................................................................18
What’s New Section ............................................................................................................................................19
Context Sensitive Help ........................................................................................................................................19
WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION.....................................................................................................................................19
CHAPTER 3 - INTERFACE TOUR
FEATURECAM INTERFACE COMPONENTS ................................................................................................................21
Standard Toolbar .................................................................................................................................................22
Menu Bar.............................................................................................................................................................23
Steps Toolbox......................................................................................................................................................23
Graphics Window................................................................................................................................................23
Manufacturing Results Window ..........................................................................................................................23
Geometry Dialog Bar ..........................................................................................................................................24
Assistance Bar .....................................................................................................................................................24
Status Bar ............................................................................................................................................................24
Part View Toolbox ..............................................................................................................................................24
SELECTING GRAPHICAL OBJECTS .............................................................................................................................25
OPTIONAL TOOLBARS ..............................................................................................................................................26
Advanced Toolbar ...............................................................................................................................................26
Snap Mode Toolbar and Dialog Box ...................................................................................................................27
Geometry Toolbar ...............................................................................................................................................29
Steps Toolbar.......................................................................................................................................................29
WARPING DIALOG BOXES ........................................................................................................................................30

ii
 CUSTOMIZING TOOLBARS ........................................................................................................................................ 30
Toolbars Tab....................................................................................................................................................... 30
Commands Tab and Misc. Tab ........................................................................................................................... 31
DISPLAY MODE BAR AND SHADING MODE ................................................................................................................ 31
COLORS ................................................................................................................................................................... 33
CHAPTER 4 - MAKING YOUR FIRST 2 ½ D PART
STOCK PREPARATION .............................................................................................................................................. 35
THE FIRST TIME....................................................................................................................................................... 35
CREATE A PART FILE ............................................................................................................................................... 36
VIEWING.................................................................................................................................................................. 37
TOOLPATHS ............................................................................................................................................................. 38
ORDER OF MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS ............................................................................................................. 39
PART DOCUMENTATION .......................................................................................................................................... 40
CONTROLLING THE AUTOMATION ........................................................................................................................... 41
NC CODE ................................................................................................................................................................. 41
TOOL MAPPING ....................................................................................................................................................... 41
CHANGING POST PROCESSORS ................................................................................................................................ 42
SAVING NC CODE ................................................................................................................................................... 42
SAVING THE FEATUREMILL PART .......................................................................................................................... 42
THE NEXT STEP ....................................................................................................................................................... 42
CHAPTER 5 - FEATURES FROM CURVES
SETTING THE SNAPS ................................................................................................................................................ 43
BUILDING CIRCLES .................................................................................................................................................. 43
DRAWING LINES ...................................................................................................................................................... 44
CHAINING A CURVE ................................................................................................................................................. 45
FEATURE FROM A CURVE ........................................................................................................................................ 45
SIMULATE THE PART ............................................................................................................................................... 46
MODIFYING THE BOSS FEATURE TO CONTOUR AROUND THE PART......................................................................... 46
CHANGING THE PLUNGE POINT ............................................................................................................................... 47
THE NEXT STEP ....................................................................................................................................................... 47
CHAPTER 6 - INTRODUCTION TO TURNING
THE FIRST TIME....................................................................................................................................................... 49
CREATE A PART FILE ............................................................................................................................................... 50
MAKING FEATURES ................................................................................................................................................. 51
ORDERING OF OPERATIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 54
PART DOCUMENTATION .......................................................................................................................................... 54
NC CODE ................................................................................................................................................................. 55
CHANGING POST PROCESSORS AND SAVING NC CODE ........................................................................................... 55
SAVING THE FEATURETURN PART ......................................................................................................................... 55
THE NEXT STEP ....................................................................................................................................................... 56
CHAPTER 7 - ADVANCED TURNING AND MACHINE SIMULATION
GETTING STARTED .................................................................................................................................................. 57

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 SETUP MACHINE SIMULATION .................................................................................................................................58
ADD A SUBSPINDLE FEATURE ..................................................................................................................................59
ADD A BAR FEED FEATURE ......................................................................................................................................59
RUN SUBSPINDLE SIMULATION ................................................................................................................................60
SETUP SECOND TURRET ...........................................................................................................................................61
SYNCHRONIZE OPERATIONS .....................................................................................................................................61
RUN SYNCHRONIZED MULTI-TURRET SIMULATION .................................................................................................62
THE NEXT STEP ........................................................................................................................................................62
CHAPTER 8 - CREATING A TURN/MILL PART
GETTING STARTED ...................................................................................................................................................63
CREATING A TURNED FEATURE ...............................................................................................................................64
CREATING A RADIAL PATTERN ON THE FACE ...........................................................................................................65
ENGRAVING ON THE FACE ........................................................................................................................................65
CREATING A PATTERN OF WRAPPED SLOTS .............................................................................................................66
SIMULATING A TURN/MILL PART .............................................................................................................................66
The Next Step ......................................................................................................................................................66
CHAPTER 9 - FEATURES FROM 3D CAD MODELS
TOOL CRIBS .............................................................................................................................................................68
IMPORTING THE CAD MODEL ..................................................................................................................................68
SHADE THE PART .....................................................................................................................................................69
AUTOMATIC FEATURE RECOGNITION .......................................................................................................................69
RECOGNIZE ALL HOLES USING ANOTHER METHOD ................................................................................................70
RECOGNIZING ALL POCKETS AUTOMATICALLY .......................................................................................................70
CREATE A SLOT FEATURE USING THE PICK SURFACE BUTTON ........................................................................71
CREATE A SIDE FEATURE .........................................................................................................................................71
SIMULATE THE ENTIRE PART ...................................................................................................................................72
THE NEXT STEP ........................................................................................................................................................72
CHAPTER 10 - INTRODUCTION TO 3D
INTRODUCTION TO 3D MODELING ...........................................................................................................................74
Create the Bottle Surface.....................................................................................................................................75
INTRODUCTION TO 3D MANUFACTURING.................................................................................................................75
SIMULATING THE ENTIRE PART ................................................................................................................................76
THE NEXT STEP ........................................................................................................................................................76
CHAPTER 11 - ADVANCED 3D MILLING
IMPORT THE PART ....................................................................................................................................................77
CREATE THE 3D STRATEGY......................................................................................................................................78
SIMULATING THE TOOLPATHS ..................................................................................................................................79
Clean Up the Fillets .............................................................................................................................................80
THE NEXT STEP ........................................................................................................................................................81
CHAPTER 12 - SOLID MODELING
GETTING STARTED ...................................................................................................................................................85

iv
 CREATE THE INITIAL SOLID ..................................................................................................................................... 86
HIDDEN LINE GRAPHICS .......................................................................................................................................... 87
CREATE THE CURVED LOWER SURFACE .................................................................................................................. 87
CREATE CONSTANT AND VARIABLE RADIUS FILLETS ............................................................................................. 88
ADD THICKNESS ...................................................................................................................................................... 89
CREATE A MOLD CAVITY ........................................................................................................................................ 89
THE NEXT STEP ....................................................................................................................................................... 90
CHAPTER 13 - INTRODUCTION TO FEATUREWIRE
GETTING STARTED .................................................................................................................................................. 91
CREATING THE PROFILE .......................................................................................................................................... 91
CREATING A WIRE EDM FEATURE .......................................................................................................................... 92
SIMULATING A WIRE EDM TOOLPATH.................................................................................................................... 92
GENERATING NC CODE ........................................................................................................................................... 93
ADD A TAPER ANGLE .............................................................................................................................................. 93
CREATING THE SECOND PROFILE............................................................................................................................. 94
CREATING A 4-AXIS WIRE EDM FEATURE .............................................................................................................. 94
MODIFYING THE START POINT ................................................................................................................................ 95
MATCHING THE CURVES ......................................................................................................................................... 96
SIMULATE THE PART ............................................................................................................................................... 96
THE NEXT STEP ....................................................................................................................................................... 96
CHAPTER 14 - FEATUREMILL3D 2007 TRANSITION GUIDE
OVERVIEW............................................................................................................................................................... 97
BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY ................................................................................................................................... 98
Reading Files from Previous Versions................................................................................................................ 98
Using Version 2006 Technology in Version 2007.............................................................................................. 99
CONVERTING AN INCOMPATIBLE OPERATION.......................................................................................................... 99
Step-by-Step Instructions for Converting an Operation.................................................................................... 100
INCOMPATIBILITIES ............................................................................................................................................... 102
Ignored Settings ................................................................................................................................................ 103

v
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 Chapter 1
Installation
FeatureCAM Product Line
FeatureCAM products include:

• FeatureMILL2.5D – 2.5D design and toolpath generation for 2 and 3-axis mills.

• FeatureMILL3D – 3D surface modeling and 3-axis toolpath generation

• Solid Modeling – Solid modeling and tools for creating molds from solid models.

• FeatureRECOGNITION – 3D surface and solid import and the recognition of 2.5D features
from solid models. Accelerates making 2.5D and turned parts from solid models.

• FeatureTURN – 2-axis design and toolpath generation for 2-axis lathes.

• FeatureTURN/MILL – Supports lathes with C and Y-axis milling capabilities.

• FeatureWIRE – 2 and 4axis wire EDM toolpath creation.

• 5-axis Positioning – Manufacture 2.5D features from 5-axis orientations.

• Tombstone – Multiple part manufacturing for horizontal or vertical milling machines with
indexers.

• Machine Simulation – Modeling and simulation of a CNC machine.

• Multi-turret Turning- Use of multiple turrets for production turning.

• Network – Flexible product licensing allows sharing FeatureCAM licenses across a network.

• Native Import Modules – Import Catia, Unigraphics, Pro/E and STEP files.

1
Installation

Installing the Dongle

A dongle is supplied with FeatureCAM for copy protection. The dongle is a physical device that
attaches to your computer's parallel printer port or a USB port. FeatureCAM checks to see if a dongle
is present before it generates NC code for your parts or before saving a file. The dongle must remain
connected for the entire time you are running FeatureCAM.

USB Dongle Parallel Dongle

If you downloaded a copy of FeatureCAM over the Internet, or your product box is marked as
Evaluation Copy, you do not have a dongle. You can draw and simulate designs, but you can’t
generate NC code, save, or export any files.

If the side of your product box says Upgrade then you purchased an upgrade version of FeatureCAM
and you must use the dongle you received with your earlier FeatureCAM purchase.

If you have a dongle, install it on your computer by inserting it in the parallel printer port (or USB port
if using a USB dongle) and screwing in the thumbscrews. The dongle is programmed for an initial
period (see Registration below). If you have licensed FeatureCAM, then you are given a code to
provide unlimited use when you register your copy.

You may have multiple devices attached to your parallel port. Many computers have a printer attached
to that port. If you have any devices attached to the port, you will need to chain the devices in sequence
and the FeatureCAM dongle should be the first in the stack. Note that you may not connect multiple
FeatureCAM dongles to a single parallel port.

The dongle is a pass through device. You can attach your dongle to the computer and the other devices
can hook up to the dongle. You may have to experiment with the order of devices a bit to find which
sequence works best with your devices. Printers should probably be at the end of the device chain. In
general, try to put the FeatureCAM dongle in as the first or second device in the sequence.

2
 Installation

Installation Procedures
Use the following information to help you install the program and dongle (software key).

For information on installation issues not covered here, refer to the README.WRI and
RELNOTES.WRI files on the FeatureCAM Installation CD. These files are also copied to the hard
disk in the EZFM directory in a successful installation.

If you’re upgrading an older copy, you can safely overwrite old versions of FeatureCAM. When you
are prompted for the installation directory, simply use the same directory you did last time. Your part
files and customizations are preserved and can be used with this version of FeatureCAM.

If you wish to continue to run your older copy of FeatureCAM, then install the new version in a
different directory. Be aware that your old version may not be able to read files from your new
version, but the new version will always be backwards compatible with older versions of files.

The following instructions are written for a CD ROM that is drive D. Substitute the actual drive letter
where appropriate.
1. Attach the dongle, if you have one, to your printer port.
2. Put the CD in drive D.
3. If installing from CD, the installation screen should automatically be displayed.
4. If installing from disks or if the installation screen does not automatically come up, choose Run
from the Start menu. Type d:\setup if installing from CD.
5. Follow the instructions on the installation screens.

Entering Temporary/Evaluation Codes

If you purchased an upgrade to an existing copy of FeatureCAM, your package will contain temporary
codes for activating your dongle until you get a chance to register. You must enter these codes to run
your new version. If you purchased a new package with a new dongle inside, you do not have to
complete these steps.

Run FeatureCAM.

If the New Part Document Wizard comes up, click Cancel.

If you have any windows open in FeatureCAM, close them.

Select Evaluation Options from the File menu.

Click Next.

Click I have an evaluation code and click Next.

3
Installation
Enter your evaluation code in the space provided and click Finish.

Hints on Entering FeatureCAM Registration Codes

1. Evaluation codes are a collection of the digits 0-9 and the letters A-F.
2. There are no letter Os in the codes, only the number zero.
3. The case of the letters does not matter. Spaces are also ignored.

Registration
You must register your new copy of FeatureCAM even if it is an upgrade to an older version. If you’re
not sure whether you purchased an upgrade or not, look at the side of your FeatureCAM box. If
Upgrade is checked, you purchased an upgrade to your existing copy of FeatureCAM.
1. If FeatureCAM is not already running, run FeatureCAM from the Start menu.
2. If you purchased a new copy of FeatureCAM, the Registration dialog box is displayed.
3. If you are updating an existing copy, close all the windows in FeatureCAM (without closing the
application itself) and select Evaluation Options from the File menu.
4. If you did not purchase an upgrade, you will see Must register in the Status column of the
components you purchased. Your dongle will initially work for a limited amount of time. You
must register them to remove this limitation.
5. If you did purchase an upgrade, the products that you licensed in previous versions will have Yes
in the evaluating column. Those components that are already enabled for the version you are
installing will have a status of Fully enabled. These products will not need to be registered again.
6. Click Next.

Filling Out Registration Forms

Please fill out the registration form included in the FeatureCAM box and follow the instructions on it.
If you do not have a copy of the form please contact our corporate office at the toll-free number 1-888-
393-6455 ext 10, 1-801-575-6021 ext 10 (outside of the United States) or email a request to
[email protected].

4
 Installation

After Receiving Your Code

1. Run FeatureCAM.
2. Click Next in the Registration dialog box.
3. Click I have registered and have a code.
4. Select the product(s) that you received codes for. Click Next.
5. Enter code(s).
6. Click OK.
7. You will see the message Thank you for registering FeatureCAM.
Your product is now registered and fully enabled.

FeatureCAM Maintenance Releases

If you have purchased and registered a version of a FeatureCAM product, you are allowed to install
maintenance releases free of charge. A maintenance release is any product version with the same first
number as the product you are licensed to run. For example Version 13.0.1.36 the first number is 13.

To check to see if a new version of your FeatureCAM product is available:

1. Make sure you are connected to the Internet and select Check for new version from the Help
menu.

2. If a more current version is available you are offered the option of updating your version of the
FeatureCAM.

The first time you run your maintenance release the Registration dialog box may be displayed. If this
happens:
1. Click Next.
2. Click Finish.

5
Installation

Evaluating Products You Have Not Yet Purchased

Once you are running FeatureCAM, you can evaluate other FeatureCAM products.
1. Run FeatureCAM.
2. If the New Part Document Wizard comes up, click Cancel.
3. Select Evaluation Options from the File menu.
4. Check the Evaluate checkboxes for the product components you want to evaluate.
5. Click OK.
FeatureCAM is now running in evaluation mode. You cannot save parts or post, but you can create
part models and generate toolpaths. You can tell FeatureCAM is in evaluation mode by the word,
(evaluation), in the title bar.

The next time you run FeatureCAM, the Registration dialog box is displayed. To run the program
normally:

1. Run FeatureCAM and click Next.

2. Select Run the program and click Finish.
3. If the New Part Document Wizard comes up, click Cancel.
4. Select Evaluation Options from the File menu.
5. Uncheck all the Evaluate checkboxes.
6. Click OK.

6
 Installation

Internet WEB Site

The Internet WEB site http://www.featurecam.com contains useful information for FeatureCAM
users including:
1. New product announcements.
2. A comprehensive database of technical tips.
3. Maintenance releases.
4. Evaluation copies of new software.
5. Local dealer information.
6. Tradeshows where FeatureCAM is being exhibited.
There is no charge for accessing this WEB site, so feel free to access the latest information on
FeatureCAM.

FeatureCAM Network Licensing

If you want to have the option of running your licensed FeatureCAM products on more than one
computer, you may be interested in the FeatureCAM Network Licensing option. If you have licensed
this option, see the READMEN.htm file located in the D:\netlic directory of the CDROM.

FeatureCAM 2007 – What’s New

If you are an existing FeatureCAM user and wish to find out about new functionality and other
changes to FeatureCAM, see the What’s New section of the FeatureCAM help file.

7
Installation

8
 Chapter 2
Steps for Creating a Part
The process for creating parts is laid out sequentially in the Steps toolbox. By using each step, you are
guided through the process of creating part programs with FeatureCAM.

Step 1 - Stock. The Stock Wizard steps you through entering the shape
and dimensions of the stock, the stock material, part program zero and the
coordinate system for modeling.

Step 2 – Geometry. Points, arcs, lines and other shapes are used to
describe the overall shape of parts. Many different geometry tools are
available. Geometry can also be imported from CAD systems.

Step 3 – Curves. Shapes that involve more than a single line or arc are
described as curves. For FeatureMILL3D customers there are also
Surfaces and Solids step for creating 3D surface and solid models.

Step 4 – Features. Features are common shop terms like pocket, or

thread. They are created from curves and dimensions. These objects
describe your part in 3D and are used to generate toolpaths.

Step 5 – Toolpaths. Toolpaths are generated from collections of features.

You can simulate them in FeatureCAM using toolpath centerlines, 2D
shaded or 3D solid shaded simulations.

Step 6 – NC Code. Machine-specific G-codes are generated from the

toolpaths. Translators are provided for many different NC controls and include
a program for creating new translators.

Customize Manufacturing. FeatureCAM automates the entire part

programming process, you can customize all of the system settings
including feed/speed tables, tooling databases or feature settings.

9
Steps for Creating a Part

Startup: New Part Dialog Box

When you start FeatureCAM, the New Part Dialog Box is the first thing you see. In this dialog box
you can choose to open a new part file, or continue working on an existing file.

Step1: Stock
The stock is the initial material from which you will cut your part. It can be rectangular, circular, a
more general extruded shape, or a solid model. The stock shape is used for 3D toolpath simulations
and to control the extent of milling features like bosses. FeatureCAM has embedded feed/speed tables
for many different stock materials, so that feeds and speeds can be automatically calculated based on
the stock material. The Stock Wizard provides step-by-step instructions for specifying or modifying
the general stock shape, specific stock dimensions, fixture IDs, part program zero, and the origin of
your modeling coordinate system. To navigate through the wizard, enter the desired information on
each page and click the Next button to move to the next page.

After completing this step, if you want to create holes, rectangular pockets, slots, circular pockets or
thread mill features, you can skip to step 4.

Step 2: Geometry
Every part begins with an initial design. You may already have a part drawing, a part sketch or you
may want to use FeatureCAM to draw your part design from scratch. The geometry step presents you
with methods of creating points, lines, arcs and circles. You can also clip geometry. If you would like
to create multiple objects, check the Create more than one option at the bottom of the dialog box
before selecting the type of object you want to create.

After selecting the type of object you want to create, you are provided instructions in the yellow
Assistance bar at the bottom of the screen. Type any numeric arguments that are required. Use the
TAB key to move to the next field. For point coordinates you can type the individual X, Y and Z
coordinates or use the mouse to graphically locate them in the Graphics window. As you move the
mouse around the Graphics window, you’ll notice that the cursor will snap to discrete locations like
circle centers or line endpoints. This location can be controlled by the Snapping dialog, which is
discussed in Chapter 3.

Step 3: Curves
This step groups arcs and lines into curves by automatically tracing smooth paths. If you want to make
a feature from more than a single line, arc or circle, you must connect the geometry into a curve.

10
 Steps for Creating a Part

Closed Boundary
This option creates closed curves (curves that form a loop ) by clicking on one piece of geometry. An
attempt is made to create a closed loop by following smooth paths. If this method does not result in
the correct pieces, click the Clear pieces button at the bottom of the screen and select the Curves step
again and use the Open boundary command.

Open Boundary
This command creates curves by manually clicking on segments of the curves. To create an open
curve (curves that do not form a loop), click on the beginning of the curve and then click on the end. If
the resulting curve is not correct, click on a number of intermediate positions to guide the process of
creating curves. Closed curves can also be created with this technique by clicking back to the initial
piece of geometry.

Step 4: Features
Toolpaths are generated from features. For example, if you want a hole in your part, choose the Hole
feature. If your part has a pocket, choose the Pocket feature. The Feature wizard walks you through
the process of creating features. One category of features is those that can be created solely from
dimensions. These features include holes, rectangular-shaped pockets, threads and round pockets
(called Step Bores).

Other features require curves to describe their shape. They are listed under the From Curve category.
These features include pockets, bosses, grooves, chamfers, rounds, sides and faces.

11
Steps for Creating a Part
If you want to create a pattern of features, click the Make a pattern from this feature checkbox. Click
Next to step through the wizard.

This wizard steps you through:

• Selecting the feature type • Reviewing the automatically selected tools

• Optionally entering pattern dimensions • Reviewing the automatically calculated

feeds and speeds
• Positioning the feature
• Overriding the tooling and feed/speed
• Specifying the manufacturing strategy values

• Changing manufacturing attributes

To modify a feature either double-click on a feature or select the feature and click the Properties
button to open the Properties dialog box for a feature. This dialog box presents all the screens of the
New Feature Wizard in a single dialog box. The individual screens are separated into different tabs of
the dialog box.

Step 5: Toolpaths
This step displays the Simulation toolbar. This toolbar has two sections, simulation types and
simulation controls. Select the mode of simulation you would like to run from among the simulation
types.
Fast Region
Forward of
Center Rapid to End Single Next Interest
Line 2D 3D Cut Stop Play Step Flyout Clear
Machine . Tool
Load

Eject Button Simulation Type Simulation Controls Speed Control

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 Steps for Creating a Part

• Centerline simulation displays lines that represent the center of the tool.

• 2D shows a color simulation from the top view. Each operation is displayed in a different color.

• 3D shows a 3-dimensional solid shaded simulation.

• Rapid cut displays the final result without animating the tool. (FeatureMILL3D only)

• Machine simulation displays the entire machine. (Machine Simulation only)

Center line simulation 2D simulation 3D simulation Machine simulation

Once you select a simulation type, use the simulation controls to control the simulation. Click the Play
button to run the simulation. (After pressing the play button, this button turns into the Pause button.
Click this button again to pause the simulation.) The Single Step button will display one toolpath
move. The Fast Forward to End button, displays all the toolpaths for the part without animating the
results. You can then view the toolpaths for each individual operation by clicking the Clear button and
then clicking on an operation in the Operation List window.

The Play to Next Operation button will display one complete operation such as a spot drill or a pocket
roughing operation. This button is actually a fly-out menu. By clicking on the triangle to the right of
the button the following additional options are revealed:

• The Next Rapid button will simulate up to the next rapid

move.

• The Next Tool Change button will simulate up to the next

tool change.

• Play to Next Zlevel will display the next Z level of a Z

level rough or finish operation.

Use the Erase button to erase the centerline toolpaths on the screen. The Region of Interest is used to
limit the portion of the part that is simulated for 3D or Rapid Cut simulations. The Show tool load
button indicates whether to display a graph of the tool load when the next 3D Simulation is performed.
The Eject button removes the toolbar and the simulation from the screen. The speed control slider
controls how fast simulations run. Move the slider to the right to speed up, or to the left to slow down.

13
Steps for Creating a Part
If you see something in the simulation you want to change, you can override any of the tool choices,
operation order, or the feeds and speeds if you wish. Continue to simulate and fine-tune the part until
you have the settings exactly right.

Step 6: NC Code
You generate NC code in FeatureCAM using this step.

Optimize Feedrates
Use this option to even out the load on the tool by adjusting the feedrate of each NC block.

Display
This option displays the code in the Manufacturing Results window. You can also display the tooling
lists and operations sheets by clicking the tabs located at the bottom of the Manufacturing Results
window.

Save
The NC code is saved to disk using this command. You also have the option of saving additional
documentation like tool lists, operations lists and part databases.

Remap Tooling
This option allows you to change the locations of the selected tools in the tool changer.

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 Steps for Creating a Part

Customize Manufacturing
This step allows you to customize the tooling databases, feed/speed
databases, and the default system parameters. These options allow
you to fine tune FeatureCAM to your preferences.

Manufacturing Preferences
Manufacturing preferences, or attributes, control the way a feature is manufactured. FeatureCAM has
two different types of attributes, default and feature. Default attributes set the default settings for new
features and are accessed by choosing the Customize Mfg. step and then selecting the Establish my
manufacturing preferences option. Indicate your preference for settings including climb milling, step
over values, canned cycles or ramping and these settings will be used for all parts that you create.

Feature attributes apply to specific features and override the default settings. For example you may set
a default setting for climb milling, but override it for bi-directional roughing for a particular feature.

To set feature attributes, pick the feature graphically and click the Properties button located at
the bottom of the screen.

15
Steps for Creating a Part

Tooling
FeatureCAM supports all the tool types in your shop including drills, taps, reamers, end mills, boring
bars, and face mills. Each tool type is described by a series of dimensions.

Tools are grouped into Tool Cribs. FeatureCAM provides a comprehensive tooling database and
creates a basic tool crib for Inch, or Millimeter tools, or both. FeatureCAM selects tools from the
active tool crib to manufacture the part. You can pick the tool crib you want to use for each part or
machine. You can also create custom tool cribs with the Tool Manager to reflect the tools owned by
your shop or to exactly represent the tools preloaded in your tool changer.

Material Database
FeatureCAM comes standard with an integrated materials database. Feeds and speeds are stored in
tables for each material. Each table contains the settings for different cutting operations. These tables
can be customized to change the values or you can add tables for new materials.

Configure Post Processor

This option is available for customizing post processor settings or selecting a new post processor.

16
 Steps for Creating a Part

Optional Steps

Surfaces
This step is available in FeatureMILL3D. This step launches the 3D surface wizard which steps you
though creating surfaces from curves, primitive surfaces, surfaces from one surface, and surfaces from
multiple surfaces.

Solids
This step is available in the Solid Modeling option. The Solids step initiates the Solids wizard which
helps you create solids using numerous techniques.

AFR
This step is available in the FeatureRECOGNITION option. AFR stands for automatic feature
recognition. This step automatically recognizes features from solid models.

On-line Help
FeatureCAM has an extensive on-line help system included with the program. All documentation other
than the Getting Started with FeatureCAM guide is on-line. This documentation includes product
introductions and reference manuals for all FeatureCAM products.

17
Steps for Creating a Part

Select FeatureCAM Help from the Help menu to display on-line help.

Three different tabs are available.

• Contents tab provides an outline view of the help system. Double click on a book or a page to
open it. From a page, click Help Topics to return to the outline view.

• Index tab allows you to access the help file using index topics. Type the topic name in the top box
and click the Display button.

• Search tab provides search capabilities for all pages of the help file. Type the word you would
like to find in the top box and then pick a topic in the bottom box. Click Display to view the page.

Help is a point and click interface to on-line information screens that are linked together. A link is any
green underlined text or any portion of a diagram that turns the cursor into the pointer cursor. Click on
a link to reveal a new screen.

Reference Section
The Reference section of the on-line help contains in-depth technical descriptions of FeatureCAM
product features. It is organized in books that address major product topics. For example, the Drawing

18
 Steps for Creating a Part
book contains all the drawing tools contained in FeatureCAM; the Making features book contains a
description of features broken down by individual products.

What’s New Section

This section keeps you up to date on the latest additions to FeatureCAM.

Context Sensitive Help

While using FeatureCAM you can access the documentation for the current topic by either:
• Pressing F1 for help on your current activity.
• Clicking Help in the dialog boxes.

• Using the tool bar button, , for context sensitive help. Click this button and then click on a
menu item, button or dialog box to receive more information.

Written Documentation

Formatted versions of manuals can be accessed from the Help menu and viewed using Adobe Acrobat.
These versions of the documentation are convenient for searching or printing for viewing off-line.

19
Steps for Creating a Part

20
 Chapter 3
Interface Tour
FeatureCAM Interface Components
Graphics Window

Menu Bar
Standard
Toolbar
Manufacturing
Results Window

Steps Toolbox

Part View Tabs

Toolbox
Assistance Bar

Geometry Dialog Simulation

Simulation Toolbar
Toolbar
Bar
Status Bar

Sliders

The initial screen provides you with a clean interface for learning FeatureCAM. You can turn on the
display of additional toolbars in the View menu under Toolbars. You can also control how much space
the Graphics window uses compared to the Manufacturing results window by moving the Sliders from
side to side.

21
Interface Tour

Standard Toolbar
A getting started guide can’t describe every button available in the new interface. But every button on
a tool bar includes a tool tip. To view the tip, hold the cursor over the button until the tool tip appears.
Tool tip describes the function the button activates. Besides the tool tip, the Assistance bar prompts
you for the next step in the process. It senses your context and helps you design geometry and features.
Refer to the Help system for detailed information.

