Roughing

• New options for cylindrical, multi directional and imported stock models.
• New tools to manage intermediate stock models, this allows for reduced recalculations of stock models when you make changes.
• Smaller tools and very small stepovers will be available for more control and added tool safety.
• Roughing programs will support conical and tapered tools.
• Trochoidal Roughing & Spiral Core Roughing will offer an automatically integrated re-roughing option, which means that large stepdowns can be used initially and then optimised with smaller stepdowns in the same toolpath.

Finishing

• Integration of Z-Level Finishing and Optimised Z-Level Finishing into one cutterpath to save calculation times.
• Pocket protection in Optimised Z-Level Finishing for more tool protection. Overlapping of flat surfaces when these are not machined.
• Ramp option and conical tool support for the new Z-Level Finish.
• Remachining cutterpaths can be calculated based on 3D stock model for quicker and more accurate remachining calculations.

Additionally, an all new strategy Global Finishing will be available, allowing spiral finishing of the whole part in one toolpath whilst maintaining constant stepovers on walls and flats in a climb cutting direction.

2D

• Cutter Compensation in Tangent to Curve and Curve Remachining cutterpaths.
• Open pocket support in 2D Pocketing.
• Ability to post process canned cycles with standard drilling cutterpaths.

Drilling

• All new Interactive Drilling, as an evolutionary step from Automatic Hole Machining.
• Catia V5 drilling features import.
• Drill start height values can be automatically determined by the stock model.
• Conical hole machining with associated machining process will be available.

5-Axis

• All new 5-Axis surface finishing function, for efficiently machining of a part all over including undercuts in a spiral direction normal to surface.
• New Auto 3+2 module (for splitting any finishing toolpath into multiple 3+2 toolpaths with overlaps and collision avoidance) works in a similar way to how Auto-5 does for simultaneous cutterpaths.
• Faster calculation speeds with Auto-5.
• Improved toolpath ergonomics for 5 axis rolling.
• Gradual integration of 5axis editing tools from VisuNC into the G3 interface.

Other exciting improvements include the use of many different cutter shapes (currently 21 defined) with either straight or tapered shanks. These shapes include conic, lollipop, dovetail, T-slot, disc cutter and corner rounding cutter to name a few, selectable depending on toolpath strategy. Also there will be the ability to modify certain toolpath parameters (such as lead in, approach and retract distances, method, cut link, etc) without having to recalculate the entire toolpath. Only a quick, optimised recalculation is required in this case.

WorkNC-CAD

• A new surface filleting function between 2 surface selections with improved ergonomics and dynamic pre-visualisation of results.
• A new cutter function to improve reliability and performance of trims, including improved ergonomics and dynamic pre-visualisation of trimmed surfaces.
• A new Fill Gaps function to allow multiple surface holes to be filled in one mouse click, with interactive selection for adding or removing created patches.