CAM Setup Question: how to represent milling head?

[Anonymous]

I am a relatively new user of Fusion and am working my way through some increasingly complex CAM setups for milling ciomplex shapes using an X-Carve as a renderer.

in my last carve I noticed that the bit for the finishing pass was relatively short, and the cut was relatively deep. 

The milling head is a deWalt 611 and the chuck for the deWalt several times came in contact with the work piece as the milling head moved through a series of complex x/y/z manoevres with the bit head near the bottom of the work piece. 

I have glimpsed in some tutorials complext setups which looked like people had set up their entire milling systems inside Fusion, I assume so collisions of this sort could be calculated and avoided. 

If I wanted to start down this path, how would I do that?

[LibertyMachine · Accepted solution]

I'm not quite certain about how to show the actual spindle you are using, but there are ways to display a tool holder, and there are some other things you can do to make sure this doesn't happen again. Believe me, I know the cost of such mistakes....

When defining your tools, make sure the length of cut and overall length are close to what you are actually using.

To define a holder: Go to your Tool Library.

Double click on the tool you want to define.

Select the tab that says "Holder"

Choose a holder that best represents your setup. 

Your tool should now show with a holder attached to it.

The other option you could do....

Define all your tools as having a very large shank, perhaps the size of your spindle nut.

Make sure that the length of cut reflects your stickout, and all should be well

[Steinwerks]

I'd go with @LibertyMachine 's first option: define a significant portion of your spindle as a toolholder, then use it for all your tools. From there on it'll be how your stickout is defined. If you get your tools right at the real spindle, you'll get a good representation in the simulation of whether you'll hit the stock.

[LibertyMachine]

It definitely is a quicker method. Not as "pretty", but it gets the job done. On the plus side, it's less graphics for your computer to push through, if you are like me and running on an old laptop, it will thank you