Development goes fast, documentation may be outdated. Proceed with some caution.
EasyShape5000 Parameter Guide
Every field, its range, its default, and what it changes
Reading This Page
Parameters are grouped by the step they appear in, then by the section heading they sit under in the panel. That is the order you meet them in the app: XY Geometry before you generate, Z Strategy before the preview, Feeds & Toolpaths before the toolpaths.
Four columns are worth explaining:
- Values
- The range the field accepts, or the options in the dropdown. Out-of-range entries are rejected by the form rather than clamped silently.
- Default
- What a fresh operation starts with. Tool-derived fields have no default - they are seeded from the tool you pick.
- Applies to
- Which operations show the field. A field you cannot find is usually one that belongs to a different operation type.
- Shown when
- Several fields are conditional and only appear once another setting is on, or set to a particular value. If a parameter is documented here but missing from your panel, this is why.
The same text is in the app
Every description below is the tooltip text for that field - hover the ? beside any label to get it in place. This page and the app read from the same string pack, so they cannot drift apart.
For what each operation does, see the Operation Guide. For how the stages fit together, see How a Job Works.
Machine settings are not on this page
Safe Z, travel Z, stock thickness, Z-zero reference, post-processor, line numbers and tool length compensation are job-wide rather than per-operation. They are covered in the Workflow Guide.
XY Geometry
Tool Selection
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tool Shown when Multi-Tool Drilling is off | tool library | — | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | Select a tool from your library. The tool's diameter will be used for calculations. |
| Tool Number Shown when Multi-Tool Drilling is off | 1 - 99 | 1 | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | The magazine slot, carousel pocket or collet this operation's tool sits in - the T word your controller will receive. If your machine has no tool changer, leaving 1 on every operation is safe. |
| Tool Diameter | 0.01 - 25.4 mm | — | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | The tool's cutting diameter - the widest circle it cuts. On copper isolation and engraving this is seeded with the V-bit's effective width at required depth, because that is what the offset has to use. |
| Multi-Tool Drilling | on / off | off | Drill Holes | When enabled, allows assigning different tools, tool numbers, and strategies to each hole diameter in the drill table. |
| V-Bit Angle | 10 - 150 ° | 90 | V-Carve | The included angle of the V-bit. Common values are 60, 90, and 120 degrees. Determines cut width at a given depth. |
| Tip Radius | 0 - 5 mm | 0 | V-Carve | Radius at the very tip of the bit. 0 is a perfect point; a real bit usually has a small tip radius or flat. |
| Tool Tip Shape | Ball Nose / Flat Endmill / Bull Nose (corner radius) | Ball Nose | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Tip geometry the compensator models. Ball follows curves best, flat is faster on shallow relief, bull nose is a flat with a corner radius. |
| Corner Radius Shown when Tool Tip Shape is Bull Nose (corner radius) | 0 - 10 mm | 0.5 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Corner radius of a bull-nose cutter. Ignored for ball and flat tips. |
| Tool Tip Shape | Ball Nose / Flat Endmill / Bull Nose (corner radius) | Ball Nose | Rotary / 4th Axis | Shape of the cutting tip. Ball nose gives the smoothest curved surfaces. Flat leaves scallops on curves but cuts flats cleanly. Bull nose is a flat endmill with a rounded corner. |
| Corner Radius Shown when Tool Tip Shape is Bull Nose (corner radius) | 0 - 10 mm | 0.5 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Corner radius of a bull nose tool. Only used when the tip shape is Bull Nose. Must be less than half the tool diameter. |
| Collision Guard Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | on / off | off | Rotary / 4th Axis | Limits tip depth so the shank and holder cannot touch the surface. Needs cuttingLength, shankDiameter, holderDiameter and holderStickout on the tool record; skipped silently without them. |
Cut Settings
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detect Nesting | on / off | off | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear | When enabled, shapes fully contained inside other shapes are treated as holes and subtracted from the outer boundary during offset generation. |
