PowerMILL

6. Corner Machining

6. Corner Finishing
Introduction.
Corner Machining includes 5 different types of strategy: Pencil, Multi Pencil, Stitch Corner, Automatic Corner and Along Corner. One of the strategies creates 'single pass' machining along sharp internal corners (Pencil) while the other four perform local machining of areas inaccessible to a larger tool (Rest Milling). All Corner Finishing strategies allow a Threshold Angle to be specified. PowerMILL limits the toolpath to either side of this angle the idea being to solve the potential problems associated with the tool running up or down steep slopes. For instance the user could apply a stitch strategy to track across the steep areas and parallel strategy for shallow areas. Also a higher feed rate could be used on the shallow areas and a lower feed rate on the steep areas, which if applied first is more likely to be taking a heavy cut.

Pencil Finishing
This option produces single pass tool tracks along the intersection between sharp internal corners of the component surface.

Select Delete All from the File menu and Reset forms from the Tools menu. From File > Examples open the model cowling.dgk Calculate the Block. Create a Ball nosed dia 10 tool and name it as bn10. Select an Iso2 view.

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From the Toolpath strategies form, select Corner Pencil Finishing

Keep the threshold angle of 30 degrees.

Selecting both will produce the steep and shallow toolpath.

Apply the toolpath and Cancel.

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The toolpath is split where the steep areas where the slope exceeds the specified Threshold Angle separately.

Animate the toolpath. Rename the toolpath as pencil_both.

Right click over the toolpath in the explorer and select Settings. Select the Copy Toolpath icon from the form. Change the Output option from Both to Shallow. Select Apply to generate the Shallow slope machining only.

The toolpath is produced. The steep area is no longer machined.

Animate the toolpath. Rename the toolpath as pencil_shallow. Right click over the toolpath in the explorer and select Settings. Select the copy toolpath icon from the form. Change the Output option from Shallow to Steep.

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Generate a steep pencil machining toolpath.

PowerMILL

Only the steep area is machined.

Animate the toolpath. Rename the toolpath as pencil_steep. Save the project in C:\temp as train-corner.

Corner Along Finishing

All the Corner Finishing strategies, (except for Pencil) are based on machining the area between the Reference tool (2) and the Active tool (1). In this example the main finishing tool is a 12 Ball nose (reference) to be Corner finished with a diameter 5 Ball-nose.

From the Toolpath strategies form, select Corner Along Finishing. Define a dia 5 ball nose tool named bn5. In the Reference Area, select the tool bn10. Change Output to Shallow. Set Cusp to 0.03. Check Direction is set to Climb.

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Apply the toolpath and Cancel.

Animate the toolpath and note that it has machined the shallow areas from outside to inwards in a Climb milling direction. The leads and links need to be improved

Set all the Links to Skim

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Select the Lead In tab Select Vertical Arc and fill in the values shown. Click Copy to Lead out Apply and Accept

The Vertical Arc lead provides a smoother transition onto the work piece with the tool already moving at the specified cutting feed rate.

Open the Leads and Links form and change the Lead In/out from Vertical Arc back to None as the next toolpath to be created doesnt require them.

Corner Stitch Finishing

From the Toolpath strategies form, select Corner Stitch Finishing.
The previously used values are in the form.

Change Output to Steep

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Apply the toolpath and Cancel

The steep area has been machined.

If required, it is possible to change the Direction and/or order of individual tool tracks via the Toolpath - Edit options.

Right click on the toolpath and select Edit > Reorder.

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Select Alternate directions. In Leads and Links select Circular Arc

The steep areas now run in a zig-zag direction rather than one way and this time the Short links are defined as a Circular Arc.

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Corner MultiPencil Finishing

From the Toolpath strategies form, select Corner MultiPencil Finishing

Change Output back to Shallow

Apply the toolpath and Cancel

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Change the Threshold Angle to 90

This has the effect of creating an unlimited Shallow machining area for the toolpath. Using these setting the same strategy would be created if the Output - Both is applied. If Output - Steep is applied no toolpath would be created.

Apply the toolpath and Cancel

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Corner Automatic Finishing

From the Toolpath strategies form, select Corner Automatic Finishing

Change Output to Both Change the threshold angle back to 30

Apply the toolpath and Cancel

This strategy automatically uses Along for the Shallow areas and Stitch for the Steep areas. However, due to it being all one toolpath, it is not so easy to control the Leads and Links or the Reordering.

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