The Tool Pattern Dialog Box

Introduction

The Tool Pattern dialog box controls the number and order of Mill, Lathe, and Wire EDM operations that are used, by default, when creating machining features in the CAM Wizards. These groups of operations are called Templates. The Tool Pattern dialog box displays all of the available Feature Types for Mill, Lathe, and Wire EDM and lists the operation Templates for each feature.

Navigation

To access the Tool Pattern Program dialog box:

• In the CAM Tree, right-click CAM Defaults, and click Tool Pattern.

The Dialog Box Parameters

View the Tool Pattern dialog box

Key Terms

The following list provides definitions for important BobCAD-CAM terms that are used later in this topic.

• A Feature is a container for machining operations and it is defined by the geometry selection (or geometry feature) to which machining operations are applied.

• A Template is a predefined (default) set of operations that are applied to a feature.

• An Operation is a toolpath that is applied with a specific machining purpose, such as drill, profile, or pocket.

There are two main parts of the Tool Pattern dialog box. On the left side of the dialog box is the Feature and Operation Template tree. The items under each feature type folder contains all of the available operation templates for that feature. When you select an operation template, the Operations in Template and Available Operations lists are displayed on the right side of the dialog box. This is the second part, the Operations lists. You use the operations lists to customize the Tool Pattern.

Operations in Template

The Operations in Template list shows the default operations that are used when you create a feature using the selected template.

TIP:   The number and order of operations can be customized in the CAM wizard (at any time during or after feature creation).

Available Operations

The Available Operations list shows all operations that you can add to the Operations in Template list.

• (Add Operation) - adds the selected Available Operations to Operations in Template.
• (Delete Operation) - removes the selected operation from the list.
• (Move Up) - moves the selected operation up one level.
• (Move Down) - moves the selected operation down one level.

• Import .tpatt - displays the Open dialog box for you to select a tool pattern (.tpatt) file from earlier versions. The information from the file is added to the Tool Pattern.

• OK - saves the current state of the Tool Pattern and closes the dialog box.
• Cancel - closes the Tool Pattern without saving any changes.

To learn more, view Customizing Operations.

Related Topics

The CAM Overview