Leveraging the power of TrueMill™ technology and the optimized roughing of Step Reduction Milling, SURFCAM Velocity II introduces RapidRough—the patented one step, TrueMill™ powered, 3D roughing through pre-finishing operation!
The new RapidRough operation is available on the 3 Axis menu. The user-friendly interface makes it easy to quickly generate optimized roughing and pre-finishing passes in one step. Enter the final step height and stock after all cutting passes are complete, then add multiple tools. SURFCAM does the rest of the work for you.
Up to eight tools can be used in a single RapidRough operation. Each tool is used for two purposes. First, the tool removes the maximum amount of material as quickly as possible. Second, the tool prepares the surfaces for the next tool in the list. RapidRough uses the most efficient method for maximizing the capabilities of your tools.
This is the initial roughing phase. The part is roughed from the top to the bottom at the largest tool’s maximum capable depth of cut.
After the tool reaches the bottom of the smallest area it can cut, it immediately begins machining from the bottom to the top in preparation for the next tool. The bottom-up depth of cut is based on an analysis of the next tool’s maximum depth of cut.
Using advanced analysis of the part geometry and the capabilities of the next tool, SURFCAM ensures that all steps are of equal height before moving to the next tool.
In the second roughing phase, the tool roughs from the top to the bottom only where the previous tool couldn’t fit. RapidRough never makes an unnecessary cut in areas that have already been machined.
After the tool reaches the bottom of the smallest area it can cut, it machines from the bottom to the top reducing its own steps in preparation for the next tool (or finishing operation).
No matter how many tools are used, all of the steps are the same uniform height!
Tip: To prevent any finishing tool from encountering more material than it can safely handle, it is suggested that the smallest-diameter RapidRough tool match the smallest-diameter finishing tool.
All RapidRough slices are powered by TrueMill technology to cut faster at the greatest depth of cut for each selected tool.
TrueMill is used In every roughing slice...
in every step reduction...
in corner picking...
wherever the previous tool couldn’t fit.
No matter how many tools are used in a RapidRoughTM operation, you can be assured of a consistent step height across all surfaces before you proceed with a pre-finishing or finishing operation.
Traditional rest roughing operations use a constant programmed depth of cut, regardless of the geometry you are machining. This produces a constant step height, but more material is likely to remain in some areas than in others particularly when the surface geometry includes a combination of steep and flat areas as the illustration below shows.
The steps from the first tool are even—large but even.
A second operation with a smaller tool is used to machine the areas where the first tool could not fit. But it also must clean up the large steps left by the previous, larger tool. If the depth of cut of the first tool is 1”, and the depth of cut of the second tool is .450’’ (which does not divide evenly into 1”), the dotted line in the illustration below represents the programmed depth of cut of tool 2.
Tool 2 uses less than optimal depths on each cut
After two tools are run, you are left with very uneven step heights. If you attempted to finish this now, the varying depths of cut that would be encountered by the finishing tool would be very problematic.
After 2 operations the steps are too large and uneven to begin the finishing process
In RapidRough, the first tool produces the same step heights as the first tool in rest roughing. But, at this point, RapidRough does not change to a smaller tool. Instead, the same tool is used to machine from the bottom up to reduce its own steps.
Most important, RapidRough doesn’t just go back and cut the steps in half, or divide them by some value that the user must enter. It looks ahead to the capabilities and limitations of the next tool in the list, and reduces these steps such that the material is optimally prepared for that next tool.
The material is prepared for the next tool
After tool 1 is finished, the material already looks better than what rest roughing produced after two tools.
Steps after only one tool is used
Now tool 2 only needs to machine where the previous, larger tool could not fit.
Steps after second tool is used, ready for finishing
Tool 2 will then look forward at the capabilities and limitations of tool 3 (if there is a tool 3) or at the user-entered Maximum Final Step Height (if there is no tool 3), and go back and reduce these steps in preparation for whatever tool is next.
This option on the Setup tab controls the final step height after the RapidRough operation is complete. The final step height may be less than this height, but never more.
Final step height after all tools are used
This option on the Cut Control tab prevents the tool from cutting minimal amounts of material on steps. These conditions typically occur on steep surfaces.
Minimum Stock
The tool will skip any steps that have less than the Minimum Stock Removal amount.
When generating RapidRough toolpaths, it is important to understand the effect of specifying material boundaries that do not fully contain the surfaces to be machined. The part surfaces are gouge-checked only within the material boundaries. If material boundaries that do not fully contain the part surfaces are specified, it is possible that entries to and exits from the material may gouge the part surfaces.
Many parts, depending on their topology, can be safely machined using this method, and an enhancement is planned for the Velocity III release later this year that will automatically avoid gouging in such cases. Until then, the user should be aware that gouging can occur outside the material boundaries whenever those boundaries do not fully contain the selected part surfaces.
If you are familiar with 3 Axis SRM (Step Reduction Milling), the interface for RapidRough will look very familiar. The first thing you’ll notice in RapidRough is the simplified interface. Parameters have been consolidated to reduce redundancies and much of the RapidRough technology is built right in to make your job easier.
SRM Setup Parameters
RapidRough Setup Parameters
You’ll also notice that RapidRough has only two sub-tabs for tool machining parameters as opposed to the five tabs in SRM.
RapidRough also supports ball tools.
