RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

MecSoft Corporation
www.mecsoft.com

1997-2012, MecSoft Corporation

RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Contents
Welcome to RhinoCAM Getting Started Guide .............................................................. 14 About this Guide ................................................................................................... 14 Where to go for more help ..................................................................................... 14 Tutorial 1: Machining a Gasket ................................................................................... 15 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 16 Strategy to Machine the Gasket ........................................................................... 16 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................... 16 Preparing the part for Machining ............................................................................. 16 Loading the Part Model ....................................................................................... 16 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................... 17 Machining Operations Browser ................................................................................ 20 Machine Setup ................................................................................................... 20 Select Post Processor .......................................................................................... 21 Define Setup ..................................................................................................... 23 Create Stock Geometry ....................................................................................... 26 Align Part and Stock ........................................................................................... 28 Specify Material ................................................................................................. 30 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................... 31 Create Tools ......................................................................................................... 33 Create Machining Operations .................................................................................. 36 2 Axis Profiling .................................................................................................. 36 Select Machining Features/Regions ....................................................................... 36 Select Cutting Tool ............................................................................................. 40 Set Feeds and Speeds ........................................................................................ 41 Clearance Geometry ........................................................................................... 42 Specify Cut Parameters ....................................................................................... 43 Cut Levels ......................................................................................................... 43 Entry/Exit ......................................................................................................... 45 Simulate Toolpath .............................................................................................. 47 Creating a 2 Axis Profile for the Outer Region ....................................................... 49 Reports ................................................................................................................ 52 Shop Docs ......................................................................................................... 53 Post Processing ..................................................................................................... 54

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Tutorial 2: Machining a Slotted Gear ........................................................................... 56 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 57 Strategy to Machine the Slotted Gear ................................................................... 57 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................... 57 Preparing the part for Machining ............................................................................. 57 Loading the Part Model ....................................................................................... 58 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................... 59 Machining Operations Browser ................................................................................ 59 Machine Setup ................................................................................................... 59 Select Post Processor .......................................................................................... 60 Define Setup ..................................................................................................... 61 Create Stock Geometry ....................................................................................... 64 Align Part and Stock ........................................................................................... 66 Specify Material ................................................................................................. 66 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................... 68 Create Tools ......................................................................................................... 70 Create Regions for Machining.................................................................................. 72 Create Machining Operations .................................................................................. 77 2 Axis Profiling .................................................................................................. 77 Select Machining Features/Regions ....................................................................... 78 Selecting the Tool .............................................................................................. 80 Set Feeds and Speeds ........................................................................................ 81 Clearance Geometry ........................................................................................... 82 Specify Cut Parameters ....................................................................................... 83 Cut Levels ......................................................................................................... 84 Entry/Exit ......................................................................................................... 85 Simulate Toolpath .............................................................................................. 87 Creating Engraving Operation ................................................................................. 89 Select Machining Features/Regions ....................................................................... 89 Select Tool, Feeds & Speeds and Clearance ........................................................... 90 Specify Engraving Cut Parameters ........................................................................ 90 Simulate Toolpath .............................................................................................. 93 Post Processing .................................................................................................. 94 Tutorial 3: Machining a Shaft Base ............................................................................. 96

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Introduction ......................................................................................................... 97 Strategy to Machine the Shaft Base ...................................................................... 97 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................... 97 Preparing the part for Machining ............................................................................. 98 Loading the Part Model ....................................................................................... 98 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................... 98 Machining Operations Browser ................................................................................ 99 Machine Setup ................................................................................................... 99 Select Post Processor .......................................................................................... 99 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 101 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 104 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 106 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 107 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 109 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 111 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 114 2 Axis Facing .................................................................................................. 114 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 115 Selecting the Tool ............................................................................................ 117 Set Feeds and Speeds ...................................................................................... 118 Clearance Geometry ......................................................................................... 119 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 120 Cut Levels ....................................................................................................... 121 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 122 Creating Facing Operation #2 ............................................................................... 123 Copying and Pasting a Machining Operation ......................................................... 123 Editing Machining Operation .............................................................................. 124 Specify Avoid Region ........................................................................................ 124 Change Cut Parameters and Cut Levels ............................................................... 126 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 128 2 Axis Pocketing .............................................................................................. 129 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 129 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 131 Cut Levels ....................................................................................................... 132

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Entry/Exit ....................................................................................................... 134 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 135 Hole Pocketing Operation ..................................................................................... 136 Create Predefined Machining Regions.................................................................. 136 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 139 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 141 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 143 Create Hole Pocketing Operation for the through holes ............................................ 144 Editing Machining Operation .............................................................................. 145 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 147 Create Engraving Operation .................................................................................. 148 Create Machining Region ................................................................................... 148 Select Engraving Operation ............................................................................... 150 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 150 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 152 Create Profiling Operation .................................................................................... 153 Select Machining Features ................................................................................. 153 Specify Parameters .......................................................................................... 153 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 156 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 156 Tutorial 4: V-Carving .............................................................................................. 157 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 158 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 158 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 158 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 159 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 159 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 159 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 160 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 160 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 162 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 164 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 166 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 167 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 169

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 171 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 172 V-Carving........................................................................................................... 173 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 173 Selecting the Tool ............................................................................................ 174 Set Feeds and Speeds ...................................................................................... 175 Clearance Geometry ......................................................................................... 176 Specifying Cut Parameters ................................................................................ 176 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 178 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 179 Saving Operation to a Knowledgebase ................................................................ 179 Tutorial 5: Embossing ............................................................................................. 180 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 181 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 181 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 181 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 182 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 182 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 182 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 182 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 183 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 184 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 186 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 188 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 189 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 191 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 193 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 195 V-Carve Roughing ............................................................................................... 195 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 195 Specify Parameters .......................................................................................... 196 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 200 V-Carving Operation ............................................................................................ 200 Load Knowledge base .......................................................................................... 201 Edit V-Carving Operation................................................................................... 202

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 204 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 205 Tutorial 6: Chamfering ............................................................................................ 206 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 207 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 207 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 207 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 207 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 208 Create Machining Operation .................................................................................. 210 Chamfering ........................................................................................................ 211 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 211 Selecting the Tool ............................................................................................ 212 Specifying Cut Parameters ................................................................................ 214 Reorder a Machining Operation .......................................................................... 215 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 215 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 216 Tutorial 7: 3 Axis Milling.......................................................................................... 217 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 218 Strategy to Machine the mold ............................................................................ 218 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 218 Preparing the part for Machining ........................................................................... 218 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 218 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 219 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 219 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 220 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 220 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 221 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 224 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 226 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 228 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 229 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 231 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 235 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing ................................................................................... 235

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 236 Set Feeds and Speeds ...................................................................................... 237 Clearance Geometry ......................................................................................... 238 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 239 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 241 3 axis Parallel Finishing ........................................................................................ 242 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 243 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 244 3 axis Horizontal Finishing .................................................................................... 245 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 245 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 246 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 248 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 249 Saving Operation to a Knowledgebase ................................................................ 249 Tutorial 8: Profiling with Bridges/Tabs ....................................................................... 250 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 251 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 251 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 251 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 251 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 252 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 253 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 253 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 254 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 254 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 257 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 259 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 261 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 262 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 264 Create Predefined Machining Regions ..................................................................... 266 Editing Bridge Points ........................................................................................ 268 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 270 2 Axis Profiling ................................................................................................ 270 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 270

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 272 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 274 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 274 Tutorial 9: Hole Making ........................................................................................... 275 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 276 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 276 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 276 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 276 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 277 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 277 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 277 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 278 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 279 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 281 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 283 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 284 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 286 Create Tools .................................................................................................... 287 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 289 Drilling............................................................................................................... 289 Select Hole Features ......................................................................................... 290 Cut Parameters ................................................................................................ 293 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 295 Drill Operation #2 for 0.25 holes ......................................................................... 296 Edit Machining Operation .................................................................................. 296 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 298 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 299 Tutorial 10: Re-Machining a 3D Mold ........................................................................ 300 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 301 Strategy to Machine the mold ............................................................................ 301 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 301 Preparing the part for Machining ........................................................................... 301 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 301 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 302

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 302 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 303 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 303 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 304 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 307 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 309 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 311 Load Knowledge base ....................................................................................... 312 Editing Machining Operations ............................................................................. 316 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 318 Create Pencil Tracing operation ............................................................................. 318 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 319 Advanced Cut Parameters .................................................................................... 321 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 322 Create Valley Re-Machining Operation ................................................................... 323 Specify Cut Control & Cut Parameters ................................................................. 324 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 326 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 327 Tutorial 11: Machining a Ring .................................................................................. 328 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 329 Strategy to Machine the ring ............................................................................. 329 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 329 Preparing the part for Machining ........................................................................... 329 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 329 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 330 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 331 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 331 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 332 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 332 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 335 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 337 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 339 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 340 Set Rotary Center ............................................................................................... 342

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 343 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 345 3 Axis Horizontal Roughing ................................................................................... 345 Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 346 Set Feeds and Speeds ...................................................................................... 347 Clearance Geometry ......................................................................................... 348 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 349 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 351 Rotate table Operation ......................................................................................... 352 Create Roughing operation after table rotation ........................................................ 353 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 355 Create Rotate table operation #2 .......................................................................... 355 4 axis Parallel Finishing ........................................................................................ 357 Specify Parameters .......................................................................................... 358 Cut Parameters ................................................................................................ 359 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 361 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 362 Tutorial 12: Engraving on a Cylinder ......................................................................... 363 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 364 Strategy to engrave text on a cylinder ................................................................ 364 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 364 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 364 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 365 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 365 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 365 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 367 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 367 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 370 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 372 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 374 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 375 Set Rotary Center ............................................................................................... 377 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 378 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 379

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4 Axis Engraving ................................................................................................. 380 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 380 Select Tool ......................................................................................................... 382 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 383 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 385 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 386 Tutorial 13: Pocketing and Drilling on a Ring ............................................................. 387 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 388 Strategy to machine the part ............................................................................. 388 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 388 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 388 Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser ............................................. 389 Machining Operations Browser .............................................................................. 389 Machine Setup ................................................................................................. 390 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 391 Define Setup ................................................................................................... 391 Create Stock Geometry ..................................................................................... 394 Align Part and Stock ......................................................................................... 396 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 398 Set Work Zero ................................................................................................. 399 Set Rotary Center ............................................................................................... 401 Create Tools ....................................................................................................... 402 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 405 4 Axis Drilling ..................................................................................................... 405 Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 407 Set Clearance .................................................................................................. 409 Cut Parameters ................................................................................................ 409 Sorting ........................................................................................................... 411 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 412 4 Axis Pocketing.................................................................................................. 413 Select Machining Features/Regions ..................................................................... 414 Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 415 Set Clearance .................................................................................................. 416 Cut Parameters ................................................................................................ 417

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Cut Levels ....................................................................................................... 418 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 420 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 421 Tutorial 15: 5 Axis Surface based machining.............................................................. 422 Introduction ....................................................................................................... 423 Strategy to Machine the part ............................................................................. 423 Main Programming Steps .................................................................................. 423 Preparing the part for Machining ........................................................................... 423 Loading the Part Model ..................................................................................... 423 Machine Setup .................................................................................................... 424 Select Post Processor ........................................................................................ 426 Specify Material ............................................................................................... 426 Create Machining Operations ................................................................................ 427 5 Axis Surface Normal Machining .......................................................................... 427 Machining Features .......................................................................................... 428 Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 430 Specify Clearance ............................................................................................. 431 Specify Cut Parameters ..................................................................................... 432 Entry/Exit ....................................................................................................... 433 Gouge Check ................................................................................................... 434 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 436 5 Axis Swarf Machining ........................................................................................ 437 Machining Features .......................................................................................... 438 Select Tool ...................................................................................................... 442 Cut Parameters ................................................................................................ 443 Entry/Exit ....................................................................................................... 444 Gouge Check ................................................................................................... 445 Simulate toolpath ............................................................................................. 446 Post Processing ................................................................................................ 447

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Welcome to RhinoCAM Getting Started Guide

Welcome to RhinoCAM and thank you for choosing one of most powerful and easy to use complete CAD/CAM packages on the market today. RhinoCAM is a unique CAM product plug-in that runs inside of Rhinoceros. Plug-ins can be considered as independent applications that can be loaded and unloaded on demand from the host program, which in this case is Rhinoceros. This fully integrated RhinoCAM plug-in seamlessly integrates Rhinoceross CAD functionality with toolpath generation and cutting simulation/verification, in one package that is both easy and fun to use. You can work with the native Rhinoceros design data as well as use any of the data types that can be imported into Rhinoceros such as solids, surfaces and meshes. Then you can use RhinoCAM with its wide selection of tools and toolpath strategies to create machining operations and associated toolpaths. These toolpaths can then be simulated and verified, and finally post-processed to the controller of your choice.

