Example 7: Create Slots with Milling Cycles (CAM Introduction)

Sample Drawing: "CAM\Create Slots with Milling Cycles"
Postprocessors: "HEIDENHAIN DIN-ISO (Milling)" and "HEIDENHAIN Klartext (Milling)"

Export Objects

The two objects to be exported are shown in green in the drawing. The associated NC blocks (lines) also appear in this color.

The two milling cycles are the block instances "Milling Cycles\G210 Slot" and "Milling Cycles\G211 Circular Slot" from the "CAM Universal" library. The first milling cycle in the object sequence is at position (50|25). The two markers are not directly exported to the NC file, they only affect the calculation of the encompassing frame of the export objects. The enclosing frame cannot be determined from the CAM block instances, as these do not provide any information about the respective expansion and rotation of the slot.

Milling Cycles Require Additional Information

The CAM block instance only provides the reference point for the respective slot (Q216 and Q217). The information regarding the expansion and rotation of the respective slot must be entered manually. For this purpose, the CAM block instance has local attributes whose content can be edited. The names of these attributes start with two underscores, for example "__SideLengthReferenceAxis". The content of these local attributes is evaluated in the actual cycle attributes and thus ends up in the NC file. For example, the local attribute "__SideLengthReferenceAxis" is used to initialize parameter Q218 in block (line) 50 or 5.

To edit the local attributes of a block instance immediately after pasting, simply check the appropriate checkbox in the Block > Insert dialog. For subsequent editing, select the Shape > Edit > Text / Attributes command and then click on the desired block instance.

If you want to use the block instance "Milling Cycles\G210 Slot" together with the command Shape > Move / Copy Objects > Multiple Copy, Rotation (see Example 6: Drilling with Drilling Cycles), there is one more special feature: To avoid changing the rotation angle for each milling cycle individually, simply delete the content of the local attribute "__RotationAngle" of the first drilling cycle before rotating. If this local attribute contains an empty text, the rotation of the respective block instance is used automatically.