Setting up stock

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In this video, you’ll: Apply procedural concepts to perform stock selection based on print, model, and job requirements.

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All toolpaths are calculated based on the size of the stock around the model being machined.

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The more precise the description of the stock, the better the toolpath results.

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When trying to make the best choices for how you set up the stock,

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you must also take into consideration the machines you are using,

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the tooling you have on hand,

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and the workholding components that are available to you.

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Open the file Assemble Work.f3d.

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This part does not yet have a setup.

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On the Toolbar, Manufacture workspace, Milling tab, Setup panel, click Setup.

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The Setup operation dialog opens.

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By creating a setup for the part, you can size the material for what you think you want the stock to be.

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Open the Stock tab.

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Under Stock, expand the Mode drop-down and select Fixed size box.

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Now, set the size of the stock.

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In the Width (X) field, enter 6.125, which is slightly wider than the part.

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This way, you can remove material all the way around the part,

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ensuring that you get perfect machine value surfaces.

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In the Depth (Y) field, enter 4.

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You must be mindful of this value.

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You do not want to shave down a piece of oversized stock to match the value that you want.

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So, in this instance, you would not want to use a depth like 4.25,

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unless that much material is readily available to you.

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In the Height (Z) field, enter 1.25, which is a little thicker than the part itself.

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Expand the Model Position drop-down and select Offset from top (+Z).

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In the Offset field, enter .02 to leave a small amount of material above the part that you can skim off in the facing operation,

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and then leave the rest as stock for the vice to hang onto.

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With those choices made, click OK.

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Pan and zoom to look at the part from the right side.

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Notice that there is a little bit of material above the part that can be skimmed off.

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Now, it is time to check these settings against your available workholding equipment.

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In the Browser, under Assemble Work, click Mlock_125 Slim v1:1 to turn on a vice with gripper jaws.

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Pan and zoom in on the right side of your part again.

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You can clearly see that the part easily hangs on that material,

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that your tool can clear the bottom side of the part so you can cut the entire profile on the top,

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and that the tool can get past the bottom without running into the vice jaws.

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Based on this vice, this stock selection method is ideal.

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In the Browser, turn OFF the visibility for this vice.

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Then, click Kurt-DX4 v1:1 to look at another vice, which uses parallels.

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Pan and zoom to the right side of the part again.

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Now you can see that, for this vice, you would need to add more material to the bottom

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to get the part up above the vice jaws so that you could cut the entire profile off the part.

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Save the file.

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This is just one example of why you need to continually evaluate the equipment you are using

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and match the material to the tooling and the workholding that you use to manufacture a part.