As with the Transform Toolpath functions, the Limit To Plane, Polygon, and Boundary commands create new toolpaths that are based on the active toolpath.
To display the Toolpath limit dialog:
- Click Toolpath Edit tab >? Edit panel > Limit; or
- from the individual Toolpath context menu, select Edit > Limit.
This dialog contains the following:
Limit to — This drop-down list has three options:
- Plane —Select to limit (cut) the active toolpath to a specified plane.
- Polygon — Select to limit (cut) the currently active toolpath to a specified polygon.
- Boundary — Select to limit (cut) the currently active toolpath to a specified boundary.
— This button is available if you sketch a polygon with at least one point. Click to undo the last point added to the limiting polygon.
Plane
These options are only available if you have a Limit to of Plane.
Type — Defines the limiting plane.
- Plane X — Select to define the YZ plane. Either pick a point on the screen using the left mouse button, or enter the X coordinate in the Point frame of the dialog.
- Plane Y — Select to define the ZX plane. Either pick a point on the screen using the left mouse button, or enter the Y coordinate in the Point frame of the dialog.
- Plane Z — Select to define the XY plane. Either pick a point on the screen using the left mouse button, or enter the Z coordinate in the Point frame of the dialog.
- Arbitrary — Select to either pick two points on the screen using the left mouse button to define the normal to the required plane, or enter X, Y, and Z coordinates in the Point and Normal areas of the dialog.
Point — Enter values to define the origin of the plane.
— Click to display the
Position dialog. Use the dialog to manually enter coordinates and locate items in the graphics window.
Normal — The fields display the direction of the normal of the plane.
— Click to display the
Direction dialog, which enables you to edit the direction of an item.
Boundary
These options are only available if you have a Limit to of Boundary.
Boundary — Select the boundary PowerMill uses to limit the toolpath. You can select the boundary from the list. This option is only available if you have a Limit to of Boundary.
Projection Plane — Select the plane in which the toolpath is limited. Select one of the following from the drop-down list: Workplane, View Plane or Best Fit Plane. This option is only available if you select the Limit to Boundary option.
Remaining items
Save — Select which side of a plane, polygon, or boundary is saved:
- Inner — Save the inside region.
- Outer — Save the outside region.
- Both — Save both regions.
Determines whether the toolpaths on the Inner, Outer, or Both sides of the plane, polygon or boundary are kept. For a closed polygon or boundary it is obvious what is inside or outside. However, this is not the case for a plane. So, each plane has an arrow, normal to the plane, at each corner, to indicate which side of the plane will be selected. The boundary or polygon must be a closed, non-intersecting contour.
Delete Original — Select to remove the original toolpath when creating a new limited toolpath. Deselect it to keep the original toolpath.
Reorder — Select to reorder the limited toolpath to minimise air time. Deselect it to avoid reordering.