| Cut Side | Outside / Inside / On Line | Outside | Profile Cut | Where the tool sits relative to the polygon outline. Outside clears material around the shape. Inside clears within. On Path centers the tool on the line. |
| Pocket Strategy | Concentric Offsets / Raster / Zig-Zag | Concentric Offsets | Pocket Clear | How the pocket interior is cleared. Concentric Offsets shrinks inward in passes. Raster sweeps back and forth in straight lines. |
| Step Over | 1 - 95 % | 40 | Pocket Clear | Percentage of the tool diameter to overlap on each pass. 50% is a good default. |
| Raster Angle Shown when Pocket Strategy is Raster / Zig-Zag | 0 - 180 ° | 45 | Pocket Clear | Angle of the sweep lines for raster pocketing. 0° is horizontal, 90° vertical, 45° diagonal. |
| Bidirectional Raster Shown when Pocket Strategy is Raster / Zig-Zag | on / off | on | Pocket Clear | When checked the tool cuts in both directions. When unchecked it lifts and returns after each line for climb-only cutting. |
Drill Strategy
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mill Holes Shown when Multi-Tool Drilling is off | on / off | on | Drill Holes | If checked, generates circular milling paths inside any drill holes larger than the tool. If unchecked, generates a simple peck/drill at the center. |
| Step Over Shown when Multi-Tool Drilling is off and Mill Holes is on | 10 - 90 % | 50 | Drill Holes | Percentage of the tool diameter to overlap on each concentric milling ring inside oversize holes. |
Depth & Passes
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start Depth | 0 - 20 mm | 0 | V-Carve | Starting depth offset. Use to engrave below an existing pocket floor. |
| Max Carve Depth | 0 - 20 mm | 0 | V-Carve | Maximum depth for V-carve cuts. Set to 0 for unconstrained natural depth (no flat floor). Set > 0 to clamp depth and generate flat floor loops for wide areas. |
| Depth Mapping | Scaled to Depth (artistic relief) / Literal Model Height (dimensioned part) | Scaled to Depth (artistic relief) | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Scaled stretches the model's height range to fit the carve depth - use it for artwork. Literal keeps the model's real millimetres - use it for dimensioned parts. |
| Carve Depth | 0 - 100 mm | 0 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Total carve depth below the surface. 0 uses the model's own height. |
| Start Depth | 0 - 20 mm | 0 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Depth of the surface the relief starts from. Use it to carve inside an existing pocket floor. |
| Invert (Mold Mode) | on / off | off | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Cuts the negative of the model, so the result is a mould of it. |
| Carve Depth Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) | 0 - 150 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | How deep to cut below the blank surface, measured as radius. Leave at 0 to follow the model down to its own thinnest point. Auto depth near the rotation axis makes generation very slow, so set an explicit value on tall models. |
| Carve Depth Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | 0 - 150 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | How deep each face may cut below the blank face plane. Leave at 0 to reach just past the rotation axis, which is as deep as one face can usefully go - anything further belongs to the opposing face. Set a value only to stop shallower than that. |
Resolution & Finish
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min Path Length | 0 - 5 mm | 0 | V-Carve | Drops carve chains shorter than this. Removes specks left by noisy outlines. |
| Corner Threshold | 5 - 90 ° | 30 | V-Carve | Separation angle below which a medial branch counts as construction and is discarded. Raise it to drop more detail on curved outlines. |
| Boundary Sample Spacing | 0.02 - 1 mm | 0.15 | V-Carve | Step used to resample outlines before the medial axis is built. Lower it for very small text; it must be below the thinnest stroke width. |
| Noise Threshold | 0 - 1 mm | 0 | V-Carve | Discards medial branches whose clearance changes by less than this. 0 disables it. |
| Grid Cell Size | 0 - 1 mm | 0 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Sampling grid pitch in mm. 0 derives it from the model size and the resolution cap below. |
| Auto Grid Resolution | 128 - 4096 cells | 1024 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Cap on the derived grid's longest side. Higher captures finer detail and costs slicing time and memory. |
| Path Simplification Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | 0 - 0.1 mm | 0.01 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Maximum deviation allowed when straightening finishing paths. Larger values give smaller G-code. |
