Tool Use Table
- Kevin Strider (Unlicensed)
The ‘Tool use’ table is your go-to tool for checking the suitability of your Fusion Tool Library, and controlling the use of the tools within that library, for use with CAM Assist.
Intelligent analysis
The Tool Use table is populated as a result of the selections you make within the General section of CAM Assist’s ‘Tool use’ tab, as follows:
Tool library - this is the Fusion library that CAM Assist will analyze.
Stock material - this tells CAM Assist to look for cutting data presets that could be used on the ‘Stock material’.
As soon as you have made the selections, CAM Assist quickly performs the following analysis of on every tool in the selected Fusion 'Tool library’:
Existing cutting data presets - are there any existing cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format used by CAM Assist?
Matching presets for the operation - for each tool, is there a matching preset for each operation that can be performed by the tool?
Intelligent reporting
CAM Assist reports the results of its analysis by populating the Tool Use table with a list of all tools in the selected ‘Tool library’. It does so using the following columns:
Tool Summary - a summary of the tool’s parameters to enable easy identification.
Allowed Materials - uses a 4-state button for the ‘Stock material’ (see 4-state buttons, below).
Allowed Operations - uses 4-state buttons for operations that are relevant to the specific tool (see 4-state buttons, below).
Status - reports any identified Fusion configuration issues with the tool (see ‘Status’ column, below).
Each of the 4-state buttons has the following features:
Tooltip - hover over the button to see an informative tooltip.
Abbreviation - for an explanation of the abbreviation, see the button's tooltip or refer to the pages Supported Materials and Supported Operations.
For detailed instructions on how to use the Tool use table effectively, see Using the Tool Use Table.
4-state buttons
The Tool Use table uses 4-state buttons to report how the tools in the selected ‘Tool library’ will be used by CAM Assist on the selected ‘Stock material’.
‘Allowed Materials’ column
The following table shows how the 4-state button is used in the ‘Allowed Materials’ column.
State | Border | Color | Tooltip (hover over the button) |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this tool | Lists all matched Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that can be used on the selected ‘Stock material’ |
No border- CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this tool | “No matching presets” | |
Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | “This tool will not be used for [Stock material]” | |
No border- CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | “This tool will not be used for [Stock material]” |
If CAM Assist does not find a Fusion cutting data preset that matches the Preset Name Format then CAM Assist will ‘intelligently’ generate the relevant cutting data parameters.
‘Allowed Operations’ column
The following table shows how the 4-state button is used in the ‘Allowed Operations’ column.
State | Border | Color | Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|
Blue - CAM Assist has found a Fusion cutting data preset for the operation that matches the Preset Name Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this operation for the associated tool. | Lists the matched Fusion cutting data presets for the operation that can be used on the selected ‘Stock material’. | |
No border- CAM Assist has not found a Fusion cutting data preset for the operation that match the Preset Name Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this operation for the associated tool. | “No matching presets”
| |
Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | “This tool will not be used for [operation]” | |
No border- CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Name Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | “This tool will not be used for [operation]” |
‘Status’ column
If CAM Assist has identified a Fusion configuration issue for the tool, an orange exclamation icon is displayed.
Hovering over that icon displays details of the configuration issue.
Filtering the Tool Use table
The tools that are displayed in the Tool Use table can be filtered using the ‘Filter’ textbox (just above the ‘Tool Summary’ column).
Filter options
Any of the following options can be used for the ‘Filter’:
Filter by tool number:
In the Filter, enter ‘22112’ and only that tool will be displayed.
Enter ‘221’ and all tool numbers that contain ‘221’ will be displayed.
Filter by tool type:
Enter ‘Bull nose end mill’ and only that tool of that type will be displayed.
Filter by tool diameter
Example: enter ‘0.24’ and only tools with that diameter will be displayed.