Plunge Milling

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

Does anyone know of a good strategy for plunge milling in Featurecam? I've been bringing this topic up since 2009, and to my knowledge there still is not a way to do this. I have an application where I am trying to plunge on an angle. Really simple to create the hole pattern, but the problem is you end up cutting tons of air throughout the process. As far as I know there is not a feature based hole pattern which will detect the amount of stock you have. You simply drill from point A to B. Maybe you all can have a look and see if you can think of a better way. I've attached a picture and the code for reference. I'd appreciate the input.

[abhishek.juvekar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

Thanks for raising your concern through Autodesk Forum.

There is a dedicated strategy for plunge milling in surface milling. Refer an attached image. Isn't it helping?

Thank You.

[Anonymous]

I looked everywhere except for in surface milling because I don't consider plunge milling a surfacing method. At any rate it worked for what I am doing. Much better than cutting air. I recalled trying to use this years ago and I gave up because it was not a very effective method for plunging. I will have to try some more.

I have a couple of questions about this application. One reason I don't like it in surface milling is because you are unable to use many types of surfaces, meaning you have to create a new surface in order to be able to use the feature. How does this strategy determine what size cutter can be used? My part has a 1/2" wide feature I need to plunge. I am using a 3" diameter plunge mill because I have a large pocket that requires material to be removed. When I tried using that plunge mill on the 1/2" wide feature I got "empty setup" in the NC Code. Only a 1.5" diameter plunge mill would work. I kept making the surface larger until it finally allowed me to use the 3" diameter, and I ended up making a 1.5" wide surface. What is the ratio of surface width to cutter diameter required to allow the plunge tool to work?

Does Autodesk have any plans of adding to the plunge feature? All tool manufacturers want the tool to raise in Z at an angle instead of straight up. This would be huge for tool life. It would also be nice if they would simply make a dialog more like a hole pattern instead of making it a complicated surface milling feature. Just my thoughts. Thanks for the help.

[baldoom]

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/featurecam/learn-explore/caas/simplecontent/content/creating-...

[Anonymous]

This is exactly what many CAM users are complaining about. the programs are not keeping up with technology nor do the programmers seem to understand todays machining practices. We don't even have but tin and black oxide coatings which are rarely used any more, let alone a multitude of geometries. We need more freedom to work the way the tools are designed to work and the way we need to work to be competitive in todays market.