The Automatic Feature Recognition function (Extract Machinable Features) works quite well with some parts, not so much with others. With fairly simple prismatic parts, I often have to add a few features, but the ones that Camworks finds work out pretty well. Having said that, if a part is complex and oddly shaped, the features Camworks finds are mostly useless. In those cases, creating your own works better. Also, if a part is oddly shaped and complex, you may want to actually disable what the system tries to find. It causes additional rebuild time, and doesn't really help. If you want to do this, go to Camworks Options, select the Mill Features tab, and check/uncheck the types of features you want the system to find. One example for this is that we modify pistol frames for making simulators, and if I keep all feature types checked, the system thinks I"m machining everything. In fact, we're just adding some holes and slots, so the system finding all these features only adds to rebuild time and doesn't buy me anything. So, in a case like this, I uncheck all features except for holes. I get less clutter and rebuilds are much quicker.
