Facing

A facing operation removes a thin layer of material from a flat surface — usually the top of the stock — to bring it to a known, even reference plane. It uses an endmill (typically a flat or surfacing bit) and runs as a clearing operation, like a pocket that covers the whole face.

If you draw an explicit boundary, facing operates within it. Otherwise it faces the full stock area. The boundary is expanded outward by one tool radius internally, so the cut reaches the actual edge instead of stopping a tool radius short.

Islands

Areas you want to leave standing — bosses, raised features, parts that should remain proud of the surface — can be marked as islands. The tool clears around them.

Clearing strategy

Three strategies determine the tool's path across the area:

Offset — concentric passes that follow the boundary inward. Smoothest finish; the default for most facing.
Line — parallel straight passes. Faster on large open areas; the Clearing Angle sets the direction of the lines.
ZigZag — like Line, but bidirectional with linking moves at each end. Reduces non-cutting travel on long passes.

For Offset, Inside Out can reverse the order so passes start at the centre and work outward, which can help with chip clearance on deep facing cuts.

Settings

Setting	Description
Clearing Strategy	Offset, Line, or ZigZag.
Clearing Angle	Direction of the lines, in degrees. Used by Line and ZigZag.
Inside Out	For Offset clearing: start from the centre and work outward.

Depth, depth-per-pass, stepover, feed rate, plunge rate, and spindle speed all come from the assigned tool preset and don't need to be set per-operation.

Tool requirement

Any endmill that can plunge or ramp — flat endmills and dedicated surfacing/spoilboard cutters are the typical pick. V-bits and laser tools won't appear in the tool selector.

When to use