Shaded Undo Select Context Sensitive Help

New, Open & Save View & Principal

Views Delete Transform Options Help

File functions are controlled in the first group of three buttons, such as creating a new file, opening an
existing file, or saving the current file.
View allows you to interactively change the view of the part. Select any of the options from the
viewing fly-out. Your cursor shows the same icon as the viewing mode you selected. Viewing is
performed interactively in FeatureCAM with the mouse. Rotation, panning and translation are
possible. Interactive viewing is disabled while simulating toolpaths or in select or edit modes. See the
Fly-out Toolbars section below.
Principal Views changes the view of a part to one of seven standard views. See the Fly-out Toolbars
section below.
Shaded allows you to work in shaded mode for solid modeling.
Undo reverses the effect of the previous command. FeatureCAM remembers a long list of the
commands that are performed, so you can select Undo multiple times to undo multiple commands.
Delete erases the object that is selected on the screen. The object is removed from the system.
Select puts you in Select mode. You can tell you are in select mode because the mouse appears as a
standard arrow pointer in the part window. In select mode, you can click objects to select them.
Transform moves or copies the selected entity according to settings you make in the dialog box.
Context sensitive help accesses on-line help. Click the button, then select the button, field, dialog box
or menu item you have questions about.
Options provides access to all the options settings in FeatureCAM.
Help brings up on-line help.

22
 Interface Tour

Fly-out Toolbars
A number of buttons in FeatureCAM toolbars are fly-out toolbars. Any button with a small black
triangle in the lower right corner is a fly-out toolbar. By clicking on the triangle the menu is revealed.
Click again to select a specific option. The last option you picked from the fly-out menu becomes the
current command and is displayed as a button in the toolbar. To select this option again, just click on
the button in the toolbar.

Current command button

Triangle reveals menu

Fly-out menu

Menu Bar
The menu bar contains all the menus of the system. These menus contain all the commands available
in FeatureCAM.

Steps Toolbox
The Steps toolbox contains an ordered list of steps for creating part programs. Each step is a wizard
that presents a series of dialog boxes for each process. They are listed in the order in which you will
use them during the process of creating a part program.

Graphics Window
The left-hand window is the graphics window. This window shows the graphical representation of the
part and the graphical toolpath simulations.

Manufacturing Results Window

The right-hand window is the Manufacturing Results window. This window contains the

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Interface Tour
automatically generated documentation including tooling lists, setup sheets and the NC part programs.
Selecting one of the tabs at the bottom of the window changes the content of this window.

Geometry Dialog Bar

The geometry dialog box is located under the graphics window and manufacturing results window.
The point locations and parameters for geometry creation are entered here.

Assistance Bar
The Assistance bar displays step-by-step instructions for the current command.

Status Bar
The Status bar shows your current drawing units, tool crib, and post processor settings as well as your
keyboard status and information about the simulation when you run one.

The Status bar is not a toolbar, nor can it be docked. It is the bottom part of the FeatureCAM window
and displays information about the computer, the state of the program, or information about what your
are doing. You can toggle it on or off in the View menu under Toolbars.

Part View Toolbox

The Part View toolbox provides a hierarchical view of the part. Each setup is
listed with each of the feature of the setup listed underneath. From this view
you can select, show, hide or modify features. To navigate the part view:

1. If an object has a “+” in its left margin, click it to expand the view to
reveal objects that are subordinate. Click on the ”-“ to collapse the view
and hide the subordinate objects. Double clicking on the object also
performs the same function.

2. Clicking on object in the tree view will select the object in the graphics
window. This selection method is good for distinguishing between
overlapping objects in the graphics window. Make sure you click on the name and not the check
box. See item 4 below.

3. Clicking on an object also reveals the button for that feature. Clicking on this button brings up
menu of actions you can perform on the object. The actions available are dependent on the object
type. Right clicking on the object in the tree view also reveals this menu.

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 Interface Tour
4. Features have a checkbox. If you uncheck the object it will be excluded from the next toolpath
generation.

5. By dragging a feature or setup, you can reorder these items.

6. Double-clicking on a feature displays its Properties dialog box for editing.

All objects are represented in the part view with the exception of geometry.

Part icon represents the entire part. The part file name is also displayed in the tree view.

Stock icon represents the part stock.

Setup icon represents a setup. The features of a setup are listed underneath a setup. If you click on
a setup, it changes the current setup and current UCS.

Feature icon represents features. It can be a 2.5D, 3D or turn feature. The checkbox next to the
feature can be used to exclude it from toolpath generation. The feature is not deleted; it is just ignored
for toolpath generation.

Curve icon represents a curve in the part model.

Surface icon represents surfaces. Surface milling features are classified as features, not surfaces.

Solid icon represents a solid. Individual design features are listed underneath.

Turret icon represents a turret on a lathe. Selecting a specific turret displays the NC code for that
turret.

Selecting Graphical Objects

Many commands require you to select object in the Graphics
window. To select object you can:

1. Click the left mouse button on an object. This selects that

object (by turning it red) and deselects any other object.

2. Hold down the SHIFT key and click the left mouse button on
an object. This adds that object to the selected set of objects.
This method allows you to select more than one object.

3. Click the left mouse button and drag the mouse before letting up on the button. This method is
called box select. As you drag the mouse, a box is displayed in the Graphics window. All objects
that are completely enclosed in the box are selected. If you hold down the SHIFT key while
selecting, the objects are added to the selected set of objects.

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Interface Tour

Note: you must be in Select mode (by clicking the Select button) to perform a selection.

Optional Toolbars
While the Steps toolbox and the standard toolbar are all that is necessary to run FeatureCAM, there are
additional toolbars that can be displayed by selecting the Toolbars option from the View menu.

Advanced Toolbar
Toggle New
Geometry Feature
Show Fly-out Curve Wizard Solid Wizard Toolbar Wizard Setups

Hide Fly-out Surface Wizard Snap modes UCS

Show Fly-out is a fly-out menu for displaying different categories of objects .

Hide Fly-out is a fly-out menu for hiding different categories of objects. This does not delete the
objects. They are only removed from the display. These objects can be re-shown using commands in
the Show Fly-out.

Curve Wizard provides a centralized interface for curve commands. The commands available in this
wizard are also available in the Curves and Surfaces toolbar.

Surface Wizard presents step-by-step instructions for 3D surface construction. The commands
available in this wizard are also available in the Curves and Surfaces toolbar.

Solid Wizard presents solid modeling commands available in the Solid Modeling option.

Toggle Geometry Toolbar toggles the display of the Geometry toolbar. This toolbar contains fly-outs
for the creation of points, lines, arcs, fillets and dimensions.

Snap Modes displays the Snap Modes dialog. Use this dialog to set the locations for point snapping.

New Feature Wizard steps you through the process of creating part features.

UCS opens the User Coordinate System dialog box for creating or changing existing UCSs.

26
 Interface Tour
Setups brings up the Setup dialog box for creating or editing part program zero.

Snap Mode Toolbar and Dialog Box

Entering points by coordinates is exact but not always convenient or feasible. Picking points with the
mouse is not always precise enough. The bridge between the methods of point selection is snaps.
Snapping is a CAD concept that helps you position lines, points or shapes as you construct the
geometry of a part. The Snap Mode bar or the Snap Mode Dialog box controls where the cursor snaps.
What you have snapped to is displayed in the status bar.

Grid Endpoint Section Centre Object Toolpath

Point Midpoint Intersection Quadrant Tangent

Snap Discrimination Dialog

Grid displays a grid and enables snapping to the grid. Selecting Snapping Grids from the Options
menu controls the spacing of the grid. Grid snaps to a point on a coordinate system that is laid out on
the stock. The grid size can be modified from the Options menu.

Point snaps to a point object.

Endpoint and midpoint snap to the ends and middle points of finite lines and arcs. Endpoint also
applies to the corners of the stock.

Section snaps equal intervals of a finite line. The number of sections is controlled by the Sections
parameter of the Snapping Grids dialog box.

Intersection snaps to the intersection of lines, arcs and circles.

Center snaps to circle centers. This setting also controls the display of circle and arc center points.

Quadrant snaps to the four points on a circle corresponding to 0°, 90°, 180° and 270°.

Tangent snaps the point so that the object you are creating will be tangent to the object you snapped
to.

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Interface Tour
Object snaps to a point on another object. This includes lines of surfaces and is convenient for
snapping points to locations on a surface.

Toolpath snaps to points on a centerline toolpath simulation.

Snap discrimination dialog displays a dialog box if the point you select could snap to more than one
location.

Snapping Feedback
As you snap the cursor changes shape. A small snap icon shadows the cursor around the graphics
window. The snap icon jumps to locations near the cursor. It also changes shape in relationship to
what it snaps to. When snapping to a circle center, endpoint, midpoint, quadrant or section, the icon is
a small box. When snapping tangent to a circle or arc, the icon is a small circle that can slide along the
circle or arc while maintaining tangency. Snapping to a grid point, the icon is a small plus sign. When
snapping to an object, the icon is a large dot. The following figure shows the cursors and icons of the
Graphics window along with the messages displayed in the status bar.

Drawing cursor
Tangent to circle “circ1” [0.75,0.75]
Snap Icon

Drawing cursor
Intersection of “circ1” and “ln2” [0.5,0.534]
Snap Icon

You can have more than one active snap mode at a time. With snaps, it’s easy to create any geometry
tangent to circles or arcs, pick the exact center of circles and so on.

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 Interface Tour

Geometry Toolbar
The Geometry Toolbar has a series of fly-out toolbars shown below.

Lines Fly-out Circles Fly-out Expand/Trim Fly- Dimensions Fly-out

out

Pick Fly-out Fillets Fly-out

Arcs Fly-out

Points
Has no fly-out

Steps Toolbar

The Steps Toolbox is also available as a toolbar. It is useful to display this toolbar if you want to
constantly view the Part View while still having the commands of the Steps Toolbox available. See
Chapter 2 for a description of these buttons.

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Interface Tour

Warping Dialog Boxes

During graphical selections, certain dialog boxes will warp out of the way
so that the dialog box does not cover the Graphics window. If you click a
button like the Pick curve button, the dialog box warps into a single
small title bar as shown below.

The cursor changes into a Pick cursor . Select the object on the screen and the
dialog will reappear. To cancel the pick, click on the red “X” in the small title bar.
To disable dialog warping, uncheck Warp Dialogs in the Options menu.

Customizing Toolbars
The appearance and contents of the toolbars can be customized by selecting Toolbars from the View
menu. The Customize toolbars dialog box is displayed.

Toolbars Tab
This dialog box has three different purposes.

Displaying/hiding toolbars - Check the checkbox in front a toolbar’s name to display it. Uncheck to
hide it.

Changing the display of toolbars. - The appearance of the toolbars can be either flat or 3D.The size
can be either large or small. Large buttons are recommended for low screen resolutions or touch
screens.

Creating/deleting toolbars - The New button will create a new toolbar. The Delete button will delete
the toolbar that is selected in the list. You can only delete toolbars that you create. The Reset selected
button will return the selected toolbar to its original state. The Default toolbars button will return all
the toolbars to their original state and delete any user-defined toolbars.

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 Interface Tour

Commands Tab and Misc. Tab

Clicking on the Commands tab puts the interface into
a mode that allows you to rearrange the buttons of the
interface. You can drag buttons from one toolbar to
another or drag a button from a toolbar into the
FeatureCAM window to remove it from the toolbar.

By clicking on one of the categories, buttons of that

type are displayed. Click on a button to receive a
description. You can drag one of these buttons onto
any toolbar.

The Misc. tab controls the appearance of the Steps

toolbox and the display of the status bar and assistance
bars.

Display mode bar and shading mode

By default, everything that you create in FeatureCAM is displayed as a line drawing in the graphics
window. Objects can also be viewed as a 2D cross section, 3D shaded or 3D hidden line drawings.
See the chart below for the display modes that apply to specific object types and how to activate each
type of graphics.

Lines Line drawings apply to points, geometry, dimensions, curves, milling features,
turning features, surfaces, solids, stock. It is the default display mode.

2D view Applies to stock for a turning setup and turning features. This mode is toggled by
clicking the 2D turned profiles button in the display mode toolbar.

Shaded • 3D shading applies to milling features, turning features, surfaces, solids. There
are a number of ways to shade and unshade objects.

• Toggle between line drawings and shaded graphics by clicking the Shade
button in the Standard toolbar.

• Shade specific objects on the screen by selecting the object and clicking the
Shade selected button in the Display mode toolbar. This is the only way
to shade features.

• Click the Unshade selected button to return the selected object to lines or
click the Unshade all button to return all objects to line drawings. These
buttons are in the Display mode toolbar.

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Interface Tour

Hidden line Hidden line graphics only apply to solids so it is best to hide all other objects and
display only solids while in this mode. Toggle the Hidden line button in the
Display mode toolbar to clip and remove the hidden lines of a solid.

The following figures show a solid displayed as lines, hidden lines and shaded.

Display mode toolbar

The buttons of Display mode toolbar, control the current display mode.

The Display mode toolbar has the following buttons to help you visualize and work with surfaces in
the model.

Shade selected shades the selected entities. This gives you a solid like view of the surfaces.

Unshade selected removes shading from the selected entities.

Unshade all unshades everything that is displayed.

Hide shaded isoline is a toggle switch to hide or show the lines of a surface or solid while it is
shaded.

Hidden line mode will display all solids as a hidden line drawing. Note that only lines within the
solid are hidden. It is best to hide everything and show only the solids to use this mode. Unclick the
button to turn off the mode.

Show normals displays the normals for selected surfaces in the model.

Unshow normals hides the normals for selected surfaces in the model.

Turning 2D view toggles the view of a turning stage between 2D or 3D line drawing view.

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 Interface Tour

Colors
Different colors are different for each object type. For example
geometry is black and objects you select turn red. You can change
the default color for object types by selecting Coloring from the
Options menu and then selecting Default colors. The Color menu
comes up. Click on the new color and click OK.

You can also change the color of any object, regardless of the object
type, by selecting Coloring from the Options menu and then
selecting Change selected.

33
Interface Tour

34
 Chapter 4
Making Your First 2 ½ D Part
NOTE: You must have FeatureMILL2.5D to perform this tutorial.

This chapter is a step-by-step tutorial for building a simple part and introducing you to:
• Creating features
• 3D viewing
• Generating toolpaths
• 3D toolpath simulation
• Automatic tool selection, feed/speed calculation
• Dynamically generated setup documentation

Stock Preparation
It is assumed that you have already prepared your stock. If you want to use FeatureCAM for this task,
you will want to use the Face feature to face the top of the part and use a Side feature with a line as the
profile to square an edge.