About this Guide

Welcome to the RhinoCAM getting started guide. This file contains various tutorials to help you get started with learning RhinoCAM. Each tutorial lesson has two associated Rhinoceros files that you can find located in the Tutorials folder under the installation folder of RhinoCAM. The first file is a completed file that contains all of the completed toolpaths and machining operations and represents the file that you should end up with after working through the tutorial. The other file is a starter file that contains only the geometry. Use the completed file as a reference. Copy the starter file and use this file to begin each tutorial. Good luck and have fun!

Where to go for more help

Apart from the on-line help system you can download tutorials and projects from MecSoft Corporation's web site at www.mecsoft.com. This will help you get started with using RhinoCAM. If you need additional help, or if you have any questions regarding RhinoCAM, you may contact us via e-mail at [email protected] MecSoft offers Online training as well as personalized full day training sessions. Please look up our website or email us at [email protected] for further details Please do continue to visit our home page to learn about the latest updates to RhinoCAM and any other help material.

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Tutorial 1: Machining a Gasket

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining of a simple prismatic part such as this gasket using 21/2 milling operations. Even though we have created a 3-D representation of the gasket, it will be seen later on that we can machine this using just 2-D curves. The reason we are able to do this is because of the prismatic nature of this model. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the Gasket

We will machine the Gasket by using a 2- axis machining operation called Profiling. The part will be machined out of a 10 x 6 x inch poplar wood sheet using a inch Flat End Mill. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using double-sided tape.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the Gasket.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

1. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser.

The MOps browser is now open and by default appears to the left of the viewport layout in Rhinoceros.

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2. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. The MObs browser now appears next to MOps browser in Rhinoceros and is automatically docked to the application by default.

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You can drag the MObs browser on top of the MOps browser as shown below. To drag the MObs browser, click on the title bar of the MObs browser and drag it over the MOps browser.

Machining Objects browser (MObs) now appears under the Machining Operations browser (MOps)

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

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2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis.

MCS

WCS

7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length (L) = 10.0, Width (W) = 6.00 and Height (H) = 0.125. Leave the other parameters as default and Click OK.

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Machining Job is now updated with the Machine Type, Post Processor and Stock information in the MOps browser.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Top and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the top of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and top in Z.

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 15. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 16. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry.

The work zero is now translated to the Southwest corner and top of stock material.

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Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a inch (0.5) Flat End Mill. 17. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

18. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

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19. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.5, Tool Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

20. Switch to Feeds and Speeds tab and click Load from File.

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21. Set Stock Material to Wood and Tool Material to HSS. Click OK and the computed cut feedrate and spindle speed is now applied to the feeds and speeds tab.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The computed feeds and speeds are transferred to the Feeds and Speeds tab. 22. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis Profiling operation.

2 Axis Profiling
1. Select 2Axis and choose Profiling from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 2 Axis Profiling operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operations for the inner features of the Gasket.

Select Machining Features/Regions

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 2. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab.

The Profiling operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. We will now select the surface edges of the 3 inside hole features.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 3. Select the surface edge by clicking near the edge of each hole.

4. Repeat this step for the other 2 hole features.

5. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection. The 2 Axis Profiling operation dialog comes back up displaying the selected Drive regions. The selected regions are also highlighted on the part.

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You can click on the Region list and corresponding surface edge curve is highlighted on the part.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide

Select Cutting Tool

6. Switch to Tool tab under 2 Axis Profiling operation.

7. Select Flat Mill-0.5 under Tools. The 0.5 Flat End mill is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

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Set Feeds and Speeds

8. Click Feeds & Speeds tab

9. Select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Clearance Geometry
10. Switch to Clearance tab.

11. Set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. RhinoCAM will determine a safe Z height for the Entry & Exit when set to automatic. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the automatic Z clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. When this dialog box is active, the clearance plane is shown on the model.

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Specify Cut Parameters

12. Switch to Cut Parameters tab

13. Set the Stock = 0 and under cut start Side check Use Outside/Inside for Closed Curves and select Inside. Alternatively you can also use Determine using 3D model.

Cut Levels

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 14. Select the Cut Levels tab and set Location of Cut Geometry as At Top, specify the Total Cut Depth = 0.125. The cut depth is always set as an absolute value. Set Rough Depth = 0.125 and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125.

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Entry/Exit
15. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and set Entry and Exit Motions to None.

16. Click Generate. The 2 Axis Profile toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

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Simulate Toolpath
The generated toolpath can now be simulated under the Simulate tab. 17. Switch to Simulate tab in RhinoCAM-MOps browser

18. Select 2 Axis Profiling and click Play.

The cut material simulation is shown below. Note: You can adjust the simulation speed by selecting Simulation Preferences that is located under the Simulate tab.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

To exit the Simulation mode, Pause simulation first and then click Stop.

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Creating a 2 Axis Profile for the Outer Region

1. Switch to Program tab 2. Select the 2 Axis Profiling operation under Setup 1, 3. Right mouse button click and left click on Copy.

4. Right mouse button click on 2 Axis Profiling and left click on Paste.

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This creates a copy of the profile operation.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 5. 6. 7. 8. Double click to edit the operation you just copied Click Remove All under Machining Features/Region. Click Select Drive/Containment Regions Select the Surface edge on outer edge of the gasket

9. Right mouse button click or press enter on your keyboard to end selection. 10. Switch to Cut Parameters tab and change the Cut Start Side from Inside to Outside under Use Outside/Inside for Closed Curves.

11. Leaving all other parameters with the same settings from the previous operation, click Generate. 12. The 2 Profiling toolpath is now regenerated with the changes.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 13. Switch to Simulate tab, select the 2nd 2 Axis Profiling operation under Setup and click Play to run cut material simulation.

Reports
1. Switch to Program tab 2. Select Setup 1, right mouse button click and left click on Information.

This provides the estimated machining time for operations created under Setup 1. Note: You can also go over to Machining Job and right click and select information determine the estimated machining time for all Setups.

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Shop Docs
3. Shop documentation can be generated selecting Machining Job or Setup under the Program tab. Right mouse button click and select Shop Documentation.

User can select from one of the 2 templates and generate shop documentation. This is saved as an html file and can be printed and handed over to the operator in preparation for the part to be machined on the CNC.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1.

The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post.

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The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 1!

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Tutorial 2: Machining a Slotted Gear

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Introduction
This tutorial will introduce the usage of 2 axis profiling and Engraving Machining operations in RhinoCAM. We will be using the Gear.3dm part file. It should be noted that, even though the part file contains a 3-D geometry representing the part, we could machine this entirely by using just 2-D curves due to the prismatic nature of this model. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the Slotted Gear

We will machine the gear completely using 2 axis-machining operations. We will use the Profiling operation to cut the outer shape of the gear and the Engraving operation to cut the slots. The engraving option is preferred in situations where the cutter can be driven to create a slot that conforms to the shape of the tool trajectory. This is because of the computational efficiency as well as the accuracy of this method. The part itself will be machined out of a 3 inch x 3 inch x inch poplar wood sheet. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using double-sided tape. The part will be machined using a single inch flat end mill.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

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Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

2. From the Open dialog box, select the Gear.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

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Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

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Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

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Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Part Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Part Box Stock parameters. The system calculates the bounding box of the part model as the XYZ extents of geometry of the part model. The user can then define offsets in any of the three coordinate directions to apply to the computed bounding box. The system will expand the bounding box by the offset amount in each of the coordinate directions. When the user clicks on the OK button, a stock model based on the user definition will be created and displayed. 10. Set Offsets for X, Y and Z =0. Make sure to uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation and click OK. Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation.

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Machining Job is now updated with the Machine Type, Post Processor and Stock information in the MOps browser.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). This step is not necessary for this particular exercise as the part and stock models have the exact same bounding box extents (3 x 3 x 0.25)

Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 11. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

12. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

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The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

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Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 13. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

14. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to North West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the northwest corner of the stock geometry.

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The work zero is now translated to the Northwest corner and top of stock material.

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Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a inch (0.25) Flat End Mill. 15. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

16. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

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17. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.25, Tool Diameter = 0.25, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5 and Tool Length = 2.0. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

18. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

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19. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Regions for Machining

In the steps below we will extract regions from the 3D model and create curves for engraving.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 1. Turn off Stock model visibility under RhinoCAM MOps browser. 2. Select Layer Manager from the standard bar

3. Set Layer 01 as active layer by placing a check box next to Layer 01. A new layer is selected just to have the curves created on a different layer from the model layer. This would make it easier to view the curves as the new layer has a different color from the default layer which contains the surface geometry.

4. From Curve menu Rhino Toolbar menu select Curve from Objects and Duplicate Face Border. The command bar will now prompt the user to select surfaces or faces for duplicate border.

5. Select the top face (surface) of the part geometry. A selection list may be displayed if you click near an edge. Browsing through the selection list will highlight the surface that corresponds to the selection.

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The curves from the top flat area are now extracted from the model and appear on Layer 01. 6. Switch to the Top viewport or maximize the top view port. 7. From the Curve menu bar, select Circle -> Center, Radius. 8. Center of Circle: 1.5,1.5 and press enter

9. Specify Radius = 1.0 (or Diameter = 2.0) and press enter.

This creates a 2 diameter circle with center at 1.5, 1.5.

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We will now create lines, which can be selected for engraving the slots on the gear. 10. Select Osnap from status bar and turn on Quad and Center snap. Turn off the other snaps.

11. From the Curve menu select Line -> Single Line. 12. Start of Line: Snap to the Quad point of the circle and left click.

13. End of Line: Snap to center of arc

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A line is now created at the center of the slot. We will now array the line across other slots on the gear. 14. Select the line and go to Transform -> Array -> Polar

15. Use the following parameters a. Center of polar array: 1.5,1.5

b. Number of items: 6

c. Angle to fill or first reference point: 360

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The lines created as shown below.

Save your work by selecting File ->Save from the menu bar.

Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis Profiling operation.

2 Axis Profiling
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose Profiling from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 2 Axis Profiling operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operation.

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Select Machining Features/Regions

1. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab.

The Profiling operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 2. Select the inner circle first by using the left mouse click and then the outer circle.

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3. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection. The selected regions are now displayed under Machining Regions.

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Selecting the Tool

4. Switch to Tool tab under 2 Axis Profiling operation.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 5. Select FlatMill-0.25 under Tools. The 0.25 Flat End mill is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

Set Feeds and Speeds

6. Click Feeds & Speeds tab

7. Select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Clearance Geometry
8. Switch to Clearance tab.

9. Set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. RhinoCAM will determine a safe Z height for the Entry & Exit when set to automatic. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the automatic Z clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. When this dialog box is active, the clearance plane is shown on the model.

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Specify Cut Parameters

10. Switch to Cut Parameters tab

11. Set Stock = 0 and under cut start Side check Determine using 3D model.

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Cut Levels
12. Select the Cut Levels tab and set Location of Cut Geometry as At Top, specify the Total Cut Depth = 0.25. The cut depth is always set as an absolute value. Set Rough Depth = 0.25 and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125.

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Entry/Exit
13. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and set Entry and Exit Motions to None.

14. Click Generate. The 2 Axis Profile toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

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Simulate Toolpath
The generated toolpath can now be simulated under the Simulate tab. 15. Switch to Simulate tab in RhinoCAM-MOps browser

16. Select 2 Axis Profiling and click Play.

17. The cut material simulation is shown below. Note: You can adjust the simulation speed by selecting Simulation Preferences that is located under the Simulate tab.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

To exit the Simulation mode, Pause simulation first and then click Stop.

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Creating Engraving Operation

Now we will use engraving operation to cut the slots of the gear by driving the 0.25 inch tool in the slot. This is an efficient way of machining slots by driving the cutter along the center of the slot. 1. Switch to Program tab and select 2Axis and Engraving.

Select Machining Features/Regions

1. Under Machining Features/ Regions click on Remove All to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation 2. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab and select the 6 lines on the slotted gear as shown below.

3. Right mouse click or press enter to complete the selection. The selected lines are now listed under Machining Feature/Region tab.

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Select Tool, Feeds & Speeds and Clearance

4. Switch to Tool tab and select FlatMill-0.25 5. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 6. Switch to Clearance Plane tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Specify Engraving Cut Parameters

7. Switch to Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Cut Direction - Natural b. Location of Cut Geometry as At Top c. Total Cut Depth = 0.25. The cut depth is always set as an absolute value. d. Rough Depth = 0.25 and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125 e. Cut Traversal between Cut Levels (if any) - Zig

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8. Click Generate. The Engraving toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed below 2 axis Profiling under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

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Simulate Toolpath
The generated toolpath can now be simulated under the Simulate tab. 9. Switch to Simulate tab in RhinoCAM-MOps browser

10. Select Engraving and click Play.

The cut material simulation with material texture is shown below.

