Useful first: Pocket before the outside cut · Compare plunge and ramp entry
The animation plays all five library methods in order. Cadivari currently offers Ramp and Plunge on supported contours and pockets. Helical entry, bore milling and peck drilling are included as general machining concepts, with no dedicated Cadivari controls yet. The illustrated depths and slopes explain motion rather than cutting settings.
Try it in Cadivari
Compare plunge and linear ramp
Watch the full sequence or scrub to a method. Plunge changes Z while X and Y stay fixed. A linear ramp changes a planar coordinate and Z together. In Cadivari, Ramp follows the stored path, which can also curve.
Recognise helical entry
A helical ramp combines circular XY motion with descending Z. The animation shows an annular cut with a central core, not a fully cleared pocket. Cadivari has no dedicated helical entry selector; the comparison explains the motion.
Distinguish the hole operations
Bore milling starts with an existing pilot hole and enlarges its wall using a milling cutter. Peck drilling uses a drill, cuts progressively deeper and retracts to clear chips. These are separate machining concepts, not additional choices in Cadivari’s Entry row.
Use a preview copy
Open a copy of the pocket-and-contour exercise. Select its outside rectangle contour. For this screen-only comparison, turn tabs Off and set Cut to 4 mm and Step to 2 mm. These are geometry examples, not machine settings.
Choose Ramp
In the expanded operation, set Entry to Ramp and Angle to 3 degrees. Hover or focus the question marks beside Entry and Angle to read their explanations.
Read the motion plan
Expand Motion plan. Confirm two depth passes, ramp moves and no straight plunges for this operation. Each pass approaches the previously cleared depth before ramping to its new target.
Inspect one operation in 3D
Open the 3D preview and Simulate → Toolpaths. Select the outside contour on its own, then scrub through both entries and full-depth loops. Compare the motion with Inspect G-code preview.
Compare a shallower angle
Change Angle to 2 degrees and inspect the longer entry. Restore 3 degrees afterward. If you re-enable tabs, verify that the ramp finishes before the first retained tab and resolve any length warning.
Compare the Plunge setting
Switch Entry to Plunge and inspect the vertical entries and updated Motion plan counts. Read the straight-plunge cutter warning, then restore Ramp. Keep this comparison in the preview project.
A small exercise
Identify all five animated methods and name the two available Entry choices in Cadivari. In the preview copy, compare Plunge with Ramp, then compare 2-degree and 3-degree ramps for the same 2 mm depth step.
What you should see
You can distinguish plunge, linear ramp, helical ramp, bore milling and peck drilling. Cadivari offers Ramp and Plunge here. At 3 degrees, a 2 mm drop needs about 38.2 mm of planar path; at 2 degrees it needs about 57.3 mm. Both ramps reach the same target depth if the available path is long enough.
Things to look out for
- An available angle range is geometry validation, not a cutter recommendation.
- A ramp must fit the clear path before a holding tab. Do not bypass a blocked preview or treat this practice copy as a ready-to-run job.
Check your understandingWhy does reducing the ramp angle require more path
The same vertical drop is spread across a shallower slope. Ramp length equals depth step divided by the tangent of the angle.
With JavaScript enabled, you can save lesson completion in this browser.
Go deeper in the knowledge base
Instructions checked against the Cadivari 0.3.0 source and knowledge base on 2026-09-16. Lesson revision 2.