| Min Roughing Segment Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0 - 5 mm | 0.2 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Drops roughing segments shorter than this. Removes stutter without changing the cut. |
| Grid Cell Size | 0 - 1 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Size of one sampling cell on the model surface. Leave at 0 to derive it from the resolution setting below. Setting it manually overrides that and can make generation very slow on large parts. |
| Auto Grid Resolution | 128 - 4096 cells | 1024 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Sampling resolution along the longest dimension of the model, used when cell size is automatic. Higher captures finer detail and takes longer. 1024 suits most work. |
Model Bounds
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silhouette Boundary | Stop at Model Edge / Roll Over Edge (form boundary wall) / Extend Beyond Edge (+mm) | Stop at Model Edge | Relief / 2.5D Carve | What happens at the model's silhouette. Stop leaves the surrounding stock. Roll Over forms a wall down past the edge. Extend keeps cutting a set distance beyond it. |
| Boundary Extension Shown when Silhouette Boundary is Roll Over Edge (form boundary wall) or Extend Beyond Edge (+mm) | 0 - 20 mm | 0 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | How far past the silhouette the boundary is formed. Used by Roll Over and Extend. |
| Limit to Model Footprint | on / off | off | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Only cuts where the model actually sits. Leave it off to clear the whole grid down to the floor. |
Passes & Stepover
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pass | Roughing / Finishing / Both (single tool) | Finishing | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Roughing removes bulk in flat layers, finishing rasters the surface. Both runs one after the other with the same tool. |
| Pass | Roughing / Finishing / Both (single tool) | Finishing | Rotary / 4th Axis | Which passes to generate. Roughing removes bulk in constant-radius layers. Finishing follows the surface. Both runs them in order with a single tool. |
Roughing
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roughing Stepdown Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0.2 - 10 mm | 1.5 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Z depth removed per roughing layer. |
| Roughing Stepover Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 10 - 90 % | 45 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Sideways step between roughing passes, as a percentage of tool diameter. |
| Finishing Allowance Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0 - 2 mm | 0.3 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Material left on the surface for the finishing pass to take off. |
| Roughing Stepdown Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) and Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0.1 - 10 mm | 1.5 | Rotary / 4th Axis | How much radius each roughing layer removes. Smaller is gentler on the tool and takes longer. Around a third of the tool diameter is a safe starting point. |
| Roughing Stepdown Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) and Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0.1 - 10 mm | 1.5 | Rotary / 4th Axis | How much depth each roughing layer removes on a face. Smaller is gentler on the tool and takes longer. Around a third of the tool diameter is a safe starting point. |
| Roughing Stepover Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 5 - 90 % | 45 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Distance between roughing scanlines, as a percentage of tool diameter. 45% is a good default for roughing. |
| Finishing Stock Shown when Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | 0 - 5 mm | 0.3 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Material left on the surface by roughing for the finishing pass to remove. 0.3mm is a good default. Too little and roughing marks show through, too much and finishing works hard. |
| Roughing Direction Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) and Pass is Roughing or Both (single tool) | Along the axis / Around the circumference | Along the axis | Rotary / 4th Axis | Direction the roughing scanlines run. Along the axis suits long slender parts. Around the circumference suits short stubby ones and keeps the tool engaged more evenly. |
Finishing
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finishing Stepover Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | 2 - 50 % | 10 | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Sideways step between finishing passes, as a percentage of tool diameter. Lower is smoother and slower. |
