Start Point

Clicking the Start point button displays the Start Point Parameters dialog box.

For closed contours, the Start point option enables you to define a new position of the start point of the first cut. The position is defined along a cut. The start points of the next cuts are determined automatically, taking into account the start point location, the cutting strategy and the Rotate by parameter.

 

Select the Use Start point parameters check box to enable the dialog box options.

Start point by

This section enables you to choose the method of start point definition.

  • Position

This option enables you to define the start point by specifying the coordinates of the position. The coordinates of the selected point are displayed in the X, Y and Z edit boxes.

  

  • Surface normal direction

When this option is chosen, the start point is located at the intersection of the tool path with the vector specified by user-defined XYZ coordinates. Vector coordinates can be set by numeric values, or the direction can be picked on the model using the button.

  

The selected start point is applied to the first cut. For the subsequent cuts, you can define the start point using one of the following options:

  • Shift by value

This option enables you to start the next cut at a specified distance from the previous start point.

The distance defined in related edit box is measured along the path.

  • Rotate by

This option enables you to rotate the start position of the cuts relative to the start position of the first cut. The Rotate by value defines the rotating angle for the start position for subsequent cuts.

  • Minimize surface normal change

With this option, SolidCAM automatically chooses the start points for passes in such way that the change of the direction between surface normals at the start points is minimal.

 If the defined start point position is not located on the drive surface, SolidCAM automatically determines the closest point on the drive surface and uses it as the start point.