How do I round a square blank into a cylinder for a rotary job? (Create Rounding Toolpath gadget)

What it does

The Create Rounding Toolpath gadget (Gadgets menu) generates the toolpath that machines a rough blank, square or already round, down to a clean finished cylinder before you carve on it. It's the standard first operation in most rotary projects. You need a rotary job open first; see the rotary job setup entry.

Critical setup note

Set your Z zero at the center of the cylinder (the rotary axis) during job setup, not on the blank's surface. The gadget calls this out because center-referenced Z is what keeps wrapped post-processor output consistent and accurate as the diameter changes.

The form

• Blank Size and Shape: choose whether the stock is square or round and enter the dimensions matching the on-form diagrams.
• Machining Method, three strategies: Radial rotates the blank a full 360 degrees, steps over along the axis by the tool's stepover, and repeats. Raster cuts along the cylinder's length, then increments the rotary axis by the stepover. Optimized Raster (square blanks only) generates passes only where corner material actually exists, skipping the air moves that plain strategies waste on a square blank. An allowance field lets you leave stock on the final surface for a finishing pass.
• Tool selection: pick from the tool database. Stepover, stepdown, and feed rates come from the tool's database entry and cannot be edited inside the gadget, so tune the tool first (see the tool database entry).
• Reference values: a read-only section of calculated numbers for sanity-checking.

Fill in the fields and press OK to generate the toolpath; your entries are saved as defaults for next time.

Pro tips

• Square stock: Optimized Raster is usually the big time-saver.
• Leave a small allowance and take a light final skim for a cleaner surface on the finished cylinder.
• Companion gadgets for rotary layout work: see the wrapped spiral layout entry.
• Official documentation: Create Rounding Toolpath