Customizing Machining Parameters

Invariably, you will find the the default paths don't quite match what you want to do. Double click on your operation (e.g. MY_ROUGH_MILLING) to edit it. At the very least, make sure to specify Feeds and Speeds and Non Cutting Moves. Once you are happy with your setup, you can move to the Prototrak.

The following functions will probably by most useful:

To change Feeds and Speeds: Click the "Feeds and Speeds" button under "Path Settings". Automatic settings will not work since we haven't specified enough about our machine. Instead, check the "Spindle Speed" box and enter the spindle speeds and cut feed rate manually. Optionally, you can also enter feed speeds for non-cutting operations like rapids. By default these just inherit the cut feed rate.

To change Non Cutting Move behavior: Click the "Non Cutting Moves" button under "Path Settings". First, if you are using the Prototrak, change the "Engage Type" to either "Ramp on Shape" or "Plunge". The default engage, helical, seems to throw an error on the Prototrak.

To machine only the profile of the part: By default, NX mills away all of the extra material from the blank. If you would like to only cut along the part profile, go to the "Cut Patten" drop-down under "Path Settings" and select "Profile"

To exclude certain areas from machining: By default NX mills any feature that can be satisfied by your endmill, including large drill holes. To exclude certain areas from milling, click the button next to "Specify Trim Boundaries". From here, you can use one of three modes to specify the areas to exclude/include. To exclude everything in the region you choose, select "Inside" under "Trim Side", to include only those features in the region you choose, select "Outside".

• Face Boundary: Specify the trim region by selecting a face on your part. This allows you to either only mill the outer profile of your part and ignore internal features or only mill internal features while ignoring the outer profile.
• Curve Boundary: Specify the trim region by selecting a closed set of curve on your part. It may be helpful to switch to wireframe view when specifying these curves.
• Point Boundary: Specify the trim region by creating a set of points that form a closed profile. It may be helpful to switch to wireframe view when specifying these points.

To change the depth of cut: Under "Path Settings" use the "Global Depth per Cut" box.