Need a Hand- 4 Axis groove

[sjanson13]

I have MasterCam X3 and I am trying to cut a groove in a cylinder that represents the cavity for a spring.

I have modeled the part in Catia and imported it using and IGES file. I used the toolpath, "Rotary 4 Axis" and it is picking up the profile that I want but it wants to cut both sides of the groove. I just want it to cut the face that is outboard which would give me a helical groove that resembles a mold for a spring.

I am a beginner using MasterCam (6 months) and this is my first 4 axis job. Most of my errors result in clicking a button or something simple. Appreciate the help, I am not getting anything from the manuals that I have.

[Superman]

"Drive surfaces" are what mastercam will calculate the toolpath to.

Use the other surfaces as "Check Surfaces" , to force mastercam to stay away from

A surface selected for "dive" cannot also be a "check"

HINT---the more entities that are selected, the longer it takes to calculate a path, keep it simple, and add entities as you go, don't blindly add all the others that weren't selected as "drive"

Containment boundaries are used to keep the tool in a particular area, rotary work sometimes may use a boundary on the ends to stop the tool going too far ( ie into the chuck jaws, or falling off the end )

[sjanson13]

Thanks for the input.

I don't have the path cutting perfect yet but getting it to cut only one side of the groove was a big hurdle.