RhinoCAM Tutorial 1 - The Basics

Updated 2.9.15

Louisiana State University

College of Art and Design
Design Shop
Written by Paul Callahan

INTRODUCTION
This tutorial was written for students in the College of Art and Design for use with the 3 axis mill that is housed in the
Design Shop - Tormach PCNC 1100. The College of Art and Design owns 5 license of RhinoCAM. We use one in the
Design Shop to check the tool paths before they are uploaded to the control computer that operates the mill. CADGIS computer lab has computers with RhinoCAM installed and accessible for student use.

There are many programs on the market that can be used to generate G code for milling operations. The purpose
of a G code generator is to help the user write code that tells the CNC mill each movement necessary to cut their
drawing out of a solid block of material. CNC machines understand a language called G code. Before the advent of
programs like RhinoCAM, G code was all written by hand. In its simplest form, G code is a set of commands the tell
the machine information such as spindle speed, go-to commands for the cutter and tool path specifics like step over
and step down distances.

One of the main advantages of using RhinoCAM to generate G code instead of another G code generator is that it
exists as a plugin, running simultaneously with Rhino, and therefore uses the Rhino environment for any drawing or
navigational purposes. If you are familiar with Rhino you can see how this is an advantage. In fact, this tutorial assumes that you already know the basics of Rhino. Another major advantage of RhinoCAM is that as you make edits
to your drawing, the tool paths that you have already generated will update with a click of the mouse.

For the purpose of this tutorial, LMB = Left Mouse Button, RMB = Right Mouse Button.

MACHINE SPECS AND RESTRICTIONS

The machine you will be using is the Tormach PCNC 1100. It has standard 3 axis capabilities (X, Y and Z movement)
and an additional fourth axis rotary attachment, the A axis. However, the fourth axis attachment will not be covered in
this tutorial. Size limitations are as follows, X movement: 16 Y movement: 6 Z movement: 11. This does not mean
you can cut a shape that is 16x6x11. As it pertains to the X and Y dimensions, you must factor in space for work
hold downs or fixtures. See, setting up stock on page 4 for specific dimensions. When it comes to the Z size limitations, you are restricted by the length of the cutter. If you have questions about this ask a Design Shop employee
(either Mark or Paul).

SAFETY CONCERNS

Like all machines, the mill can be dangerous if misused. These are rules that must always be followed with no
exceptions. Also, before anyone is permitted to use the mill they must be certified to use the Design Shop. This
involves completing the orientation and passing the Design Shop test and must be done once per year.

1. You must stay with the mill and be in reach of the emergency shut-off button at all times while the mill is cutting
Fig. 1.
2. Safety eye wear and ear protection must be worn at all times while the mill is cutting. The Design Shop provides
eye and ear protection for use while in the shop.
3. Nothing should be hanging or dangling from your body while setting up or operating the mill. This includes hair,
jewelry and long sleeves.
4. Never reach inside the cutting area while the mill is running.
5. The acrylic shield must be in place at all times except during set up Fig. 2.
6. Close toe and heel shoes must be worn at all times when in the Design Shop

If you do not follow these rules, you will be asked to leave and Design Shop privilages will be restricted or revoked.
This is for your own safety.

Fig. 2

Fig. 1

L AY O U T A N D W O R K F L O W

In this tutorial you will learn a basic, common strategy for cutting out
your shape by creating two tool paths, a Horizontal Roughing tool
path and a Parallel Finishing tool path. The purpose of these tool
paths is as their name suggests, Horizontal Roughing uses an end
mill to remove the bulk of the material and the Parallel Finishing uses
a ball mill to refine the shape and bring it to a tolerance that is close
to the shape that you have drawn in Rhino. RhinoCAM offers the ability to cut in more complex tool paths but you are required to learn this
basic strategy before moving on to more advanced operations.

If the computer you are using has RhinoCAM installed you will see
the RhinoCAM drop down menu at the top of your screen (Fig. 3).
Click on this and select Mill. The RhinoCAM windows will automatically open (Fig. 4).