| Raster Direction Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | Along X / Along Y | Along X | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Direction the passes sweep. Run them across the model's long details rather than along them. |
| Cross Finishing Pass Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | on / off | off | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Adds a second finishing pass at 90 degrees to the first. Roughly doubles finishing time and noticeably improves curved surfaces. |
| Skip Flat Floor Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | on / off | off | Relief / 2.5D Carve | Skips the flat floor pass. Safe when roughing already clears the floor with the same tool. |
| Finishing Stepover Shown when Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | 1 - 50 % | 10 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Distance between finishing passes, as a percentage of tool diameter. 10% gives a fine finish. Larger values are faster but leave visible scallops. |
| Finishing Pattern Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) and Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | Spiral (continuous helix) / Along the axis / Around (rings) | Spiral (continuous helix) | Rotary / 4th Axis | Spiral is one continuous helix with a single entry and no witness lines, and is the best default. Along the axis suits parts with axial features. Around cuts closed rings and suits parts with rotational detail. |
| Raster Direction Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) and Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | Along the rotary axis / Across the face | Along the rotary axis | Rotary / 4th Axis | Direction the finishing lines run on each face. Along the rotary axis gives long uninterrupted passes. Across the face suits parts whose detail runs around the part rather than along it. |
| Cross Finishing Pass Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) and Pass is Finishing or Both (single tool) | on / off | off | Rotary / 4th Axis | Adds a second finishing pass at 90 degrees to the first. Roughly doubles finishing time and noticeably improves the surface on curved faces. |
Blank & Axis
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rotary Kinematics | Radial (continuous surfacing) / Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | Radial (continuous surfacing) | Rotary / 4th Axis | Radial turns the part continuously under the tool for smooth round surfaces. Indexed 3+1 rotates to a fixed angle, mills that face flat, then rotates again. Indexed needs a post with an A or B word; radial can also run on a machine with the rotary wired to the Y driver. |
| Machine Rotary Axis | A - along workspace X / B - along workspace Y | A - along workspace X | Rotary / 4th Axis | Which machine axis the part rotates about. X gives an A word, Y gives a B word. Must match how the rotary is physically mounted and what your post-processor declares. |
| Model Orientation | Lying along the rotary axis / Standing upright (Z) - will be laid down | Standing upright (Z) - will be laid down | Rotary / 4th Axis | How the model sits in the scene before it is laid onto the rotary. Choose Upright if the model was designed standing in Z; it will be laid down onto the axis for you. Choose Along if it is already lying along the rotary axis. |
| Axial Datum | Model start (chuck-side face) / Model centre / Scene coordinates (no datum) | Model start (chuck-side face) | Rotary / 4th Axis | Where zero sits along the rotary axis: the start of the model, its centre, or the scene origin. This is the position your controller's zero has to match. |
| Axial Offset | -500 - 500 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Shifts the part along the rotary axis after the datum is applied. Use it to match where the blank actually sits between the chuck and the tailstock. |
| Axis Offset (Cross 1) | -50 - 50 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Shifts the rotation axis sideways from the model's own centre, in the first cross direction. Use it when the model was not modelled centred on its axis. Leave at 0 for a centred model. |
| Axis Offset (Cross 2) | -50 - 50 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Shifts the rotation axis in the second cross direction (workspace Z). Same purpose as the first offset. Leave at 0 for a centred model. |
| Stock Cross-Section Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) | Round (blank diameter) / Square (side = blank diameter) | Round (blank diameter) | Rotary / 4th Axis | Cross-section of the raw blank. Round starts cutting at the blank diameter. Square starts at the corner radius and turns the stock round on the way down, which adds roughing time but saves you pre-turning it. |
