'General' Section

Owned by Kevin Strider (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Nov 14, 2024 by Geoffrey Brennan
3 min read

The ‘General’ section of the General Tab is expandable/collapsible; it contains the following:

  • Machine settings

  • Machining mode selection

 

image-20241114-105718.png
General section - all features, with Machine area collapsed

 

image-20241114-101831.png
General section - all features, with Machine area expanded

Machine settings

The following table describes each feature in the ‘General’ section, as shown in the screenshot above.

Description

How to Use

Description

How to Use

Shows the machine that will be used for the part. The machine is configured within Mastercam but there is a set of properties that CAM Assist requires to compute toolpath strategies.

Follow the instructions to the right to check/amend the CAM Assist ‘Machine properties’.

 

  1. Click the down arrow image-20240612-102523.png to the right of the machine name.

    • ‘Machine’ will expand to display the required Machine properties.

 

 

  1. The properties can be amended as follows:

    • Enter the value directly into the box.

    • Use the up/down arrow to increment/decrement the displayed value.

  2. After ensuring the properties are correct, you may click the up arrow to collapse/hide the Machine properties.

Machining mode

Depending on which Machining mode is selected, the layout of the ‘General’ section changes, as shown in the following side-by-side screenshots.

Layout if the ‘3 Axis’ Machining mode is selected

 

Layout if the ‘3+2 Axis’ Machining mode is selected

 

3+2 Machining mode choices

As can be seen from the above screenshot, CAM Assist provides the following 3+2 Machining mode choices:

  • 3+2 Axis - if selected then a Machining direction is required:

    • Aligned to X, Y, Z axes - the tool orientation will use the +X, -X, +Y, -Y, and +Z axes coordinates from the part model.

    • User defined - the tool orientation comes from the orientation specified by the user. When this selection is made, additional controls in the Setup orientation section.

    • Automatic - automatic 3+2 strategies are in preview state. Access to this functionality is available on request.

 For detailed step-by-step instructions on using all four choices, see Machining modes in the 'How-to Guides' section.