I'll jot down a few small requests and perhaps someone at BobCad will pick it up
1) Allow us to specify the center-drill depth in the Drill Feature which has 2 steps/tools: center-drill and drill.
Current workaround: change the tool angle and recompute the tool path till you get the depth you want.
2) Add a "Straight" Drill Feature which does not do the center-drill operation.
Current workaround #1: edit the Part/Tool Pattern and permanently remove the center-drill operation. The issue is that when you want the center drill you would need to do a separate center drill feature.
Current workaround #2: edit the g-code and remove the center drill section.
3) Add a Coolant Yes/No option per Feature or Tool. For example, I use air when milling steel with Carbide and oil when drilling it with Cobalt. The oil gets controlled by g-code and the air manually. There are a lot of situations where you drill and mill in the same workpiece.
Current workaround: edit the g-code and remove the M08 on the operations you do not want it.
4) Allow a Comment Field for each Tool in each Feature. I calculate the speeds and feeds with a spreadsheet. It would be a nice if I could copy and paste the calculation for each tool in each feature so that if I need to revise it I known how I arrived there.
Example:
Code:
XY Cutting Z Plunging
Cutting Speed (FPM) 400 400
Cutter Diameter (inches) 0.5
Number of Flutes 4
Tooth Feed Rate (inches per tooth) 0.00165 0.00033
Width of Cut (inches) 0.5000
Depth of Cut (inches) 0.1000
Spindle Speed (RPM) 3056 3056
Feed (IPM) 20.2 4.0
Material Power Constant 0.74
Metal Removal Rate (inches per minute) 1.01 0.79
Tooth Feed Rate factor 1.47 1.87
Operation Kind Tool Wear 1.10
Power at Cutter (HP) 1.21 1.21
Machine Drive Type Tool Efficiency 0.90
Required Power at Motor (HP) 1.34 1.34
Current workaround: print the calculation and hope not to loose/misplace it.
5) Make the Tool Label available at the post processor.
The best we can do in the post now is:
T7 M6 (C ENDMILL FINISH , Diameter=.5 , Length=3.3125)
Using the Tool Label as proposed you get what you type:
T7 M6 (SGS 1/2" x 1-1/4" 4FL 0.030 CR Z-Carb-AP AlTiN)
Current workaround: study the setup and make notes on a piece of paper so that you know which 1/2" end mill it means for you to use.