| Blank Diameter Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Radial (continuous surfacing) | 0 - 300 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Outside diameter of the raw stock. Leave at 0 to fit the blank to the model automatically. Setting it smaller than the model flattens everything outside it, so only reduce it if the stock really is smaller. |
| Faces Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | 2 (front / back) / 3 (triangular prism) / 4 (square blank) / 6 (hex blank) / 8 (octagonal blank) | 4 (square blank) | Rotary / 4th Axis | How many flat faces to mill around the part. More faces approximate a round surface more closely but multiply machining time. Four suits a square blank, six or eight a pre-turned round one. |
| Start Angle Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | -360 - 360 ° | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Rotates the whole set of faces. Use it to line the first face up with a feature on the model, or to put the parting line somewhere you do not mind seeing it. |
| Blank Width (Across Flats) Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | 0 - 300 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Distance across the flats of the raw blank. Leave at 0 to derive it from the model. Anything on the model that sticks out past the blank cannot be reached and is flattened, so raise this if the part is larger than you declared. |
Workholding & Ends
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axis Over-Cut Shown when Rotary Kinematics is Indexed 3+1 (flat faces at fixed angles) | 0 - 10 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | How far past the rotation axis each face may cut. Opposing faces that stop exactly on the axis are tangent, not overlapping, so backlash or a touch-off error leaves a spine on the centreline. Leave at 0 for one tool radius automatically. This deepens the waste only - it never cuts into the minimum-radius drive stub, so you can set both. |
| Minimum Radius | 0 - 50 mm | 2 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Radius of the drive stub the tool never cuts into: what a chuck grips and a tailstock centre bears on. It is also the radius a Taper end cones down to. On Indexed 3+1 it applies as a cylinder about the centreline, so a value here is a hard floor on how deep any face can go near the axis - the default 2mm keeps a 2mm core no face will cut through. Set it to 0 for a free end you want to part right through. |
| Workholding | Between Centers (tailstock supported) / Chuck Only (cantilevered) | Between Centers (tailstock supported) | Rotary / 4th Axis | Between Centers assumes a tailstock supports the far end, so material past that end is protected. Chuck Only assumes the part is cantilevered and the far end is open air. |
| Chuck-End Boundary | Stop at geometry (turned to the core) / Roll Over - lip (needs a flat end) / Taper - cone down to the drive stub | Stop at geometry (turned to the core) | Rotary / 4th Axis | What happens where the model ends at the chuck. Stop at geometry is the default and the reliable choice: the waste is turned down to the minimum radius and the tool stops at the part. Roll Over leaves a small lip around the edge, but only works on an end that is flat and close to square against the axis - a slanted, domed or off-centre end will show a scalloped ring, and you will get a warning. Taper cones down to the drive stub instead of stepping. |
| Chuck-End Offset | -25 - 60 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Moves where the chuck end of the model is treated as ending, along the axis. Negative stops short of the real edge - use it for a slanted base or a tangent slope your tool cannot enter cleanly. Positive machines further past it, turning the waste down to the minimum radius as it goes. Too large a negative value leaves nothing to machine and you will get a warning. On Roll Over and Taper this is the lip depth or cone length instead, and is always positive. |
| Tail-End Boundary | Stop at geometry (turned to the core) / Roll Over - lip (needs a flat end) / Taper - cone down to the drive stub | Stop at geometry (turned to the core) | Rotary / 4th Axis | What happens where the model ends at the tailstock. Stop at geometry is the default and the reliable choice: the waste is turned down to the minimum radius and the tool stops at the part. Roll Over leaves a small lip around the edge, but only works on an end that is flat and close to square against the axis - a slanted, domed or off-centre end will show a scalloped ring, and you will get a warning. Taper cones down to the drive stub instead of stepping. |
