Tool access analysis for CNC machining

What it helps you catch

• Undercuts no straight cutter can get to — a special cutter, a fixture or EDM, and a higher quote.
• Closed cavities no tool can enter at all.
• Extra setups — every time a part is turned over and clamped again adds cost and a chance to lose accuracy.
• The setups you will need, so you can plan fixturing or check a shop's quote.

What you see

One colour per setup

Each face in the colour of the side that reaches it. A side keeps its colour, so +Z is always the same pink.

Several setups

Faces more than one setup reaches, in grey: they can be cut from either.

No setup

Faces none of the setups reach: undercuts.

Sealed

Faces inside a closed cavity: no tool reaches them from anywhere.

How to use it

1. 1

   Open your part and pick Tool access

   Drop a STEP file on the page, choose Analyze, then the Tool access map.

2. 2

   Start from the suggested setups

   PartCheck proposes the fewest setups that reach as much of the part as possible, and shows the result. The figures say how many setups the part needs at least, and how many undercuts are left.

3. 3

   Try your own

   Turn any of the six sides on or off. Each setup shows how much of the part only it reaches; each side you have not chosen shows how much it would add. Or read the part along one axis — X, Y or Z — for a simple flip job.

4. 4

   Check a face

   Hover over any face to see every side that reaches it.

5. 5

   Download the report

   The Tool Access Report: the part from two sides, what each setup reaches, and what is left.

Good to know

The map answers whether a straight tool can reach a face at all — not whether a cutter of a given size fits. A narrow slot reads as reachable. Cutter size is what the corner and pocket checks in the CNC DFM check are for. Suggested setups need the part's faces from a STEP file; reading along an axis works on any part.

Questions