The First Time

1. Begin FeatureCAM by selecting FeatureCAM from the Start menu.
The first time you run FeatureCAM, the tool database is initialized. You’ll be prompted for some
information concerning your tool preferences and then the tool information is created based on
your answers.

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Making Your First 2 ½ D Part

Create a Part File

1. If the New Part Document Wizard is displayed, click New File, and click Next. Click Milling
Setup and click Inch or Millimeter depending on your preference and click Finish.

2. If the New Part Document is not displayed, click New Part Document button. Select Milling
Setup and click Inch or Millimeter depending on your preference and click OK.
3. In the Dimensions dialog box, enter 1 (25mm) for thickness, 4(100mm) for width, 5(120mm) for
length and click Finish. Next time you use FeatureMILL it will remember the stock dimensions
that you entered last.
4. Click OK in the Stock Properties dialog box
For reference, here is a dimensioned drawing of the sample part.
English Units Metric Units

4. Click the Features step from the Steps toolbar.

5. Select Hole and click Next.
6. Enter 0.5 (12mm) for the Diameter and click Next.
7. Enter 1.0 (25mm) for the X location of the hole center and 1.0 (25mm) for the Y location. Click
Next.
The Strategies page is presented. This page provides control over the types of operations that will be
used to cut the feature. The default operations for a hole are to spot drill and drill the hole. If the hole
had a chamfer, the default would be to cut the chamfer with the spot drill operation.
8. Accept the default strategy settings by clicking Next.
The Operations page shows a summary of the operations that will be created to cut the feature. The
names of the tools that have been automatically selected and the feeds and speeds are also displayed.
9. Click on the triangle next to the Finish button and select the Finish option.

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 Making Your First 2 ½ D Part

10. Create a rectangular pocket feature by clicking the Features step again from the Steps
toolbar.
11. Select Rectangular Pocket and click Next.
12. Accept the default dimensions by clicking Next.
13. Enter 0.75 (15mm) for X, 2.5 (60mm) for Y and 0 for Z. Click Next.
14. The Strategies page indicates that rough and finish operations will be created. Click Finish to
accept.

15. Use the Features step to create a second 0.5 (12mm) diameter hole at X=4 (95mm) and Y=3
(75mm).

16. Use the Features step to create another pocket just like the first, except positioned at X=2.5
(55mm), Y=0.5 (15mm).

Viewing
1. So far you have been viewing the part from the top view. Click the Isometric view button
from the standard toolbar to get a 3-dimensional view.

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Making Your First 2 ½ D Part

2. The Isometric view button is actually a menu.

Click on the triangle next to the button. A fly-out
menu is displayed. Click Front to display the front
view. Click Isometric to return to the isometric
view. See Chapter 3 for more information about
fly-out menus.
The sample part is complete. Now the simulation features will be used to see how the part will be
manufactured.

Toolpaths

Click the Toolpaths step . The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

1. Click the 3D button and click the Play button

to start the simulation. If the Ordering dialog
box appears click OK. These options will be
covered later.

2. A solid 3D rendering of the cutting process is

displayed.

ALERT! FeatureMILL runs simulations best in

256 color mode or higher. Depending on your
video settings, you might see a warning about
this. You may ignore this warning for this
tutorial.

3. Click the Play to Next Operation button. The spot drill operation is displayed. Click this
button to view each operation until the entire part is cut.

4. Click Eject. The Simulation toolbar is removed from the screen.

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 Making Your First 2 ½ D Part

Order of Manufacturing Operations

The Op. list tab on the right side of the window shows all of the operations that the features are
translated into. If you notice that there’s a yellow warning sign next to an operation, this is
FeatureCAM’s way of letting you know that there might be a problem with that operation. You can
ignore the warnings for now.

Follow these steps to see how to control the order of manufacturing in FeatureMILL.
1. Notice on the top of the Op. list tab window the Automatic Ordering radio button is selected. This
means that automatic rules are being applied to order the operations. Click the Ordering options

button.
2. Make sure that Minimize tool changes is the only one checked and click OK.

3. Click on the Steps toolbox and click the Toolpaths step . Click the 3D button and click the
play button. If the Ordering dialog box appears click OK. You’ll notice in the simulation that it
performs all the spot-drills, then the drills, and then the rough and finish milling for the pockets.

4. Click the Stop button when simulation is complete to exit simulation mode.
5. Click the Ordering options button again. Check Do finish cuts last, uncheck everything else and
click OK. Notice that the order of operations has changed in the Operation List.
6. Click the Play button again. You’ll notice in the simulation that the finish cuts for the two pockets
now are cut last.

7. Click the Stop button when simulation is complete.

8. Click the Ordering options button again. Uncheck everything and click OK. Now the operations
will have the same order as the features in the Part View.
9. Click on the Part View tab located above the Steps toolbox. This view shows you a list of all the
setups and features you have created. See Chapter 3 for details on the part view.
10. Click rect_pock2, the last name in the Part View list, and drag it up ahead of hole2.
11. Click the Play button again. The second pocket is now cut as the third feature.

12. Click the Stop button when simulation is complete.

So far the order of the operations is determined automatically by a set of rules. You can also specify an
exact ordering of operations.
13. Click the Manual Ordering radio button below the Automatic Ordering radio button. In the Fixed
Operation Ordering dialog box that appears click OK.

39
Making Your First 2 ½ D Part
14. Select an operation from the list and drag it either up or down.
15. Click the Play button again. You’ll notice that the simulation now performs the operations in the
order that you had specified.

16. Click the Stop button when simulation is complete.

17. Click the Automatic Ordering radio button and click OK
18. Click the Eject button to erase the simulation and remove the Simulation toolbar.

Part Documentation
Not only did the simulation model the manufacturing of the part, it also generated complete tool and
operations lists. The tools selected are based on the tool cribs you design so you’re always sure to
simulate what you can produce with the tools at hand. The information is already computerized and
can be printed for use as an operator’s checklist.

1. Click on the Details tab in the Results window. The operation sheet looks similar to this:
Op: 1 hole1 (spotdrill)
Op: 2 hole1 (drill)
Op: 3 rect_pock1 (rough1)
Op: 4 rect_pock1 (rough2)
Op: 5 rect_pock1 (finish)
Op: 6 rect_pock2 (rough1)
Op: 7 rect_pock2 (rough2)
Op: 8 rect_pock2 (finish)
Op: 9 hole2 (spotdrill)
Op: 10 hole2 (drill)
You can review this list using the scroll bars, or print it by selecting Print from the File menu. Set the
checkboxes for what you want to print and click OK

2. Click on the Tool List radio button at the top of the Details tab to show the Tooling list. The Tool
list contains all of the tools used to create the part based on the crib you have selected. The Tool
list looks similar to this:

Crib: basic
Summary:
Slot 1: center_5 D 0.1875 in.
Slot 2: TD_05000_1|2:J D 0.5000 in.
Slot 3: endmill0500:reg D 0.5000 in.
Slot 4: endmill0375:reg D 0.3750 in.

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 Making Your First 2 ½ D Part

Controlling the Automation

1. Click on the Part View and select hole1 from the list. Click the Properties button at the
bottom of the screen.
2. Click the Strategy tab.
3. Uncheck the Spot Drill checkbox and click OK.

4. Click the Toolpaths step . Click 3D and click the play button. Notice there is no spot
drilling for that hole this time. If you look through the operations list, notice there is now only one
spotdrill operation listed. FeatureMILL can optimize the part manufacturing process for you, but
you control the level of automatic optimization you want.
5. Click Eject.

NC Code
The purpose of FeatureMILL is to generate NC code to manufacture parts with CNC machines. After
you have simulated the part, you can generate NC code. Before you can generate NC code for a part,
you have to run a simulation to calculate toolpaths. If you are starting this part of the tutorial without
having just run the simulation described above, simulate your part now.

3. Click the NC Code step in the Steps toolbar.

4. Click the Display the NC code button in the dialog box to generate the NC code.

NOTE: If you are running an evaluation copy of FeatureMILL, a dongle, a device that attaches to the
computer printer port, is necessary to generate NC code, or save or export files and is not
available in the demonstration version. When you purchase FeatureMILL, a dongle is provided
to you.

Tool Mapping

1. Click the NC Code step in the Steps toolbar. Click the Re-map the tools button from
the dialog box. A dialog box is displayed shows that the tools are in the following order:

TD_0500_1|2:J 1
Endmill0500:reg 2
Endmill0375:reg 3
Center_5 4

2. In this dialog box you can modify the location of the tools in the tool changer. To move the center

41
Making Your First 2 ½ D Part
drill to the 5th position in the tool changer, click on Center_5 in the table.

3. Change the Tool from a 4 to a 5 in the Tool number field at the bottom of the dialog box and click
Set.

Note that you cannot change the number directly in the table.

4. Click OK.

Changing Post Processors

1. Follow the remaining steps to change your post processor and save the NC code.
2. From the Manufacturing menu, select Post Process.
3. Click Browse to view the post processors.
The default directory is c:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\M-lbry\Inch for English units. If you need
a metric post, browse up one directory level to M-lbry. Then browse the Metric directory.
4. Select your processor and click Open. Click OK in the Post Options dialog box. Your processor is
now selected. Run a simulation of the part to regenerate the NC code.

NOTE: Clicking Close will not change your post processor.

Saving NC Code

1. Click the NC Code step in the Steps toolbar. Click the Save NC button from the dialog
box.

2. Accept the default filename and directory and click OK.

You are ready to machine the part.

Saving the FeatureMILL Part

1. Select the Save button from the Standard toolbar.

2. Select the directory and then type your part name.

The Next Step

You’re done with this tutorial and have seen the basic functions of FeatureMILL. The next section
expands on this part by building a curve around the features. The curve is created with the layout and
drawing tools.

42
 Chapter 5
Features From Curves
NOTE: You must have FeatureMILL to perform this tutorial. It is recommended that you
complete Chapter 4 before starting this tutorial.

This tutorial builds on the one you just completed and introduces you to:
1. Creating geometry (lines, arcs, fillets, etc.)
2. Creating irregularly-shaped features
3. Contouring around a part and adjusting where the tool plunges
4. Open your sample part from the last chapter or if you skipped the earlier tutorial, open the
sample2.fm file or the mtrc_gsg.fm file for metric users. If you installed in the default directory,
these files should be in C:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\Examples\Tutorials\Features from Curves.

Setting the Snaps

1. Select Snapping Modes from the Options menu.
2. Check if the following buttons are enabled, if not, click on it to enable them and turn the others
off: Grid points, End points, Intersections, Circle centers, Tangent to objects. A white box will
surround a button when it’s turned on.
3. Click OK.

Building Circles
1. The Principal Views button in the Standard toolbar is a fly-out toolbar. Click the triangle
next to the button and then click on the Top button in the fly-out toolbar. It is usually easier to
draw geometry in this view. (For more information about the fly-out toolbar options, refer to
Chapter 3, Interface Tour.)

2. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox. Check the Create more than one checkbox
at the bottom of the dialog box and click the Circle from Rad, Center button. You can move
your mouse over an icon to read its label.

43
Features From Curves
3. Set R in the dialog bar (below the graphics window) to 0.75 inch (20mm).
4. Click near the center of one hole. The snap jumps to the grid at the hole’s center. If you miss the
hole center, click Undo (or select Undo in the Edit menu) and try again.
5. Repeat this action for the other hole. Your part looks similar to the figure below.

Drawing Lines
1. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox. Check the Create more than one checkbox

at the bottom of the dialog box and click the Line from 2 pts button .
2. For point 1 in the diagram below, click the top of the right circle. If the Snap Selection dialog
box appears, select Tangent to circle and click OK.

3. For the second point click on the upper left grid point, point 2, as shown with Xs above.
4. Continue building lines from point 2 to point 3, from point 4 to point 5, and from point 5 to point
5. The completed lines look like this:

44
 Features From Curves

6. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox. Check

the Create more than one checkbox at the bottom of the dialog

box and click the Corner Fillet button.

7. Set R in the dialog bar to 0.75 inch (20mm)
8. Click the point marked near the upper left corner. The diagram
on the right shows where to click to create the fillets. A corner
fillet appears automatically trimming the lines to fit.
9. Click the point marked near the lower right corner. A corner
fillet appears automatically trimming the lines to fit.

Chaining a Curve
1. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Select Chain into a closed boundary and click on the bottom line as shown.

FeatureMILL automatically chains a closed curve and chooses a smooth path so you don’t have to
chain all curves manually.

Feature from a Curve

1. With the curve still highlighted, click the Features step from the Steps toolbox.
2. Select Boss and click Next.
3. The curve you selected is already selected in this dialog box. Keep on clicking Next until you get
to the Dimensions page of the dialog.
4. Set the Height to 0.75 (20mm).
5. Click Finish.

45
Features From Curves

Simulate the Part

You are now ready to simulate your part.

1. Click Isometric from the Principal

views fly-out.

5. Click the Toolpaths step from the Steps

toolbar and click the 3D simulation
button and then the play button.
6. Click OK in the Ordering dialog box and the
3D simulation is displayed in the graphics window.

7. Click the Eject button to clear the screen.

Modifying the Boss Feature to Contour Around the Part

If you watched the simulation carefully, you saw that the boss feature performed both a roughing and
finishing operation. To simply contour around the outer boundary of the part, you’ll need to eliminate
the roughing operation. The operations that are initially created for a feature are specified on the
Strategies page of the New Feature wizard, but you can easily modify the strategy for any existing
feature.

1. Pick the Boss feature and click the Properties button at the bottom of the screen.

2. The Properties dialog box comes up. This dialog box contains the pages of the New Feature
wizard as separate tabs.

3. Click on the Strategy tab. Notice that the Rough and Finish checkboxes are checked. Uncheck
the Rough checkbox, and click OK.

4. Simulate the toolpaths again using the Toolpaths step .

46
 Features From Curves

Changing the Plunge Point

The tool ramped on and off the part at the location that you chained the curve. In this case, the tool is
plunging on the stock. To change the plunge point for this operation:

1. Click on the triangle next to the Principal Views button then click on the Top button in the
fly-out toolbar

2. Pick the Boss feature and click the Properties button at the bottom of the screen.

3. The left-hand side of the dialog box contains the tree view. It shows the feature with its operations
listed underneath. By clicking on an operation in the tree view, you can modify an operation.

4. Click on the finish operation in the tree view. The tabs of the dialog box change to represent
information specific to the operation. Click on the Milling tab. This tab contains the various
attributes for changing the toolpaths that
are generated for the operation.

5. Click on the Plunge point(s) attribute.

6. Click the Pick location button that

appears at the bottom of the dialog box.

7. Click at a location below the part.

Note that if you pick a location that is too

close to the part, the plunge point is
ignored that the toolpaths will remain
unchanged.

8. Click OK.

9. Click the Toolpaths step , click the

centerline simulation button and the
play button to view the changes in the toolpath.

The Next Step

You have completed this Tutorial.

47
Features From Curves

48
 Chapter 6
Introduction to Turning
NOTE: You must have FeatureTURN or FeatureTURN/MILL to perform these tutorials.

If you want to evaluate FeatureTURN:

1. Select FeatureCAM from the Start menu.
2. From the File menu, choose Evaluation Options and make sure Turning is checked.
3. Click OK.
The example is a simple turned part designed to introduce you to several of the drawing and machining
tools available in FeatureTURN. The tutorial walks you through creating the part and introduces you
to FeatureTURN's automation and ease of use.

The First Time

1. Select FeatureCAM from the Start Menu.
The first time you run FeatureCAM, the material and tool database is initialized. You'll be prompted
for some information concerning your tool preferences and then the tool information is created based
on your answers.

49
Introduction to Turning

Create a Part File

1. If the New Part Document Wizard is displayed, click New File, and click Next. Click Turn/Mill
and click Inch or Millimeter depending on your preference and click Finish.

2. If the New Part Document Wizard is not displayed Click New Part Document button. Click
Turn/Mill and the Inch or Millimeter radio button depending on your preference. Click OK.
3. A Turning setup will default to a round stock. Once in stock properties set the OD to 4 (100mm),
Length to 5 (125mm), and ID to 0.
4. Click on the triangle next to the Finish button and
select the Finish and Edit properties and set Z to
0.0625 (1.5mm) and click OK.
5. Select Turning input modes from the Options menu.
Make sure that 3D is checked.
6. Select Set tool crib from the Manufacturing menu. Click on the Tools crib and click OK.

7. Click on the triangle of the View fly-out on the Standard tool bar and choose Center All to
bring your entire drawing into view.

8. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox. Check the Create more than one checkbox

at the bottom of the dialog box and click the Line from 2 pts button . On the bottom of the
screen, type in these points to create two lines that define the OD profile: (X=2(50mm), Y=0, Z= -
3.5 (-88mm)), (X= 1 (25mm), Y=0, Z= -3.5 (-88mm)). Press ENTER. Now you should see a line
drawn. Create a second line with the values (X=1 (25mm), Y=0, Z= -3.5 (-88mm)), (X=1 (25mm),
Y=0, Z=0) and press ENTER.

9. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox and select Chamfer from the list of
Fillet commands. Enter width=0.25(6mm) and height=0.25(6mm) at the bottom of the screen and
click your mouse close to the chamfer location as shown in the figure and the chamfer will snap
into place. Click your mouse button to place the chamfer on your drawing. Notice how the
chamfer automatically trims your lines.

50
 Introduction to Turning

Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox and click the Line from 2 pts button . Use
the following values: (X=0.625(16mm), Y=0, Z=0), (X=0.625(16mm), Y=0, Z= -3.75 (-94mm)).
Press the ENTER key.

10. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar. Click the Chain into open boundary button

. Click on locations 1,2,3 as shown in the figure below. Each line segment will change color
when it is selected. Name this curve "Turn" and press the ENTER key.

11. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar. Click the Chain into open boundary button

. Chain the Bore ID curve by clicking on locations 4 and 5. Label it "Bore" and press the
ENTER key. Your drawing should look like the one below.

Making Features
The 2D Turned Profiles button is located on the display mode toolbar and will simplify the
screen. Annotations have been added below to show the 7 features that make up the part.

51
Introduction to Turning

1. Click Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

Note: For Turn/Mill users only, an extra form will pop up asking the user to choose Turning or
Turn/Mill. If this appears select Turning.

2. On the New Feature form, select Turn and click Next.

3. You will now pick the curve graphically. Click on the Pick Curve button . The dialog box
will warp to reveal the Graphics window beneath. Click on the curve you named “Turn” earlier.
Since this pick could be either the curve or the line you may see the Select dialog box. This box
helps to clarify a pick. In this case, select “Turn” from the list and click OK and then click Next in
the New Feature – Curve dialog box.
4. Accept the default strategy settings by clicking Finish.

5. Create a Facing Feature by clicking the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.
6. Click Face and click Next.
7. Set Outer Diameter to 4 (100mm), Inner Diameter to 0, Thickness to 0.0625 (1.5mm). Note that a
face feature automatically knows the OD and ID values from the stock properties. Click Finish to
accept the default values for the rest of the dialog boxes.

8. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

9. Click the 3D button and the Play button. Click OK in the Ordering dialog if it appears. The
following simulation is displayed. Click the Eject button to return to the drawing view.

10. Use the Features step from the Steps Toolbar to create a hole. On the Dimensions page set
the Diameter to 1.0 (24mm), Depth to 3.75 (94mm). Click Next and set Z to 0 and click Finish.
11. Create a bore feature by using the same process you used to create the turn feature. Use the curve
you named “Bore”.
12. Click on the triangle of the Principal views fly-out

on the Standard tool bar and click on the

Isometric button from the fly-out to see an isometric view
of your part.

52
 Introduction to Turning

13. Click the Toolpaths button in the Steps toolbox and view a 3D simulation by clicking the 3D
button and the Play button. Click the Eject button to clear the screen
14. Return to the Principal Views fly-out and select Top to return to the original view.

15. Click the Features step and select the Groove radio button in the From Dimensions group.
On the Dimensions page set Location to ID, Orientation to X-axis, Diameter to 1.25 (31mm),
Depth to 0.125 (3mm), Width to 0.250(6mm), Leave the other settings at 0. Click Next and set Z to
–3 (-75mm). Click Finish.

16. Use the Features step and select the Thread radio
button in the From Dimensions groups. On the
Dimension page, check Get the dimensions from a
standard thread, click OD and select the 2.0000-
4.5UNC (M50-15 for metric) thread. Click Next.
17. On the Dimensions page set Thread to Right Hand,
Thread Length to 1.0 (24mm). Click Finish.

18. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps toolbox and

view a 2D simulation by clicking the 2D button and
the Play button. Click the Eject button to clear the screen.

19. Use the Features step to make a Cutoff Feature. On the Dimensions page set Diameter to
4(100mm), Inner Diameter to 0, Width to 0.122 (3mm), Click Next and set Z to -4.5 (-112mm).
Click Finish.
The sample part is complete. Watch a 2D simulation followed by a 3D simulation to view the finished
part.

53
Introduction to Turning

Ordering of Operations
You can control the ordering of operations by modifying the Turn Operation Template. This template
lists the manufacturing order of the various turning features.

1. Click the Ordering option button on the Op. List tab in the Results window.

2. The Automatic ordering option dialog box comes up. Click on the Use template radio button and
click the Edit template button.

3. The default order is shown on the left. Click on Rough OD Turn and click the down arrow until it
is located under the Finish ID Turn operation. Click on Finish OD TURN and click the down
arrow until it is located under Finish ID Turn. Click OK twice.

4. Simulate the toolpaths and you’ll notice that the OD roughing and finishing now happen after the
hole is drilled.

Part Documentation
FeatureTURN will automatically generate a Manufacturing Operation sheet and a Tool list. The
Manufacturing Operation sheet appears by default in the Results window. It contains information such
as machining time, tools selected, feeds and speeds, and horsepower requirements for the various
operations. A Tool list is also created that gives all the specification and slot assignments for the tools
used to manufacture your part.

1. Click on the Details tab at the bottom of the Results window. Each operation of the process plan
is listed in order.

2. Click on the Tool List radio button at the top of the Details tab. Now the tool list is presented in
the Results window. This document provides a summary of all the tools required for the job as
well as details of each tool.

You can print this documentation by selecting Print from the File menu.

54
 Introduction to Turning

NC Code
After you have simulated the part, you can generate NC code. FeatureTURN comes with many post
processors and the ability to create custom post processors as well.

Before you can generate NC code for a part, you have to run a simulation to calculate toolpaths. If you
are starting this part of the tutorial without having just run the simulation described above, simulate
your part now.

1. Click the NC code step in the Steps toolbar.

2. Click the Display the NC code button in the dialog box to generate the NC code.

NOTE: If you are running an evaluation copy of FeatureTURN, a dongle, a device that
attaches to the computer printer port, is necessary to generate NC code, or save or
export files and is not available in the demonstration version. When you purchase
FeatureTURN, a dongle is provided to you.

Changing Post Processors and Saving NC Code

1. If you are running FeatureTURN, default post processor is for a Bridgeport machine. Follow the
remaining steps to change your post processor and save the NC code.
2. From the Manufacturing menu, select Post Process.
3. Click Browse to view the post processors.
4. The default directory is c:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\T-lbry\Inch for English units. If you need a
metric post, browse up one directory level to M-lbry. Then browse the Metric directory.
5. Select your processor and click Open. Click OK in the Post Options dialog box. Your processor is
now selected. Run a simulation of the part to regenerate the NC code.

NOTE: Clicking Close will not change your post processor.

6. Click the NC code step in the Steps toolbar. Click the Save NC button from the dialog
box.
7. Accept the default filename and directory and click OK.
You are ready to machine the part.

Saving the FeatureTURN Part

1. Select the Save button from the Standard toolbar.

2. Select the directory and then type your part name and click OK.

55
Introduction to Turning

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial.

56
 Chapter 7
Advanced Turning and
Machine Simulation
NOTE: You must have FeatureTURN, Multi-turret Turning and Machine Simulation to
perform this tutorial.

This chapter introduces you to:

• Creating subspindles

• Using Machine simulation

• Setting up a second turret

• Synchronizing operations

Getting Started
All files for this tutorial are located in \Examples\Tutorials\Multi-turret Turning\ where you

57
Advanced Turning and Machine Simulation
installed FeatureCAM. If you installed the program in the default directory, these files should be in
C:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\Examples\Tutorials\Multi-turret Turning\.

1. Open the tutorial file twinturret_tutorial.fm

Setup Machine Simulation

1. Select Toolbars from the View menu. Make sure that Advanced option is checked and click OK.
Click the Setups button from the Advanced toolbar.

2. Select Setup1 from the drop-down list and click Edit. Keep clicking Next until you get to the
Setup - Simulation information page.

3. Click the Browse button and locate c:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\Examples\

Tutorials\Multi-turret Turning\TURNING_INDEX_G200.md.

4. Select the file and click Open.

5. Click Finish and then click Close in the Setups dialog box.

6. From the Manufacturing menu, select Post Process.

7. Click Browse to view the post processors.

8. Go to the directory c:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\Examples\Tutorials\Multi-turret Turning\.

9. Select the Moriseiki with Mitsubishi Mill-turn upper and lower example.CNC processor and click
Open.

10. Enter X = 18 and Z =0 for the Tool Change Location. Click OK. Your processor is now selected
and the tool change location is set.

11. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps

Toolbox to bring up the simulation toolbar.

12. Click the Machine simulation button

and then click the Single Step button.
Click OK if the Ordering dialog box
appears. You should now see the machine
displayed on your screen.

13. Click the right mouse button in the

graphics window to bring up the View fly-
out menu. Use the viewing options to get a good view of the machine.

58
 Advanced Turning and Machine Simulation
14. Click the Play button. You should now see the machine parts moving and cutting the part.

You can use the options in the View fly-out menu during the simulation to get a better view without
pausing the simulation.

15. Click the Eject button.

Add a Subspindle Feature

So far we have been dealing with a single spindle. Now we’ll introduce a second spindle, or a
subspindle, to our setup.
1. Click on the Part View above the Steps Toolbar.
2. Notice that we have a number of spindle features already created:
main_off
sub_off
sub_open_and_drop
sub_pos_in
sub_close
main_on_sync
sub_on_sync
3. Select Setup1 from the list.

4. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

5. If the New Feature – Type dialog box is displayed, select Turning and click Next.
6. Select Subspindle and click Next.
7. Select Sub Spindle and Position the spindle radio buttons and click Next.
8. Check the Send the subspindle home checkbox and click Finish. If the Sub Spindle Properties
dialog box appears click OK.
9. Click on Part View and notice the new subspindle feature added to the end of the list under the
label Setup1.
10. Select the new subspindle feature from the Part View list and right click. Select Rename and type
in “sub_home” as the new name. Now all the subspindle moves are complete.

Add a Bar Feed Feature

1. Select Setup1 from the Part View and select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. If the New Feature – Type dialog box is displayed, select Turning and click Next.

3. Select Bar Feed and click Next.

59
Advanced Turning and Machine Simulation
4. Enter 3.0 for Diameter and 4.2 for Feed Amount. Click on the down arrow next to the Finish
button and select the Finish and Edit Properties option.

5. Enter –4.2 for the Z location and click OK.

Run Subspindle Simulation

1. Click on Part View and check all the boxes that are unchecked in all the setups. All the
checkboxes in the Part View should now be checked.

2. Click on the Op List tab at the bottom of the Results window.

3. Point your mouse over the Operations column header and click the right mouse button. This will
bring up a fly-out menu.

4. Check the Show Setup option. This will display a new column in the Operation List called Setup
Name. This column lets you know which spindle will be used to run an operation.

Notice that all the features listed under Setup1 in the Part View have the setup name of Main spindle in
the Operation List. These features will be cut on the main spindle of the machine. Features listed under
Setup2 will be cut on the subspindle.

5. Hold down the CTRL key and select the last two operations in the Operation List. While still
holding down the CTRL key, drag the lines up and place them right below the cutoff operation.

6. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. Click the Machine simulation button
and click Play. You should now see the machine parts moving and cutting the part on both the
main spindle and the subspindle.

Notice that the operations were simulated twice. This is done to show how production turning works.
This feature will become more apparent at the end of this tutorial.

7. Click the Eject button.

60
 Advanced Turning and Machine Simulation

Setup Second Turret

1. Click on the Op List tab in the Results window.

2. Point your mouse over the Operations

column header and click the right mouse
button. Check the Show Turret option.
This will display the turret number to the
left of the tool name.

3. Shift select all the operations in the Operations List that are on the Sub Spindle (select the first
subspindle operation, hold down the SHIFT key and select the last operation).

4. Click the right mouse button and select the Set opers to ‘Lower turret’ option. Notice that now the
turret number for those operations has changed from P1 to P2. These operations will now run on
the machine’s second or lower turret.

5. Click the Turrets tab in the Results window. Here you can see the turret and spindle that each
operation is associated with and the total time for cutting the part.

6. Click on the Timeline that appears at the top of the Turrets window and drag it left and right while
holding down the left mouse button to make it shorter or longer.

Synchronize Operations
1. Select the last hole drill operation block in the Sub Spindle section (You may need to extend the
timeline to view the operation).

2. Hold down the CTRL key and select on the main_off operation block in the Main spindle section (
You can move your mouse over an operation block to
display the name of the operation)

3. Click the right mouse button and select the option Set
sync for ‘radial_pattern1.hole2.drill’ before
‘main_off.Main spindle off’.

