The Tool Use table is then main feature of the ‘Tool use’ tab.
You can use the table for the following:
Suitability - checking the suitability of your Fusion tool library’s configuration for use with CAM Assist (see below), which includes:
Identifying which Fusion cutting data presets are associated with specific tools in your ‘Tool library’ and match CAM Assist’s ‘preset naming format’.
Identifying which Fusion cutting data presets are associated with specific operations for those tools and match CAM Assist’s ‘preset naming format’.
Identifying which tools and operations have cutting data presets that do not match CAM Assist’s ‘preset naming format’.
Identify configuration issues within your Fusion tool library.
Control - controlling which tools and operations CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use to compute toolpath strategies (see below).
Overview video
You may find it useful to watch the following video that provides an overview of the information contained within the rest of this page.
Checking the suitability of your Fusion tool library
The ‘Tool use’ table is the go-to tool for checking the suitability of your Fusion Tool Library for use with CAM Assist.
For suitability, you can use the ‘Tool use’ table to check:
How much cutting data CAM Assist is getting from your Fusion Tool Library.
The names of those Fusion cutting data presets.
Which operations will have cutting data generated by CAM Assist.
Check for 'allowed' materials and operations
Which tools CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use for the ‘Stock material’ and specific operations.
Whether there are any Fusion configuration issues with the tool.
The above information is contained within the tooltip of ‘4-state' buttons located in the ‘Allowed Materials' and ‘Allowed Operations’ columns (see below).
Check cutting data
To magnify any image/screenshot, just click on it.
A blue border means that CAM Assist has matched at least one cutting data preset to the Preset Name Format.
In the screenshot to the right, for tool ‘22101’:
A button with a blue border indicates CAM Assist has matched at least one Fusion cutting data preset for the tool:
All operations for the tool have a blue border - this means CAM Assist has matched a Fusion cutting data preset for each operation.
To see which Fusion cutting data preset CAM Assist has matched, hover over the button to see its tooltip.
A button without a blue border indicates CAM Assist has not matched any Fusion cutting data presets for the tool.
In the screenshot to the right, for tool ‘22105’:
The operations (Fl)(Wa)(HB) do not have a blue border - this means CAM Assist will generate cutting data for those operations if they are used when computing toolpath strategies.
To see what action CAM Assist will take, hover over the button to see its tooltip.
Check for ‘allowed’ materials and operations
You can quickly check which tools are allowed to be used on the ‘Stock material’ and all relevant operations.
A green button in the ‘Allowed Materials’ column indicates that CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use the tool for the selected ‘Stock material’.
A green button in the ‘Allowed Operations’ column indicates that CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use the tool for the specific operation.
A grey button indicates that CAM Assist is ‘not allowed’ to use the tool for the selected ‘Stock material’ and/or the specific operation.
The tooltip reflects the ‘not allowed’ status.
Check the ‘Status’ of tools
You can easily check if there is a Fusion configuration issue with any tool in the tool library.
An exclamation inside an orange button in the ‘Status’ column indicates there is a Fusion configuration issue with the associated tool.
To see what Fusion parameter is causing the issue, hover over the button to see its tooltip.
The tooltip contains information that alerts you to a Fusion configuration issue (tool holder, and missing stepdown or stepover). However, you do not need to resolve the issue: CAM Assist will generate the required cutting data for you.
Controlling which tools are used by CAM Assist
When first selected in CAM Assist, all tools in the ‘Tool Library’ are marked as ‘allowed’.
You then decide which of those tools are ‘allowed’ or ‘not allowed’ to be used by CAM Assist by clicking on the relevant ‘4-state button’ to switch from one state to another.
CAM Assist will remember your choices for the future,
You control whether or not CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use a tool on the material or for specific operations.
Just click on a 4-state button to change it’s color:
Green - CAM Assist is allowed to use the tool/operation.
Grey - CAM Assist is not allowed to use the tool/operation.
For an illustration, see the example scenario, below.
Key information - ‘Allowed’ and ‘Enabled’
In addition to being allowed, a tool's associated ‘Toolpath type’ must be checked in the 'Advanced' tab to enable CAM Assist to use the tool for the associated operation.
By default, all of the core ‘Toolpath types’ are checked (enabled).
To see the relationship between tool types, operations, and toolpath types, see Supported Operations and the Advanced Tab.
In the example scenario (see below), tool ‘22102’ is used for:
Roughing - associated with the ‘Roughing’ toolpath type
Flat finishing and Wall finishing - associated with the ‘Finishing’ toolpath type
Helical boring - associated the ‘Hole making’ toolpath type
The checkbox for each of those 'Toolpath types' must be checked in the ‘Advanced' tab to enable CAM Assist to use the tool for the associated operation.
Example scenario to illustrate the difference between ‘Allowed’ and ‘Not allowed’
To magnify any image/screenshot, just click on it.
Step 1 - Tool ‘22102’ is allowed to be used by CAM Assist in CAM Assist’s ‘Tool use’ tab, tool ‘22102’ is green. This means that CAM Assist is allowed use tool ‘22102’ for all operations, including Flat Finishing (Fl).  | After clicking ‘Run’ in CAM Assist, you can see, in the Fusion ‘Browser’, that tool ‘22102’ has been used for ‘Flat’.  |
Step 2 - Tool ‘22102’ is not allowed to be used by CAM Assist Now, back in CAM Assist, the 4-state button for Flat finishing (Fl) is clicked to set it to ‘not allowed’ (grey). This means that CAM Assist is ‘allowed’ to use tool ‘22102’ but not for Flat Finishing (Fl).  | After clicking ‘Run’ in CAM Assist, you can see in the Fusion ‘Browser’ that tool ‘22102’ has not been used for ‘Flat’. Instead, tool ‘22151’ is used.  |