CAM DressupLeadInOut

CAM DressupLeadInOut CAM DressupLeadInOut

Menu location

CAM  Path Dressup  Lead In/Out

Toolbar

Path Modification → Dressup Operations dropdown

Workbenches

CAM

Default shortcut

None

Introduced in version

-

See also

CAM DressupDogbone, CAM DressupTag, CAM DressupRampEntry, CAM DressupDragKnife

Description

The CAM DressupLeadInOut CAM DressupLeadInOut command dresses up an existing Toolpath by adding lead-in and lead-out moves at the beginning and end of the Toolpath. Its tooltip reads: Creates entry and exit motions for a selected path.

Usage

  1. Select one Operation or Dressup (Profile, Pocket or similar; compound objects are rejected).

  2. There are several ways to invoke the command:

    • Select the CAM  Path Dressup  Lead In/Out option from the menu.

    • Select the Dressup Operations dropdown on the Path Modification toolbar.

    • Select the Path Dressup  Lead In/Out option from the Tree view context menu.

  3. Adjust the lead-in and lead-out settings in the task panel.

  4. Press OK.

Options

The task panel contains a Lead In and a Lead Out checkable group (properties Lead In and Lead Out), each with:

  • Style: The style of the lead motion, see below.

  • Radius/length: Radius or length of the lead move; the label changes with the style.

  • Angle: Angle of the lead move.

  • Extend: Extends the lead distance; only used for the styles Arc, Line, Perpendicular and Tangent.

  • Offset Entrance Location / Offset Exit Location: Move the start or end point along the Toolpath.

  • Invert Direction: Invert the lead direction.

Below the groups:

  • Rapid plunge: Perform plunges with G0.

  • Retract Threshold: Distance below which the tool is kept down between segments instead of retracting.

Fields that do not apply to the selected style are hidden.

Styles

Available styles: Arc, Line, Perpendicular, Tangent, Arc3d, ArcZ, ArcZFollow, Helix, Line3d, LineZ, LineZFollow, No Retract, Vertical. ArcZFollow introduced in 26.3 and LineZFollow introduced in 26.3 follow the Z of the Toolpath while leading in; LineZFollow is a simpler alternative to ArcZFollow that needs less computation.

Field visibility per style:

  • Angle is hidden for No Retract, Perpendicular, Tangent and Vertical.

  • Extend is only shown for Arc, Line, Perpendicular and Tangent.

  • Radius/length is hidden for No Retract and Vertical.

  • Invert Direction is hidden for No Retract, ArcZ, ArcZFollow, LineZ, LineZFollow, Vertical and Tangent.

  • The offset fields are hidden for No Retract.

Properties

Path

  • Base (Link): The base Toolpath to modify.

  • Lead In, Lead Out (Bool): Modify the lead in to, or the lead out from, the Toolpath.

  • Style In, Style Out (Enumeration): introduced in 1.1 The style of motion into or out of the Toolpath (they replace Style On and Style Off of version 1.0; files are migrated).

  • Rapid Plunge (Bool): Perform plunges with G0.

  • Retract Threshold (Length): introduced in 1.1 Distance below which the tool is kept down between segments instead of retracting (replaces the 1.0 Keep Tool Down property).

Path Lead-in

  • Angle In (Angle): introduced in 1.1 Angle of the lead-in move; default 45°. Values are clamped to 0–180° (a 0.1° minimum applies to the arc and Z styles; the maximum is 179° for the ArcZ styles and 89° for LineZFollow).

  • Radius In (Length): introduced in 1.1 Radius or length of the lead-in move. The default is an expression: 1.5 times the Tool Bit radius of the base Operation’s Tool Controller (replaces Length of version 1.0).

  • Invert In (Bool): introduced in 1.1 Invert the lead-in direction.

  • Offset In (Distance): introduced in 1.1 Move the start point along the Toolpath.

  • Extend In (Length): introduced in 26.3 Extend the lead-in distance; only for the styles Arc, Line, Perpendicular and Tangent (version 1.0 had Extend Lead In; 1.1 had no extend property).

Path Lead-out

  • Angle Out (Angle): introduced in 1.1 Angle of the lead-out move; default 45°; clamped like Angle In.

  • Radius Out (Length): introduced in 1.1 Radius or length of the lead-out move; default as for Radius In (replaces Length Out of version 1.0).

  • Invert Out (Bool): introduced in 1.1 Invert the lead-out direction.

  • Offset Out (Distance): introduced in 1.1 Move the end point along the Toolpath.

  • Extend Out (Length): introduced in 26.3 Extend the lead-out distance; only for the styles Arc, Line, Perpendicular and Tangent.

1.0 and earlier: Include Layers, Keep Tool Down, Style On, Style Off, Length, Length Out, Extend Lead In and Extend Lead Out no longer exist; documents are migrated on load.

Notes

  • Feed rate: introduced in 26.3 lead-in moves use the Lead In Feed and lead-out moves the Lead Out Feed of the base Operation’s Tool Controller. When these are zero, lead-in falls back to the vertical feed rate and lead-out to the horizontal feed rate.

  • The side (Inside or Outside) and direction (CW or CCW) of the leads are taken from the base Operation’s Side and Direction properties; Operations without them are treated as Inside and CCW.

  • Clearance Height and Safe Height are taken from the base Operation or, when absent, from the first two rapid Z moves of the Toolpath. The dressup emits nothing and prints a warning when these parameters cannot be determined.

Limitations

  • Lead In/Out cannot be applied to compound Toolpath objects.

  • introduced in 26.3 CAM DressupRampEntry CAM DressupRampEntry can be applied on top of a Lead In/Out dressup.

Scripting

import Path.Dressup.Gui.LeadInOut as LeadInOut

obj = LeadInOut.Create(op)          # shows the task panel
obj = LeadInOut.Create(op, mode=2)  # no task panel

obj.StyleIn = "Arc"
obj.RadiusIn = 3
obj.AngleIn = 90
obj.LeadOut = False

introduced in 26.3 The moves are produced by the generator Path.Base.Generator.leadinout.LeadInOut(**args).generate(), which can be used without a document.