4. Notice that now the operations have been shifted and a

new synchronization point is set. The main_off
operation will now happen after the drill operation.

5. Select the bore2 finish operation in the Main spindle

section.

6. Hold down the CTRL key and select the bore1 rough pass 1 operation block in the Sub Spindle
section.

7. Click the right mouse button and select the option Set sync for ‘bore2.finish’ before ‘bore1.rough

61
Advanced Turning and Machine Simulation
pass 1’.

Now there should be a total of two synchronization points set.

Run Synchronized Multi-Turret Simulation

1. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. Click the Machine simulation button
and click Play.

2. Notice that now both turrets are running in a synchronized fashion based on the synchronization
points that we set earlier.

3. Click the Eject button

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial.

62
 Chapter 8
Creating a Turn/Mill Part
NOTE: You must have licensed the Turn/Mill option to run this tutorial.

This tutorial is only available in inch units.

In this tutorial you will learn to:

• Create parts for lathes with milling capabilities

• Mix turning and milling features

• Create milling features on the OD and face of the part

• Accurately simulate a turn/mill part

The following part will be created in this tutorial:

Getting Started
1. Start FeatureCAM.

2. Click New Part Document button.

3. Click on Turn/Mill, click Inch and click OK.

63
Creating a Turn/Mill Part
4. In the stock dialog enter 3 for the OD, 2 for the Length and 0 for the ID and click Finish. (if this
dialog box does not display automatically, click the Stock step from the Steps toolbox). Click OK
in the Stock Properties dialog box if it appears.

5. From the Options menu select Turning Input Modes and check Diameter.

Creating a Turned Feature

1. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox and click
the Connected Lines button . .

2. On the bottom of the screen, type in these points to create two

lines that define the OD profile: (D1=2.5, Z1= 0), (D2=2.5, Z=
-1.5). Press ENTER. Type the values (D2=2.75, Z= -1.5). Press
ENTER. Type (D2=2.75, Z=-2.0) and press ENTER.

3. Select the Geometry step from the Steps Toolbox and click
the Corner fillet button .

4. Enter 0.125 as the radius at the bottom of the screen and click at
the location labeled as Corner radius in the figure.

5. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar. Click the

Chain into open boundary button . Click on the locations

labeled 1 and 2 in the figure. Click ENTER.

6. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

7. Click Turning and click Next.

8. Click Turn and click Finish.

9. Click Isometric from the Principal Views fly-out.

10. Click the 2D turned profiles button in the display mode toolbar to turn on 3D line drawing
view. For details on the Display mode toolbar, see (Chapter 3, Interface Tour).

64
 Creating a Turn/Mill Part

Creating a Radial Pattern on the Face

1. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click Turn/Mill and click Next.

3. Click Hole and Make pattern from this feature and click Next.

4. Enter 1.0 for the Depth, 0.0 for the Chamfer and 0.25 for the
Diameter and click Next.

5. Click Radial and click Next.

6. Enter 3.0 for the Number, 2.0 for the Diameter, 120 for the Spacing Angle, 60 for the Angle and
click Axial for the Feature Orientation and click Finish.

Engraving on the Face

1. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar and select the

Create curves using curve wizard button.

2. Click Other methods, click Text and click Next.

3. Enter TURNMILL as the Text, click Linear as the Type. Enter (0.0,
-0.045 ,0.0) as the X, Y and Z locations. Enter –90 as the Angle.
Enter Center as the Justification, Enter 0.4 and 0.4 as the X and Y
Scaling.

4. Click Font and select Machine Tool Gothic for the font type and 72 for
the font size. Click OK and then Finish.

5. Select the text string in the graphics window and click the Features

step from the Steps Toolbar.

6. Select Turn/Mill and click Next.

7. Select Groove and click Next until you get to the Dimensions page of the dialog box.

8. On the Dimensions page, enter 0.0625 as the Width, click Simple and Face, and enter 0.02 as the
Depth.

9. Click Finish.

65
Creating a Turn/Mill Part

Creating a Pattern of Wrapped Slots

1. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click Turn/Mill and click Next.

3. Click Slot and Make pattern from this feature and click Next.

4. Set Length to 1.0, Width to 0.5, Depth to 0.25 and click Next.

5. Select Radial and click Next.

6. Set Number to 3, Diameter to 2.5, Spacing Angle to 120, Angle to 120 and Feature Orientation to
Radial. Click Next.

7. Set Z to 0.25.

8. Click the triangle located in the Finish button and click

Finish and Edit Properties. This brings up the
properties dialog box for the pattern and allows us to
change some additional attributes.

9. Click Wrap feature around Z axis and click OK.

Simulating a Turn/Mill Part

1. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The Simulation

toolbar is displayed.

2. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play . Notice how the
toolpaths are accurately simulated including the part rotations.

3. Click Eject at the completion of the simulation

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial. If you want to see other examples of turn/mill parts, look in the
examples/turnmill directory.

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 Chapter 9
Features from 3D CAD
Models
NOTE: You must have FeatureMILL with the FeatureRECOGNITION option or
FeatureMILL3D to perform this tutorial.

This tutorial is only available in metric units. The part will be recognized twice, first using the AFR
wizard and second using other feature recognition techniques.

In this tutorial you will learn to:

• Import 3D models

• Dynamically shade 3D models

• Create features directly from 3D solid models using both automatic feature recognition and more
interactive methods.

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Features from 3D CAD Models

Tool Cribs
You must have metric tooling loaded to perform this tutorial. If you do not have metric tools in your
database:

1. Exit FeatureCAM by selecting Exit from the File menu.

2. Click on the Start menu. Click on Programs (or All Programs). Select InitDB from the
FeatureCAM program group. Or you can run Initdb.exe from the program directory where
FeatureCAM is installed.

3. Select On my local computer and click Next.

4. Select Both and click Next.

5. Answer the questions of the wizard and click Finish at the end.

Importing the CAD Model

1. Start FeatureCAM.

2. Click New Part Document button.

3. Click on Milling Setup, click Millimeter and click OK.

4. In the Dimensions dialog box, click Finish. Click OK if the Stock Properties dialog appears.

5. Select Import/export options from the File menu. Check Import SAT, SLDPRT, MOD, DXF &
X_T as solids. Check Center stock automatically and click OK.

6. Select Import from the File menu and browse to C:\Program

Files\FeatureCAM\Examples\Tutorials\3D models.

7. Select files of type ACIS and select Tutor9.sat and click Open.

8. Select Use the wizard option in the Import Results dialog box and keep clicking Next until you get
to the Stock Dimensions page.

9. Select Compute stock size from the size of the part and click Finish. The stock is now resized.

10. Click on the Part view. Click on the “+” next to the Solids category. Notice that solid1 is listed.
This is the solid model you just imported. Click back onto the Steps toolbox.

11. Click Isometric from the Principal Views fly-out. You’ll notice that the stock has been
resized but the setup is located at the center of the stock.

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 Features from 3D CAD Models

12. Click the Setups button from the Advanced toolbar.

13. Click Edit and click Next.

14. Select Align to Stock Face and click Next.

15. Click the button on the lower left end of the stock picture.

16. Click Finish and click Close. The stock has now been aligned to the stock face.

17. Select Set tool crib from the Manufacturing menu. Click on the tools crib and click OK. Notice at
the bottom of the window, in the Status bar the current tool crib has been changed to tools.

Shade the Part

1. Click the Shade button.

2. This shaded view makes it easier to see the cavities in the model. Remember, at this point the part
model contains only surfaces.

3. Toggle the Shade button to turn off the shading.

Automatic Feature Recognition

This entire part can be automatically recognized using the automatic feature recognition (AFR) wizard.

1. Click the AFR step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click the Next button twice.

3. The features that were just recognized are listed. Click the Finish button.

4. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

5. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play . If the Ordering dialog box appears, click
OK.

6. Click the Eject button.

Note that all features of the model were automatically recognized and the part is ready to cut.
With many parts automatic feature recognition is all you need to program your part, but with
others, you may need to use some of the other feature recognition techniques.

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Features from 3D CAD Models
For the sake of demonstration you will remove the features you just created and reprogram
them using additional feature recognition techniques.

7. Click the Undo button to remove the features you created so far.

Recognize All Holes Using Another Method

1. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click Hole and Extract with FeatureRECOGNITION and

click Next.

3. Click Recognize and construct multiple holes and click

Next.

4. The holes that are automatically recognized are shown on

the screen. Three holes were recognized along with the
circular pocket in the middle. We want to ignore the
center pocket, so select the three other holes with the
mouse and click Finish.

5. Click OK if the Pattern Properties dialog box appears. The three holes have now been recognized.

6. Click the Ordering options button in the Op. list tab.

7. Click on Cut higher operations first, Minimize tool changes

and Minimize rapid distance. Click OK.

8. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The

Simulation toolbar is displayed.

9. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play

10. Click the Eject button.

Recognizing All Pockets Automatically

1. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click Pocket and Extract with FeatureRECOGNITION and click Next.

3. Click Automatic recognition and click Next.

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 Features from 3D CAD Models

4. Click Select all and click Finish.

5. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The

Simulation toolbar is displayed.

6. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play .

7. Click the Eject button.

Create a Slot Feature Using the Pick Surface Button

1. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

2. Click Slot and Extract with FeatureRECOGNITION.

3. Click Next.

4. Click the Pick surface button and click on

location 1. If the Select dialog box comes up, select
the name that corresponds to the surface at location
1 and click OK. (The surfaces are highlighted in the
graphics window as you select the names.)

5. Click the Pick surface button again and click on

location 2. Select the surface from the Select dialog
box and click OK.

6. Click Next and review the extracted slot dimensions

and click Finish.

Create a Side Feature

1. Select Top from the Principal Views fly-out.

2. Drag-select the region shown below.

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Features from 3D CAD Models

3. Select Isometric from the Principal Views fly-out.

4. Click the Shade button to turn on shading. The shaded view will make it easier to select faces
on the surface.

5. Hold down the SHIFT key and click on the side of the hole pattern that is selected as shown in the
image. This will remove the hole pattern from the
selected group.

6. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

7. Click Side and Extract with FeatureRECOGNITION and

click Next.

8. Click Select side surfaces and click Next.

9. Click Next.

10. If the blue arrow is pointing to the inside of the part, click
the Reverse side button until the blue arrow points to
the outside of the part.

11. Click Finish.

Simulate the Entire Part

1. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox.

The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

2. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play

.

3. Click Eject at the completion of the simulation.

The Next Step

The features for the entire part have been created directly from the surfaces of the solid model. Using
FeatureCAM’s feature-based manufacturing automation, this part can be created quickly and easily.

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 Chapter 10
Introduction to 3D
NOTE: You must have FeatureMILL3D to perform the examples in this chapter. These
examples are only specified in inch units. You must have the basic tool crib installed.

This example introduces:

• Modeling 3D surfaces
• Manufacturing surfaces using surface milling features
• Manufacturing operations
• Tool selection
• 3D manufacturing attributes
In this example you will model and create manufacturing toolpaths for the following part.

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Introduction to 3D

Introduction to 3D Modeling
1. Start FeatureCAM.

2. Click New Part Document button.

3. Click on Milling Setup, click Inch and click OK.

4. In the Dimensions dialog box, click Block and set Width to 3, Length to 6.25 and Thickness to 2.0.

5. Click Finish.

6. Select Toolbars from the View menu.

On the Toolbars tab, make sure that
Geometry and Advanced are checked and
click OK.

7. Click on the lines fly-out menu and

select Vertical.

8. On the bottom of the screen, type in 1.0

for X, 0.0 for Z and press the ENTER
key.

9. Create two more lines at X= 5.25 and X =

6.0.

10. Click on the lines fly-out and select

Horizontal. Create horizontal lines at Y=
0.5, 1.125, and 1.5.

11. Click on the lines fly-out menu and select

Line at Angle thru Pt.. Type 30 as the angle and click at the intersection labeled Pt Angle Location
in the figure.

12. Click on the arc fly-out menu and select

Arc from Radius, 2Pts. Enter 0.5 as the
radius and click on locations 1 and 2.

13. Create another arc of radius 1.0 and click

at location 3 and 4. Create another arc of
radius 1.0 at locations 5 and 6.

14. Select the Curves step from the

Steps Toolbox. Select Chain pieces into

an open… button. Click at the locations 7 and 8.

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 Introduction to 3D

Create the Bottle Surface

1. Click the Surfaces step from the Steps

Toolbox.

2. Click Surface of Revolution and click Next.

3. Click the Pick curve button and select the

curve you chained.

4. Enter 0.0 for Start angle, and 180 for End angle.

5. Click the Pick line button and select the top

horizontal line (the one at Y=1.5).

6. Click Finish.

7. Click Isometric from the Principal Views fly-out.

To control how the part is displayed you can change the values in the Viewing Options dialog box.

8. Select Viewing… from the Options menu.

9. Uncheck the Show surface boundaries only checkbox and hit Apply. You should now see your part
drawn with lines in the interior of the surface. For large models, this option will make the display
of the part slower.

10. Enter 20 for Wireframe and hit Apply. The surface will now be drawn with more lines. Decreasing
the value of Surface fineness will improve the display quality but can slow down the graphics.

11. Select Hide All Geometry from the Hide fly-out.

Introduction to 3D Manufacturing
1. Click on the Select button.

2. Select the surface.

3. Click the Features step .

4. Select the Surface Milling radio button.

5. Click Next twice to get to the New Strategy page of the dialog box.

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Introduction to 3D
6. Click Choose rough, semi finish, and finish … and click Next.

7. Click Z level rough and click Next.

8. Select None and click Next.

9. Select Isoline and click Finish and Edit.

10. Click on Z level in the tree view.

11. Select the Strategy tab and check Classify slices as pocket.

Simulating the Entire Part

1. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

2. Click the 3D simulation button and click Play .

3. Click Eject at the completion of the simulation

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial and can move to the next chapter for more advanced 3D
manufacturing techniques.

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 Chapter 11
Advanced 3D Milling
NOTE: You must have FeatureMILL3D to perform this tutorial.

In this example you will import a 3D IGES surface model and create 4 different types of toolpaths for
manufacturing the part.

Import the Part

1. Click the New Part Document button.

2. Click Milling Setup, Inch, and click OK.

3. Click Finish in the Dimensions dialog box. If the Stock Properties dialog box appears click OK.

4. Select Import/Export Options from the File menu.

5. Check Center stock automatically and click OK.

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Advanced 3D Milling
6. Select Import from the File menu.

7. Select IGES as Files of type.

8. Select phone.igs from c:\Program Files\FeatureCAM\examples\3D and click Open.

9. Click No in the pop-up window.

10. Select the Use the wizard option in the Import Results dialog box and keep clicking Next until you
get to the Stock Dimensions page.

