Saw Mill Sign

Preperation
This demonstration shows some of the 2D and 2.5D machining
features available within ArtCAM Insignia. You will use several
different types of machining toolpaths; Area Clearance, Bevel
Carving, V-Bit Carving, Drilling, and a Profile pass with Bridges.
1. Open the Saw Mill file

Notice when the vectors are selected, they are purple and they
are selected all at once, this means they are grouped. When a set
of vectors are imported into ArtCAM, they come in as a grouped
entity. For machining purposes, we want to treat the vectors
separately.
2. Ensure the grouped vectors are still selected and click the Ungroup vector
function in the Vector Editing Toolbar

Area Clearance Toolpath

We will create some toolpaths to clear out the background
material around the letters. Since the letters will be used in a few
different toolpaths as machining boundaries, we will first group
the text together.
1. Using the Left mouse button, drag a box around the letters to select them
2. The selected text should look like this:

3. Click the Group vector function in the Vector Editing Toolbar

4. Now (make sure the text is still selected) hold down the Shift key for a
multiple selection and select the vector surrounding the letters
5. The selected vectors should look like this:

6. The Area Clearance toolpath can now be generated.

On the Project panel, click on Toolpaths to show the toolpath creation

icons
7. Click on the Area Clearance toolpath function located in the lower half of
the panel
8. The 2D Area Clearance panel automatically opens:

9. Enter a Finish Depth of 8mm and a Tolerance of 0.01mm

[Link] the Machine Safe Z section, click the pull down arrow to display the
hidden values
[Link] the Safe Z to and Home Position Z to 10mm

Now we can select the tools to be used. Area Clearance allows

several tools to be selected for this strategy, and will machine first
with the largest tool, then the next sized tool will be used only to
machine areas left un-machined by the previous tool, and so on.

[Link] the Add button in the Tools List section

[Link] the End Mill 12mm from the Wood or Plastic - Roughing and 2D
Finishing section of the database
[Link] this procedure to select the End Mill 6mm and the End Mill 1.5mm
[Link] should now be three tools listed. As each one is selected, the options
associated with that tool are shown below the Tools List box.
[Link] the End Mill 6mm in the Tool List box
[Link] the Tool Clearance Strategy from Raster to Offset as shown:

[Link] this for the End Mill 1.5mm

[Link] the Setup button to define the material

[Link] that the Material Z Zero is set to Top of Block, and the Thickness
is 12mm as shown above
[Link] the Calculate Now button to generate the toolpaths
[Link] 2D toolpath preview appears in the 2D view.

[Link] on the X to close the toolpath and panel

24. Click on the 3D View Tab found in the top left corner to switch to the 3D
view
[Link] toolpaths look like this:

[Link] Project Panel looks like this:

[Link] the plus sign next to Area Clear to view all the associated tools
[Link] on the End Mill 12mm toolpath to select it
[Link] click on Simulate Toolpath
[Link] through the simulation until finished
[Link] simulation in the 3D view looks like this:

[Link] the End Mill 6mm toolpath in the Project Tree

[Link] click and select Simulate Toolpath
[Link] Simulation looks like this:

The simulation is a mimic of the actual piece after each toolpath

has been machined.
[Link] the End Mill 1.5mm toolpath in the Project Tree

[Link] click and select Simulate Toolpath

Bevel Toolpath
1. Now we will generate a Bevel toolpath to create positive prismatic letters.

2. Click on the 2D View Tab

3. Click the grey scratch area to de-select the vectors
4. Select the grouped vector letters as shown:

5. On the Project panel, click on Toolpaths to show the toolpath creation icons
6. Click on the Bevel Carving toolpath function located in the lower half of
the panel
7. The 3D Bevel Carving panel appears automatically:
Enter a Finish Depth of 7mm
We are not using a wall height, as the
background is already machined and we do
not need to cut the letters out, so we will leave
it set to 0.
Now to define the Carving Tool, click the
Select... button in the Carving Tool section
The Tool Database appears, select the V-Bit
32mm 130 degree from the Wood or Plastic
V-Carving section and click the Select
button
The V-bit tool should appear on the page.
Since we are not creating a Wall Height, we
will not select a Profiling Tool. The Profiling
Tool would be used to cut the profile of the
vector leaving a straight edge.
Click the Calculate Now button to generate the toolpath
Click on the X to close the toolpath and panel
8. The Preview Vectors appear in the 2D view, and look like this:

9. Click on the 3D View Tab

[Link] Bevel Toolpath looks like this:

[Link] click on the Bevel toolpath and select Simulate toolpath

[Link] Simulation looks like this:

V-Bit Carving
In this section, we will engrave some text. First we need to
create the text.

1. Click on the 2D View Tab to go back to the 2D view

Click the Create Vector Text button in the Design Tools

Toolbar
2. The Text Tool function appears in the Tool Settings Panel:
3. Set the Style of text to be Bold, Arial, with a Size of 25mm and Character
Spacing at 20%,
4. Now click the mouse button in the 2D View and type the text Reception

5. Right click to finish and exit text creation

6. We need to make sure that the text is centered in the sign.
7. Select the text, if not already selected, and then Shift-select the outer profile
as shown. (The text MUST be selected first.)
8. Click the Centre Horizontally button on the Vector Editing Toolbar
9. Click anywhere in the 2D View to de-select the vectors
[Link] select the vector text only
[Link] use the Up or Down arrow cursor keys on the keyboard to move the
letters approximately into position as shown
[Link] finished Reception text looks like this:

[Link] now apply a toolpath to the text using V-Bit carving.

