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True Mill

photo TrueMill

TrueMill™

TrueMill™ is a revolutionary toolpath engine that is changing the way metal is cut. This patent-pending technology dynamically manages the tool's engagement with the material such that a user-controlled engagement angle is never exceeded. Since the engagement angle is controlled, the cutting tool is never overloaded, enabling the use of machining parameters (spindle speed, feed rate, depth-of-cut, and stepover) that would result in material damage or tool breakage if used with other tool path generators. TrueMill-generated toolpaths quite literally contain no sharp corners or abrupt changes in direction, and are therefore completely free from spikes or sudden changes in tool load. There is no need to slow down in areas of excess material because the tool never encounters excess material.

TrueMill is effective in any 2 -axis milling application, including pockets, open shapes, outside contours, steps, shelves, slots, and channels, all of which can be of any shape. It works in parts with any number of islands. TrueMill toolpaths cut through softer materials, such as aluminum, at alarming rates. But the inherent assurance that the tool will never be overloaded is especially appreciated by those who machine harder materials. Many such users of this technology are cutting at ten times faster feed rates than they were previously, at deeper depths of cut, while experiencing greatly enhanced tool life.

TrueMill toolpaths maximize the performance of any machine tool or cutting tool .

"TrueMill is quite possibly the biggest advancement in milling since the personal computer was introduced to CNC programming..."
-Charlie Vetter, PS Stix, Inc. Benefits:

Historically CNC machines have been used to essentially do little more than automate manual machining methods. In the recent past, some CAM software suppliers have tried to tap the capabilities of these machines and address the problem of tool overload with varying methods such as trochoidal milling, morphing and feed rate optimizers. However, these attempts have produced questionable results.

Photo Old Path

In traditional HSM, very light cuts are typically used. This is necessary because the tool motion itself is not suited to the increased feeds and speeds. Where there are changes in direction in the tool path, the engagement of the tool increases. The shallow depths of cut and the small stepovers are used to compensate for spikes in the tool load. This really means that in the many areas where the tool is not overloaded, material is not being removed as quickly as it could be.

Photo New Path

With TrueMill, there are no spikes in the tool load. A quick glance at a TrueMill tool path will confirm that there are no abrupt changes in direction or sharp corners; effectively, there are no corners at all. This enables the use of much deeper depths-of-cut with much larger stepover values at these high speeds and feeds.

Trochoidal milling attempts to detect areas where the tool encounters excess material and adds small-radius circular moves in those areas. The theory seems to be that if tool burial is avoided, faster feed rates can be used. There are two major problems with this logic. Firstly, the tools engagement with the material actually increases when machining a concave radius. And the smaller that radius is, the greater the increase in engagement. So while the tools engagement might be less than if it had plowed straight into the material, it is actually much greater than anticipated if indeed it was considered at all. Secondly, the effective feed rate, the feed rate at the periphery of the tool, increases substantially as the tool traverses a concave radius. Again, the smaller this radius is, the greater the increase in feed will be. It is common that the effective feed rate is many times the programmed feed rate. This of course causes a chip-clearance problem, which forces the use of slower feed rates. So the inherent characteristics of this approach actually negate its purported benefits. This tool path method does little to control the load on the tool, and with all the added motion, cycle times typically increase rather than decrease.

Some CAM systems use one morphing technique or another. These methods essentially squeeze the cuts together in tighter areas and expand them in wider areas. The supposed benefits of these methods are not clear to us. Rather than keeping the engagement constant, they deliberately vary the engagement. Therefore, the load on the cutting tool varies widely over the tool path. Though studying these tool paths might help you shave a few tenths of a second off of your lap times at your favorite autocross course, it is difficult to imagine that explicitly varying the engagement and tool load can be beneficial in milling a part. Some CAM systems allow the combination of morphing with trochoidal milling. We can see no benefit to this.

There is no need for feed rate optimizers. These costly post-processing optimizers are highly dependent on time consuming user formatting, and, at best, are only as accurate as this user input attempts to detect areas of excess material and slow the feed rate accordingly. Of course, adjusting the feed rate without simultaneously adjusting the spindle speed changes the feed per tooth, which is best to avoid.

With TrueMill, since the target load on the cutting tool is never exceeded, there is no need to slow down in areas of excess material. Indeed, the very concept of excess material is obsolete. You will be shocked at just how fast material can be cut.

Are you already using SURFCAM Velocity? Make sure to review our SURFCAM Velocity FAQ for additional guidelines on developing your own TrueMill machining parameters.

TrueMill is only available in the new SURFCAM Velocity.