The important aspects of roughing are:
- Getting to depth — The tool must get to depth, and this can be accomplished by a zigzag in Z (the default setting and influenced by Max ramp angle), by plunging, or by pre-drilling.
- Vertical step — FeatureCAM's cut depth is no more than 100% of the tool radius.
- Horizontal stepover — FeatureCAM moves over laterally a percentage of the tool diameter (controlled with Rough pass %), as it steps across the feature.
- Finish allowance — This controls how much material to leave for the finishing pass. By default this is 0.02.
Note: For a simple slot, Finish allowance has no effect.
These attributes affect roughing: