A pocket operation clears material from an enclosed area, cutting the interior down to a specified depth.
Clearing Strategies
MapleCAM offers three clearing strategies:
Offset
Concentric passes moving inward from the boundary. Produces a clean finish on the pocket walls. Best for finish quality.
Raster
Back-and-forth parallel lines across the pocket area. Fast material removal but may leave small scallops on walls. Best for roughing or when wall finish doesn't matter.
Spiral
A continuous spiral path from outside in. Maintains constant tool engagement for consistent cutting forces. Good balance of speed and finish.
Key Settings
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Strategy | Offset, raster, or spiral |
| Depth | Total pocket depth |
| Depth per pass | Maximum depth per cutting pass |
| Stepover | Tool overlap between adjacent passes (as a fraction, e.g., 0.4 = 40%) |
| Feed rate | Cutting feed rate (mm/min) |
| Plunge rate | Downward feed rate |
| Spindle speed | RPM |
Islands
If a pocket path contains inner paths (holes or shapes inside the boundary), MapleCAM treats them as islands — raised areas that are not cleared. This allows cutting pockets with complex internal geometry.
When to Use Pocket
- Recesses and cavities
- Clearing areas for inlays
- Removing large volumes of material
- Any enclosed area that needs to be lowered