Leads

Introduction

This topic explains the Leads page of the Pocket operation found in the Mill 2 Axis Wizard.

Single Depth - From the Feed Plane, Single Depth will move at the Plunge Feedrate to the full Depth of Cut.
Peck - From the Feed Plane, Peck will move at the Plunge Feedrate to the Peck Depth, return to the Feed Plane with a rapid move, rapid down to a point above the last depth equal to the amount of the Feed Plane being used, before continuing to the next Peck Depth amount at the Plunge Feedrate. This method will be repeated until the full Depth of Cut is reached.

Fast Peck - From the Feed Plane, Peck will move at the Plunge Feedrate to the Peck Depth, Rapid up to an amount equal the Feed Plane being used, before continuing to the next Peck Depth amount at the Plunge Feedrate. This method will be repeated until the full Depth of Cut is reached.

Peck Depth - sets the increment to use for each peck.

Click here to see a Fast Peck to full Depth of Cut.

Ramp - creates a linear ramp move into the stock. The ramps are automatically adjusted, based on values entered, so that collision into the model is avoided. When this option is selected the following boxes become available.

Angle of Approach - sets the angle of the toolpath ramp move. When using this option without defining a Maximum Length, the ramp is applied to the entire profile (from the toolpath start point to the top of feature).

Select the check box to define the maximum horizontal distance over which the ramp move is applied.

Clear the check box when not limiting the length of the ramp move. The ramp move is created using only the Angle of Approach.

The Ramp approach type does not support collision detection or island avoidance. This should be used with caution.

Spiral - generates a spiral entry into the material. This can be used with the specified feature Start Point. The movement created always begins at the designated material top when using a Single Depth, or on the first depth when using Multiple Depths. When you select the spiral option, the following options become available (note that the Ramp Radius and Angle of Approach are the only two parameters available when using the Advanced Pocket pattern.)
- CW - the spiral approach is generated in a clockwise rotation.
- CCW - the spiral approach is generated in a counter-clockwise rotation.
- Ramp Radius - sets the radius used to create the spiral material entry.
- Angle of Approach - sets the angle of the helical toolpath segments that define the tool approach.
- Spiral Tolerance - sets the interpolation accuracy of the spiral path. The smaller this value is, the smaller the segments are, and the smoother the spiral appears.

The Ramp and Spiral approach types do not support collision detection or island avoidance. These options should be used with caution.

The Leads section is only available when the Adaptive Roughing Pattern is used. The leads that are available are as follows.

Vertical - plunges directly into the material at the start point of the toolpath and lifts out at the end.

Vertical Arc - attempts to enter and exit the material tangent to the surface being machined using an vertical arc move.

View the MDI topic.