11. Click Compute stock size from the size of the part, and click Finish.

Create the 3D Strategy

1. Click on the Isometric button from the Principal views fly-out.

2. Select Select all from the Edit menu.

3. Select the Features step from the Steps Toolbar.

4. Click Surface Milling and click Next twice.

5. Click Choose rough, semi finish, and finish … and click Next.

6. Click Z level rough.

7. Check Flat surface support and click Next.

8. Select Z Semi and click Next.

9. Select Z Level and click on the triangle next to the Finish button and select the Finish and Edit
Properties option.

10. Select the second z-level operation in the list.

11. Check the Interleave spiral paths checkbox and click OK.

12. Click on Manufacturing and select Post Process.

13. Change the Tool Change Location Z to be 2.0

14. Press OK.

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 Advanced 3D Milling

Simulating the Toolpaths

1. Click the Toolpaths step in the Steps Toolbox. The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

2. Click the Centerline simulation button and click Play .

3. Click the Erase button to temporarily clear the screen.

4. Click on the Op List tab in the Results window.

5. Select the first operation in the Operations List and click the Preview toolpaths button.

6. Click the Play Selected button from the simulation toolbar to see the toolpath for this
operation.

7. Click on the different operations and click the Play Selected button to see the different
simulations.

Z Rough Z Semi Finish

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Advanced 3D Milling

Z Level Interleave

Clean Up the Fillets

1. Click on Part View. Select srf_mill1 from the list and click the Properties button at the
bottom of the screen

2. Click the Process tab.

3. Click the Add new operation button. Click Pencil and click Next.

4. Click the Finish radio button

5. Click on the finish3 process in the tree view

6. Select tooling and then select a 0.25 diameter Ball

endmill.

7. Click the Finish button at the bottom of the dialog box.

8. Click the Preview toolpaths button in the

Operations List portion of the Manufacturing Results
window. The dialog box will warp.

9. Click the Play selected button in the simulation toolbar. A single toolpath is created along
the fillet. Note that this operation takes some time to calculate.

10. Click the Stop button.

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 Advanced 3D Milling

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial. In addition the machining strategies used above, FeatureCAM has
the following finishing strategies:

Parallel Machining
The Parallel machining strategy
machines the part in a series of
parallel passes at a specified angle
and stepover. A second
perpendicular pass can be applied
to improve surface finish in steep
areas.

Radial and Spiral Machining

The Radial machining strategy machines a
part with a series of passes which radiate
from a center point. Spiral machining
machines the part with a single continuous
spiral pass. In the example to the right the
outer area has been machined with the
Radial strategy, the center area using
Spiral.

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Advanced 3D Milling
Flowline Machining
In this strategy a control surface is used to guide the direction of machining. This enables the
production of toolpaths with an exceptional level of control over surface finish. With suitable cutters it
is possible to use the flowline strategy to machine undercuts without the use of a 5 axis machinetool.

Flowline machining of a blowmold part

Flowline machining of an undercut feature

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 Advanced 3D Milling
Isoline Machining
In this strategy each surface on a part is machined in a user defined direction. This gives a great level
of control over the surface finish and tool loading. The example below shows a jug mold which has
been machined using the Isoline strategy. Note how the cutting direction on each surface has been
chosen to give the best finish.

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Advanced 3D Milling

Four Axis Machining

FeatureCAM rotary machining allows the user to generate four axis toopaths for finish machining. The
tool moves in 3 axes whilst the workpiece rotates around a rotary axis. Rotary moves may be indexing
or continuous.

For further information about all of the above strategies please download
the advanced 3D machining tutorials from our website:
www.featurecam.com

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 Chapter 12
Solid Modeling
Note: You must have the Solid Modeling Option to perform this tutorial.

This tutorial introduces you to the solid modeling capabilities of FeatureCAM by creating a model of
the simple computer speaker shown below. The tutorial is available only in metric units and
introduces you to:

• Extrude design features

• Hidden line graphics

• Loft design features

• Filleting solid models

• Core/cavity separation of a solid model

• Creating manufacturing features from solids

Getting Started
1. Click New Part Document button.

2. Click on Milling Setup, click Millimeter and click OK.

3. Click Finish in the Dimensions dialog box.

4. If the stock dialog box is displayed, click OK.

5. Turn on the necessary toolbars by selecting Toolbars from the View menu. Check the Steps,
Display Mode and Solid checkboxes on the Toolbars tab and click OK.

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Solid Modeling

Create the Initial Solid

1. Click on the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar and click on the Curve wizard .

2. Select Other methods as the method and Rectangle as the constructor. Click Next.

3. Click the Use corner, width and height radio button and enter 0.0 and 0.0 for the X and Y Corner
coordinates.

4. Set Width to 100 and Height to 65. Check Create as arcs and lines and click Finish.

5. Click on the vertical line on the right and click the Delete button.

6. Select Snapping modes from the Options menu. Make sure the
End points button is pressed and click OK. (A pressed button will
have a white square around it)

7. Select the Geometry step from the Steps toolbar. Click the
Arc from Radius, 2 Pts button.

8. Enter a Radius of 105 and click on the two open end points where the deleted vertical line
connected.

9. Select the Curves step from the Steps Toolbar.

10. Select Chain into a closed boundary and click on the arc you just created. Click the Create
button at the bottom of the screen.

11. Click the Solid Wizard button from the Advanced toolbar.

12. Click Define a custom shape and click Next.

13. Select From curves as the method and Extrude as the constructor and click Next.

14. Enter –50 as the Vector Z coordinate and –5 as the Draft Angle and
click Finish.

15. Click on the Part view on the left side of the screen. The Solid
category now has a “+” next to it. Click on the “+” to reveal the solid,
called solid4. That is the name of the solid we are creating. The
number following the solid name may be different for you.

16. Click on the “+” next to solid4. This reveals the features that make up

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 Solid Modeling
the solid. There is only one feature called extbase1, a base feature is the initial feature for a solid.

Hidden Line Graphics

With solids there are additional graphics options available. By default, you
are in line drawing mode. With solids, hidden line graphics are available.

1. Click the Isometric button from the Principles Views Flyout.

2. Select Hide stock from the Hide fly-out in the Advanced toolbar.

3. The default view of your solid model is shown in the top figure. In this figure it is impossible to
tell if there is a top on the solid.

4. Click the Hidden Line button. It is located in the Display toolbar. The graphics shown in the
bottom figure are displayed. In this figure it is clear that there is a top on
the solid.

5. While hidden line mode provides nice graphics, it is considerably slower

than simple line drawings and sometimes hides portions of the model you
need to pick, so click the Hidden Line button again to toggle the line
drawing mode.

Note that hidden line graphics are only available for solids.

Create the Curved Lower Surface

1. Select Show stock from the Show fly-out in the Advanced toolbar.

2. Double-click on the stock and click the Resize… button.

3. Click Compute stock size from the size of the part, and click Next. Click Move stock and click
Finish.

4. Select the Front button from the Principal Views

flyout.

5. Select the Geometry step from the Steps toolbar.

Click the Arc from Radius, 2 Pts button.

6. Set the Radius to 400. Set X1 to 120, Y1 to 0 and Z1 to –20. Set X2 to –10, Y2 to 0 and Z2 to –40,

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Solid Modeling
and click the Create button.

7. Create a second arc by entering 160 as the Radius and clicking on the right and left endpoints of
the first arc. If your arc curves up instead of down, click on the arc and click the Options button at
the bottom of the screen.

NOTE: If the cursor is still in the arc create mode, click on the Select button in the Standard
toolbar. Now you are able to click on and select the arc.

8. Select the top arc (the one you created first) and click the Transform button.

9. Click Translate and the Copy radio button. Enter 70 in the Y coordinate of XYZ distance and click
OK.

10. Select the bottom arc and click the Transform button.

11. Click Translate and the Move radio button and transform it 35 in the Y direction and click OK.

12. Select Isometric from the Principal views fly-out.

13. Click the Solid Wizard button from the Advanced toolbar.

14. Select From curves as the method and Lofted as the constructor
and click Next.

15. Since we want to use this design feature to remove material,

click the As Cut radio button and click the pick curve button.

16. Select the arcs in the order shown in the figure. If the selected arcs appear out of order in the curve
list, use the arrows to move the arcs up or down. Click Finish.

17. The curves are used to create a lofted surface and then the surface is used to cut the solid. Note
that an additional design feature, called loftcut1 is now listed in the part view.

Create Constant and Variable Radius Fillets

1. Click the Solid Wizard button from the Advanced toolbar.

2. Select Shape Modifiers as the method and Fillet Edges as the constructor and click Next.

3. Enter 5 as the Radius, click the Pick curve button and pick the edges 1-4 shown in the figure.

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 Solid Modeling
4. Click Variable and enter 5 as the Begin radius and 10 as the End radius and pick the edges 5-8 in
the figure. This will create a variable radius fillet on these edges. As
you click each edge an arrow is displayed to show the edge direction.
The first radius will be applied to the tail of the arrow and the second
to the head of the arrow.

5. Click Finish. Note that the selected edges are filleted and the
surrounding surfaces have been trimmed. The corners where the
fillets meet are automatically filleted.

Add Thickness
1. Click the Solid Wizard button from the Advanced toolbar.

2. Select Shape modifiers as the method and Shell as the constructor

and click Next.

3. Enter an Offset distance of -2 and click the Pick surface

button.

4. Click on the top surface as shown in the figure. This surface will
not be offset. If the Select dialog box comes up, pick the name that
corresponds to the top surface. (The surfaces are highlighted in the
graphics window as you select the names.)

5. Click Finish.

6. All faces of the solid except the top surface are now offset by 2 mm
to provide thickness to the part. Use hidden line graphics to display
the graphics shown on the right.

At this point, the solid model of the speaker is complete.

Create a Mold Cavity

Now the challenge is to create a mold from the solid model. For parts that can be created with two
mold halves, FeatureCAM’s core/cavity feature is a useful tool.

1. Click the Solid Wizard button from the Advanced toolbar.

2. Select Manufacturing as the method and Select Core/Cavity as the constructor and click Next.

3. Click the Bottom radio button.

4. Click the Make solid from result. This will create a new solid that contains the cavity faces.

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Solid Modeling
5. Click Finish. Note that a new solid, called sheet1, is listed in the part view.

6. Right click on the solid1 in the parts view and select Hide Selected. You can now see the cavity.

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial.

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 Chapter 13
Introduction to FeatureWIRE
NOTE: You must license FeatureWIRE to perform this tutorial.

In this tutorial you will learn the basics of creating wire EDM toolpaths using FeatureWIRE. This
tutorial is only available in inch units. Specifically you will learn how to:

• Set up your material and wire thickness.

• Create wire EDM features.

• Specify a wire EDM cutting strategy.

• Simulate wire EDM toolpaths.

Getting Started
1. Begin FeatureCAM by selecting FeatureCAM from the Start menu.

2. Click New Part Document button.

3. Click on Wire EDM Setup, click Inch and OK.

4. Set the stock Width and Length to 4.0 and the thickness to 0.5 and click Finish.

5. If the Stock Properties dialog box appears click OK.

Creating the Profile

1. Click the Curves step from the Steps toolbox.

2. Click the Create curves using the Curve wizard button.

3. Click Other methods and click Rectangle and click Next

4. Click Use corner, width and height.

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Introduction to FeatureWIRE
5. Set the corner point to 1,1,0.

6. Set the corner radius to 0.5 and set the Width and Height to 2.0. Click Finish.

Creating a Wire EDM Feature

1. Click the Features step from the Steps toolbox.

2. Click the Die radio button in the 2 Axis group and click Next.

3. Click the Pick curve button and select the curve you just created. Click Next until you get to
the Dimensions page.

4. Enter 0.5 as the Thickness and click Next twice to get to the Strategies page.

5. Select Retract as the operation and check the Cutoff and Contour checkboxes.

6. Click Finish. If the Die properties page appears click OK.

Simulating a Wire EDM Toolpath

1. Click the Toolpaths step. The Simulation toolbar is displayed.

2. Click the 2D simulation button in the Simulation toolbar. Move the speed control slider

to the middle so that the simulation is slowed down.

3. Click the Play to Next Operation button. You’ll notice that the Retract operation makes two

passes. If you need to slow down the simulation, drag the Sim Speed control to the left.

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 Introduction to FeatureWIRE

4. Click the Play to Next Operation button again. The Cutoff operation now takes two passes.
(Slow down the simulation if you need to).

5. Click the Play to Next Operation button once more. The final contour operation is now
simulated.

6. Click the Eject button.

Generating NC Code
1. Click the NC Code step in the Steps toolbar.

2. Click the Display the NC code button in the dialog box to generate the NC code.

Add a Taper Angle

1. Click on the Part View. Select the die1 feature from the list and click the Properties button
at the bottom of the screen.

2. Click the Constant radio button. Select Left as the taper type and
enter 10 as the taper angle in the deg. field and click Apply.

3. Click the Isometric view button from the Standard toolbar to

get a 3-dimensional view.

4. Set the taper type to Right and click Apply. View the new shape in Isometric view.

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Introduction to FeatureWIRE
5. Change the taper type back to Left and click OK.

6. Click the Toolpaths step. Click 3D and click

the Play button.

Since this is a die feature, it is assumed that the region inside of

the curve will be discarded.

7. Click the Select button from the Standard toolbar.

8. Click on the stock in the region inside of the curve.

FeatureCAM will now delete that part of the stock.

9. Click the Eject button.

10. Click on the Part View and right-click the die1 feature to
bring up a fly-out menu. Select the Hide Selected option.
Now the feature will not be displayed on the screen.

Creating the Second Profile

1. Click the Curves step from the Steps toolbox.

2. Click the Create curves using the Curve wizard button.

3. Click Other methods and click Rectangle and click Next.

4. Click Use corner, width and height and set the corner point to 0.5,0.5 ,0.0

5. Set the Width and Height to 3.0. Click Finish.

Creating a 4-axis Wire EDM Feature

1. Select the Top button from the Principal Views fly-out.

2. Click the Features step from the Steps toolbox.

3. Click the Die radio button in the 4 Axis group and click Next.

4. Click the Pick curve button and select the curve that you just created. Click Next.

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 Introduction to FeatureWIRE

5. Click the Pick curve button and select the curve that you
created first. Keep clicking Next until you get to the Dimensions
page.

6. Enter 0.50 as the Thickness and click Finish. If the Die properties
page appears click OK.

The feature is twisted because the start points were not set.

Modifying the Start Point

1. Click on Part View. Select the die4x1 feature from the list and

click the Properties button.

2. Click on the Start tab.

3. Click the Pick location button for the Upper Curve Start/End
Point.

4. In the graphics window, click on a point in the center of the stock.

5. Click on the bottom horizontal line of the outer curve. You should
notice a green line between the point and the edge of the curve.

