v1.13 'Tool Use' Table
- Kevin Strider (Unlicensed)
Intelligent analysis and reporting
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’.
Once the selections have been made, CAM Assist quickly performs the following analysis on every tool in the selected ‘Tool library’:
Are there any existing cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming Format used by CAM Assist?
For each tool, is there a matching preset for each operation that can be performed by the tool?
After the analysis, CAM Assist reports the status of the tool using the ‘Tool Use’ table’s features (see below).
‘Tool use’ table features
CAM Assist reports its analysis by populating the ‘Tool use’ table’s columns with a list of all tools in the selected ‘Tool library’:
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 'Allowed Materials' column, below)
Allowed Operations - uses a 4-state button for each relevant operation (see 'Allowed Operations' column, below).
Status - reports any identified Fusion configuration issues (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 following: Supported materials and Supported operations.
For detailed instructions on how to use the Tool use table effectively, see How to Get the Most from 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’.
The 4 states are:
Blue border - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets that match the Preset Naming Format.
No border - CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets that match the Preset Naming Format.
Green button - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using the tool/operation.
Grey button - CAM Assist is ‘not allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using the tool/operation.
If CAM Assist has not found a Fusion cutting data preset that matches the Preset Naming Format then CAM Assist will ‘intelligently’ generate the relevant cutting data parameters.
The following sub-sections show the specific meaning of the 4-states buttons, as used in the ‘Allowed Materials’ and ‘Allowed Operations’ columns.
‘Allowed Materials’ column
The following table shows the shows how the 4-state button is used in the ‘Allowed Materials’ column.
State | Border | Color | Tooltip |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming 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 Naming Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this tool | States:
|
 | Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | States: |
 | No border- CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | States: |
‘Allowed Operations’ column
The following table shows the 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 Naming 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 Naming Format. | Green - CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to compute toolpath strategies using this operation for the associated tool. | States:
|
| Blue - CAM Assist has found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | States: |
| No border- CAM Assist has not found Fusion cutting data presets for the tool that match the Preset Naming Format. | Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to compute toolpath strategies using this tool. | States: |
‘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.
An alert in the Status column is for your information only: CAM Assist will overcome related issues with an ‘intelligent’ action.
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).
The list of tools is filtered as you type into the filter’s textbox.
Filter options
Any of the following options can be used for the ‘Filter’.
Tool number examples:
In the Filter, enter ‘22112’ and only that tool will be displayed.
Enter ‘221’ and all tool numbers that contain ‘221’ will be displayed.
Tool type example:
Enter ‘Bull nose end mill’ and only that tool of that type will be displayed.
Tool diameter
Example: enter ‘0.24’ and only tools with that diameter will be displayed.
For detailed instructions on how to use the Tool use table effectively, see How to Get the Most from the Tool Use Table.
