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      <title>Finishing with Plunge Milling</title>
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      <div class="title_topic2" id="xps10_pagetitle">Finishing with Plunge Milling</div>
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               <p class="para_td"><a class="links" href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="top.openFile('mfgmilling/plunge_mill_ov.html');return(false);">Overview</a> 
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               <p class="para_td"><a class="links" href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="top.openFile('mfgmilling/plunge_list_op.html');return(false);">Options</a> 
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               <p class="para_td"><a class="links" href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="top.openFile('mfgmilling/plunge_rt_list.html');return(false);">Related Topics</a></p>
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      </table><br><p class="para_topic">For finishing with Plunge Milling, use the <b class="uiTerm">Profile</b> cut pattern and specify the <b class="uiTerm">Cut Area</b> geometry.
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      <div class="title_division">Profile</div>
      <p class="para_division">Plunge Milling has similar finishing options to Zlevel profiling. The following rules are applied for the <b class="uiTerm">Profile</b> pattern to optimize Plunge Milling tool paths for finishing:
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            <p class="para_item">Ignores the blank.</p>
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            <p class="para_item">Adds the <b class="uiTerm">Extend at Edges</b> option.
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            <p class="para_item">You can cut up and down within a single level.</p>
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      <div class="title_division">Blank</div>
      <p class="para_division">Plunge Milling doesn't use <b class="uiTerm">Blank</b> geometry, <b class="uiTerm">In-process Workpiece</b>, or <b class="uiTerm">Min Material Thickness</b> for finishing. It will ignore blank and IPW geometry included in the geometry group.
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      <p class="para_division">These options aren't available with the <b class="uiTerm">Profile</b> cut pattern. However, if you change to any other Plunge Milling cut pattern, these options are available again.
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            <td valign="top" align="left"><img align="left" src="../graphics/note.gif" alt="Note" title="Note"></td>
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                  <p class="para_note_body">Since <b class="uiTerm">Profile</b> doesn't use <b class="uiTerm">In-process Workpiece</b>, previous IPW operations can be out of date without affecting the finishing operation.
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      <p class="para_division"> The plunge move starts at the top of the cut area at the current plunge location. The plunges are sequenced based on the climb/conventional cut order.</p>
      <p class="para_division">With a non-center cutting tool, the software assumes that the cut width is big enough to clear the entire blank in one pass. Additional side passes aren't supported.</p>
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         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_no_add_pass.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Additional Side Passes aren't Supported</div>
      <div class="title_division">Extensions</div>
      <p class="para_division">You can extend the tool path beyond the selected <b class="uiTerm">Cut Area</b> geometry by specifying an <b class="uiTerm">Extend at Edges</b> distance (<b class="uiTerm">Cut Parameters</b> dialog, <b class="uiTerm">Strategy</b> tab).
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      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_ext.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Extension Distance (A)</div>
      <p class="para_division">This extends the cut area in all directions unless the extension would violate the part (floor geometry, etc.) When there are multiple connected surfaces inside a cut area, only the boundary is extended.</p>
      <p class="para_division">If <b class="uiTerm">Cut Area</b> and <b class="uiTerm">Extend at Edges</b> are defined, cut levels are extended beyond the cut area top and bottom by the extension distance. If you change the <b class="uiTerm">Extend at Edges</b> value, the cut range is updated with the new edge extension.
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      <div class="title_division">Walls with Floors</div>
      <p class="para_division">When there is a floor adjacent to the wall being machined, the tool path stops at the bottom of the wall.</p>
      <p class="para_division">All part/floor allowances are honored, and any extensions are ignored or trimmed if they cause a gouge or collision.  NX always tries to extend the plunge by a <b class="uiTerm">Vertical Clearance</b> above and below the cut area. If there is adjacent floor geometry, NX extends the plunge unless it reaches the floor geometry plus floor stock with that clearance distance. In that case, the plunge ends above the floor at the floor stock height.
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      <p class="para_division">In the figure below, A = vertical distance used to extend cuts above and below the cut area, B = vertical distance used to stay away from the floor.</p>
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         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_wall_floor.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Walls with Floors</div>
      <p class="para_division">A = vertical clearance used to extend cuts above and below the cut area.</p>
      <p class="para_division">B = vertical clearance used to stay away from the floor.</p>
      <div class="title_division">Retract Moves</div>
      <p class="para_division">The retract angle is measured normal to the cut area.</p>
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         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_retract.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Retract Move with Ramp Angle</div>
      <div class="title_division">Drafted Walls</div>
      <p class="para_division"> Plunge Milling is meant for finishing vertical walls. For drafted walls, NX creates the plunges at different z-levels. The z-levels are computed based on the specified <b class="uiTerm">Stepover</b> and <b class="uiTerm">Step Ahead</b> values.
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      <div class="figure">
         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_drafted.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Drafted Wall</div>
      <div class="title_division">Bi-directional Plunge Finishing</div>
      <p class="para_division">With the plunge direction set to <b class="uiTerm">Cut Up and Down</b>, the stepover move is along the part wall. Whenever possible, the <b class="uiTerm">Extend at Edges</b> distance is applied to clear the tool off the part geometry.
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         <p align="center"><img align="bottom" src="graphics/plunge_finish_bidirect.gif"></p>
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      <div class="title_figure">Bi-directional Plunge Pattern</div>
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