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Note: You can adjust the simulation speed by selecting Simulation Preferences that is located under the Simulate tab. To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

To exit the Simulation mode, Pause simulation first and then click Stop.

Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1.

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The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 2!

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Tutorial 3: Machining a Shaft Base

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining of a prismatic part such as this Shaft Base using 2-1/2 milling operations. Even though we have created a 3-D representation of the part, it will be seen later on that we can machine this using just 2-D curves. The reason we are able to do this is because of the prismatic nature of this model. This tutorial will introduce the usage of 2 axis machining for a simple one sided part. We will use profiling, pocketing and hole pocketing operations. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved

Strategy to Machine the Shaft Base

We will machine the shaft base completely using 2 axis-machining operations. The starting material for the Shaft Base is aluminum and the size is 5.5 x 3.25 x 0.75 inches. The stock will be held to the machine table using clamps. The part will be machined using a inch flat end mill. Determining the sequence of machining operations o As the part thickness is 0.625 thick and the available stock is 0.75 the first operation would involve reducing the thickness of the stock over the entire area from 0.75 to 0.625. To carry out this operation we will use the 2 axis Facing operation as the toolpath extends past the region. o The next step would involve machining the areas around and inside the boss. We will use 2 Axis Facing to machine around the boss and 2 axis Pocketing operation which is ideal removing material inside a specified region. o We are now down to the level where the step holes need to be machined. As the holes are circular we will use Hole Pocketing operation to machine the holes to its depth in 2 separate operations. o The 2 inner holes can be drilled using an engraving operation to its depth. o Finally we will cut out the shape of the part from the rectangular using a contour toolpath. This is accomplished using a 2 axis Profiling operation which separates the finished part from the stock material.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Simulate the toolpath.

You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar. 2. From the Open dialog box, select the ShaftBase.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

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Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create machining operations.

Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

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Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length (L) = 5.5, Width (W) = 3.25 and Height (H) = 0.75. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation and Click OK. Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Bottom and XY alignment to Center. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Part Bounds Computation and Click OK. (This would align the stock to the bottom of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and bottom in Z.

Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 1997-2012, MecSoft Corporation 107

RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to ALUMINUM 6061 from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 15. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 16. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry.

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MCS and WCS shown from Iso and Front views.

Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a inch (0.25) Flat End Mill. 17. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

18. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 19. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.25, Tool Diameter = 0.25, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5 and Tool Length = 2.0. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

20. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

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21. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

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Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis Facing operation.

2 Axis Facing
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose Facing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 2 Axis Facing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operation.

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Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions from Drive Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab.

The Facing operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 3. Select the rectangle by using the left mouse click.

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4. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection. The selected regions are now displayed under Drive Regions in Machining Features/Regions tab.

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Selecting the Tool

5. Switch to Tool tab under 2 Axis Facing operation.

6. Select FlatMill-0.25 under Tools. The 0.25 Flat End mill is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

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Set Feeds and Speeds

7. Click Feeds and Speeds tab

8. Select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Clearance Geometry
9. Switch to Clearance tab.

10. Set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. RhinoCAM will determine a safe Z height for the Entry & Exit when set to automatic. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the automatic Z clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. When this dialog box is active, the clearance plane is shown on the model.

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Specify Cut Parameters

11. Switch to Roughing tab

12. Under Global Parameters, set Tolerance = 0.001, Stock = 0, set Cut Pattern to Island Offset Cuts, Cut Direction to Climb and Step Distance = 50 (% of tool diameter). 13. Switch to Cut Levels tab

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Cut Levels
14. Use the following parameters. a. Location of Cut Geometry, select At Bottom or use Pick Top and set the value = 0 (As the selected region at Z = -0.125, we would need to start the first cut from Z =0). b. Under cut depth control, set Total Cut Depth = 0.125, Rough Depth = 0.125, and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.0625.

15. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and set Entry & Exit Parameters to None. 16. Click Generate. 2 Axis Facing toolpath is now generated, and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. 1997-2012, MecSoft Corporation 121

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Simulate toolpath
17. Switch to Simulate tab, Select 2 Axis Facing, and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON. Note: You can adjust the simulation speed by selecting Simulation Preferences that is located under the Simulate tab.

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Creating Facing Operation #2

We will now create a second facing operation to remove material around the boss area.

As we have already programmed a facing operation to remove excess material from the top face of the stock, we will make a copy of the facing toolpath to program around the boss feature. This would allow us to reuse some of the operation parameters. 1. Switch to Program tab

Copying and Pasting a Machining Operation

2. Select 2 Axis Facing operation created from the previous step, right mouse button click, and select Copy. 3. Right mouse button click on the same operation and select Paste.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide This creates a copy of the facing operation and lists it below the first facing operation as shown below.

Editing Machining Operation

We will now edit the 2nd Facing operation under Setup. 4. Double click on the 2 Axis Facing operation folder. In the Machining Features/Regions tab, you will notice Drive Region1 as selected machining region. This is the rectangle we used as region for creating the facing operation in the previous step. With this being selected, we will now select the surface edge on the boss of the part as Avoid region.

Specify Avoid Region

5. Click Avoid Regions tab under Machining Feature/Regions tab and Select Avoid Regions.

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6. Select the surface edge on the outer edge of the boss feature as show below.

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7. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. Selected Machining Region(s) now shows 1 avoid region added to selection. The region highlight color for avoid region is different from drive region.

Leaving the Tool, Feeds and Speeds, Clearance parameters the same from the previous operation, we will now specify cut parameters.

Change Cut Parameters and Cut Levels

8. Switch to Roughing tab 9. Change Step over Distance = 35 (% of tool diameter), select Corner Cleanup

10. Switch to Cut Levels tab and use the following parameters a. Location of Cut Geometry use Pick Top = -0.125 b. Total Cut Depth = 0.375 c. Rough Depth = 0.375

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide d. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125

11. Click Generate to compute the toolpath. Select the facing operation to preview the toolpath. If the toolpath is not visible, make sure to toggle toolpath visibility under the MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
12. Switch to Simulate tab, select the second 2 Axis Facing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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2 Axis Pocketing
We will now create a Pocketing operation to machine the area inside the boss feature.

1. Switch to Program tab and select 2Axis and Pocketing

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Under Machining Features/ Regions tab click on Remove All to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation. 3. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab and select the top inner edge on the boss feature.

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4. Right mouse click or press enter to complete the selection. The selected region is now listed as DriveRegion 1 under Drive Regions tab.

5. Switch to Tool tab and select FlatMill-0.25. 6. Select Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool 7. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. 8. Go to Cut parameters tab

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Specify Cut Parameters

9. Set Tolerance = 0.001, Stock = 0, Cut Pattern to Offset Cuts, Cut Direction to Climb and Step over distance = 25 (% Tool Diameter).

10. Switch to Cut Levels tab

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Cut Levels
11. Use the Following Parameters a. Set Location of Cut Geometry as At Top (as the machining feature selected is at the top of the pocket) We will now determine the Total Cut Depth from the 3D model by snapping at 2 points. b. Select pick depth button located to the right of Total Cut Depth. This allows selection of 2 points for depth selection.

c. Turn on near point snap from Rhinoceross status bar. d. Pick near the top edge of the boss feature as the first point and the bottom edge of the floor of the pocket as the second point as shown below.

Fist Point Pick

Second Point Pick

Total cut depth now determines the depth as 0.25. e. Set Rough Depth = 0.25 and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125

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This would cut the pocket steps of 0.125 resulting in 2 cut levels. Note: You can also specify the Total Cut Depth by entering the depth values under Total Cut Depth.

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Entry/Exit
12. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and use the following settings a. Approach Motion Length (L) = 0.025, Engage Motion use Path ramp and set Angle (A) = 5 (degrees) and Height (H) = 0.125 b. Retract Motion use Linear, set Length (L) = 0.0625 and Angle (A) = 45 (degrees) c. Select Apply entry/exit at all cut levels.

13. Switch to Advanced Cut Parameters tab, select Perform Arc Fitting and set Fitting Tolerance = 0.002 and click Generate. 2 Axis Pocketing toolpath is now generated and is listed under the 2 Axis Facing operation in the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. Note: You can rearrange operations in the MOps browser using drag and drop. 1997-2012, MecSoft Corporation 134

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Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select 2 Axis Pocketing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON. Note: To turn on/off the toolpath, stock model visibilities use the controls located at the bottom of the MOps Browser.

Hole Pocketing Operation

In order to machine the 6 holes, we will now use 2 axis hole pocketing operation.

Create Predefined Machining Regions

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 1. Click Regions tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects Browser (MObs). If MObs browser is not open, select RhinoCAM from Menu bar and click Machining Objects browser.

2. Select Flat Area selection filters

3. Set the following options.

a. Select Ignore most region b. Select Pick only Circles/Arcs

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide i. Select Use diameter filter and set Minimum Diameter = 0.5 and Maximum Diameter = 0.5 c. Click OK. 4. Click on Select Flat Areas under Regions tab

5. Pick the flat area as shown below

Selecting the Flat Area creates regions around the 6 holes and the regions are now available under the Regions tab as Flat Area Region 1 in the MObs browser.

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We are now ready to create the Hole Pocketing operation for the 0.5 diameter stepped holes. 6. Select the last operation (2 Axis Pocketing) under Setup 1, from the Program tab select 2Axis and Hole Pocketing.

Select Machining Features/Regions

7. Click Remove All under Machining Features/ Regions tab click to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation. 8. Click Select Pre-Defined Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab.

This opens up Select predefined Machining Region(s) dialog box.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 9. Select Flat Area Region 1 and click OK.

Flat Area Region 1 is now added to Driver Regions under Machining Regions.

10. Switch to Tool tab under Hole Pocketing operation and select FlatMill-0.25 11. Select Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool. 12. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 13. Go to Cut parameters tab

Specify Cut Parameters

14. Use the following parameters a. Tolerance = 0.0001 b. Location of Cut Geometry = At Top c. Hole Depth = 0.0625 and Uncheck use 3D mode to detect Depth d. Hole Diameter = 0.5 and Uncheck Use Arc Diameter as Hole Diameter for all selected holes e. Set Cut Direction as Climb f. Stepdown Distance (dZ) select Number of Levels set the value = 1 g. Check Do cleanup pass at each Z Level.

15. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and set the following parameters

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide a. b. c. d. Helix Diameter = 0.25 Helix Pitch, select Height = 0.025 Approach Distance = 0.025 Select Create full (360 degree) helixes only and Output each helix individually.

16. Click Generate. Hole Pocketing toolpath is now generated and is listed under 2 Axis Pocketing operation in the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. Note: You can rearrange operations in the MOps browser using drag and drop.

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Simulate toolpath
17. Switch to Simulate tab, select the Hole Pocketing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

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Create Hole Pocketing Operation for the through holes

1. Switch to Program tab 2. Select Hole Pocketing operation created from the previous step, right mouse button click, and select Copy. 3. Right mouse button click on the same operation and select Paste.

This creates a copy of the Hole Pocketing operation and lists it below the first Hole operation as shown below.

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Editing Machining Operation

We will now edit the 2nd Hole Pocketing operation under Setup. 4. Double click on the Hole Pocketing operation folder. In the Machining Features/Regions tab, you will notice Flat Area Region1 as selected machining region. This is the region we used for creating the hole pocketing operation for the stepped holes in the previous step. As the through holes are concentric with the step holes, we will use the same region and modify the cut parameters to program the through holes. 5. Switch to cut parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Tolerance = 0.0001 b. Location of Cut Geometry select Pick Top = -0.5625 You can also select the top using the Pick option and snap to the top edge of the through hole using the near point object snap.

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c. Hole Depth = 0.1875 and Uncheck use 3D mode to detect Depth d. Hole Diameter = 0.315 and Uncheck Use Arc Diameter as Hole Diameter for all selected holes e. Set Cut Direction as Climb f. Stepdown Distance (dZ) select Number of Levels set the value = 1 g. Check Do cleanup pass at each Z Level.

6. Switch to Entry / Exit tab and use the following parameters a. Helix Diameter = 0.065 (Max Helix Diameter = Hole Diameter Tool Diameter) b. Helix Pitch, select Height = 0.05 c. Approach Distance = 0.025

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide d. Select Create full (360 degree) helixes only and Output each helix individually.

7. Click Generate. Hole Pocketing toolpath is now regenerated for the through holes.

Simulate toolpath
8. Switch to Simulate tab, select the second Hole Pocketing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Create Engraving Operation

We will now create engraving operation to drill the 2 center holes. The holes can also be drilled using Drilling operation that is available under Hole Machining. In this exercise, we will use Engraving to drill the holes using a 0.25 Flat Mill to avoid tool change.