The layout in RhinoCAM is relatively simple. There are two main

windows we will be using. The top window contains two tabs, the Program tab and the Simulate tab - (Fig. 5). The Simulate tab is where
you control the simulations of the tool paths after you generate them,
and the Program tab is where you do everything else. In the bottom
window (Fig. 5) you will find a folder called the Machine Job folder
which contains all of the settings for your specific job. When you open
RhinoCAM, the Machine Job folder already exists and contains all of
the default settings.

Below the Machine Job folder are toggle buttons (Red Box in Fig. 4).
By clicking them you can either reveal or hide the tool path, the stock
and the part. There is also an option to make material texture visible.
DO NOT do this, it may cause RhinoCAM to crash.
2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

There are two icons in the Machine Job folder, the Machine - 3
axis icon, and the Post - Tormach INCH icon. The default settings are correct and we will not change them. However, double
check that your settings are the same as shown in Figs. 6 &7.



1

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

WORK ZERO

The Work Zero is a specific point you will define in the Cartesian coordinate system that you can reference in both the
digital space in RhinoCAM, and in the physical space on the
stock that you intend to cut your shape out of. The CNC mill
will reference this point for every movement it makes and
it is also how we justify and align our digital drawing within
our physical stock. The Work Zero can be any point you set
it to be. As long as you can identify it on both the work piece
and the drawing. In this case, I will set it to be in the highest
Z, north west corner of the part (not the stock).

Fig. 9

1. While in the program tab LMB Machining Operations

(Fig. 8)
2. LMB Work Zero (Fig. 8)
3. LMB Set to Part Box (Fig. 9)
4. LMB Highest Z (Fig. 9)
5. LMB North West (Fig. 9)
6. LMB Generate

S T O C K S E T- U P
When you set up the stock, you are simply telling the computer the dimensions of your physical stock. This is important because we need to account for space on the stock to
hold it to the bed of the mill with either clamps or screws.

1. Under the Machine Job folder, double-click Stock
2. LMB Copy Model Bounding Box (Fig. 10). This will set
the stock to the extents of your part in each dimension.
From this, you will add stock below the part and around the
four sides, but not to the top.
3. L - add 2 to this value (Fig. 10)
4. W - add 1 to this value (Fig. 10)
5. H - add .15 to this value (Fig. 10)
6. LMB OK
4

Fig. 10

S T O C K & PA R T A L I G N M E N T

Next, we will align the part within the stock.

1. In the Program tab, LMB Align Stock (Fig. 11)
2. LMB, Align Stock (Fig. 12)
2. LMB, Top (Fig. 12)
3. LMB, Center (Fig. 12)
4. LMB, OK

If you did this correctly, the top view in Rhino will show your
part centered inside the yellow stock box, and from the
front view the part should be all the way at the top of the
stock. The extra thickness we added to the stock should be
below the part. You may also need to toggle the stock visibility on (Fig. 4). If you roll your mouse over the buttons in
Fig. 4 a box will appear that tells you what they do.

Fig. 11

H O R R I Z O N TA L R O U G H I N G
Now we will generate the first tool path.

1. While in Program tab, LMB, Machining
Operations (Fig. 13)
2. LMB, 3 Axis Advanced (Fig. 13)
3. LMB, Horizontal Roughing (Fig. 13)

Fig. 12

Fig. 13

M A C H I N I N G F E AT U R E S / R E G I O N S TA B
This tab gives you a way to restrain the movement of the cutter in the X and Y directions. Restraining the Z movement is done in another tab (Cut Levels). If you click on Select Drive/Containment Regions button (Fig. 14), the Horizontal Roughing window will disappear allowing you to access to the Rhino drawing environment. The command
bar will now prompt you to select a containment region. This can be either an edge on your shape, or a polyline that
you draw in your Rhino drawing. In the case of sample file for this tutorial, I drew a box around my shape that was
.3 bigger than my part in each direction. This allows room for the .25 cutters to cut around the outside perimeter of
my shape. If you do not set any machining regions, the CNC mill will likely collide with the work piece hold downs.

