In a Groove Milling operation, is there any control over how far the cutting passes extend before and after the part outline?
Solution
As of NX12, there is no explicit "extend distance" type control over the clearance distance between the tool and the part. Basically, the cutting portion of the path starts where the tool edge begins to contact the defined groove feature material - the IPW remaining on/in/around that feature. If more material remains around the groove than just the edges of the part, the operation defaults to respecting that material. Of course, the non-cutting moves before/after each cutting pass are completely defined by user parameters
and are a separate function.
If the distance the tool begins/ends cutting for a groove has to be altered, this can be done in the feature definition:
- edit the operation
- edit the Groove Feature
- set the In Process Workpiece option to 'None' to ignore any IPW
- alter the 'Length' value for the groove
If there is no IPW in use, the operation will use the simple Length value of the groove feature to create the cutting passes.
This also works in the opposite direction to shorten the groove passes.
Notes