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      How to ignore a surface using component thickness in PowerMill

      How to ignore a surface or group of surfaces that are covering a machineable area

      Issue

      When a toolpath needs to form below a cover surface or a surface blocking a machinable area, it's sometimes required to ignore a surface or group of surfaces for specific toolpaths. These can be marked as "ignore" surfaces, and the toolpath will machine through them.
       

      Answer

      Component thickness for a new toolpath

      1. Open the toolpath settings
      2. Click on the Component thickness icon
      3. Select the surface in the graphic window to avoid
        1. Hold shift on your keyboard and left-click to select more than one surface
      4. In the component thickness page > select a new Set
      5. Click on the Acquire Components icon on the component thickness page
      6. Set the machining model to > Collision
      7. Press Apply and Accept
      8. Press Calculate

      Component thickness for an existing toolpath

      1. Open the toolpath settings
      2. Press the recycle button to enable edits to the toolpath settings
      3. Click on the Component thickness icon
      4. Select the surface in the graphic window to avoid
        1. Hold shift on your keyboard and left-click to select more than one surface
      5. In the component thickness page > select a new Set
      6. Click on the Acquire Components icon on the component thickness page
      7. Set the machining model to > Collision
      8. Press Apply
      9. Press Yes to the PowerMill Query Press Accept
      10. Press Calculate