Align Body for Milling

The Align Body for Milling command will re-align and position a solid body for milling in this single command.

In cases where the imported solid component orientation is incorrect or if the CPL is not in the proper location, using the Align Body for Milling command will rotate a solid body to a more convenient orientation relative to the current CPL, and optionally move the body to a more convenient position within the CPL.



•    The command prompts you to digitize a face, edge and point, to be used for the re-orientation.
•    Each digitize immediately results in the re-orientation, so you can work interactively.
•    Perform a finish (right-click for example) to move on to the next prompt.
          •   Before the finish you can digitize again to change your selection.
          •   Before the finish you can digitize the same face or edge to rotate the body (see below).
          •   You can perform the finish without digitizing if you want to skip a stage.


The prompts for Align Body for Milling are:

1.    Select face to define XY plane

Click on a face to provide a vector to be aligned with the CPL's Z Axis (face normal vector for planar faces, face axis for cylindrical, conical or toroidal faces). Click the face again if you want to then invert the body (rotates 180° around the Y Axis).



2.    Select linear edge to define CPL plane axis

Click on the edge that you want to be parallel with the CPL's X Axis. Click the edge again if you want to rotate the body 90° around the CPL's Z Axis.




3.    Select point to translate to origin

Click on the point you want to move to the CPL's origin.

Alternatively you can position the centre of the solid at the origin ('centre' meaning the centre point of a bounding box round the solid). To do this hold down the Ctrl key and digitize the whole solid body, or any of its faces.

Before finishing you can optionally adjust the height of the solid by pressing the Z key, clicking OK in the co-ordinate dialog, then digitizing a point to be placed at Z=0.




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