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Session 9: Apply CAM to a Practice Piece

Unit 2 — Manufacturing Foundations, Week 3

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Session 9

Apply CAM to a Practice Piece

Two Sessions of Vocabulary

Profile, offset, pocket, step-over, step-down, tabs.

Today, all of it, programmed for real — on one small shape, not the real project yet.

Meet the Test Coupon

A small practice shape that includes a bit of everything: an outer boundary, an interior pocket, and a hole.

Meet the Test Coupon

A real, standard manufacturing practice — verify your setup on something small and cheap before committing to the real part.

Today's Job Has Three Toolpaths

  1. Profile — cut the outer boundary free (Outside offset)
  2. Pocket — clear the interior recess (step-over set)
  3. Drill — the hole

Order Matters

Cut the pocket and drill the hole before the profile cut frees the part — not after.

Order Matters

Once the profile cut separates the part (tabs aside), it's far less securely held for any further operation.

Simulate Before You Trust It

Run the simulation and actually look at it — check that all three operations ran, in the order you intended, without the toolpaths colliding with each other.

Two Things to Remember

Sequence is part of the program, not an afterthought.

Which operation runs first can matter as much as getting each individual one right.

Two Things to Remember

A simulation that looks right still needs a human check.

Don't just glance at it — confirm each toolpath did what you actually intended.

Next Time

Session 10: Post-Processing & Troubleshooting

Turning this simulated job into real code your machine can run — and catching mistakes before they cost material.

'F' → Fullscreen

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Build

Step 1: Set Up the Job

Using the test coupon shape your instructor provides (or the one you design, per their instructions), create a CAM Studio Job and select the part and stock.

Step 2: Program the Pocket

Set up a Pocket toolpath for the interior recess. Choose a step-over and step-down, and be ready to justify both.

Step 3: Program the Drill

Add a Drill toolpath for the hole.

Step 4: Program the Profile

Add a Profile toolpath for the outer boundary, using Outside offset. Confirm it's sequenced afterthe pocket and drill operations.

Step 5: Simulate and Check

Run the simulation. Confirm all three toolpaths ran, in the right order, with no collisions or unexpected gouges.

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Checkpoint

Before you move on, confirm:

  • Pocket and drill are both sequenced before the profile cut
  • Your step-over and step-down choices are ones you can justify, not defaults left unexamined
  • The simulation ran clean, and you actually watched it, not just glanced at the result
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Reflection

Answer the following questions before submitting your work.

  1. Did you get the toolpath order right on your first attempt? If not, what tipped you off that something was wrong?
  2. Which single parameter (offset, step-over, or step-down) did you spend the most time reconsidering? Why that one?
  3. Session 10 covers turning this simulation into real machine code. What do you think could still go wrong even after a clean simulation?
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Submit

Submit your CAM Studio file with all three toolpaths and your reflection.

Activity Complete