Tutorial Mill 3 - Backplot in the Editor

One of the advantages of running CNC-Calc inside CIMCO Edit v6 is that the editor can be used to manipulate and backplot the NC programs generated in CNC-Calc.

It is very important to verify/simulate the programs before they are executed on a machine. Please pay special attention to the movements in the Z axis, and make sure that they run with the required feed and rapid move speed.

In the following, we will setup the backplot and verify the program generated by the previous tutorial.

This tutorial builds upon the result from CNC-Calc Tutorial Mill 2.

You can watch the related video for this tutorial here:

Before You Start

The first thing to do before proceeding with the simulation is to set the menu parameters. Start CIMCO Edit v6 and verify that the Backplot tab is available in the Ribbon. If not, open the editor configuration by clicking the Global Setup icon in the Editor tab. Go to the Plugins section in the left tree of the configuration window. Now ensure that the option Disable Backplot is unchecked. You must restart the program to activate the Backplot tab.

Enabling the Bacplot tab.

Open an Existing NC Program

To open a NC Program, click on the icon Open in the File toolbar under the Editor tab. This will open an Open File dialog where you can select the file you want to open.


Please select the NC file from the last tutorial (CNC-Calc Milling Tutorial 2.NC) and click Open.

You should now see the NC program from the CNC-Calc Tutorial Mill 2 displayed.


If you hold the cursor over an icon a short description of the icon's functionality will appear.