CAM Tools

What are CAM tools

In Prinect, CAM tools are representations of how the physical instrument on the sample-producing machine processes the objects as they come from the 1up drawing. Because of this, wherever in this document you read "CAM tool" or "tool", read it as "instrument processing mode". You define a CAM tool by setting the properties that you want the instrument to process. defined by properties that

Types of CAM tools

CAM tools can be:

Primary. This is the processing mode that the instrument uses most often.
Child. A child tool is a modification of its parent primary tool. Normally, it has most of the primary tool's properties and settings, but some of its settings have been modified to serve specific functions. For example, You can create child tools only for an existing primary tool.

Where can I see them?

In the CAM template the tools appear in a tree-like view according to their priority. (See below.)
While working on a CAM job, you can see the CAM tools defined in the applied CAM template in the CAM Tools tab in the tabular area.

The tools — main and custom — set in the CAM template for the Aristo CL 1310 machine.

How CAM tools process tool paths

CAM tools process the tool path in the top-down order in which they are sorted in the CAM template. The tool path of the topmost tool is generated first, followed by the tool path of the one below it, and so on. Prinect generates separate optimized tool paths for each of the primary CAM tools and processes these tool paths according to the top-down order in which the tools are defined in the CAM template: the tool path of the topmost tool is generated first, followed by the tool path of the one below it, and so on. Prinect then links the individual tool paths.

You might need to processes section of a tool path with properties whose values are dfferent from those in the primary tool. In this case, you create child tools. These inherit the majority of the properies and their values of the parent tool, but different values for others. Child tools appear directly below their parent primary tools in the tool tree and are processed immediately after them. Consider two examples: Example 1: A laser beam used for cutting a dieboard may be used also for engraving the bridges along the tool path. This removes the necessity of removing and readjusting the beam, and then running it again along the tool path. By using a child tool — which is a different mode of processing — an instrument processes the same tool path in different work modes. Example 2: A cutting tool can be used for cutting through a design completely and also for executing half-cuts as in kiss cuts.

How do I define CAM tools?

In the CAM template. For details, see below.
While working on a CAM job, you can define one-time CAM Tools for the job in hand in the tabular area. Note that any tools you define in this way will not be added to the machine's CAM template and will not appear the next time you load this template.

The tools — main and custom — set in the CAM template for the Aristo CL 1310 machine.

NOTE: The procedure that follows tells you how to create both primary and child CAM tools. To create a child tool, in the tree structure in the left area, click a primary tool, and then click New Tool Then proceed with defining the child tool.

Name Type a name for the tool. It will appear (1) in the tree structure on the right and then (2) in the CAM Tools tab of the CAM drawing.

Type Set a type for the tool. Preset types include Router, Laser beam, Water jet, Cutting knife, Creasing wheel, V-cut, Matt cut, and Pen. Custom lets you set your own type.

Style Click the browse button

to select the style of the objects that the instrument will process.

NOTE: "Default" means that no style is selected. Use "Default" if you want to set a color to a certain object type. This will not associate the instrument with any particular style.

Number Type the number of the tool as corresponding to the consecutive numbers of the instruments on the actual machine. NOTE: You can change the tool number later, when you generate the NC script file in the NC Generation Properties dialog box.

Part by part (Applies for CAM drawings generated from layout drawings for which the part-by-part processing rule has been set.)

Before part groups The tool will process the objects associated with it — in the layout parts and those placed additionally — before processing all other objects. NOTE: If this option is set for multiple tools in the CAM template, Prinect starts one tool at a time in the top-to-bottom order set in the template.

With part groups The tool will process the objects associated with it according to the part-by-part processing rule. Objects placed directly in the layout drawing (they do not belong to any layout part) will be processed last, after the objects in the layout parts have been processed.

After part groups The tool will process the objects associated with it — in the layout parts and those placed additionally — after all other objects have been processed. NOTE: If this option is set for multiple tools in the CAM template, Prinect starts one tool at a time in the top-to-bottom order set in the template.

Associate with align markers Associates the tool with align markers, if such have been placed. Such can be, for instance, cut or creased, depending on the tool with which they are associated.

Inner contours first Generates a tool path for which the current tool starts from the inner objects. For example, if you make a CAM sample of a packaging box with an inscribed ellipse in one of the sides, cutting the outer contours first would leave the cutting of the ellipse for the end of the tool path. As a result, the sheet will not hold steadily on the samplemaking machine.

Break in crosses (Applies to the points where different objects intersect.) To produce the optimal tool path, Prinect may choose to shift the tool path's trajectory at the point where two objects intersect.

Observe line/width tool widths Takes into account the difference in width between a tool whose width is smaller than the width of the object to be processed, and makes additional runs of the tool so that the necessary width is processed. For example, if the object is 6pt wide and the tool's width is 2pt, the width of the resulting object will be less than the 6pt needed. In this case, the tool will make additional runs to process the needed 6pt width.

Material side processing Sets properties for processing of the material. These include (1) the side on which the cutting will be done, (2) the lead-in and lead-out settings, and (3) the directions of processing for the inner and outer sides. To edit these settings, click Advanced, and then use the dialog box that appears.

Shorten by Shortens the creasing objects by a certain distance, so that the creasing wheel stops before it reaches the end of a creasing lines. This prevents damaging creasing regions that lie next to creasing lines. In the edit box on the right, enter the distance, in the current metric units, by which you want to shorten the creasing objects.

Multiple passes The processing instrument performs several passes on creasing objects. Enter how many times you want the creasing instrument to pass along these objects. Value range: [0–3]. TIP: This technique is very useful when processing a harder material. The creasing objects are processed several times by the creasing instrument, which ensures that later they are easier to fold. Type how many times you need the instrument to pass along a tool path section. You can make the Prinect visualize in how many times the instrument has passed along a tool path section (use the Multi-pass count marker check box).

Angle tolerance Sets the maximal angle by which the creasing tool should be allowed to veer off from the grain direction as measured against the horizontal and vertical axes.

Objects with grain Sets a special number of creases for the objects processed with grain direction. Usually this number will be smaller than the number in Multiple crease. In this way, you can use a different number of passes for the creasing objects processed along the grain and the ones processed against the grain. Value range: [0–3].

Any Lets Prinect choose the processing direction — clockwise or counterclockwise.

Any. Optimizes the tool path automatically. To set the channel depth, click the Custom tab. NOTE: The reverse V-Cut move does not need to follow immediately the forward one.

Name (Read-only) Displays the name of the custom property. Check the custom properties that you want the child tools to inherit from their primary tools.

Visible Tells EngView whether to display the property in the tabular area of the CAM Tools tab. The options are "Yes" and "No".

Script access Sets how the script will handle the tool's Value setting. The options are:

You can make each instrument begin its course from the machine's starting point. That is, when a tool has completed its course, the next tool starts again from the machine's starting point, not from the nearest point of the course of the next tool. Although the route that the instrument covers is longer and may take more individual passes, it ensures greater precision. This technique is especially applicable in glass engraving, as it ensures highest-quality processing.

Read-only	The script uses the value of the property as it is defined in the CAM template. No changes are made to it during the job.
Local Only	During the job, the script dynamically makes changes to the value of the property. These changes are lost after the job has been completed.
Committable	During the job, the script dynamically makes changes to the property value. When the job is completed, the changes are saved to the CAM template and apply to the next job.

Custom property and value	What it does
StartFromZeroPoint = 0	The next tool starts from the point that's nearest to where the last tool completed its course.
StartFromZeroPoint = 1	Each tool starts from the machine's starting point.