| Tail-End Offset | -25 - 60 mm | 0 | Rotary / 4th Axis | Moves where the tailstock end of the model is treated as ending, along the axis. Negative stops short of the real edge - use it for a slanted top or a tangent slope your tool cannot enter cleanly. Positive machines further past it, turning the waste down to the minimum radius as it goes. Too large a negative value leaves nothing to machine and you will get a warning. On Roll Over and Taper this is the lip depth or cone length instead, and is always positive. |
Z Strategy
Depth & Passes
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-depth Milling | on / off | on | Drill Holes | Mill oversize holes in several Z levels instead of one full-depth pass. Easier on small cutters. |
| Depth per Pass Shown when Multi-depth Milling is on | 0.1 - 50 mm | 2 | Drill Holes | Material removed per Z level while milling an oversize hole. |
| Entry Method | Plunge / Helix | Helix | Drill Holes | How the cutter enters an oversize hole. Helix spirals down and loads the tool gently; Plunge drops straight in and needs a centre-cutting bit. |
| Cut Depth | 0.1 - 100 mm | 18 | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave | Final target depth for all cuts, relative to the material surface (Z=0). Should be a negative value (e.g., -0.05mm). |
| Multi-depth Cutting | on / off | on | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Engrave | Enable multiple passes at different depths for deep cuts. Reduces tool stress. |
| Depth per Pass Shown when Multi-depth Cutting is on | 0.1 - 50 mm | 3 | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Engrave | Incremental depth of each pass when using multi-depth cutting. Smaller = gentler on tool. |
| Entry Type | Plunge | Plunge | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear | How the tool enters the material. Plunge: straight down. Ramp: diagonal. Helix: spiral down. |
| Finishing Pass | on / off | off | Pocket Clear | Adds a final light pass at full depth with reduced stepover for a smoother pocket floor. |
| Finishing Step Over Shown when Finishing Pass is on | 1 - 50 % | 10 | Pocket Clear | Stepover percentage for the finishing pass. Lower values give a better surface finish. |
Drill Strategy
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peck Depth | 0 - 50 mm | 2 | Drill Holes | Depth to drill before retracting when using peck drilling. Smaller = more retracts = cleaner holes. |
| Dwell Time | 0 - 10 s | 0 | Drill Holes | Pause duration at bottom of hole (seconds). Allows chips to clear and reduces burrs. |
| Retract Height | 0.1 - 20 mm | 2 | Drill Holes | Height to retract to between holes. Should clear board but minimize travel time. |
| Canned Cycle | None (G0 + G1) / G81 - Simple Drill / G82 - Dwell / G83 - Peck (Full Retract) / G73 - Peck (Chip Break) | None (G0 + G1) | Drill Holes | Pre-programmed drill cycle. G83 (peck drilling) retracts periodically to clear chips. |
| Spot Drill | on / off | off | Drill Holes | Plunge a shallow pilot hole at each location before the main drilling pass. Improves accuracy on curved or uneven surfaces. |
| Spot Depth Shown when Spot Drill is on | 0.1 - 5 mm | 1 | Drill Holes | Depth of the spot drill pilot hole. |
Holding Tabs
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Tabs | 0 - 20 | 4 | Profile Cut | Number of small tabs to leave uncut, holding the board in place. |
| Tab Width | 1 - 20 mm | 6 | Profile Cut | The length of each holding tab in mm. |
| Tab Height | 0.5 - 10 mm | 3 | Profile Cut | The thickness of the tab. A value of -0.5mm on a -1.8mm cut will leave a 0.5mm thick tab. |
Feeds & Toolpaths
Feeds & Speeds
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feed Rate | 10 - 10000 mm/min | — | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | Speed at which the tool moves while cutting (mm/min or in/min). |
| Plunge Rate | 10 - 5000 mm/min | — | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | Speed at which the tool descends into material (mm/min or in/min). Usually slower than feed rate. |
| Spindle Speed | 1000 - 60000 RPM | 10000 | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | Rotation speed of the spindle (RPM). Higher speeds for smaller tools. |
| Spindle Dwell | 0 - 30 s | 1 | Profile Cut, Pocket Clear, Drill Holes, Engrave, V-Carve, Relief / 2.5D Carve, Rotary / 4th Axis | Time in seconds to wait. Essential for high inertia spindles that need extra time to come up to speed. |
Toolpath Options
| Parameter | Values | Default | Applies to | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optimize Toolpaths Machine class: router | on / off | on | all operations | Reorder and simplify the finished toolpath to cut travel time. Turn it off to keep the paths in exactly the order they were generated. |