1. In Machining Features/Regions Tab, LMB, Select Drive/containment Regions (Fig. 14)
2. LMB, select the regions (Can be polylines or edges of your Rhino shape)
3. RMB, As in Rhino, right clicking in this situation is the same as pushing Enter
T O O L TA B
5

This is where you will set up the tool you will use for
the horizontal roughing tool path. As mentioned earlier,
you will use an end mill. The two types of cutters that
we offer in the Design Shop are ball mills and end
mills. These names refer to the profile of the cutter. In
the case of a ball mill, the profile cuts a straight edge
on its side and a half circle on the tip (Fig. 15). An end
mills profile is the same except that the tip is perfectly
flat (Fig. 16).
Collisions can be one of the most dangerous ac-

Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Fig. 16

cidents that can happen on a mill. A collision occurs when any part of the CNC mill collides with anything that you,
the user, did not intend to for it to. The most damaging of these can be when the cutter collides with a work piece
hold down. These are stationary and made of steel. If this happens, the chances are good that the cutter will shatter,
sending pieces of steel shrapnel flying. All of the rules in the S A F E T Y C O N C E R N S section on page 1 are in place to
prevent collisions.

Another way to avoid collisions is to take accurate measurements when inputting the dimensions of the cutters you will
use. In the Design Shop, we offer a set of digital vernier calipers (Fig. 17) to help you measure accurately. If you enter
the cutter dimensions accurately, RhinoCAM will generate G code that will not contain any collisions.

Fig. 17


The Tool tab is pictured in Fig. 18. When you first open
this tab the Tools folder will be empty. To add the first tool,
LMB Edit/Create/Select Tool button (Fig. 18).
The next window you see should look like Fig. 19.

1. LMB, End mill icon in upper left (second button from
the left Fig. 19)
2. Using calipers, take measurements from the cutter you
intend to use and enter the values in the bottom middle of
window. If you are not sure what a specific measurement
is for, reference the diagram in this window for an explanation.
3. LMB, Save edits to tool

If you did this correctly, a tool called FlatMill 1 will show
up in the Tools Tab. While in the Tools tab, LMB FlatMill 1.

Fig. 18
Fig. 19

F E E D S & S P E E D S TA B
The expression Feeds & Speeds refers to the feed
rate, or rate at which the machine moves through
your material (expressed in inches/minute), and
the speed at which the spindle spins (expressed in
rotations/minute). There are many factors that effect
the values you select for feeds and speeds. These
factors include, hardness of material, step over and
step down distances, number of flutes on the cutter,
diameter of the cutter, etc. Page X of this tutorial contains a guide for selecting feed rate, spindle speed,
step over and step down. In the case of this project,
I am cutting my shape out of foam so I can be very
aggressive with these values without fear of damaging the cutter.

1. Set values for feeds and speeds (Fig. 20)

Fig. 20

C L E A R A N C E P L A N E TA B
This setting tells the mill that when it retracts from the material it must do so to a certain Z distance (which
you will set) before transferring to another area to cut.

1. LMB, Stock Max Z + Dist (Fig. 21)
2. Set value to .25

This setting will ensure that the cutter retracts 1/4 above the thickness of the stock before transferring to
avoid collisions.

C U T PA R A M E T E R S TA B
In this tab you will set the step over distance. This value is expressed as a percentage of the diameter of your
cutter. In my case, I am using a 1/4 end mill and I want it to step over 50% (Fig. 22).

1. Reference the Step over/Step down guide on page X for advice on Step over amount
2. Enter this value (Fig. 22)

Fig. 21

Fig. 22

C U T L E V E L S TA B
You will change two settings in this tab, the step down
amount and the cut levels. On the horizontal roughing
pass your goal is to safely remove as much material
as you can without concern for tolerance. Tolerance
becomes important during the Parallel Finishing pass.

Setting a bottom in Cut Levels is the way that you

restrict the Z depth movement. The cutter will not violate the Z plane that is parallel with the point that you
select.

1. LMB, % Tool Diameter button
2. Enter 50% (Fig. 23)
3. LMB, Bottom Check Box
4. LMB, Mouse Arrow button next to Bottom (Fig. 23)
5. LMB, Choose a point at the lowest Z axis of your
Rhino drawing.

