How a quote starts from the raw block
Open the model, read the envelope, and set the raw material. A square part suggests a block. A round part suggests a round bar. A tube suggests a pipe. The suggestion adds 2 mm of stock. You can switch that suggestion to a block, a round bar, or a pipe, and choose the axis of the bar or pipe. The isometric view shows that material around a slightly see-through part, and each following step marks where that process is applied. Length is X, width is Y, and height is Z. The first two operations are on that stock: mill the outer, then grind the outer. Each one is confirmed before the next.
A profile that runs straight through the part, and leans at most 13° from the wire, is set as wire cut. The 1st setting runs the wire along Z, the way the model stands. The 2nd setting runs it along X. The 3rd setting runs it along Y. Those are the second and third fixture settings for a through linear profile. Click any other surface and choose VMC or sparking. That choice stays on the screen. Depth control is the VMC or the sparking machine. The planner does not pick that for you. A long straight inner corner is different: a milling cutter leaves its own radius there, so the slot would not be sharp. Those corners are suggested as sparking, and you still choose the process on that surface. A plate slot that does not run through the whole part can be wire cut when you select it. The reading shows the taper to set. The planner does not add a weld between separate discs. A round hole that runs through the middle is wire cut on its own, and that hole is a different step from the slots. The surface you choose stays marked: VMC in blue, and each sparking in its own color, so a second sparking is still visible. A dot and a line sit on the place itself. Select a surface to look at that place.
When every open surface has a process, the plan becomes a rough quotation. Wire-cut time is the cut area divided by a mid-range rate for an Electronica Hi-Tech or Fanuc machine in steel with brass wire. VMC time, including the outer milling, uses a mid-range Haas removal rate. Sparking asks you to choose graphite or copper, then prices the electrode blank and estimates the burn. Grinding is a light skim on a surface grinder. Change the rates to your shop. Pick the job metal before the stock is accepted. EN8 is one example, at an example price per kilogram you can change. The quotation includes that raw mass, the electrode blank, and a rough sparking time. Save the quotation in this browser. Download a Word file and edit it before you send it. An approved row in the saved list opens again as the process plan. Cutters and inspection are extra.
The reading comes from the triangles of the opened model. Touching regions can be read as one. Confirm every step on the part before the quote is sent. Nothing is uploaded. Measure a bore or a face in the CAD Viewer. Spark gap and skim stock are described in wire EDM allowance.