A machining strategy is a complete set of settings for one kind of part. Instead of changing the tool library, the parameters and the preferences every time the part family changes, you keep one strategy per family and select it when you program.
Why you want more than one #
Most shops machine several distinct families — plates and jig parts, round parts, steel parts, aluminium parts, parts for one particular customer. Different families need different speeds and feeds, different roughing and finishing splits, different cutting depths. A job that only needs a light cleanup pass and a job that needs a full rough-and-finish are not the same program, even if the geometry is similar.
A strategy packages all of that up, so that when you start a job you choose the family instead of rebuilding the settings.
RockCAM’s machining strategy list, opened at the start of a job.
The built-in strategies #
RockCAM ships with three: steel, aluminium and plastic. Treat them as starting points rather than fixed categories. The names are only labels — you can rename them, and the material is not what drives the behaviour.
Creating and copying strategies #
Open Machining Strategy Management in the settings.
- Create a new strategy and give it the name of the part family.
- Copy an existing strategy and adjust it, which is usually faster than starting from nothing.
The strategy management page with the option to create or copy a strategy.
Each strategy owns its own tool library, parameter table and preferences. Changing one strategy does not affect any other, so tuning the settings for one part family cannot disturb the rest.