Phases

A workpiece is often machined in more than one setup: first one side, then it is turned over or rotated, clamped again and machined on the other sides. In SPC each setup is a phase (OP10, OP20...). The phases of the project are listed under the Phases node of the project tree. Only one phase at a time is active: its fixtures, origins and NC files are the ones shown in the tree and loaded on the machine. A new project, or a project saved with an older version, has a single phase.

• Workpiece
  All the parts and stocks of the project (not the fixtures). They are the same in all the phases: only their placement changes, and the finished part and its stock always move together.
• Placement
  Position and rotation of the workpiece in the phase.
• Fixtures, origins, NC files
  Each phase has its own: the vices and clamps of that setup, the origins (G54...) measured on the workpiece in that setup and the programs run in it.
• Starting stock
  The first phase starts from the initial stock; a phase created with New phase starts from the residual stock of the phase that was active.

Working with phases, step by step

1. Prepare the first phase as a normal project: workpiece and stock, fixtures, origins and NC files (see First steps). Simulate it to the end and check the report.
2. Right-click the Phases node and choose New phase. The new phase copies the fixtures and the origins of the active phase, has no NC files, starts from its residual stock and becomes the active phase.
3. Turn the workpiece to its new placement with Flip 180° about X / Y, Rotate ±90° about Z (around the center of the workpiece) or Placement.... The stock keeps the material removed by the previous phase.
4. Adapt the fixtures to the new setup (load, move or remove them, or apply a machine setup).
5. Set the origins of this phase on the workpiece in its new placement (see Origins): the origins copied from the previous phase are usually no longer valid.
6. Load the NC files of the phase and simulate them.
7. Repeat from step 2 for the next phases.
8. When all the phases are ready, Simulate all phases simulates the whole workpiece from the initial stock.

Commands

New phase and Simulate all phases are in the context menu of the Phases node and of each phase; the other commands in the context menu of a phase.

	New phase Adds a phase after the others, with the fixtures and origins of the active phase and no NC files, starting from its residual stock, and activates it.
	Simulate all phases Simulates all the phases in order, from the initial stock, with the checks on (To end on each NC file of each phase). At the end a summary shows the total time and the number of warnings for each phase and NC file; the detailed report and the Failed toolpath view are those of the last file. The simulation stops at the first file that does not reach the end.
	Activate phase Makes the phase active: the machine goes home, fixtures, origins and NC files of the phase are loaded and the workpiece takes its placement. Missing NC files are listed and skipped. The stock is not changed.
	Rebuild residual stock Rebuilds the stock at the beginning of the phase by running the NC files of the previous phases with material removal only, without collision and overtravel checks (ESC stops it).
	Placement... Rotations RX, RY, RZ (degrees) and translation X, Y, Z of the workpiece in the phase.
	Flip 180° about X / Y Turns the workpiece over around the X or the Y axis, around its center.
	Rotate +90° / -90° about Z Rotates the workpiece around the Z axis, around its center.
	Rename phase (F2) Renames the phase; the name must be unique.
	Delete phase Deletes the phase after confirmation; the project keeps at least one phase. The phases that started from its residual stock start from where the deleted phase started.

The residual stock between phases

• Activating a phase does not change the stock: after simulating a phase, activate the next one to go on machining the same stock. To see the stock as it is at the beginning of a phase, use Rebuild residual stock.
• The residual stocks computed by Rebuild residual stock and by Simulate all phases are saved with the project in the folder <project>.residual next to the .spc file, and loaded again when the project is opened, without computing them again.
• A saved residual stock is used only if nothing it depends on has changed: NC files of the previous phases (path, size and date), placements and origins, the stocks (file, type, allowances, scale, origin) and Min dexel size. Otherwise, when the project is opened on a phase that starts from a residual stock, SPC proposes to rebuild it; answering No starts from the initial stock.
• Tools are not part of this check: after changing a tool used in a previous phase, use Rebuild residual stock.

Rebuild residual stock only removes material: collisions and overtravels of each phase are checked by its own simulation. To verify the whole workpiece in one go, use Simulate all phases.