Tool Manager

Select Features & Manufacturing tab > Tools panel > Tool Manager to display the Tool Manager dialog.

Use the Tool Manager to view, edit, or add tools to a tool crib. Tools are separated into groups. Tool Group contains a list of the groups supported by FeatureCAM.

The Tool Manager shows only one type of tool at a time. The dialog is arranged so it's convenient to move tools from one crib to another. In general you want to have the Tools tool crib selected in From Crib and the basic or basicmetric tool crib selected in Current Crib.

From Crib — Select the tool crib from which you want to take tool definitions to copy to the tool crib selected in the Current Crib.

Tool Group — This menu lists tools in related groups, according to the type of manufacturing operation that class of tools typically performs.

Current Crib — Select the tool crib into which you copy tools from the crib selected in From Crib.

Sort by — You can sort the tools by selecting one of the following:

• Name — The tool name.
• Unit — The tooling unit. All inch tools are grouped together and all mm tools are grouped together.
• Material — Sort by the tool material.
• Diameter — The diameter of the tool. The units of the tool are ignored.

Show only — You can filter which tools are displayed by selecting Name, Unit, Material, or Diameter and entering a value.

Tip: To limit the tools by name, type in the initial characters of the name.

Note: You cannot use other string wildcards like the "*".

Available Tools — This shows the tools that are in the tool crib selected under From Crib for the selected Tool Group.

Select All — Click the left arrow button to copy all the tools listed under Current Tools to Available Tools. Click the right arrow button to copy all the tools listed under Available Tools to Current Tools.

Add — Copies the selected tool(s) in the Available Tools list to the Current Tools list, thus building a set of tool definitions for the tool crib selected under Current Crib.

Remove — Removes the selected tool(s) from the Current Tools list.

Tip: Use the Shift and Ctrl keys to select more than one tool.

Current Tools — This shows the tools that are already in the Current Crib for the selected Tool Group.

Note: Double-click a tool name under Current Tools to open the Tool Properties dialog for that tool.

New Tool — Click this button to create a new tool for the selected Tool Group. Click the New Tool button and the Tool Properties dialog is displayed for the selected Tool Group.

Note: The Tool Properties dialog is displayed with a copy of the tool selected in the Tool Manager, or if no tool is selected, it uses a copy of the first tool in the Current Tools list.

Tip: If the new tool that you want to create is similar to an existing tool, select that tool in the Tool Manager before clicking New Tool and you have fewer attributes to edit.

New Crib — Click this button to create a new tool crib. Click New Crib and the New Tool Crib dialog is displayed. Enter a unique name for your new tool crib. Click OK to create the new, empty, crib. The new crib is selected under Current Crib ready for you to add tools to it.

Delete Crib — Click this button to delete the tool crib selected under Current Crib. FeatureCAM asks you to confirm before deleting the tool crib.

Copy Crib — Click this button to bulk-copy tools by whole Tool Group from one crib to another. Select the destination crib you want to copy into under Current Crib and click the Copy Crib button. The Copy Tool Crib dialog is displayed. Select the Tool crib to be copied, select the Tool Groups that you want to copy and click Copy, then Close.

Tool Grades button - opens the Turning Tools Grades dialog.

Import — Click this button to import tools from other FeatureCAM users. Click the Import button to open the Tool Import dialog. Browse to where the import file is saved, select the tool crib you want to import into and select what to do if the tool name already exists.

Export — Click this button to export tools so that you can share them with other FeatureCAM users. Click the Export button to open the Tool Export dialog. Two file types are supported, .xml and .tdb. We recommend that you use the .xml format as it supports exporting custom-drawn holders. Click the browse button and specify the location and File Name for your file, and click OK. Select the Tool crib to be exported and the Tool Groups that you want to export. Click Export and wait for FeatureCAM to confirm how many tools were exported. Click OK to confirm and click Close in the Tool Export dialog to return to the Tool Manager.

Properties — Select a tool in the Current Tools list and click Properties to see more details of the tool. You can also double-click a tool in the Current Tools list to open its Properties dialog.

Tool Parameters — Click the tool preview image to pan and zoom it. The orientation of the preview is determined by the settings on the Options > View > Machine page. Right-click the image to access a context menu.