Create Machining Region

1. Select Layer Manager from the standard bar

2. Set Layer 01 as active layer by placing a check box next to Layer 01.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide A new layer is selected just to have the curves created on a different layer from the model layer. This would make it easier to view the curves as the new layer has a different color from the default layer which contains the surface geometry.

3. Select Osnap from status bar and turn on Center Snap. Turn off the other snaps.

4.

From Curve menu, select Point Object ->Single Point. This prompts you to specify Location of Point object.

5. Move the cursor near the edge of the hole and when the cross hair on the cursor detects the center, left click to create the point. 6. Repeat the above step to create a point for the other hole.

Snap to center for Left side hole

Snap to center for Right side hole

The points created can now been seen on the part at the center of each of the 2 holes.

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Select Engraving Operation

1. Select the last operation (Hole Pocketing) under Setup 1 and from Program tab select 2 Axis and Engraving 2. Click Remove All under Drive Regions. 3. Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab. The engraving operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 4. Select the 2 points using left mouse click and then press enter or right mouse button click to end selection.

Selected regions are now displayed under Machining Regions.

5. Switch to Tool tab under Engraving and select FlatMill-0.25 6. Click Feeds& Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 7. Switch to the Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. 8. Go to Cut Parameters tab

Specify Cut Parameters

9. Use the following parameters a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Cut Direction as Natural

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide c. Location of Cut Geometry as At Top d. Cut Depth Control i. Total Cut Depth = 0.375, ii. Rough Depth = 0.375, iii. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.1875 e. Cut Traversal between Cut Levels (if any) as Zig

10. Set Entry and Exit to None under Entry/Exit tab. 11. Click Generate. The engraving operation is now created and listed under Hole Pocketing operation.

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Simulate toolpath
12. Switch to Simulate tab, select the Engraving operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Create Profiling Operation

1. Select the last operation (Engraving) under Setup 1 and from Program tab select 2 Axis and Profiling

Select Machining Features

2. Click Remove All under Machining Features/ Regions tab click to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation. 3. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Drive Regions tab. The Profiling operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 4. Select the outer edge on the top of shaft base as show below. A selection list may be displayed when you click near an edge. Browsing through the selection list will highlight the face edge that corresponds to the selection.

5. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection.

Specify Parameters
6. Switch to Tool tab and select FlatMill-0.25 7. Click Feeds& Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 8. Switch to the Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. 9. Go to Cut Parameters tab a. Set Tolerance = 0.001 b. Cut Direction as Climb c. Cut Start Side, select Determine using 3D Model

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10. Switch to Cut Levels tab and use the following parameters a. Location of Cut Geometry as At Top b. Cut Depth Control i. Total Cut Depth = 0.25 ii. Rough Depth = 0.25 iii. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125

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11. Set Entry and Exit Parameters to None under Entry/Exit tab. 12. Go to Advanced Cut Parameters tab, select Perform Arc Fitting and set Fitting Tolerance = 0.002 and click Generate.

13. Profiling toolpath is now listed under Engraving operation in RhinoCAM-MOPs browser.

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Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select the 2 Axis Profiling operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 3!

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Tutorial 4: V-Carving

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining a sign using V Carve operation. We can engrave the sign using 2-D curves. This tutorial will introduce the usage of 2- axis V Carving using V bit. V carving refers to a cutting strategy employed by sign makers to create sharp corners. V carving is performed using a tapered bit or conical tool (as shown below) usually known in the industry as a V Bit.

The V-bit is made to rise from the cutting depth to the top of the surface at the corners in such a way that the tapered sides of the cutter are always in contact with the corners. When the cutter finally reaches the top surface, only the bottom tip of the tool will be in contact with the corners, thereby creating clean and crisp cuts at the corners. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the part

V carving is performed using the 2 axis machining operation. The part itself will be machined out of a 10.75 inch x 4 inch x inch poplar wood sheet The part would be machined using a single V-Groove bit. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using double-sided tape.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar. 2. From the Open dialog box, select the V-Carve1.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create machining operations.

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Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

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MCS 7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length = 10.75, Width = 4.00 and Height = 0.5. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation.

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Top and XY alignment to Center. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Part Bounds Computation and Click OK. (This would align the stock to the Top of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and top in Z.

Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 15. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

16. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry.

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This sets the MCS at the same location as WCS. Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a 60 degree V-bit. 17. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

18. Select the Tool Type to Vee Mill.

19. Set tool Name as VeeMill1, Taper Angle = 30, Tool Diameter = 0.5, Shoulder Length = 0.5, Tool Length = 1, Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 20. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

21. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis V-carving operation.

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V-Carving
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose V-Carving from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the V-Carving operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab. The V-carving operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 3. Now, select the text by using the left mouse click, starting from left to right. Make sure to get the inner curves on the letters e and o. Each cu rve is separate (by curves, not by letters) and must be selected separately.

4. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected regions are now listed as Drive Regions under Machining Regions.

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Selecting the Tool

5. Switch to Tool tab under V-Carving operation.

6. Select VeeMill1 under Tools. The engraving tool is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

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Set Feeds and Speeds

7. Click Feeds & Speeds tab

8. Select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined. 9. Switch to Clearance Tab

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Clearance Geometry
10. Set Clearance Plane Definition to Absolute Z Value and specify Z value = 0.25 and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the Absolute Z value clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. 11. Switch to cut parameters tab.

Specifying Cut Parameters

12. Use the following Parameters

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide a. b. c. d. Tolerance = 0.001 Cut Side as Inside Location of Cut Geometry as At Top Cut Depth Control i. Total Cut Depth = 0.2 ii. Rough Depth = 0.2 iii. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.05

13. Click Generate. The Engraving toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select V-Carving operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located.

Saving Operation to a Knowledgebase

1. From the Program tab, select Knowledgebase and Save to KB

2. Specify a folder location, file name and click Save. The operation is now saved as Knowledge Base Files (*.vkb) under the specified folder.

We will load the saved knowledge base in the next tutorial. End of Tutorial 4!

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Tutorial 5: Embossing

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining a sign using engraving operations. We can engrave the sign using 2-D curves. This tutorial will introduce the usage of V Carve Roughing with a Flat End Mill and V Carving using V bit. V carving refers to a cutting strategy employed by sign makers to create sharp corners. V carving is performed using a tapered bit or conical tool (as shown below) usually known in the industry as a V Bit.

The V-bit is made to rise from the cutting depth to the top of the surface at the corners in such a way that the tapered sides of the cutter are always in contact with the corners. When the cutter finally reaches the top surface, only the bottom tip of the tool will be in contact with the corners, thereby creating clean and crisp cuts at the corners. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the part

Embossing is performed using the 2 axis machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a 21.5 inch x 4 inch x 1 inch poplar wood sheet The part would be machined using a Flat End Mill and a V-Groove bit. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using double-sided tape.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar. 2. From the Open dialog box, select the Embossing1.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create machining operations.

Machine Setup
5. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

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6. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

7. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

8. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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9. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 10. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

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Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 11. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 12. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

13. Click Box Stock from the drop down list. 14. Set the Length = 21.5, Width = 4.00 and Height = 1.0. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 15. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

16. Set Z alignment to Top and XY alignment to Center. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Part Bounds Computation and Click OK. (This would align the stock to the Top of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and top in Z.

Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 17. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

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18. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 19. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

20. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry. This sets the MCS at the same location as WCS. Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a 1/8th inch (0.125) Flat End Mill for V-Carve Roughing operation and use a 60 degree V-bit for the V-Carve finishing operation. 21. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

22. Select the Tool Type to FlatMill.

23. Set Tool Name as FlatMill-0.125, Tool Diameter = 0.125, Flute Length = 0.75, Shoulder Length = 1.0 and Tool Length = 1.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 22. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

23. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

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Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis V-carve Roughing and V-Carving operation.

V-Carve Roughing
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose V-Carve Roughing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the V-Carve Roughing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab. The V-Carve Roughing operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 3. Now, select the inner rectangle and the text by using the left mouse click, starting from left to right. Make sure to get the inner curves on letter R, o, A and the dot on letter i. Each curve is separate (by curves, not by letters) and must be selected separately.

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4. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected regions are now listed as Drive Regions under Machining Regions.

Specify Parameters
5. Switch to Tool tab under V-Carve Roughing operation and Select FlatMill-0.125. 6. Click on Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 7. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Absolute Z Value and specify Z value = 0.25 and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

8. Switch to Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Tolerance = 0.001

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide b. c. d. e. f. Stock = 0 V-Carving Finish Tool Taper Angle = 30 Cut Pattern Offset Cuts Cut Direction Mixed Stepover Distance = 25 (% of tool diameter)

Note: V-Carve Finishing Tool Taper Angle represents the included angle of the V-bit that would be used after the V-Carve Roughing operation. If you have a 60 degree V-Bit, the Taper Angle would be 30 degrees.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 9. Switch to Cut Levels tab and use the following parameters a. Location of Cut Geometry as At Top b. Cut Depth Control i. Total Cut Depth = 0.25 ii. Rough Depth = 0.25 iii. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 10. Go to Entry/Exit tab and use the following parameters a. Approach Motion = 0.025 b. Engage Motion , use Path, set Angle = 10 and Height = 0.05 c. Retract Motion use Linear, set Length = 0.0625 and Angle = 45 d. Departure Motion = 0.025. Select Apply entry/exit at all cut levels.

11. Click Generate. V-Carving toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser. Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
12. Switch to Simulate tab, select V-Carve Roughing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON. We will now create a V-Carving operation to finish the sign using a 60 degree taper tool.

V-Carving Operation
As we created a V-carving operation on Tutorial 4 and saved the operation to a knowledge base, we will import the knowledge base file to this tutorial to program the part.

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Load Knowledge base

1. From Machining Objects Browser, select K-Bases tab and click Load Knowledge Base

2. Browse to Tutorials folder to select V_Carve1_Completed.vkb

3. V-Carving operation now shows up under K-Bases tab in Machining Objects browser.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4. Drag and Drop V-Carving operation from Machining Objects browser onto Machining Operations browser. Make sure to drag it below the V-Carve Roughing operation.

V-Carving operation now appears under Machining Operations browser and is ready for editing and generating toolpath.

Edit V-Carving Operation

5. Double click on V-Carving folder to edit the operation. 6. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab. This minimizes the V-Carving operation dialog. 7. Select the inner rectangle and the Text as shown below. Right mouse click to complete the selection.

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8. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected regions are now listed as Drive Regions under Machining Regions. 9. Switch to Tool tab, select VeeMill1 and click Edit/Create/Select Tool...

10. Change Tool Number under Properties tab to 2 and click Save Edits to Tool.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 11. Click OK to close and return back to V-Carving operation. 12. Switch to Cut Parameters tab and set Total Cut Depth = 0.25, Rough Depth = 0.25 and Rough Depth/Cut = 0.05 13. Click Generate to compute toolpath.

Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select V-Carving operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 5!

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Tutorial 6: Chamfering

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Introduction
This tutorial is intended to show an easy way to chamfer and smooth sharp corners by using 2 axis Chamfering operation. A tapered tool is suitable for this purpose. In this example, the chamfer is not modeled in the part. We plan to chamfer the edges of the part using a 30 degree taper tool that has a 0 radius at the tip. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the part

Chamfering is performed using the 2 axis machining operation. The part would be machined using a single V-Groove bit. The stock will be held to the machine table using clamps.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within RhinoCAM, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar. 2. From the Open dialog box, select the Chamfer.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a 60 degree Chamfer. 3. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools. 4. Select the Tool Type to Chamfer Mill.

5. Set Tool Name as ChamferMill1, Taper Angle = 30, Flat Diameter = 0, Flute Length = 0.4, Shoulder Length = 1, Tool Length = 1, Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 2.

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6. Switch to Feeds and Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

7. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Machining Operation

In this process, we will create 2 Chamfering operation. 1. Select the Program tab under RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser You will notice the stock geometry has already been defined and includes a 2 Axis Facing operation programmed.

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Chamfering
1. Select 2 Axis Facing operation under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose Chamfering from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the Chamfer operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Under Machining Features/ Regions click on Remove All to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation 3. Click Select Drive /Containment Regions under Drive Regions tab. The Chamfering operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features. 4. Select the curve that follows the top edge of the spanner as shown below.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 5. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected lines are now listed under Machining Feature/Region tab.

Selecting the Tool

6. Switch to Tool tab under the Chamfer operation dialog. 7. Select ChamferMill1

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 8. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 9. Select Clearance Tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Absolute Z Value and specify Z value = 0.25 and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the Absolute Z value clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another.

