Using Model box point in F360 but probing stock

MR-1
1

Still trying to get my feet wet on hte MR-1 and have what is likely a dumb question. The issue is driven because I have had some tell me that I should always use Model Box points instead of Stock Box points in my CAM…supposedly that point will always be there even after the part is machined whereas the stock box point will not! What is bugging me is that the probe routine probes the stock and not the model when i start so am confused (nothing new unfortunately!!)

  1. Lets say I have a simple cube model that is 2" on each side.
  2. Assume I’ve added .050" additional stock on all sides of that 2" cube.
  3. Lets say I have set WCS to back left corner and selected Model Box Point in F360 Setup.
  4. I now run the corner probe routine and it gives me a 0,0,0.
  5. Am I correct that in Cut control I need to adjust the Probe 0,0,0 to account for the added stock? e.g. if the probe x0 is at 0.000 but I know the model x0 is really .05" do I enter in a -0.050" into the x0 value?

thx in advance!!!

2

have had some tell me that I should always use Model Box points instead of Stock Box points in my CAM…supposedly that point will always be there even after the part is machined whereas the stock box point will not!

Nonsense. Stock box point is perfectly valid.

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3

It’s fine to use the stock box point, and then probe stock for zero. However, once you’ve cut away the stock, if you try to reestablish your zero, you won’t be able to.

So depending on the situation, you might be able to zero your program and the machine off of stock, but once you start cutting, some subsequent ops may need to have the zero moved to the model/part so they coincide. Obviously you’ll get better repeatability if you’re zeroing off machined surfaces, but it’s absolutely not necessary depending on the situation.

4

Both have their uses, and depend on how the stock is drawn in F360. Given a situation one may be a better fit than the other.
Model Box points are super handy when you’re leaving an outer profile “as is” or when flipping a machined part for a 2nd (or later) op. Where I’d use Stock Box points for making sure you take off material on a part profile so you have a good cleanup and finished surface all around your part.

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