CAM guide

Recommended workflow

1. Import a DXF or STEP, or open a request from Part Exporter.
2. Choose the machining mode and verify every Job setup value.
3. Inspect detected perimeters, pockets, islands, and holes.
4. For plate work, choose which library parts belong on the plate and arrange every copy.
5. Open Tool motion, play through the program, and inspect rapids, depths, pauses, and cut order.
6. Download the G-code or send it back to its Part Exporter request.
7. Simulate or air-cut unfamiliar output before touching stock.

Job setup

Mode

Flat plate combines one or more 2D parts. Tube maps one or two DXFs onto rectangular tube faces. 2.5D uses STEP or depth-layer geometry.

Material

Selects the material-specific feed, plunge, ramp, spindle, depth, and stepover defaults.

Units

Converts the complete job configuration between inches and millimeters. Confirm imported geometry units before cutting.

Work origin

Chooses the physical X0/Y0 corner. It changes generated coordinates and the direction indicators in every applicable preview.

Stock thickness

Distance from the spoil board to the top of flat stock. Through cuts finish below Z0 by the sacrifice depth.

Tool diameter

Diameter of the installed cutter. It controls compensation, minimum machinable features, collision clearance, and toolpaths.

Sacrifice depth

How far a through cut extends below the stock into the spoil board.

Cutting area

Usable X/Y travel for the current setup, excluding clamps and unreachable machine space.

How geometry becomes operations

Closed DXF boundaries are classified by containment. The outer retained boundary becomes a perimeter; enclosed removed regions become pockets or holes; retained regions inside pockets become islands. Open or ambiguous contours produce warnings instead of being guessed.

A normal planar-face DXF describes visible boundaries, not arbitrary 3D pocket floors. Use a STEP file or a correctly authored depth-layer DXF for 2.5D depths.

Plate layout

Place on plate keeps a part in the local library while controlling whether it participates in the current sheet. Quantity creates independent copies. Drag parts to place them, use the rotation handle or numeric fields for orientation, and drag the board to pan.

The layout permits bounding boxes to overlap only when the actual retained profiles and required cutter clearance do not collide. Auto-arrange is intentionally conservative and does not search internal voids. A combined download remains disabled while a part is outside the cutting area or violates clearance.

Tube setup

Face 1 is the first machined wall. Face 2 can mirror Face 1 or use a different DXF. Rotation controls align imported geometry with the tube's long axis. Width, height, and wall thickness must describe the physical tube orientation in the fixture.

The tube WCS is the controller work offset for the jig. Use G55-G59 only when that offset has already been measured and stored. Pre-punched tubing can suppress matching hole diameters; click individual preview holes to restore cuts. Square near end adds the validated end-facing sequence. Cut-to-length is currently unavailable.

Hold-down and adaptive clearing

Perimeter tabs leave bridges until the removal pass. Screw-down pause cuts qualifying small holes and pockets, stops the spindle, and pauses so the part can be fastened before larger operations and profiles. If nothing qualifies, no pause is emitted.

Adaptive clearing is experimental. Target chipload, flute count, spindle speed, and radial stepover determine engagement-aware feeds. The generator falls back to established offset clearing when a pocket is ambiguous or contains unsupported islands.

Reading the previews

The top-down view shows classified geometry and planned paths. The 3D view shows ordered machine motion, including clearance moves and pauses. Drag to orbit, switch to Pan when you need to translate the camera, and use the wheel or trackpad to zoom. The playback marker is synchronized with the top-down view where both are shown.

Preview verification checks important invariants, but it cannot know the real clamp positions, installed cutter, controller configuration, or whether the work offset was set correctly.