The Machining Order Dialog Box - Wire EDM

Introduction

The Machining Order dialog box provides dynamic control of the posting order for all operations in a Wire EDM job. The machining order can be optimized by Individual Feature, Operation Type, or Pass Sequence as well as an option to place all tab cuts last. In addition to the optimization types, you can fully customize the order of operations for the program.

To access the Machining Order dialog box:

 

  • In the CAM Tree, right-click Wire EDM Job, and click Machining Order.

The Machining Order Parameters

In order to fully understand the Machining Order, there are some terms that must be clarified. All features are created in the CAM Tree, from a Machine Setup. The Machine Setup defines the machining origin (and other settings) for all features contained in the Machine Setup. All Wire EDM jobs contain only a single machine setup, which can contain one or more features. Each feature is used to define and create operations for a specific geometry, such as open or closed profiles. The feature is performed using one or more operations. For example, any Wire EDM feature can be composed of a Rough Cut operation, a Skim Cut operation, and a Tab Cut operation. Both the Rough Cut and Tab Cut operations perform only a single pass, but the Skim Cut operation can be one or more passes in a single operation. In conclusion, a Wire EDM job has one Machine Setup, which can contain one or more features, which contain one or more operations (which can contain more than one pass for Skim Cut operations).

 

Note: When the Post Output of the job (in Current Settings) is set to Command/ISO (usually only for AgieVision), all of the options in the Machining Order are unavailable. You can still open the Machining Order to use as a reference, but the Machining Order always uses the Individual Feature optimization type for the Command/ISO output.

 

Optimization Types

You can select one of the options below as the default setting. In order to do this, use the Settings dialog. For more information on the Settings dialog, use the previous link. To see specific information on settings the Optimization Types, see The Document Default and Current Document Tabs topic.

 

  • Individual Feature

    When selecting Individual Feature, all operations are performed for each feature before moving on to the next feature. The posting order is the same as the order in the CAM Tree. If you want to reorder the operations contained within a single feature, edit the feature, and then return to the Machining Order.

  • By Operation Type

    The By Operation Type optimization posts the program by completing all similar operations (across all features) before moving on to the next type of operation. For example, all Rough Cut operations first, all Skim Cuts operations second, and all Tab Cut operations last.

  • By Pass Sequence

    The By Pass Sequence optimization is similar to By Operation Type except that this option provides further control over all passes, meaning the Skim Cut operations. Skim Cut operations can contain one or more passes, which can be changed using this optimization type.

 

Machining Order

The machining order group contains the Operation list that shows all of the operations for the current job that are set to Post (Yes). When you select an optimization type at the top of the dialog box, the posting order is updated to that optimization type. You can then select operations in the list under Machining Order and use the Move Up and Move Down arrows to reorder the operation list, or simply drag and drop operations into place.

 

  • (Move Up) - moves the selected operation up one level.

  • (Move Down) - moves the selected operation down one level.

 

  • Tab Cuts Last - provides further optimization to move all Tab Cut operations in the job to be performed last. This moves the Tab Cut operations either to the end of each feature or to the end of the program, based on the Optimization Type selected.

 

Important: On the Machining Order:

• You must confirm that the order you create in the Machining Order is logical for the program.
• The order of operations that are defined for a single feature cannot be changed in the Machining Order. To reorder the operations of a single feature, edit the feature wizard.
• The Machining Order list only displays the operations that are set to Post Yes (in the CAM Tree).

 

The operation list contains columns that display the Tool Number, Feature, Operation, Work Offset, Machine Setup, and Index/Wrapping Group, for each operation. You can click the title of each column and drag it left or right to reorder the informational columns.

 

The operation list contains columns that display the Wire Diameter, Feature name, Operation name, Shape number, and Pass number for each operation. You can click the title of each column and drag it left or right to reorder the informational columns.

Related Topics

The CAM Overview

The Machining Order Dialog Box (Milling and Turning Jobs)