Nothing New to Learn Here

Every skill this milestone needs already exists from Weeks 3–4: toolpath types, offset, pocket/step-over, step-down, tabs, sequencing, and your own pre-cut checklist.

The difference is scale — your real cabinet has several panels, not one small test coupon. Each one needs its own job, programmed with the same discipline Session 9 and Session 12 already established.

Bungee cords aren't part of this project — but every CNC safety protocol from Session 4 still applies to every panel you program and every test cut you run.

Build

Step 1: List Every Panel That Needs a CAM Job

Go through your Milestone 2 assembly and list every distinct flat panel that will be CNC-cut. Note which toolpath types (profile, pocket, drill) each one actually needs — not every panel needs all three.

Check every hole's diameter against your available bits before you decide it's a drill. This is where Session 7's catch bites for real: your button and joystick cutouts are far larger than any bit in the shop, so those are pockets or interior profiles, not drills. Getting this wrong here means discovering it at the machine in Milestone 4.

Step 2: Program Each Panel's Job

Export each panel from OnShape as STEP. For each one, set up a Fusion Setup and program it: pocket and drill operations first, profile cut last, with tabs. Use Outside offset for panels being cut free, Inside for any interior holes cut to exact size.

Step 3: Simulate Every Job

Run the simulation for each panel individually. Confirm sequencing, offsets, and step-over/step-down choices before moving to the next panel.

Step 4: Run Your Pre-Cut Checklist, Per Panel

Apply your Session 10 checklist to each panel's job individually — a checklist run once for the whole project isn't the same as checking each actual job.

Checkpoint

Before Milestone 4 begins, confirm for every panel:

• Toolpath order is pocket/drill, then profile
• Offset choice is justified for that specific panel
• Tabs are included wherever a profile cut fully separates the part
• Your pre-cut checklist has been run against that panel's actual job

Reflection

Answer these on your own. Reflections are individual, even when the rest of the session was team work.

1. Did programming multiple real panels change how you think about the pre-cut checklist, compared to applying it to just Sessions 12–13's single practice piece?
2. Milestone 4 is fabrication, and there is one router for the whole class. Which panel will your team cut first, and why that one before the others?

Submit

Submit your Fusion files for every panel, your per-panel checklist run-throughs, and your reflection.

Milestone Complete