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Specifying Cut Parameters

10. Switch to cut parameters tab.

11. Use the following Parameters a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Stock = 0 c. Chamfer Parameters

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide i. Select Geometry At Top ii. Chamfer Width = 0.125 iii. Tooltip Clearance = 0 iv. Max Depth/Cut = 0.0625 d. Cut Direction as Mixed e. Cut Start Side select Use Outside/Inside for Closed Curves and select Outside 12. Set Entry & Exit parameters to None under Entry/Exit tab. 13. Click Generate. The Chamfer toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Reorder a Machining Operation

If the chamfer operation is created above the 2 axis Facing operation, you can reorder the MOp using the steps below. 1. Minimize all MOps under Setup 1. 2. Select the Chamfering MOp and drag it over the 2 axis Facing MOp. This would move the Chamfer MOp below the Facing MOp.

Simulate toolpath
1. Switch to Simulate tab, 2. Simulate the Facing operation under Setup and click Play to run simulation. 3. Once this is completed, select V-Carving operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation. Note: You can select Setup 1 and click Play to simulate all operations created under the current Setup.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Post Processing
4. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 5. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 6!

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Tutorial 7: 3 Axis Milling

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining this Mold using 3 axis-milling operations. This tutorial will introduce the usage of several 3-axis operations such as horizontal roughing, parallel finishing, and horizontal finishing. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the mold

We will machine the mold completely using 3 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a 5.5 x 6.5 inch x 1.25-inch aluminum block. The stock may be held to the machine table using clamps. The part will be machined using 0.5 flat end mill, 0.25 & 0.125 ball end mills.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the 3Axis_Example1.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

1. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 2. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

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Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

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Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length (L) = 5.5, Width (W) = 6.5 and Height (H) = 1.25. Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Bottom and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the bottom of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and bottom in Z.

Perspective view

Front View

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to ALUMINUM 6061 from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 15. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

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16. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry.

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create the following tools 0.5 inch Flat End Mill 0.25 inch Ball Mill 0.125 inch Ball Mill

17. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

18. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 19. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.5, Tool Diameter = 0.5, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5 and Tool Length = 2.0. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

23. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from File.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 24. Set Stock Material to Aluminum-6061 and Tool Material to HSS. Click OK and the computed cut feedrate and spindle speed is now applied to the feeds and speeds tab.

25. Set Feedrate reduction factors for Plunge between levels = 50 and First XY pass = 50. 26. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. 27. Select Tool type as Ball mill and specify the following parameters.

a. Name - BallMill-0.25, Tool Diameter = 0.25, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5, Tool Length = 2.0 and Shank Diameter = 0.25. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 2.

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28. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from File. 29. Set Stock Material to Aluminum-6061 and Tool Material to HSS, Tool Diameter = 0.25. Click OK and the computed cut feedrate and spindle speed is now applied to the feeds and speeds tab. 30. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. 31. Create another Ball Mill with the following parameters a. Name - BallMill-0.125, Tool Diameter = 0.125, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5, Tool Length = 2.0 and Shank Diameter = 0.125. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 3. b. Click Save as New Tool. The created tools are now listed under Tools tab in RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser.

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Create Machining Operations

We will machine the mold using 3 different machining operations Horizontal Roughing, Parallel Finishing, and Horizontal Finishing. The first step in machining the mold will be a roughing operation. This type of machining is very efficient for removing large volumes of material and is typically performed with a large tool. Roughing is typically followed by semi-finishing or finishing toolpaths

3 Axis Horizontal Roughing

1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 3Axis or 3Axis Adv and choose Horizontal Roughing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 3 Axis Roughing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operation. Machining Features/ Regions under 3 axis operations are used as containment regions. For the roughing operation, we will skip the selection of machining features/regions.

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Select Tool
2. Switch to Tool tab and select FlatMill-0.5

The 0.5 Flat End mill is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

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Set Feeds and Speeds

3. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool.

RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Clearance Geometry
4. Switch to Clearance tab. 5. Set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

RhinoCAM will determine a safe Z height for the Entry & Exit when set to automatic. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the automatic Z clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. When this dialog box is active, the clearance plane is shown on the model.

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Specify Cut Parameters

6. Select a. b. c. d. e. Cut Parameters tab Set Intol = 0.005, Outol = 0.005 Stock = 0.025 Cut Pattern Stock Offset, Cut Direction Mixed, Stepover select % Tool Diameter = 40

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 7. Switch to Cut Levels tab a. Set Step Down Control (dZ) as % Tool Diameter = 40 b. Cut Levels Ordering Depth First c. Select Clear Flats under Cut Levels

8. Switch to the Engage/Retract tab and use the following parameters. a. Select Path for Ramp motion and set Angle = 10 and Height = 0.1 b. Check Always engage in previously cut area if possible c. Engage Retract in Air use Linear extension = 0.275 9. Click Generate. Horizontal Roughing toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
10. Switch to Simulate tab, select Horizontal Roughing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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3 axis Parallel Finishing

We will now use 3 axis Parallel Finishing to pre-finish the part using a 0.25 Ball End Mill.

This is an efficient method of finishing or pre-finishing, typically used when part surfaces are relatively flat. A 2D linear zigzag pattern is generated on the XY plane above the part geometry. The tool moves along this cut pattern, following the contours of the part geometry below. 1. Switch to Program tab and select 3Axis or 3Axis Adv and choose Parallel Finishing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the Parallel Finishing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath. 2. Switch to Tool tab under Parallel Finishing operation and select BallMill-0.25

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 3. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds information that was set when the tool was defined. 4. Switch to Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Specify Cut Parameters

5. Click on Cut Parameters tab and set a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Stock = 0 c. Cut Direction - Mixed d. Stepover as % Tool Diameter = 15

6. Click Generate.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Parallel Finishing operation is now generated and listed under the Roughing operation in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
7. Switch to Simulate tab, select Parallel Finishing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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3 axis Horizontal Finishing

We will now create a Horizontal Finishing operation for machining steep area regions. This method is used for pre-finishing or finishing in constant Z levels, typically used when the part has large vertical surfaces and when Parallel Finishing will not yield satisfactory results. 1. Switch to Program tab and select 3Axis or 3Axis Adv and choose Horizontal Finishing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the Horizontal Finishing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Drive/Containment Region from Machining Features/Regions tab. Horizontal finishing operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features.

3. Select the polyline from the edge of part as shown below. A selection list is displayed when you click near an edge. Browsing through the selection list will highlight the surface that corresponds to the selection.

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4. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection. The selected polylines is now listed as DriveRegion 1 under Drive Region in Machining Features/Regions tab.

5. Switch to Tool tab under Horizontal Finishing operation and select BallMill-0.125 6. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds information that was set when the tool was defined. 7. Switch to Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Specify Cut Parameters

8. Click on Cut Parameters tab and set a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Stock = 0 c. Cut Direction Climb/Conventional

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8. Switch to Cut Levels tab a. Set Stepdown as % Tool Diameter = 15 b. Cut Levels Ordering Depth First

9. Set Entry & Exit parameters to none under Entry/Exit tab.

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9. Click Generate. Horizontal Finishing operation is now generated and listed under the Parallel Finishing operation in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
10. Switch to Simulate tab, select Horizontal Finishing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
11. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 12. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located.

Saving Operation to a Knowledgebase

1. From the Program tab, select Knowledgebase and Save to KB

2. Specify a folder location, file name and click Save. The operation is now saved as Knowledge Base Files (*.vkb) under the specified folder.

End of Tutorial 7!

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Tutorial 8: Profiling with Bridges/Tabs

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate creating and editing bridge points on a 2 axis profiling operation. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the part

We will machine the part using a 2- axis profiling operation. We will define bridges so that the parts do not fall off the sheet once its cut to its full depth. The part will be machined out of a 10 x 10 x 1 inch poplar wood sheet using a 0.5 inch Flat End Mill. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using fixtures/clamps.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath. You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the Profile_Tabs.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

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Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

Machine Setup
5. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

6. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

7. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

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Select Post Processor

8. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

9. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 10. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

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Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 11. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 12. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

13. Click Part Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Part Box Stock parameters. The system calculates the bounding box of the part model as the XYZ extents of geometry of the part model. The user can then define offsets in any of the three coordinate directions to apply to the computed bounding box. The system will expand the bounding box by the offset amount in each of the coordinate directions. When the user clicks on the OK button, a stock model based on the user definition will be created and displayed. 14. Set Offsets for X =2, Y =2 and Z =1. Select Z offset Direction to Z Only. Make sure to uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation and click OK. Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation.

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Machining Job is now updated with the Machine Type, Post Processor and Stock information in the MOps browser.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 15. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

16. Set Z alignment to Top and XY alignment to Center. Uncheck Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Part Bounds Computation and Click OK. (This would align the stock to the Top of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and top in Z.

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 17. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

18. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 19. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

20. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner. This sets the machine home to the top of the stock material and the southwest corner of the stock geometry. This sets the MCS at the same location as WCS.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a inch (0.5) Flat End Mill. 1. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

2. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

3. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.5, Tool Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

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4. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from File. 5. Set Stock Material to Wood and Tool Material to HSS. Click OK and the computed cut feedrate and spindle speed is now applied to the feeds and speeds tab.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The computed feeds and speeds are transferred to the Feeds and Speeds tab. 6. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Predefined Machining Regions

1. Click Regions tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects Browser (MObs). If MObs browser is not open, select RhinoCAM from Menu bar and click Machining Objects browser.

2. Click Select Curves

3. Select the rounded rectangle from the view port. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection.

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The selected curve is now defined as Curve Region1 and is displayed under Machining Region Set 1 under Regions tab.

4. With Curve Region1 highlighted under Regions tab, click Automatic Bride Points on Selection.

5. Set Number of Bridge Points = 4 under create equally spaced bridge points and Click OK.

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The bridge points are created and displayed on Curve Region 1

Editing Bridge Points

6. With Curve Region1 highlighted under Regions tab, click Edit Bridge Points in Selections.

7. Left mouse button click on a bridge point and move it along the curve to change the location of bridge point.

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When the bridge point being is moved, the point appears in blue. Red represents the original location of bridge point. 8. Left mouse button click on the desired location to place the bridge point.

9. Repeat steps 6 and 7 to move the other 3 bridge points. We have now moved the bridge points for all 4 points.

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Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create 2 Axis Profiling operation.

2 Axis Profiling
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 2Axis and choose Profiling from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 2 Axis Profiling operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operation.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Pre-Defined Regions under Machining Features/ Regions tab.

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This opens up Select predefined Machining Region(s) dialog box. 3. Select Curve Region 1 and click OK.

Curve Region1 is now added to Driver Regions under Machining Regions.

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4. Switch to Tool tab under Profiling operation and select FlatMill-0.5 5. Select Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool. 6. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. 7. Go to Cut Parameters tab

Specify Cut Parameters

8. Use the following Parameters a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Stock = 0 c. Cut Direction = Climb d. Cut Start Side select Use Outside/Inside for Closed Curves and select Outside

9. Switch to Cut Levels tab a. Set Location of Cut Geometry At Top b. Total Cut Depth = 1.0 c. Rough Depth = 1.0 d. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.125

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10. Switch to Entry/Exit tab and set Entry & Exit motions to None. 11. Go to Advanced Cut Parameters tab and under Bridges/Tabs a. Select Create Bridges b. Set Bridge Height = 0.125 c. Bridge Length = 2.0

12. Click Generate.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The 2 Axis Profile toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
13. Switch to Simulate tab, select the 2 Axis Profiling operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 8!

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Tutorial 9: Hole Making

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining holes using Drilling operations. Even though we have created a 3-D representation of the part, it will be seen later on that we can machine this using just 2-D curves. The reason we are able to do this is because of the prismatic nature of this model. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the part

We will machine part by using a Hole machining operation called Drilling. The part will be machined out of a 7.25 x 8.5 x 0.75 inch poplar wood sheet using a 0.5 and 0.25 Standard Drill bit. The wooden sheet will be held to the machine table or the spoil sheet on the table using clamps.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath

You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar. 2. From the Open dialog box, select the Bitholder.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

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Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create machining operations.

Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

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3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

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Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS

WCS

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7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length = 7, Width = 8.5 and Height = 0.75.

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry.

If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Top and XY alignment to Center and click OK.

The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and top in Z.

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

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The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

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Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 15. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

16. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to South West corner.

This sets the MCS at the same location as WCS. Work Zero now appears under MOps browser.

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Create Tools
To drill the holes, we will create a 0.5 and 0.25 standard drills. 1. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

2. Select the Tool Type to Drill.

3. Set tool Name as Drill-0.5, Tip Angle = 120, Tool Diameter = 0.5, Shank Diameter = 0.5, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5, Tool Length = 2, Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

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4. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following parameters.