[Link] the Reception text is still selected
[Link] Toolpaths from the Project Tree to view all the toolpath creation icons
[Link] on the V - Bit Carving toolpath function located in the lower half of
the panel
The V-Bit Carving panel appears
automatically:
Select the Click to Select... to select the
Carving Tool
Select the V-Bit 32mm 90 degree tool
from the list, and click the Select button
to select it
Next click the Calculate Now button to
calculate the Toolpath
ArtCAM automatically generates
the centrelines of the vectors and
calculates the toolpath.
The Preview Vectors appear in the 2D
View and look like this:

Click on the X to close the toolpath panel

[Link] on the 3D View Tab

[Link] toolpath looks like this:

[Link] click on the V Bit Carving Toolpath in the Project Tree and select
Simulate Toolpath

[Link] Simulation looks like this:

Drilling
Now we can drill the holes needed to mount the sign to the wall.

1. Click on the 2D View Tab

2. First, select the two hole positions marked in the 2D View using the left
mouse button as shown. (Select one, and then Shift-select the other)

3. Select Toolpaths from the Project Tree to view all the toolpath creation icons
4. Click on the Drilling toolpath function located in the lower half of
the panel

5. The Drilling function appears

automatically:
Click the Select... button to select
a Tool
Select the End Mill 12 mm by
double clicking it
(Note as we stretched the vectors
un-proportionally, the drill holes
are no longer true circles so we will
use the all selected vectors option
instead of Circular Vectors.) has to
be removed
In the Drill Centre of... section of
the Drilling Page, select the option
All Selected Vectors

Click the Calculate Now button to

generate the toolpath

6. The Preview Vectors look like this:

7. Click on the X to close the toolpath panel

8. Click on the 3D View Tab

9. The Drilling Toolpath looks like this:

[Link] click on the Toolpath in the Project Tree and select Simulate
Toolpath
[Link] simulation looks like this:

Profile Toolpath
We are now ready to cut out the sign by profiling around the
outermost vector.

1. Click on the 2D View Tab

2. Select the outermost vector in the 2D View as shown

3. Select Toolpaths from the Project Tree to view all the toolpath creation icon
4. Click on the Profile toolpath function located in the lower half of the panel
5. The Profiling function appears automatically:
6. Change the profile option to Outside
7. The Finish Depth is 12mm
8. Click the Click to Select... button to select the Profiling Tool
9. Double click the End Mill 6mm to select it
[Link] the Stepdown to 12mm by using the pull arrow to access the tool
parameters
[Link] the option Add Lead In/Out Moves in the Profiling Panel as shown

[Link] Panel is expanded to show the options for

Leads:
[Link] the option Circular Arc, and enter a
Distance of 12mm and a Radius of 12mm
[Link] Calculate Now to generate the Toolpath

[Link] Preview Vectors look like this:

[Link] the Circular Lead:

This is automatically positioned in the middle of the longest

span, unless the Automatic Positioning option is switched off, in
which case the Start Point of the vector is used as the position.
This allows the user to define the position manually if required.
[Link] on the X to close the toolpath and panel

[Link] on the 3D View Tab

[Link] Profile Toolpath looks like this:

[Link] we simulate this toolpath, we will demonstrate Bridging.

[Link] on the 2D View Tab

[Link] the project Tree, click on the plus sign next to the calculated Profile
toolpath
[Link] Profile toolpath tool End Mill 6mm
[Link] the Profile Options function
[Link] Bridges as the option
[Link] Bridging panel appears:

[Link] a Bridge Length of 12mm and a Bridge Thickness of 1mm

[Link] the Add Bridges to Profiles section, enter a Constant Number of 4
[Link] the 3D Bridges option to create a 3D bridge
[Link] the Create Bridges button to add the Bridges to the Toolpath
[Link] Profile Toolpath in the 2D View now looks like this:

We will now move the bridges to more sensible positions which

will be easier to remove it.
[Link] the mouse over the centre of the top-left bridge, so that the cursor
changes to a circle with a cross going through it as shown (Zoom in if
necessary using the wheel on the mouse)

[Link] the Left mouse button down, and drag the Bridge to a more sensible
position as shown:

[Link] move the other bridges in the same way so that they are in positions as
shown:

[Link] into the top-left bridge using the wheel on the mouse
[Link] can remove the bridge by double clicking on it in the centre of the
bridge
[Link] add the Bridge back in by double clicking the Profile Toolpath
[Link] the cursor over one end of the Bridge, and using the Left mouse
button, drag the end to extend the Bridge as shown:

[Link] editing the Bridges, the 3D Profile Toolpath is automatically updated

interactively.
[Link] see this, tile the 2D View and the 3D View using the Window pull down
Tile Horizontally menu option
[Link] move or edit the Bridge in the 2D View to show that the 3D View
automatically updates
[Link] the Close button to exit the Bridging page
[Link] can now simulate the Profile Toolpath.
[Link] the 3D view
[Link] click on the Profile Toolpath in the Project Tree and select Simulate
toolpath
[Link] Simulation looks like this:

[Link] on the 3D Graphics Options icon on the 3D View toolbar and select
Simulation Rendering. Choose Oak as the Material option to see what the
toolpath will look like once cut into the material
[Link] on the X to close the 3D Graphics Options panel.
[Link] in to view one of the bridges using the Right mouse button as shown: