Milling Enhancements
These are 3D Model and Thickness. The cycle now has the same set of stock options as the Roughing cycle. (This enhancement actually appeared in the previous release, but did not appear in the What's New as it was finalised too late in the production cycle).
The cycle now supports the machining of flats at the bottom of Open Pocket features. (Please note that this support has currently not been extended to finishing shallow areas in Profiling.)
The options on the dialog have been re-ordered for a shorter dialog with a more consistent tab size. Options have been grouped in more logical sets, with many of the advanced options on the General tab being moved to the new More tab, for example.
In turning, there has been a fix so that Edgecam switches the work spindle direction when you switch the tool between driven and fixed.
In addition, when using a fixed milling tool in turning, the work spindle direction is now correctly set according to the toolchange Orientation setting (of Axial or Reverse Axial). If the orientation is changed after loading a tool, then the direction will be changed accordingly.
The options on the dialog have been re-ordered for a shorter dialog with a more consistent tab size. Options have been grouped in more logical sets, with many of the advanced options on the General tab being moved to the new Control tab, for example.
For the Move Relative and Move Constrained commands, you can now digitise any type of turn feature profile (turn, groove and so on), to position the tool.
The Feature Name option has been removed from the New Rough Turn and Finish Turn cycles. This is because it is an out of date method off passing information between cycles, that was never fully supported in these later cycles. Your existing machining will not be affected.
If you are experiencing difficulties saving parts to a network location, check Options menu ► Preferences ► General tab ► Network File Copy.
A more reliable method is then used, that involves firstly saving a local copy of the file (to a temporary folder), then copying this to the network folder. There is no other effect of the setting - you continue to use Edgecam as normal. We recommend you only check this setting if necessary, as it introduces a slight increase to the save times (even for locally saved parts).
To help with file permissions issues, the temporary files location has been changed. This is now derived from one of the environment variables (such as 'TEMP' - dependent on what variables are set up). The new location might be 'C:\Documents and Settings\john_smith\Local Settings\Temp\Edgecam2009.20.0', for example. Also see New PCI System Variables
When generating CNC code in Edgecam, the Code Generator is invoked. In the past, the Code Generator window would always be displayed during code generation, showing a run-through of the block numbers. This is of little benefit and you may want to hide the window.
Check the new Options menu ► Preferences ► Toolpaths tab ► Hide Post Processor option to minimise the Code Generator window to the taskbar during code generation.
To provide further notes and guidance, the ToolStore Administrator application now has online help. You can access this from links within the ToolStore online help, and the online Edgecam User Guide.