About Machining Features

Machining features establish what material needs to be removed from the stock to
achieve the reference model geometry. Each closed volume of material to be removed
comprises a separate machining feature.
Define the machining features in the order you want them machined (one exception:
create an Entry Hole feature after you have created the closed feature that you need it
for). Use the proper machining feature type depending on the shape of the volume, and
on the combination of Hard and Soft Walls bounding this volume. Hard Walls are surfaces
of the reference model; Soft Walls are surfaces of the stock. The bottom surface of the
volume is called the feature Floor; again, it is called a Hard Floor if this is a surface of the
reference model and a Soft Floor if this is a surface of the stock.
The following feature types are available:
 Face—An open volume with a Hard Floor, completely surrounded by Soft Walls.

 Slab—An open volume with a Hard Floor, surrounded by Soft Walls. Unlike the
Face feature, the Slab may contain islands (bosses) on its Floor, or partial Hard Walls.

 Pocket—A closed volume with a Hard Floor, completely surrounded by Hard

Walls. The Floor may contain protruding bosses (islands).

 Through Pocket—A closed volume with a Soft Floor, completely surrounded by

Hard Walls.

 Step—An open volume with a Hard Floor, surrounded by one continuous chain of
Hard Walls and one continuous chain of Soft Walls. The Floor may contain protruding
bosses (islands).

 Profile—An open volume with a Soft Floor, surrounded by one continuous chain
of Hard Walls and one continuous chain of Soft Walls.

 Channel—An open volume with a Hard Floor, surrounded by alternating chains of

Hard and Soft Walls.

 Slot—An elongated volume with a Hard Floor, completely surrounded by Hard

Walls, with full radii on two opposite ends.

 Through Slot—An elongated volume with a Soft Floor, which can be either
completely surrounded by Hard Walls, or have one chain of Soft Walls.

 Boss Top—Material left on top of a boss, for example, located inside a Pocket or
Step feature.

 Flange—An open volume with a Hard Floor, surrounded by Soft Walls, and
containing a single large boss or void in the middle, so that only a relatively thin flange
is being machined.

 O-Ring—A special case of a Slot feature, which has a Hard Floor and two chains
of Hard Walls at a constant offset from each other (that is, a cross section of this
feature is constant throughout). The hard walls can be of any shape as long as they
meet these requirements. In other words, this feature is a continuous closed groove or
slot.

 Rib Top—Material to be removed from the top of a rib. The top of the rib is the
Floor of the feature. It must be horizontal.
 Undercut—An open volume with a Hard Ceiling, to be machined by a Side Milling
tool. Once you specify a Ceiling, the system detects the Walls and Floor automatically.
You can adjust the feature depth.

 Top Chamfer—Material to be removed along a chain of horizontal chamfered

edges. The chamfered surfaces are the Floor of the feature.

 Top Round— Material to be removed along a chain of horizontal rounded edges.

The rounded surfaces are the Floor of the feature.

 Hole Group—A pattern of holes to be drilled.

 Entry Hole—A hole predrilled before machining a closed volume (such as a

Pocket, Through Pocket, or Slot), to be used for the tool entry.

Once the features are defined, you can machine them, that is, create the appropriate tool
paths, at any time and in any order.

See Also
To Create a Machining Feature
To Adjust Feature Boundaries
To Adjust Soft Walls
To Adjust Feature Depth
To Adjust Feature Top
To Machine a Feature
To Set Tool Path Properties
To Mimic a Tool Path