5. Click Save as New Tool

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 6. Create another Drill tool using the following parameters a. Set tool Name as Drill-0.25, Tip Angle = 120, Tool Diameter = 0.25, Shank Diameter = 0.25, Flute Length = 1.0, Shoulder Length = 1.5, Tool Length = 2, Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 2. b. Click Save as New Tool Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. Created tools are now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties

Create Machining Operations

In this process, we will create Standard Drill operation to drill the holes.

Drilling
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select Holes and choose Drill from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings Drill operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

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Select Hole Features

2. Click Select Holes on Flat Area under Hole Features tab.

Drill operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of hole features. 3. Click on the top face of the part as shown below.

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This automatically selects all hole features and displays the Drilling operation dialog back.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4. Now, select Use Diameter filter under and set Minimum Diameter = 0.5 and Maximum Diameter = 0.5

This drops the holes that are outside the diameter range filter. The selected holes are highlighted on the part. 5. Switch to Tool tab and select Drill-0.5

Drill-0.5 tool is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window. 6. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined. 7. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the Automatic clearance between transfers when the tool moves from one hole feature to another.

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Cut Parameters
8. Switch to Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Drill Type Standard Drill b. Drill Depth 0.75 c. Select Add Tool tip to Drill Depth d. Location of Cut Geometry At Top e. Approach Distance = 0.1

Note: Selecting Add Tool Tip to Drill Depth adds the taper height of the drill tool to the drill depth to make it a through hole.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 9. Switch to Sorting tab a. Select Directional Sort, b. Start Angle (A) = 0, c. Secondary Sort Direction (S) Low to High d. Traverse Pattern - ZigZag

10. Click Generate. Drill toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
11. Switch to Simulate tab, select Standard Drill operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Drill Operation #2 for 0.25 holes

1. 2. 3. 4. Switch to Program tab Select Standard Drill under Setup 1 Right mouse button click and left click on Copy Right mouse button click on Standard Drill and left click on Paste

This creates a copy of the Standard Drill operation and is listed below the first Standard Drill operation.

Edit Machining Operation

5. Double click and edit the second Standard Drill operation under Setup.

6. Click Remove All under Hole Features tab

7. Click Select Holes on Flat Area and pick the top face of the part.

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8. Select Use diameter filter and set Minimum Diameter = 0.25 and Maximum Diameter = 0.25

This drops the holes that are outside the diameter range filter. The selected holes are highlighted on the part. 1. Switch to Tool tab and select Drill-0.25

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide Drill-0.25 tool is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window. 9. Leaving all other parameters with the same settings from the previous operation click Generate. The toolpath is now regenerated for the 0.25 holes.

Simulate toolpath
10. Switch to Simulate tab, select the second Standard Drill operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 9!

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Tutorial 10: Re-Machining a 3D Mold

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining a Mold using advanced 3 axis-milling operations. This tutorial will introduce the usage of advanced 3-axis operations such as pencil tracing & valley re-machining. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the mold

We will machine the mold completely using 3 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a 5.5 x 4.45 inch x 1.25-inch aluminum block. The stock may be held to the machine table using clamps. The part will be machined using 0.5 flat end mill, 0.25 & 0.125 ball end mill s.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the 3Axis_Example2.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

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Machine Setup
1. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

2. Under Machine Type, set Number of Axes to 3 Axis

3. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

Select Post Processor

4. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

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5. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 6. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

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Standard configuration

Expert, Professional and Premium configurations

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 7. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 8. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

9. Click Box Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Box Stock parameters. 10. Set the Length (L) = 5.5, Width (W) = 5 and Height (H) = 1.25. Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 11. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

12. Set Z alignment to Bottom and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the bottom of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and bottom in Z.

Perspective view

Front View

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 13. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

14. Set Material to ALUMINUM 6061 from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Load Knowledge base

1. From Machining Objects Browser, select K-Bases tab and click Load Knowledge Base

2. Browse to Tutorials folder to select 3Axis_Example1_Completed.vkb

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3. Following machining operations are now loaded under K-Bases tab in Machining Objects browser.

4. Drag and Drop Work Zero, Horizontal Roughing, Parallel Finishing and Horizontal Finishing operations from Machining Objects browser onto Machining Operations browser by selecting one operation at a time in a sequence as shown below.

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The dragged operations now appear under Machining Operations browser and are ready for editing and generating toolpaths.

Notice that the machining operations are flagged in red indication the mops needs regeneration.

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Editing Machining Operations

5. Select Work Zero and Double click to edit the operation.

6. Click on Set to Stock Box, Zero Face Highest Z and Zero Position South West, click Generate. This sets the work zero to top of stock material and southwest corner. 7. Select Horizontal Roughing operation, right mouse button click and select Regenerate.

8. Once the roughing has been generated, select Parallel Finishing operation, right mouse button click and Regenerate.

9. Once the parallel finishing has been generated, select Horizontal Finishing and double click to edit the operation.

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10. Click Select Drive/Containment Region from Machining Features/Regions tab. Horizontal finishing operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of machining features.

11. Select the polyline from the edge of part as shown below. A selection list is displayed when you click near an edge. Browsing through the selection list will highlight the surface that corresponds to the selection.

12. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The selected polylines is now listed as DriveRegion 1 under Drive Region in Machining Features/Regions tab.

13. Click Generate.

Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select Horizontal Finishing operation under Setup, right mouse button click and select Simulate Until. This simulates to end all machining operations.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Create Pencil Tracing operation

1. Switch to Program tab, select 3Axis Adv and choose Pencil Tracing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

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2. Switch to Tool tab under Pencil Tracing operation and select BallMill-0.125

3. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds information that was set when the tool was defined. 4. Switch to Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

Specify Cut Parameters

5. Select Cut Parameters tab. Use the following parameters

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide a. b. c. d. e. f. Intol = 0.001 Outol = 0.001 Stock = 0 Cut Direction Climb Select Do Multiple Cuts, specify Number of Cuts = 2 Stepover Control - % Tool Diameter = 20

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Advanced Cut Parameters

6. Switch to Advanced Cut Parameters tab. 7. Set Limiting Steep Angle = 90 and Maximum included angle = 180

8. Click Generate. Pencil Tracing operation is now generated and listed under the Horizontal Finishing operation in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
9. Switch to Simulate tab, select Pencil Tracing operation under Setup, click and select Play to run simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Create Valley Re-Machining Operation

1. Switch to Program tab and select 3Axis Adv and choose Valley Re-Machining from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

2. Switch to Tool tab under Valley Remachining operation and select BallMill-0.125 3. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds information that was set when the tool was defined. 4. Switch to Clearance Tab and set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

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Specify Cut Control & Cut Parameters

5. Go to Cut Control tab and use the following parameters a. Intol = 0.001 b. Outol = 0.001 c. Stock = 0 d. Under Reference Tool Parameters set Tool Diameter = 0.25

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6. Click Cutting Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Select Split Cuts at Angle(A) b. Cut Split Angle (A) = 45 c. Select Output Flat & Steep Cuts

d. Click on Flat Cut Parameters tab i. Cut Pattern - Along ii. Cut Direction Mixed iii. Stepover Control - % Tool Diameter = 20

e. Click Steep Cut Parameters tab i. Cut Pattern - Horizontal ii. Cut Direction Mixed

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide iii. Stepover Control - % Tool Diameter = 20

7. Click Generate. Valley Remachining operation is now generated and listed under the Pencil Tracing operation in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
1. Switch to Simulate tab, select Valley Remachining operation under Setup, click and select Play to run simulation.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 10!

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Tutorial 11: Machining a Ring

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining this Ring using 4 axis-milling operations. We will use index machining by creating a Table Rotate Operation for Roughing operation and finishing using 4 axis parallel finishing. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to Machine the ring

We will machine the ring completely using 4 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a cylindrical blank. The stock will be held to the machine table using a rotary chuck. The part will be machined using 0.125 and 0.0625 ball end mills.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Set rotary axis and rotary center Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the Ring_Example1.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

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Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

Machine Setup
5. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

6. Under Machine Type, set a. Number of Axes to 4 Axis b. Configuration to Table. 7. 4th Axis Parameters - set Rotary Axis to X Axis

8. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

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Select Post Processor

9. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

10. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 11. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 12. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 13. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

14. Click Cylinder Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Cylinder Stock parameters. 15. Select Axis = X, click Copy Model Bounding Cylinder, set Radius = 0.56 and Length = 0.866 Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

Perspective View

Front View

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab. You must switch the simulation model to Polygonal model to run 4 axis simulations. Select CAM Preferences->Simulation Preferences located under MOps browser and switch the simulation model to Polygonal if set to Voxel.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 16. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

17. Set Z alignment to Center and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the center of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and Z.

Perspective view

Front View

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 18. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

19. Set Material to PLASTIC - ABS from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 20. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

21. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to East.

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Set Rotary Center

22. Edit Machine Setup under Program tab and set Rotary Center in Z = 0.15741.

This would set the rotary center to the center of the stock material in Z. (As the Work Zero is set to top of Stock material Z = 0.71741 and the stock radius = 0.56, the rotary center would be 0.71741-0.56 = 0.15741)

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create the following tools 0.125 inch Ball Mill 0.0625 inch Ball Mill

23. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

24. Select the Tool Type to Ball Mill.

20. Set Name - BallMill-0.125, Tool Diameter = 0.125, Flute Length = 0.75, Shoulder Length = 1.0, Tool Length = 1.5, Shank Diameter = 0.125, Holder Length = 0.5, Holder Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

21. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from File.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 22. Set Stock Material to PLASTIC-ABS and Tool Material to HSS, Tool Diameter = 0.125. Click OK and the computed cut feedrate and spindle speed is now applied to the feeds and speeds tab.

32. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. 33. Create another Ball Mill with the following parameters a. Name - BallMill-0.0625, Tool Diameter = 0.0625, Flute Length = 0.75, Shoulder Length = 1.0, Tool Length = 1.5, Shank Diameter = 0.0625, Holder Length = 0.5, Holder Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 2. b. Click Save as New Tool. The created tools are now listed under Tools tab in RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser.

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Create Machining Operations

We will machine the ring using roughing and finishing operations Horizontal Roughing, 4th Axis Parallel Finishing. The first step in machining the ring will be a roughing operation. This type of machining is very efficient for removing large volumes of material and is typically performed with a large tool. Roughing is typically followed by semi-finishing or finishing toolpaths

3 Axis Horizontal Roughing

1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select 3Axis Adv and choose Horizontal Roughing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

This brings up the 3 Axis Roughing operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the profile operation. Machining Features/ Regions under 3 axis operations are used as containment regions. For the roughing operation, we will skip the selection of machining features/regions.

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Select Tool
2. Switch to Tool tab and select BallMill-0.125

The 0.125 Ball mill is now selected as the active tool and the Tool parameters are displayed to the right of the Tools window.

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Set Feeds and Speeds

3. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool.

RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Clearance Geometry
4. Switch to Clearance tab. 5. Set the Clearance Plane Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

RhinoCAM will determine a safe Z height for the Entry & Exit when set to automatic. Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Plane would apply the automatic Z clearance between transfers when the tool moves from a machining region to another. When this dialog box is active, the clearance plane is shown on the model.

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Specify Cut Parameters

6. Select a. b. c. d. e. Cut Parameters tab Set Intol = 0.001, Outol = 0.001 Stock = 0.01 Cut Pattern Stock Offset, Cut Direction Mixed, Stepover select % Tool Diameter = 25

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 7. Switch to Cut Levels tab a. Set Step Down Control (dZ) as % Tool Diameter = 35 b. Cut Levels Ordering Depth First c. Select Bottom (B) under Cut Levels and specify value = -0.6 This limits the toolpath to 0.6 from the top of the stock material.

8. Switch to the Engage/Retract tab and use the following parameters. a. Select Path for Ramp motion and set Angle = 10 and Height = 0.05 b. Check Always engage in previously cut area if possible 9. Click Generate. Horizontal Roughing toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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Note: Toolpath display can be turned on/off by selecting Toolpath Visibility under the MOps browser.

Simulate toolpath
10. Switch to Simulate tab, select Horizontal Roughing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Rotate table Operation

We will now create a rotate table operation and rotate it by 180 degrees. This would allow us to program the part from rotated orientation. 1. Switch to Program tab and select Setup and Rotate Table Setup.

2. Set Table Rotation Angle =180 and click OK.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The MCS is now rotated by 180 degrees and a Rotate Table Setup operation is now listed under the MOps browser.

Create Roughing operation after table rotation

3. Select the Horizontal Roughing operation created under Setup 1, right mouse and select Copy. 4. Now click Setup2 (Rotate table operation), Right mouse button click and select Paste.

