Checking the Tool Definition

Shoulder length

CAM Assist ensures that End mills are never used beyond their usable length. Tool catalogs usually refer to usable length as “LU”, which is often different to both the flute length (APMX) and the overall length (OAL), even for straight shank tools.

In Fusion, the usable length (LU) for end mills should be entered into the ‘Shoulder length’ field of the ‘Cutter’ tab (see screenshot below).

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End mill ‘Shoulder Length’ (LU)

Since this field has almost no effect on the behavior of Fusion, you may find that, in your tool library, it has simply been set equal to ‘Flute length'. Since CAM Assist will not use tools that go deeper than LU, this will limit the use of the endmill to a depth equal to the flute length and give you poor results in areas such as deep pockets.

Check the shoulder length is correctly set to LU for all your tools. In case you don’t want to check this now, you can set the shoulder length of straight shank tools to be a small amount (1mm or 1/32in) less than the ‘Length below holder’ field. This should provide an acceptable compromise until you can confirm the shoulder lengths with your tool manufacturer.

Tool holders

Assuming that you’ve ‘allowed’ CAM Assist to use the associated tool (using the Tool Use tab) then, if that tool does not have a tool holder assigned in Fusion, CAM Assist will assign one so that cutting data parameters can be generated.

However, if you prefer greater control over collision checking and tool choice, you could configure the tool holders yourself in Fusion.

Next step

After learning about naming your End mill cutting data and checking the tool definition, the next step is use that information to decide which End mills should be in the tool library?