Tool Database

The Tool Database is used to make cutter management and selection very quick and easy, and reduces the possibility of programming jobs with incorrect cut depths and speeds and feeds. It allows pre-defined tools and settings (speeds, feeds, stepover etc.) to be selected from a list for a given machine / material.

The Tool Database can be accessed from the Select... button through the various Toolpath forms. You can open the Toolpaths Tab button or through the Toolpaths menu.

Watch this video to see this in action:

This is a summary of the main entities and relationships in the database. More details on those will be given in the next sections.

1. Tool geometry entities (organised hierarchically in the tree).
2. List of Materials (Managed through the Material Management dialog).
3. List of Machines (Managed through the Machine Management dialog).
4. Cutting Data set for each tool geometry. This includes the Cutting Parameters, and Feeds & Speeds, and are defined per machine / material.

Tool Properties are divided into two categories,

1. Tool geometry: This is the physical properties of the tool such as the diameter, tip radius, etc...
2. Cutting data: These include the Cutting Parameters and Feeds & Speeds of the tool. These values are defined for a particular material / machine.

The Tool Tree is located on the left-hand side of the Tool Database. Click on items in the list to see or edit their properties using the Tool Info section of the database window.

You can drag items up and down the list to change their order or drag them inside / outside of groups.

Duplicate the selected tool geometry or group in the list. If you're copying a tool, it will be copied without its cutting parameters.

The cutting parameters can be subsequently be:

• Copied from the same tool, different material.
• Tool with identical geometry, any material.
• Created with default values.

A tool database file can be imported into the currently open tool database. You will have 3 options,

1. Import: This will simply import the given tools under the selected group (or as a top-level tool / group).
2. Merge: This will attempt to merge the incoming tool group hierarchy with the current one (without any regards for selection)
   1. Overwrite: When it's faced with two similarly nested tools that have the same tool geometry, the cutting data of the incoming tool will overwrite the current tool's cutting data for the active machine / material.
   2. Without overwriting: A new machine / material will be created to contain the cutting data of the incoming tools.

This will go to the Name Format dialog to edit the name template for this tool type.

The name displayed here is then a result of evaluating the template in the current context (active machine, material and the cutting data defined for those as well as the tool geometry).

The name of a tool group can be defined directly through this dialog.

Various cutters can be specified in the database. Changing the cutter tool type is equivalent to creating a new tool, so all existing data for that tool (if any) may not be applicable anymore.

V-Bit

Engraving

Tapered Ball Nose

Ball Nose

End Mill

Radiused End Mill

Form Cutters

Diamond Drag

Drills

The tool notes section simply allows you to save any additional text descriptions, special instructions or relevant information you may require, within your tool definition.

To enter a link into the Note, go to the appropriate page in your Web Browser and select the URL of the page from the Address Bar.

CRTL+C to copy it and then in the Note Field, right click and use the "Paste" option to enter it into the Notes.

To use the HTML Link in the Note Window, hold the CRTL Key and click the link. This will open your computers default Web Browser and load the web page.

The cutting data is defined per material per machine. If the data is not defined already for a tool, we create it in a number of ways,

1. Create with some default values which you can then change for your purposes.
2. Copy from the same tool from a different material: This could be a sensible starting point if the materials have similar / close hardness.
3. Copy from a different (identical) tool from the same (or different material)

The maximum depth of cut the tool can cut. The Pass Depth controls the number of z level passes that are calculated for a toolpath.

For example, creating a pocket 1 inch (25.4 mm) deep using a tool that has a Pass Depth of 0.25 inches (6.35 mm) will result in the toolpath making 4 passes.

This value can be defined per machine / material depending on the machine's rigidity and the material's hardness.

The distance the cutter moves over when doing area clearance cutting. For example, when raster machining the cutter will machine along the X axis, stepover in the Y direction and return parallel to the first line of cut. The greater the stepover the faster the job will be machined, but this must be balanced with the material being cut and the tooling being used, to ensure that the tool does not break. Therefore, this property (along with all other Cutting Parameters can be defined per material / machine).

When stepover's greater than 50% of the cutter / tip diameter are used the software automatically adds 'Tail' moves in the corner regions of toolpaths to ensure material is not left on the job for offset based strategies.

When using V-Bit Tools, the Stepover fields automatically change to use the following options.

The cutting rate at which the cutter is moved vertically into the material or during ramping moves. The units can be specified in distance per second or per minute.

This is the maximum speed at which the tool, when at 100% power, will still burn the material. This value is used for simulation purposes only. It should be calibrated to match your laser and material. A larger value will result in the simulated toolpath appearing darker.

You will need access to the Laser Module to create and simulate laser toolpaths.

This is the number of the tool needed to machine the job. When using a CNC machine with an Automatic Tool Changer (ATC), it is critical that the correct tool required to cut the job is located in the corresponding carousel location.

Form Cutters can be added to the Tool Database so that industry standard Ogee and Round-over type cutters, plus user definable custom shapes can be used for edge profiling and decorative carving.

Examples of these types of cutters and the kind of cuts they can be used for are shown in the images below:

Round-over

Ogee

Profile Cutting Strategy with Form cutter

Before opening the tool database, draw to exact scale the Right side of the cutter geometry in the 2D Window Use the Node Editing tools to create the arcs and curves etc.

Select the vector, then open the Tool Database dialog and create a new tool. Then, set its type to Form Tool.

The selected geometry will be imported and a profile displayed in the window. Give the Cutter a meaningful name. Enter the cutting parameters - speeds and feeds etc for the various materials you've got defined.

Click the Apply / OK button to save the new cutter into the database list so it can be used at any time.