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This creates a copy of the Roughing operation under Setup2. 5. Right mouse button click on Horizontal Roughing operation under Setup 2 and select Regenerate.

This generate the roughing toolpath for the bottom half of the ring model.

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Simulate toolpath
6. Switch to Simulate tab, select Horizontal Roughing operation under Setup 2 and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

Create Rotate table operation #2

We will now create another rotate table operation to rotate the table back to 0 and then create finishing operation.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 7. Switch to Program tab; click the last operation under Setup 2. Now select Setup and Rotate Table Setup.

8. Set Table Rotation Angle =0 and click OK.

The MCS is now rotated back to 0 and a Rotate Table Setup operation is now listed under the MOps browser.

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4 axis Parallel Finishing

We will now use 4th Axis Finishing operation to finish the part using a 0.0625 Ball mill. In this method, the tool is always normal to the axis of table rotation (continuous mode). The tool motions can be parallel to or normal to the rotation axis. 1. Select Setup 3 under Machining Job and click 4Axis and choose Parallel Finishing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

If the rotary center is not set to the same location as the Machine Zero, a warning message dialog would be displayed at all times when a 4 axis machining operation is selected. Users can override this message by clicking OK in the dialog.

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Note: You can select Do no show this dialog again to stop the warning message appearing again when you create/edit a 4 axis machining operation. This brings up the 4 Axis Parallel Finishing operation dialog. We will now go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Specify Parameters
2. Switch to Tool tab inside the 4 Axis Parallel Finishing operation dialog and select BallMill-0.0625.

3. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and click Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Cylinder Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Geometry.

Cut Parameters
5. Click Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Intol and Outol = 0.001 b. Stock =0 c. Cut Pattern i. Along Axis ii. Zig Zag

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide iii. High to Low d. Cut Axial Containment i. Low Value = -0.8 ii. High Value = -0.1 iii. Start Angle = 0 iv. End Angle = 360 e. Stepover Control - % Tool Diameter = 10

6. Click Generate. 4th axis Parallel Finishing toolpath is now generated and listed under Setup 3 in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
7. Switch to Simulate tab, select 4th Axis Parallel Finishing operation under Setup 3 and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1, hold the control key down and select Setup 2 and Setup 3 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1, Setup 2 & Setup 3. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting all in a file, the Part file name is used as the file name.

2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 11!

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Tutorial 12: Engraving on a Cylinder

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate engraving text on a cylinder using a 4 Axis Engraving operation. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to engrave text on a cylinder

We will engrave the text using 4 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a cylindrical blank. The stock will be held to the machine table using a rotary chuck. The part will be machined using 15deg V-Bit.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Set rotary axis and rotary center Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath. You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the 4Axis_Engrave.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

Machine Setup
5. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

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6. Under Machine Type, set a. Number of Axes to 4 Axis b. Configuration to Table. th 7. 4 Axis Parameters - set Rotary Axis to X Axis

8. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

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Select Post Processor

9. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

10. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 11. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 12. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 13. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

14. Click Cylinder Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Cylinder Stock parameters. 15. Select Axis = X, Radius = 1 and Length = 8 Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab. You must switch the simulation model to Polygonal model to run 4 axis simulations. Select CAM Preferences->Simulation Preferences located under MOps browser and switch the simulation model to Polygonal if set to Voxel.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 16. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

17. Set Z alignment to Center and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the center of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and Z.

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 18. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

19. Set Material to Wood from the material drop down list and click OK.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

This is used to define the workpiece origin. Work Zero translates the MCS origin from the Setup to the desired location. This can be set to any location on the part or stock geometry. 20. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

21. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to West.

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Set Rotary Center

1. Edit Machine Setup under Program tab and set Rotary Center in Z = 0.

This would set the rotary center to the center of the stock material in Z. (As the Work Zero is set to top of Stock material Z = 1 and the stock radius = 1, the rotary center would be at Z=0)

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create a 15 degree V-bit. 1. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

2. Select the Tool Type to Vee Mill.

3. Set tool Name as VeeMill1, Taper Angle = 7.5, Tool Diameter = 0.25, Shoulder Length = 1.0, Tool Length = 1.5, Shank Diameter = 0.2, Holder Length = 0.5, Holder Diameter = 0.5 Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

4. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following values for spindle speed, feedrates and feedrate reduction factors.

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5. Click Save as New Tool to save the tool. The tool is now created and listed under Tools in Library. Click OK to close the dialog. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tool is now listed under Tools tab in Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

Create Machining Operations

We will engrave the text on the cylinder using 4 Axis Engraving. This method machines text or logos by following the contours of the selected regions by projecting the text onto the cylinder.

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4 Axis Engraving
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and click 4Axis and choose Engraving from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

If the rotary center is not set to the same location as the Machine Zero, a warning message dialog would be displayed at all times when a 4 axis machining operation is selected. Users can override this message by clicking OK in the dialog.

Note: You can select Do no show this dialog again to stop the warning message appearing again when you create/edit a 4 axis machining operation. This brings up the 4 Axis Engraving operation dialog. We will now go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Click Select Curves as Regions under Machining Features/Regions tab.

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3. Now, select the text by using the left mouse click, starting from left to right. Make sure to get the inner curves on the letters R, o and A. Each curve is separate (by curves, not by letters) and must be selected separately.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected regions are now displayed under Machining Regions tab.

Select Tool
5. Switch to Tool tab under 4th Axis Engraving and select VeeMill1

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 6. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 7. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Cylinder Definition to Automatic and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Geometry.

Specify Cut Parameters

8. Click on Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters a. Tolerance = 0.001 b. Select Project Curve(s) to Model c. Step Down Control

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide i. Select Finishing Passes ii. # of Passes = 2 iii. R Depth (Rf) = 0.05

9. Click Generate. 4 axis Engraving toolpath is now generated, and the Operation is listed under the RhinoCAM-MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
10. Switch to Simulate tab, select 4th Axis Engraving operation under Setup 1 and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 12!

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Tutorial 13: Pocketing and Drilling on a Ring

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Introduction
This tutorial is intended to describe the 4 axis pocketing and hole making operations. Pocketing machines closed regions as if they were pockets - completely enclosed by inner and outer regions. The tool cannot go beyond the outer region, and cannot go within inner regions. This is unlike Facing, in which the outermost region is considered to enclose material to be removed. Hole making operations are used to create holes in a part; the hole types varying from simple drill holes, counter sunk holes, through holes to tapped and bored holes. Here you will learn to drill simple holes. The stepped instructions are accompanied by explanatory and introductory text. Reading this text will help you understand the tutorial methodology and provide information about additional options available. Dont forget to save your work periodically! You may want to save the file under a different name so that the original file will be preserved.

Strategy to machine the part

We will machine the ring completely using 4 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a cylindrical blank. The stock will be held to the machine table using a rotary chuck. The part will be machined using a 0.0625 Flat End Mill and 0.125 Standard Drill

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Set rotary axis and rotary center Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath. You may have to repeat either all or part of these steps for subsequent operations.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the 4Axis_Pocketing.3dm file from the Tutorials folder. The imported part appears as shown below

Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

3. If RhinoCAM Machining Operations browser does not appear in Rhinoceros, select RhinoCAM from the menu bar and click Machining Operations Browser. This is also called MOps browser. 4. Click RhinoCAM from the menu bar and select Machining Objects Browser. This is also called MObs browser. Step by step instructions on loading MOps and MObs browser can be found under Tutorial 1 - Loading RhinoCAM Machining Operations Browser

Machining Operations Browser

This tab allows you to define Machine Setup, Stock and create Machining Operations.

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Machine Setup
5. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

6. Under Machine Type, set c. Number of Axes to 4 Axis d. Configuration to Table. 7. 4th Axis Parameters - set Rotary Axis to X Axis

8. Click OK. The machine type now appears under Machining Job in the browser area.

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Select Post Processor

9. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

10. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Haas as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Define Setup
This allows you to orient the Machine Coordinate System to have the part aligned in the same way as it would be fixtured on the machine tool for cutting. 11. Double click on Setup 1 located under MOps browser.

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Note: If Setup 1 does not exist, click Setup or Set CSYS Setup under the Program tab to create one.

The Machine Coordinate System (MCS) is displayed as a triad with Blue line representing the Z-axis, Red representing X-axis and Green Representing the Y-axis. The WCS is displayed the same way as MCS with XYZ coordinates labeled on top of it.

MCS 12. Set Align to World Coordinate System and click OK.

WCS

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Machine Coordinate system is now in the same orientation as world coordinate system.

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Create Stock Geometry

In this step you will define the raw stock from which the designed part needs to be machined. 13. Select Create Stock Model from Program tab.

14. Click Cylinder Stock from the drop down list.

This brings up the Cylinder Stock parameters. 15. Select Axis = X, Radius = 2 and Length = 1 Note: Selecting Ignore Wireframe Geometry in Bounds Computation ignores all 2D and 3D curve geometries present in the part from stock bounding box computation

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The stock geometry is now created, and a semi-transparent stock box is displayed on top of the part geometry. If you have the material texture visibility on, the material texture will be displayed on top of stock geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide If the stock geometry is not visible, Click Stock Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab. You must switch the simulation model to Polygonal model to run 4 axis simulations. Select CAM Preferences->Simulation Preferences located under MOps browser and switch the simulation model to Polygonal if set to Voxel.

Align Part and Stock

Once the stock model is created, user can move the stock geometry relative to the part geometry and use the stock box to specify the machine zero (home position). 16. Select Align Part and Stock Models under Program tab.

17. Set Z alignment to Center and XY alignment to Center. (This would align the stock to the center of the part in Z and center in XY)

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The stock is now aligned to the center of part geometry in XY and Z.

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Specify Material
We will now set the material type for Stock geometry. 18. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab.

19. Set Material to ALUMINUM -6061 from the material drop down list and click OK.

The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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If the texture is not visible on stock geometry, Click Material Texture Visibility located at the bottom of the Program tab.

Set Work Zero

2. Select Work Zero from Program tab located under Machining Operations group.

3. Select Set to Stock Box, the Zero Face to Highest Z, and Zero Position to East.

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Set Rotary Center

4. Edit Machine Setup under Program tab and set Rotary Center in Z = 0.

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Create Tools
To machine the above part we will now create the following tools 0.125 inch Drill (Standard Drill) 0.0625 inch Flat Mill

1. Select Tools tab under RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser (MObs) and click Create/Edit Tools.

2. Select the Tool Type to Drill.

3. Set tool Name as Drill-0.125, Tip Angle = 120, Tool Diameter = 0.125, Shank Diameter = 0.125, Flute Length = 0.75, Shoulder Length = 1.0, Tool Length = 1.25, Holder Length = 0.5, Holder Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 1.

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5. Click Save as New Tool We will now create the Flat Mill. 6. Select the Tool Type to Flat Mill.

7. Set tool Name as FlatMill-0.0625, Tool Diameter = 0.0625, Flute Length = 0.5, Shoulder Length = 0.75 and Tool Length = 1.0, Shank Diameter = 0.0625, Holder Length = 0.5, Holder Diameter = 0.5. Under the Properties tab set Material to HSS and Tool Number = 2. 8. Click Feeds & Speeds tab and use the following parameters.

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9. Click Save as New Tool. Note: You can edit the tool properties and click Save Edits to Tool to save the changes. You can create additional tools by assigning a different name and specify the tool parameters. The created tools are now listed under Tools tab in RhinoCAM Machining Objects browser.

Note: To save Tools to library, Click Save Tool library under Tools tab in Machining Objects Browser and specify folder location and file name in the Save as dialog box. Saving Tool library as RhinoCAM Knowledge base file (*.vkb) saves feeds and speeds with tool properties.

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Create Machining Operations

We will the holes on the cylinder using 4 Axis Drilling. As in any other 4 axis operations, the tool is positioned normal (perpendicular) to the rotary axis. Once the holes (regions) are selected, the dialog boxes are similar to the 3 axis hole making operations. Sorting of holes is also possible to optimize the tool motion.

4 Axis Drilling
1. Select Work Zero under Setup 1 and now select Holes and choose 4 Axis Drill from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

If the rotary center is not set to the same location as the Machine Zero, a warning message dialog would be displayed at all times when a 4 axis machining operation is selected. Users can override this message by clicking OK in the dialog.

Note: You can select Do no show this dialog again to stop the warning message appearing again when you create/edit a 4 axis machining operation.

This brings Drill operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath. Select Hole Features 2. Click Select Drill Point/Circles under Hole Features tab.

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Drill operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of hole features. 3. From the menu bar in Rhinoceros, click Edit -> Select Objects and By Layer.. 4. Select Layer 04 and click OK.

