Click Skim Pass Options at the bottom of the Strategy tab to display the Skim Pass Options dialog:
Offset method — This controls whether the offsetting of the wire path is performed on the machine using cutter compensation or by FeatureCAM. Select Cutter comp to perform the offsetting on the machine, or Offset Toolpath if you want FeatureCAM to perform the offsetting.
Total passes — Enter the total number of passes to take to cut the feature. If a feature has a Retract, Stop, or Cutoff operation these operations are each performed Total Passes - Contour Passes. If a feature has a Contour operation, Total Passes must be at least 2. Total Passes must be between 1 and 9.
Contour passes — This is the number of passes to take for the Contour operation for a Retract, Stop, or Contour operation.
Cut all operations on each curve first — For features with multiple curves, enable this option to do all operations on each curve before moving on to the next curve. If the option is disabled, the first operation is done on all curves, then the next operation, and so on.
Cut the first pass on each curve first— For features with multiple curves, using multiple-pass operations, select this option to cut the first pass on each curve first rather than cut all passes on one curve before moving on to the next.
Single Cutoff Pass — Select this option to use one pass for the Cutoff operation. If you are using a Cutoff operation with a Retract operation, deselect this option to use the same number of passes as for the Retract operation.
Leave allowance is the amount of material to leave after the Retract, Cutoff, Stop, and Contour operations.
— Leave allowance
— Contour stock
— Total stock
Uni-Directional — Applies to Contour, Stop, Retract, and Cutoff operations that use the Offset Method of Cutter Comp.
For multiple passes, the cutting direction for each following pass is not reversed and all passes take place in the defined direction. At the end of each pass the wire is cut and the machine re-positions to the start point for the next pass.
Uses Macro if available — Applies to Contour, Stop, Retract and Cutoff operations that use the Offset Method of Cutter Comp. Available for 2-axis features only.
This option activates the automatic creation of sub-programs for the machining of operations. You must define the format and output of sub-programs in the post processor. The use of sub-programs is useful when producing chain programs. In this case, each machining contour is written to a separate sub-program. The main calling program then contains only the movements required to move to the next start point.
For multiple pass, if the Uni-Directional option is enabled then only a single macro is output containing a single pass.