6. Click the Pick location button this time for the Lower Curve
Start/End Point.

7. Click in the center of the stock and click on the bottom horizontal
line of the inner curve.

8. Click OK. The feature now should no longer be twisted.

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Introduction to FeatureWIRE

Matching the Curves

1. Click on Part View. Select the die4x1 feature from the list and click the Properties button.

2. Click the Dimensions tab and click the Match Curves… button.

3. Click the Pick lower curve point button.

4. Select the point on the lower curve at location 1 then select

the point on the upper curve at location 2. You should see a
green line between the two points.

5. Hold down the shift key and select the other point on the
lower curve at location 3 then select again the corner point
at location 4. Now you have matched both points on the
lower curve to the single point on the upper curve.

6. Click Apply and then OK in the Match Curves dialog box.

7. Click OK in the Die Properties dialog box.

Simulate the Part

1. Click on the Part View and uncheck the box next to the die1 feature. When it’s unchecked the
feature will not be shown in the simulation.

2. Click the Isometric view button from the Standard toolbar.

3. Click the Toolpaths step. Click 3D

and click the play button.

4. Click the Select button from the

Standard toolbar.

5. Click on the region inside of the curve on

the die feature.

6. Click the Eject button.

The Next Step

You have completed this tutorial.

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 Chapter 14
FeatureMILL3D 2007
Transition Guide
Overview
FeatureMILL3D 2007 has been extensively upgraded from FeatureCAM 2006. This upgrade resulted
in many new roughing and finishing options in FeatureMILL3D 2007 as well as increased reliability
and performance. We’re pleased that we were able to include these new capabilities without
significantly changing FeatureMILL3D’s user interface. In order to achieve these improvements a few
compromises had to be made relative to previous versions. In a few cases, strategies and options from
previous versions had to be modified. Often there are new strategies in FeatureMILL3D 2007 that are
equivalent to the previous functionality. In other cases, users may find that converting to a new
strategy in FeatureMILL3D 2007 will do a better job than the previous technology.

This chapter is for users of previous versions of FeatureMILL3D software. It is intended to:

1. Provide alternatives and suggestions for using the new technology available in
FeatureMILL3D 2007.

2. Explain the automatic conversion process for files from previous versions.

3. Show how FeatureMILL3D version 2006 technology can still be used within version
FeatureMILL3D 2007.

4. Explain the manual conversion process for files from previous versions that contain
incompatible options.

Here are some important points to remember about FeatureMILL3D 2007:

ƒ Version 2007 contains many enhancements and new strategies.

ƒ As much as possible, the user interface and strategies in FeatureMILL3D 2007 are compatible
with previous versions.

ƒ As a convenience, all the version 2006 technology is still available in version 2007, if
necessary, for files saved by previous versions of FeatureCAM.

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ƒ Version 2006 technology will not be supported indefinitely. Users are strongly encouraged to
convert any incompatible operations from existing files to use the new technology wherever
possible.

Backward Compatibility
FeatureMILL3D 2007 uses a new machining library to compute surface milling tool-paths. This library
completely replaces the old version 2006 machining library, but there are options from the old library
that are not supported. To provide full backward compatibility, FeatureMILL3D 2007 includes both
the new and the old libraries. The old library is provided to support files from previous versions when
necessary, but will not be supported in the future.

Reading Files from Previous Versions

When a file from a previous version of FeatureCAM is read, each surface milling feature is examined.
Each operation within a surface milling feature (e.g.: a parallel finish, or a Z rough) is checked for any
incompatible settings. If any incompatible operations are found a warning dialog appears.

Each incompatible operation is labeled so that it will use the version 2006 machining library to
compute tool-paths. This label is visible in the operation list right-click menu (see next section). All
compatible operations in all the surface milling features will automatically use the new machining
library. All new features and operations created in FeatureMILL3D 2007 will only use the new
machining library. A detailed list of the incompatibilities is included later in this document.

Once the file is saved in version 2007, the warning will not appear when reading the file back into
version 2007 although it may still contain incompatible operations marked to use the 2006 machining
library.

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Using Version 2006 Technology in Version 2007

The version 2006 machining library is
accessed via the operation list right-click
menu. In the operation list window, if you
select and right click on a surface milling
operation you will see the menu on the right:

In this case, a file from a previous version has

been read into FeatureMILL3D 2007 with an
incompatible X parallel operation (e.g.: it uses
the scallop height option). After seeing the
warning dialog above, the user can right click
on the surface milling operations in the
operations list to see which are incompatible.
The menu will have the Use old 3d code item
checked for any incompatible operations.

Version 2006 Interface

There are numerous differences between the
surface milling user interface in version 2006
and 2007. The training and help files provided
with version 2007 provide the documentation
for version 2007. For any surface milling
operations using the version 2006 machining
library, the version 2006 user interface is used
for the feature operation pages (strategy,
milling, etc.). There is no additional
documentation for the version 2006 user
interface. Be aware that these differences can
be subtle and the only way you can be sure
about an operation is the right-click operations
menu.

Converting an Incompatible Operation

In many cases, an incompatibility may not be significant and the user may wish to convert the
operation to use the version 2007 machining library. In many cases, this is as simple as un-checking
the Use old 3d code item on the right-click operation list menu. The operation will retain all the
compatible settings and ignore the rest. In other cases, the user will have to use the feature Process
page to change the type of an operation to a version 2007 operation.

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For instance, radial inward is incompatible

with version 2007 since only outward radial
patterns are now supported. The user must
use the process Properties to change to a
version 2007 radial operation and then also
make sure the Use old 3d item is un-checked
in the right-click operation list menu. This
process also applies to the case where you
wish to convert an old operation to a new
operation with a different strategy, but retain
some of your common settings (step-over,
tolerance, etc.)

Step-by-Step Instructions for Converting an Operation

For converting an operation to use the version 2007 machining library, there are two cases:

Simple Conversion
In most cases, the operation can just be switched to use the version 2007 machining library using the
operation list right-click menu:

1. Make sure the Results window is visible on the right-

hand side of the FeatureCAM window.

2. Click the Op List tab.

3. Select the operation in the list and right-click the

mouse to bring up the fly-out menu.

4. Un-check Use old 3d code.

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Converting an Operation by Changing Strategy

In other cases, you may need to change the strategy of an operation to use the version 2007 machining
library. See table below for the cases where this is necessary. In this case the steps are:

1. Open the surface milling properties

dialog box.

2. Select the feature in the tree view.

3. Click the Process tab.

4. Select the operation to convert

(“radial”) from the list box.

5. Click the Properties button. This will bring up the New Strategy dialog.

6. Select the “Radial” radio button and click Finish.

7. Go to the Operation List in the Results window.

8. Select the operation in the list and right-click the mouse to bring up the fly-out menu.

9. Make sure Use old 3d code is un-checked

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Incompatibilities
This section lists all the incompatibilities between 2006 and 2007 and provides suggestions for
alternative solutions using the 2007 machining library. The following table lists all the operations that
will not be automatically converted to use the new 2007 machining library when reading a file saved
from a previous version. The first column describes the operation from the previous version. The
“Version 2007 technology” column gives some suggestions on how to convert the operation to use the
new version 2007 machining library if applicable.

Version 2006 Version 2007 technology

technology

Plunge roughing This is an operation that is still fully supported, but it uses version 2006
technology within version 2007. New plunge roughing operations can be
created in version 2007. The operations will be labeled with use old 3d code
in the operation list right-click menu.

Parallel roughing Z increments for parallel are not available via the parallel strategy. Instead,
(or finish with z version 2007 provides a zig-zag option for Z roughing which is equivalent.
increment set However, no automatic conversion is provided. Use the operation properties
to change into a Z rough operation. New Z roughing provides many
improvements.

Spiral, isoline, Z rough pocket roughing is fairly similar to spiral roughing. Isoline and radial
radial roughing (or roughing are rarely used and have no real equivalent in 2007.
finish with z
increment set)

Radial in Version 2007 radial operation only supports radial out (unidirectional or bi-
directional). Use operation properties to convert to a new 2007 radial
operation. If radial in is absolutely required, use version 2006 library or
convert to a flowline milling using a surface of revolution. (Also note that if
you set the “radius start” and the “radius end” attributes appropriately, the
resulting V2007 tool-path is similar to a v2006 “radial in”).

Z level finish or There is no equivalent of this option in version 2007.

rough with bottom
up option

Z level finish with Not supported.

start points set

Z level finish with Un-check Use old 3d code to convert to new Z finish operation and then use
new technology internal only edge boundary or user defined boundaries. This is superior to

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NOT checked. This old Z slicing technology.
is an older version
of Z level
technology no
longer supported.

Z rough open Not supported. Un-check use old 3d code and use Z rough boss option. Set
pocket option an appropriate stock curve for equivalent machining with 2007.

Independent pre- Pre-drilling is only supported as an option of Z roughing (or new zig-zag Z
drill operation. A roughing). If a Z roughing operation is present, the pre-drilling is converted to
pre-drill operation use the new machining library. If your old file used pre-drilling with parallel
that does not roughing, for example, delete the pre-drilling operation, convert the parallel
precede a Z rough roughing to a new Z roughing operation (see above) and use the pre-drilling
operation. option on the Leads tab.

Parallel finish with Not supported in 2007. Z finish and remachining support scallop-height step-
scallop-height overs. Another option is using parallel with the Add perp. Remach Pass
setting. option checked on the strategy tab.

Spiral with uphill Not supported in 2007. Only parallel supports the uphill/downhill options.
only or downhill
only set.

Spiral with start Not supported.

point set

4th axis wrapping Not supported. 4th axis wrapping for surface milling has very limited
application. Version 2007 supports simultaneous 4-axis rotary milling which
is superior to wrapping. No automatic conversion is provided. Use unwrapped
surfaces and convert to new 4th axis surface milling operation.

Parallel + 90 The separate remachining operation is not supported. The combination is

remachining. This supported by using a single parallel operation that makes two perpendicular
combination has 2 parallel passes. Convert to a version 2007 parallel operation by editing the
separate operation on the Process page. Then uncheck the use old 3d code item on the
operations. operation list right-click menu. Then check the Add perp. remach. Pass on
the operations strategy page. This is equivalent to the version 2006
combination operation.

Ignored Settings
The following settings are also no longer available in version 2007, but operations with these settings
are not marked as incompatible when read from an old file. Instead, the operations will use the new
machining library but these settings will be ignored. There is no warning dialog in this case. If these

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settings are required, the operation can be converted back to use the version 2006 machining library by
checking the Use old 3d code on the operation list right-click menu.

ƒ Edge rollover none – Edge rollover has been changed to Edge boundary in version 2007.
Edge boundary Internal only and all are fairly equivalent to the version 2006 edge rollover
options. There is no equivalent to the old edge rollover none. Version 2007 does have a new
option which is edge boundary none which means that no restrictions whatsoever are applied
to the tool-paths regarding edge contact. The tool-paths will cut the silhouettes of the part (as
long at they are not restricted by the stock or other means).

ƒ First feed and Number of first feed paths – These options for controlling the feed rate are
no longer available. Use lead-in’s and ramps.

ƒ Plunge points – This setting is no longer available. For Z roughing, use the pre-drilling option.

ƒ Retract gap – This setting is no longer required with the new machining library. Use the
stepover rapid distance to control retracts and plunges.

ƒ Improved – Numerical improvement is no longer supported. The new machining library

provides better tool-path point spacing and better accuracy than the old machining library.

ƒ Z interleaved spiral max slope – This setting is no longer available. It is automatically set. It
might be provided in future versions.

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 Index
2 F
2D simulation, 12 Feature recognition, 67
FeatureCAM product line, 1
3 FeatureRECOGNITION, 67
Features
3D milling, 77 2.5D milling, 36
Pencil milling, 80 2.5D milling from curves, 43
3D simulation, 12 3D Milling, 77
3D solid simulation, 12 Editing, 41
3Dmilling roughing, 78 Recognizing, 67
Turn/mill, 65
A Turned, 51
Arcs fly-out, 29 Features step, 9, 11
FeatureTURN, 49, 57
B FeatureTurn/Mill, 63
Feed optimization, 14
Block preparation, 35 Fillets, 88
Fly-out toolbars, 23
C
Centerline simulation, 12 G
Chaining, 45 Geometry step, 9, 10
Circles, 43 Geometry toolbar, 29
Circles fly-out, 29 Graphics window, 23
Curve wizard, 26 Grooves
Curves step, 9, 10 OD Turned, 53
Turned face, 65
D
Default attributes, 15 H
Design Help
Solids, 85 Context sensitive, 19
Surface, 75 On-line, 17
Dimensions fly-out, 29 Hidden line, 32
Display mode toolbar, 32 Hide fly-out menu, 26
Dongle, 2 Holes
Recognizing, 70
E Turn/mill, 65
Engraving, 65
Evaluating FeatureCAM, 6 I
IGES import, 77

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Index
Import Security key, 2
IGES, 77 Selecting Graphical Objects, 25
SAT, 68 Setups button, 27
Solid, 68 Shading, 31
Installation, 3 Show fly-out menu, 26
Simulation Toolbar, 12
L Snap discrimination dialog, 44
Snap feedback, 28
Lines, 44 Snap mode toolbars, 27
Lines fly-out, 29 Snap modes, 26, 27
Live tooling, 63 Solid wizard, 26
Standard toolbar, 22
M Steps, 9
Manufacturing preferences, 15 Curves, 9, 10
Manufacturing results window, 23 Features, 9, 11
Geometry, 9, 10
N NC code, 9, 14
Stock, 9, 10
NC code Toolpaths, 9, 12
Generating, 41 Steps toolbar, 29
Saving, 42 Stock preparation, 35
NC code step, 9, 14 Stock step, 9, 10
Surface modeling, 75
O Surface wizard, 26
Optimize feedrates, 14
Order of operations, 54 T
Text, 65
P Threads, 53
Part view toolbox, 21, 24 Tool load, 12
Pencil milling, 80 Tool mapping, 14, 41
Plunge point, 47 Tool numbers, 14
Pockets Tool pockets, 14
Recognizing, 70 Tool slots, 14
Post processor Toolbars
Editing, 16 Customizing, 30
Selecting, 42 Display mode, 32
Fly-out, 23
R Geometry, 29
Simulation, 12
Region of interest, 12 Snap mode, 27
Registration, 4 Standard, 22
Remapping tooling, 14 Steps, 29
Toolpaths step, 9, 12
S Trademark information, iv
SAT import, 68 Transform, 22
Saving NC code, 42 Trial versions, 6

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 Index
Turn/mill, 63 W
Turning, 49, 57
Window
Graphics, 23
U
Manufacturing results, 23
Undo, 22 Wizards
Curve, 26
V Solid, 26
Surface, 26
Variable radius fillets, 88

107