Edge Breaking

After machining a CAM-Part, sometimes you may find a burr in CAM-Parts that have straight edges or non-tangent outer surface topologies. It occurs when the tool chips the metal off the edge. It is an undesirable condition as it can ruin the functionality of the part or endanger the user because it is razor sharp. Most of the time, it is preferred to remove it. SolidCAM's Edge Breaking operation helps create a deburring tool path on the outer edges of a part geometry. The position of the tool relative to the edge is always the bi vector between the two surfaces of that edge. The operation enables you to create a fully automatic tool path by just selecting the part geometry. Additional features of the Edge Breaking operation include Automatic- Feature Detection, Linking, Lead In and Collision avoidance. Presently, only Ball mill cutters (Ball Nose Mill, Taper Ball Nose and Lollipop mill) are supported in this operation. It requires a good quality geometry input (a mesh) else, the detection feature does not work properly.

Adding an Edge Breaking Operation

In SolidCAM Manager, right-click the Operations header and choose Add Milling Operation > Edge Breaking menu to add a Edge Breaking  operation to your CAM-Part. The Sim 5x Edge Breaking operation dialog box is displayed.

Parameter pages

The parameters of the Edge Breaking operation are divided into a number of subgroups. The subgroups are displayed in a tree format on the left side of the Operation dialog box. When you click a subgroup name in the tree, the parameters of the selected subgroup appear on the right side of the dialog box.

Geometry - The Geometry page enables you to define the 3D model geometry for the SolidCAM Edge Breaking operation.

Tool - The Tool page of the Edge Breaking operation is similar to the Tool page of other Sim 5-Axis Milling operations. In Edge Breaking you can use Ball Nose Mill, Taper Ball Nose and Lollipop mill tools.

Levels - This page enables you to define the Clearance area and the machining levels.

Tool path parameters - The Tool path parameters page enables you to define the parameters of finish machining.

Tool axis control - The Tool axis control page enables you to define the orientation of the tool axis.

Link -  The Link page enables you to define the approach/retract of the tool and linking of Edge Breaking passes into the complete tool path.

Gouge check - The Gouge check and Clearance data pages enable you to avoid the tool gouging of any selected check surfaces.

Machine control - The Machine control page of the Edge Breaking dialog box is similar to the Machine control page of other Sim 5-Axis Milling operations.

Misc. parameters -The Misc. parameters page of the Edge Breaking dialog box is similar to the Misc. parameters page of Multiaxis Machining operation.