ENGAGE/RETRACT

Fig. 23

This tab allows you to specify an engagement

strategy. When the cutter first touches the material you have the option to move the cutter in a
spiral or zig zag pattern to alleviate stress on the
tool.

1. LMB, Helix (Fig. 24)

Fig. 24

PA R A L L E L F I N I S H I N G
Now we will generate the second tool path.

1. While in Program tab, LMB, Machining
Operations (Fig. 25)
2. LMB, 3 Axis Advanced (Fig. 25)
3. LMB, Parallel Finishing (Fig. 25)

Fig. 25

M A C H I N I N G F E AT U R E S / R E G I O N S TA B
This tab gives you a way to restrain the movement of
the cutter in the X and Y directions. Restraining the Z
movement is done in another tab (Cut Levels). If you
click on Select Drive/Containment Regions button (Fig.
26), the Parallel Finishing window will disapear allowing
you to access to the Rhino drawing environment. The
command bar will now prompt you to select a containment region. This can be either an edge on your shape,
or a polyline that you draw in your Rhino drawing. If you
do not set any machining regions, the CNC mill will
likely collide with the workpiece hold downs.

1. In Machining Features/Regions Tab, LMB, Select
Drive/containment Regions (Fig. 26)
2. LMB, select the regions (Can be polylines or edges of
your Rhino shape)
3. RMB. As in Rhino, right clicking in this situation is the
same as pushing Enter

Fig. 26

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T O O L TA B
This is where you will set up the tool you will use for the Parallel Finishing toolpath. As mentioned earlier, you will use a
ball mill. The two types of cutters that we offer in the Design Shop are ball mills and end mills. These names refer to the
profile of the cutter. In the case of a ball mill, the profile it cuts is a straight edge on its side and a half circle on the tip (Fig.
27). An end mills profile is the same except that the tip is perfectly flat (Fig. 28).

Colisions can be one of the most dangerous accidents that happen on a mill. A colision can occur when any part of the
CNC mill colides with anything that you, the user, did not intend to for it to. The most damaging of these can be when the
cutter colides with a workpiece hold down. These are stationary and made of steel. If this happens, the chances are good
that the cutter will shatter, sending pieces of steel schrapnal flying. All of the rules in the S A F E T Y C O N C E R N S section on

Fig. 29

page 1 are in place to prevent colisions.

Another way to avoid colisions is to take accurate
measurements when inputing the dimensions of the
cutters you will use. In the Design Shop, we offer a set
of digital vernier calipers (Fig. 29) to help you measure
accurately. If you enter the cutter dimensions accurately, RhinoCAM will generate G code that will not contain
any colisions.
Fig. 27

Fig. 28

The Tool tab is pictured in Fig. 30. At this point you should
already have the end mill tool saved from the Horizontal
Roughing toolpath. To input the measurements for the ball
mill, LMB Edit/Create/Select Tool button (Fig. 30).
The next window you see should look like Fig. 31.

1. LMB, End mill icon in upper left (Fig. 31)
2. Using calipers, take measurements from the cutter you
intend to use and enter the values in the bottom middle of
window. If you are not sure what a specific measurement is
for, reference the diagram in this window for an explanation.
3. LMB, Save edits to tool

If you did this correctly, a tool called BallMill 1 will show
up in the Tools Tab (Fig. 30). While in the Tools tab, LMB
BallMill 1.

Fig. 30

Fig. 31

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F E E D S & S P E E D S TA B
The expression Feeds & Speeds refers to the feed
rate, or rate at which the machine moves through your
material (expressed in inches/minute), and the speed at
which the spindle spins (expressed in rotations/minute).
There are many factors that effect the values you select
for feeds and speeds. These factors include, hardness
of material, step over and step down distances, number
of flutes on the cutter, diameter of the cutter, etc. Page
X of this tutorial contains a guide for selecting values
for feed rate, spindle speed, step over and step down.
In the case of this project, I am cutting my shape out
of foam so I can be very aggressive with these values
without fear of damaging the cutter.

1. Set values for feeds and speeds (Fig. 32)

C L E A R A N C E P L A N E TA B
This setting tells the mill that when it retracts from the
material it must do so to a certain Z distance (which
you will set) before transfering to another area to cut.

