In certain situations, you may want to have the tool work in a limited area and control the position of the 4th and 5th axes in a specific way. To combine these functionalities, we have written the command “Cut Between 2 Geometries”, which is not a universal tool, but it can be very helpful in difficult production situations

The command is structured in such a way that it guides the tool along the surface between 2 contours. These guide contours can be e.g. body edges or geometries projected onto the surface (this can be used very effectively with STL files, for example). When traversing the NC paths, the tool is then additionally aligned according to the set command options with reference to the 4th and 5th axes:

The modified command allows the specific selection of individual solid surfaces and was further optimised in its calculation module with regard to the calculation speed and extended by an HSC option:

Machining operations that were created with the “3D Cut Between Geometries” command can be edited. They can also be used to create a Machining Style.

This new command is launched as a Project Manager page and allows quick and efficient editing of Style and AutoStyle, creating AutoStyles directly from the tree and application of both Styles and AutoStyles.

The macro Saw/Groove offers extensive strategies for creating saw and groove operations in AlphaCAM.  The most important functions are listed here.

Any linear geometries, with and without Z-extension, can be sawn with the most diverse strategies.

This can be a simple line, a closed contour, a user-selected element of a contour or even a rectangle that is to be sawn as a groove.

Different cutting modes are possible here.

The choice of machining side by geometry makes automated machining easier.

Saw cuts can be pre-scratched to avoid splintering.

With most of the strategies marked above, it is possible to manually enter the tilt angle of the saw for machining mitres.

In the marked area, the position of the saw is set based on the selected contours or solid surfaces. By selecting the upper and lower component contour, the saw blade can be positioned completely automatically in 5 axes, even for internal cuts with angled edges. With a solid model, only the surface needs to be selected and the saw cut is positioned automatically. For undercuts, the saw is automatically brought into the correct position.

The values to be entered are then relative to the top or bottom edge.

An additive angle can be taken into account, e.g. for glueing.

This new command is launched as a Project Manager page and allows quick and efficient editing of Style and AutoStyle, creating AutoStyles directly from the tree and application of both Styles and AutoStyles.