This adds the 12 drill holes to selection. 5. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection

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Select Tool
6. Switch to Tool tab and select Drill-0.125

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7. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

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Set Clearance
8. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Cylinder Definition to Stock Max R + Dist = 0.25 and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Geometry.

Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Geometry would apply the Automatic clearance between transfers when the tool moves from one hole feature to another.

Cut Parameters
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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide c. Location of Cut Geometry At Top d. Approach Distance = 0.1

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Sorting
10. Switch to Sorting tab 11. Select Minimum Distance Sort and set Start Point as Lower Left

12. Click Generate. 4 Axis Drill toolpath is now generated and the operation is listed under the RhinoCAMMOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
13. Switch to Simulate tab, select 4 Axis-Standard Drill operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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4 Axis Pocketing
1. Select 4Axis and choose Pocketing from Program tab under Machining Operations group.

If the rotary center is not set to the same location as the Machine Zero, a warning message dialog would be displayed at all times when a 4 axis machining operation is selected. Users can override this message by clicking OK in the dialog.

Note: You can select Do no show this dialog again to stop the warning message appearing again when you create/edit a 4 axis machining operation. This brings up the 4 Axis Engraving operation dialog. We will now go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

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Select Machining Features/Regions

2. Under Machining Features/ Regions click on Remove All to deselect any regions that could have been selected from the previous machining operation. 3. Click Select Curves as Regions under Machining Features/Regions tab.

4Axis Pocket operation dialog is now minimized and allows selection of curves. 4. From the menu bar in Rhinoceros, click Edit -> Select Object and By Layer... 5. Select Layer 02 and click OK.

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This adds all curves on Layer 02 to selection.

6. Press enter or right mouse button click to end selection

Select Tool
7. Switch to Tool tab and select Drill-0.125

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8. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined.

Set Clearance
9. Switch to Clearance tab and set Clearance Cylinder Definition to Stock Max R + Dist = 0.25 and Cut Transfer Method to Clearance Plane.

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Setting Cut Transfer to Clearance Geometry would apply the Automatic clearance between transfers when the tool moves from one region to another.

Cut Parameters
10. Select a. b. c. d. e. f. Cut Parameters tab and use the following parameters Tolerance = 0.001 Stock = 0 Cut Pattern Offset Cuts Cut Direction Mixed Start Point Inside Stepover Distance - % Tool Diameter = 25

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide g. Select Corner Cleanup

11. Switch to Cut Levels tab

Cut Levels
12. Use the following settings a. Set Location of Cut Geometry At Top b. Total Cut Depth = 0.1 c. Rough Depth = 0.1

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide d. Rough Depth/Cut = 0.025 e. Cut Level Ordering Depth First

13. Click Generate. 4 Axis Pocketing operation is now generated and listed under 4Axis Drilling operation in RhinoCAM MOps browser.

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Simulate toolpath
14. Switch to Simulate tab, select 4 Axis Pocketing operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation.

To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

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Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 13!

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Tutorial 15: 5 Axis Surface based machining

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Introduction
This tutorial will illustrate machining of certain surfaces using 5 axis machining methods. In this mode, tool path orientation is determined by surface normal direction.

Strategy to Machine the part

We will machine the part using 3 and 5 axis-machining operations. The part itself will be machined out of a precut blank. The stock will be held to the machine table using clamps. The part will be machined using 0.5 Flat mill and 0.25 ball mill.

Main Programming Steps

In creating programs for each setup, the following steps will be followed: Define 5 axis machine configuration Create the Stock geometry Set the Machine zero point with respect to the machine coordinates Create / Select the tool used for machining Set the feeds and speeds Set the clearance plane for the non-cutting transfer moves of the cutter Select the machining regions for containing the cutter to specific areas to cut Select the machining operations and set the parameters Generate the toolpath Simulate the toolpath.

Preparing the part for Machining

The steps below shows loading and preparing the part for programming.

Loading the Part Model

Part refers to the geometry that represents the final manufactured product. You can create parts within Rhinoceros, but it is more typical to import geometry created in another CAD system. To load a part: 1. Select File / Open from the Menu, or click the Open icon from the Standard bar.

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2. From the Open dialog box, select the 5Axis_Example1.3dm file from the Tutorials folder.

The part already has stock geometry defined and includes a 3 axis roughing operation. We will now define the machine setup and create 5 axis machining operations.

Machine Setup
3. Click Program tab under MOps browser and select Machine located under Machine Setup group.

3. Under Machine Tool definition, select Load From File

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 4. Click the drop down list next to Current Machine Tool and select 5Ax_Okuma_MU400VA

Selecting a machine tool from the list displays the machine tool model in the view port area and automatically loads the machine properties.

5. Click OK.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide MOps browser now lists this information under Machining Job. The defined machine tool can then be used to perform machine tool cut material simulation.

Select Post Processor

6. Select Post under Program tab to specify post processor options.

7. Set the current post processor based on your machine controller from available list of posts. We will select Okuma as the post processor for this exercise. Set the posted file extension type to .nc

Note: By default post processor files are located under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 4.0\Plug-ins\RhinoCAM 2012\Posts The program to send the posted output is set to notepad. This would preview the posted code in a notepad.

Specify Material
If the stock material has not already been defined, 8. Select Define Stock Material under Program tab. 9. Set Material to ALUMINUM 6061 from the material drop down list and click OK. The material texture is now applied to Stock geometry and displayed over the stock model.

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Create Machining Operations

In this process we will first create a 5 axis Surface Normal Machining operation

5 Axis Surface Normal Machining

1. With the Horizontal Roughing operation under Program tab selected, click 5 Axis and Surface Normal

This brings up the 5 Axis Surface Normal machining operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath. In 5 Axis operations, the role of Part surfaces is non-existent. The user can define only Drive and Check surfaces. The Drive surfaces determine the tool location and tool axis in some cases while the Check surfaces define the surfaces to avoid. Drive surface is the model geometry which is used for tool path generation; it is the surface you want to work on and defines the shape to be milled. You can select multi surfaces.

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Machining Features
2. Click Select Surface(s) to select Drive Surfaces under Machining Features tab

3. Select the top surface from the part as shown below.

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4. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected surface is now listed as Surface1 under Drive Surfaces. Selecting the surface displays the surface normal.

Make sure that the surface normal is oriented in proper direction. Tool path orientation is determined by surface normal direction. So if you have generated the tool path on the wrong side you can simply change the surface normal afterwards and regenerate your tool path again. For the above surface, the surface normal orientation looks correct.

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Select Tool
5. Click on Tool tab and select BALLMILL-0.25

6. Switch to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. RhinoCAM will now get the feeds and speeds parameters that was set when the tool was defined. 7. Go to Clearance tab

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Specify Clearance
8. Use the following settings a. Clearance Definition - Plane b. Plane Orientation - Parallel to MCS XY c. Plane Offset Distance Automatic d. Cut Transfer Method Clearance Geometry

9. Click on Cut Parameters tab

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Specify Cut Parameters

10. Use the following parameters a. Global Cut Parameters - Cut Tolerance = 0.001, Max Angle Change = 3, Max Distance Change = 0.04 , Stock =0 b. Cut Pattern Parallel to X c. Cutting Traversal Zig Zag d. Stepover - % Tool Diameter = 15 e. Tool Axis Control Lead/Lag Angle = 0, Tilt Angle = 0

11. Switch to Entry/Exit tab

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Entry/Exit
12. Use the following parameters a. Entry Motion type - Vertical Tangential Arc and Set Sweep Angle = 90, Radius = 0.125 b. Exit Motion type - Vertical Tangential Arc and Set Sweep Angle = 90, Radius = 0.125 c. Set Tool Axis Transition as Fixed for Entry & Exit motions.

13. Click on Gouge Check tab

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Gouge Check
14. Select Perform Gouge Check for Tool Geometry against Check Geometry 15. Under Tool Geometry check Holder, Shaft and Tip. Set Holder Clearance =0.1 and Tool Shaft Clearance = 0.01 16. Gouge Check Strategy use Retract tool along tool axis

17. Under Check Geometry select Drive surfaces and Check surfaces 18. Click Add under Check Surfaces This minimized the dialog and allows you to select surfaces. 19. Select the 4 side surfaces from the model as check surface geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 20. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The 4 surfaces are now added as check surface geometries and listed under check surfaces.

21. Click Generate. 5 axis Surface Normal machining operation is now generated and listed under the Horizontal Roughing operation in RhinoCAM

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Simulate toolpath
1. Switch to Simulate tab, 2. Toggle Machine Tool Visibility ON under simulate tab.

3. Select Horizontal Roughing operation under Setup and click Play to run simulation.

4. Once this is completed, select 5 Axis Surface Normal Machining operation under Setup and click Play to run the simulation. Note: You can select Setup 1 and click Play to simulate all operations created under the current Setup. Turning off the machine tool visibility only shows cut material simulation.

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To view simulation with texture mapping, toggle, Material Texture Visibility ON.

5 Axis Swarf Machining

We will now create a 5 Axis Swarf machining toolpath to finish the side walls. The material removal is performed by the sides of the cutter. The Swarf Milling strategy provides you with a number of advantages during steep areas machining. With Swarf machining performed by the sides of the tool, the contact area between the tool and the work-piece is a line and therefore a better surface quality can be achieved with a minimum number of cuts. 1. Switch to Program tab, select 5 Axis and Swarf

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide This brings up the 5 Axis Swarf machining operation dialog. We will go over the steps for creating the toolpath.

Machining Features
2. Click Remove All under Wall Surfaces to deselect any features that may have been included from the previous operation. 3. Click Select Surface(s) under Wall Surfaces

This minimizes the dialog and allows selection of wall surfaces 4. Select the 4 side surfaces as shown below.

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5. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The selected surfaces now appear under wall surfaces. Selecting a surface from the list, displays the surface normal direction.

6. Under Cut Pattern, select Parallel to Curves.

7. Click Select Curve(s) under Floor Curves

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8. Select the face edge located at the bottom of each of the 4 wall surfaces as shown below.

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9. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The surface edges are now listed under Floor curves in Machining Features tab. Selecting a curve from the list highlights the edge on the surface.

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Select Tool
10. Switch to Tool tab and select BallMILL-0.25

11. Go to Feeds & Speeds tab and select Load from Tool. 12. Click Clearance tab and use the following settings a. Clearance Definition - Plane b. Plane Orientation - Parallel to MCS XY c. Plane Offset Distance Automatic d. Cut Transfer Method Clearance Geometry 13. Go to Cut Parameters tab

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Cut Parameters
14. Use the following parameters a. Global Cut Parameters - Cut Tolerance = 0.001, Max Angle Change = 3, Max Distance Change = 0.04 , Stock =0 b. Cutting Traversal Zig Zag c. Cutting Area i. Select Determine by Number of Cuts ii. Number of Cuts = 1 iii. Stepover Distance = 0.25, Start Margin = 0 d. Tool Axis Control Lead/Lag Angle = 0, Tilt Angle = 90

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 15. Switch to Entry/Exit tab

Entry/Exit
16. Use the following parameters a. Entry Motion type - Tangential Arc and Set Sweep Angle = 90, Radius = 0.125 b. Exit Motion type - Tangential Arc and Set Sweep Angle = 90, Radius = 0.125 c. Set Tool Axis Transition as Fixed for Entry & Exit motions.

17. Click Gouge Check tab

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Gouge Check
18. Select Perform Gouge Check for Tool Geometry against Check Geometry 19. Under Tool Geometry check Holder, Shaft and Tip. Set Holder Clearance =0.1 and Tool Shaft Clearance = 0.01 20. Gouge Check Strategy use Retract tool along tool axis

21. Under Check Geometry select Drive surfaces and Check surfaces 22. Click Add under Check Surfaces This minimized the dialog and allows you to select surfaces. 23. Select the top surface from the model as check surface geometry.

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RhinoCAM - Getting Started Guide 24. Right mouse button click or press enter to end selection. The surface is now added as check surface geometry and listed under check surfaces.

25. Click Generate. 5 axis Swarf machining operation is now generated and listed under the Surface Normal operation in RhinoCAM

Simulate toolpath
26. Switch to Simulate tab, 27. Toggle Machine Tool Visibility ON under simulate tab.

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28. Select 5 Axis Swarf Machining operation under Setup and click Play to run simulation.

Post Processing
1. Select Setup 1 under Program tab, right mouse button click and select Post. This would post all operations created under Setup 1. The posted file name is set based on the rules specified under Set Post Options. By default, when posting a Setup, Part file name + Setup name is used as the file name. 2. Click Post. The posted file is now saved under the specified folder and can be viewed in a notepad. The post by default is set to Haas as specified under the Post processor setup. You can change the post processor by selecting a different one from the drop down menu in the list. The posted g code by default will be saved to the folder where the part file is located. End of Tutorial 14!

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