1. LMB, Stock Max Z + Dist (Fig. 33)
2. Set value to .25

This setting will ensure that the cutter retracts 1/4
above the thickness of the stock before transfering to
avoid colisions.

Fig. 34

Fig. 32

Fig. 33

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C U T PA R A M E T E R S TA B
In this tab you will set the stepover distance. This value is expressed as a percentage of the diameter of your cutter. In my
case, I am using a 1/4 end mill and I want it to stepover 50%
(Fig. 34) which would equal 1/8.

1. Reference the Stepover/Stepdown guide on page X for
advice on Stepover amount
2. Enter this value (Fig. 34)
Z C O N TA I N M E N T TA B
There is no Cut Levels Tab in Parallel Finishing because, as
you will see, the cutter moves simultaniously in the X, Y and
Z axis. The amount of material you remove with the finishing
pass is simply whatever material is left to achieve the tolerance you need.

However, if you find yourself in a situation in which you need
to restrict the Z movement it is done here in the Z Containment
Tab, by checking Insert Multiple Step-Down Z Cuts (Fig. 35).

Other than that, the only setting you will change here is to
check the box, Specify Lowest Z (Fig. 35). This will ensure that
the cutter will not go below the bottom of your part.

1. LMB, Specify Lowest Z (Fig. 35)
2. LMB, mouse icon (Fig. 35)
3. LMB, select a point on the bottom of your Rhino drawing

Fig. 35

E N T R Y / E X I T TA B
You will not change anything in this tab. It should contain the
same settings as Fig. 36.

1. LMB, Generate (Fig. 36)

Fig. 36

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N A V I G AT I O N T I P S A N D S I M U L AT I O N S
While in the Machine Job Folder, you can Right Click on the tool path
you just created (Fig. 37). This gives you quick access to several
functions including Regenerate, Post, Simulate and Information.
Regenerate

If you change anything in your drawing you must regenerate the

tool path in order to update it. You will know when you need to
regenerate because you will see a small red explosion icon over
the folder which contains the tool path to be regenerated (Fig.
38). While in the Machine Job Folder, RMB, your toolpath, LMB,
Regenerate.
NOTE: The order of the folders inside the Machine Job Folder is important. If your Work Zero is below one of your toolpaths, the Work Zero will
not apply to that toolpath. This can negate any of your attempts at stock
part alignment and cause a collision.
Information

RhinoCAM has the ability to tell you important information about

your toolpaths. While in the Machine Job Folder, RMB, on your
toolpath, LMB, Information (Fig. 37). Next, you will see a window
like in Fig. 39. This feature is most commonly used to find out the
Machine Time of the tool path. The Machine Time is the total time
the tool path takes to run from the time you start the spindle until it
turns off.

Simulation

The fastest way to run a simulation of a tool path is, while in the
Machine Job Folder, RMB, on your tool path, LMB, Simulate. If
you want to adjust the Simulation settings you can access them in
the Simulation Tab (Fig. 5).

Fig. 37

Fig. 38

Fig. 39

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POSTING
The term Posting, means to generate the file that contains the G code. Each tool path that you want to run
must be posted. The resulting file is a text file with an
.nc file extension. In order to post a tool path, while in
the Machine Job Folder, RMB, on your tool path folder,
LMB, Post (Fig. 37).
The next window should look like Fig. 40. After specifying a location to save your G code file, LMB Post. Your
G code file will automatically open in a text editing program like Notepad (Fig. 41). Feel free to look through
the file but be sure not to change anything.

Fig. 40

Fig. 41

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F E E D S A N D S P E E D S E S T I M AT E S

FOR SOLID WOOD

Step Over - 30% of Cutter Diameter
Step Down - 20% of Cutter Diameter
Feed Rate - 40 Inches/Min.
Spindle Speed - 3500 - 4000 RPM
FOR FOAM
Step Over - 50% of Cutter Diameter
Step Down - 50% of Cutter Diameter
Feed Rate - 80 Inches/Min.
Spindle Speed - 4000 - 5000 RPM

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