V-Carve Pocketing

The V-Carve feature type is generally used to engrave text, arcs, lines and splines in a 3-dimensional form with 3-axis tool motion, with pocketing of open spaces in the selected profiles if necessary. There are two V-Carve operation types, Tapered Pocketing and V-Carve Finishing (engraving). This example uses the both operations, one to perform the pocketing with an endmill, and the second to cut a tapered wall around the pocket.

Pocketing a shape with V-CARVE example:

1. In the File menu, click New.

2. In the Other menu, click Rectangle.

3. In the Data Entry Manager, change the Length (X) value to 4.000, the Width (Y) value to 3.000.

4. Under Origin, click the down arrow and select Bottom Left.

5. Click OK to create the rectangle as shown in the CAD preview.

6. Click Cancel to close Data Entry Manager.

7. Click anywhere in the Workspace, and press the F key to activate the Fit All view command.

8. In the Arcs menu, click Fillet.

9. Change the Radius value to 1.000, and confirm that the Trim check box is selected.

10. Click to select the vertical line on the right side of the rectangle.

11. Click to select the horizontal line on the top of the rectangle. The software trims the two entities to create the fillet between them.

12. Click Cancel to close the Data Entry Manager.
13. Click the CAM Tree tab at the bottom of the Data-CAM Tree Manager.
14. Right-click CAM Defaults, and click New Job.
15. With the Milling job type and the BC 3X Mill machine selected, click Stock Wizard.
16. Click the (next) button to skip the workpiece assignment.
17. With Rectangular selected, click .
18. The software automatically creates a bounding stock for the rectangle in the Workspace.
19. Click to go to the Machine Setup.
20. For this example, we use the default settings, but click the Work Offset button. Next to Z, change the value to 1.000 and click OK.
21. Click OK to finish the Machine Setup.
22. In the CAM Tree, right-click Machine Setup, and click Mill V-Carve.
23. In the Mill V-Carve Wizard, click the Select Geometry button.
24. Press and hold Shift and click anywhere along the rectangle to chain select it.
25. Click (OK) to confirm the selection and return to the wizard.
26. Click Next>> to go to the Feature page.
27. Change the Total Depth value to 0.2500. Setting the Total Depth value here sets the Pocket Depth value for the Tapered Pocketing operation (and the for the Finishing operation when using a V-Tool to pocket.) For more information on specific parameters, view the V-Carve Operation topic.)
28. Click Next>> to go to the Machining Strategy. Under Available Operations, with Tapered Pocketing selected, click the left arrow button, , to add the operation to the Current Operations list. Under Current Operations, click the up arrow button, , to move the Tapered Pocketing operation to the top of the list.
29. Click Next>> to update the tree with the new operations.
30. In the tree on the left, click Rough to go to the tool page for the Tapered Pocketing operation.
31. Change the Diameter value to 0.2500, and press Tab to update the value. The system automatically selects a tool from the Tool Library (after checking the Tool Crib).
32. Click Next>> to go to the Parameters page.
33. Notice the Pocket Depth is set as defined in the Feature page. Change the Depth of Cut value to 0.2500. You can use the Depth of Cut value to create multiple depth cuts, but for this example, we cut the pocket at one depth.
34. Click Next>>.
35. Confirm the default 0.5000 inch Diameter V-Tool is selected, and click Next>>.
36. Under Depth Options, change the V-Tool Depth of Cut value to 0.0625.
37. Change the V-Tool Roughing Stepover value to 0.0300.
38. Notice the V-Tool Cleanup Parameters. Because we are using a Tapered Pocketing operation, we can set the stepover to perform a cleanup path in the corners of the pocket using the V-tool. Change the V-Tool Cleanup Stepover value to 0.005.
39. At the bottom of the wizard, click Compute.

40. To view the toolpath simulation, right-click Milling Job and click Simulation. For more information on using simulation, view Getting Started with Simulation.

This concludes the example.