Interoperational Tool Movements

SolidCAM enables you to perform the interoperational tool movements either through the Part Clearance level (same for all operations of the CAM-Part) or through the Operation Start level (can be different from the Part Clearance Level and vary for each operation).

Interoperational tool through Part Clearance level

SolidCAM performs interoperational movements through the Part Clearance level when two neighboring operations use the same Tool (and Tool offset) and Coordinate System.

Interoperational tool through Operation Start level

You can change the level where the interoperational movements are performed for the specific operations when the same Coordinate system, Tool and Tool offset are used.

This mode enables to reduce the rapid movements, especially between machining areas located significantly deeper than the Part Clearance level.

In this mode, the tool performs interoperational movements at the Operation Start level, which can be different from the Part Clearance level. The Operation Start level can be specified separately for each operation.

When the operation cuts are finished, the tool moves to Operation Clearance level with the Rapid feed.

If the Start level of the next operation is higher than Operation Clearance level, the tool ascends to the Start level of the next operation, then performs XY-movement and descends to the Operation Clearance level of the next operation. All these movements are performed with the Rapid feed. The tool will then perform the rapid movement to the Safety Distance level of the first cut and start the descent to the first cut with the working feed.

If the Start level of the next operation is lower than Operation Clearance level, the tool performs the XY-movements at Operation Clearance level and than descends to Clearance level of the next operation without stopping at Start level. All these movements are performed with the Rapid feed. The tool then performs the rapid movement to Safety Distance level of the first cut and starts the descent to the first cut with the working feed.

All of these rules are relevant only when there is no Tool change, Tool offset change and Coordinate System change between the operations. If there are such changes, Operation Start level is ignored and SolidCAM performs the tool movement through Part Clearance level.