Tilting a part in mastercam

[swannytheswan]

I am trying to tilt a part in mastercam like it will be in the vise it will be set up at a 7° 20' and then I am cutting a slot in it at that angle. I want to do this in mastercam x4 and I assume you do it with the WCS tab but I don't know how to use it. I want to set the wcs(I think) so that I am looking down on the slot and the part is tilted so I can put a toolpath to the slot. thanks for your help in advance.

[littlerob]

If you want to change the Work Coordinate System (WCS), just click on the WCS menu at the bottom of the construction window and you options will pop up. You will want to select Top instead of Front (default).

Robert

[swannytheswan]

go it thanks I did have to change the WCS if anyone could give me a rundown of what each of those buttons in WCS and planes does that would be great I was having a time of it trying to figure out how to use the buttons or which one to choose. I ended up using the WCS by normal and then selecting a line and then going to planes and clicking planes = WCS I don't know if that is right but it got the result i wanted so...can't be too wrong lol.

[Superman]

This part of Mastercam does take a little time to get it to "click"

Basic use is as follows, there can be further, more advanced mixing of these items in the use of right-angled heads and so forth

Gview = is a graphics view only, it is not used in the creation of any toolpaths. BUT, you can manipulate a Gview into a desired orientation, & after naming it, it then can be used for toolpathing ( the combination of the WCS and this "new view" must be able to be supported by the machine's configuration -ie must have a 4th &/or 5th axis )

WCS = is the setup for the toolpath operation, it is how the part is presented to the tool when all rotational axes are at zero
- if using a 3 axis vertical machine, then the TOP view of the selected WCS is also used for the T & C planes in the toolpath operation.
-normally, all operations done in one particular setup, will all have the same WCS & T/C plane.

T-Plane = this is the starting orientation that the tool approaches the workpiece from in respect of the WCS that is in that operation
ie say the WCS is TOP view, and the T/C planes is FRONT. then any toolpaths done on the FRONT T-plane will be A90. and those done with T/C plane TOP will be A0.

C-Plane = construction plane, normally the same as the T-plane, so depths, clearances etc can be selected in respect of the tool's Z-axis

Further info
NOTE---machining centres have the TOP view looking from overhead, towards the floor.
a vertical machine has the "upper face" in the TOP view, and the machining is from this direction (TOP)
---a horizontal has it's "upper face" pointing to the FRONT to get the B0. output, and the RIGHT / LEFT views automatically give the correct B angle output. For correct NC angle outputs, the operation WCS is TOP, T & C plane is FRONT = B0, when WCS = TOP, T/C planes = RIGHT SIDE will give a B90. in the NC code

Originally Posted by swannytheswan go it thanks I did have to change the WCS if anyone could give me a rundown of what each of those buttons in WCS and planes does that would be great I was having a time of it trying to figure out how to use the buttons or which one to choose. I ended up using the WCS by normal and then selecting a line and then going to planes and clicking planes = WCS I don't know if that is right but it got the result i wanted so...can't be too wrong lol.

-you are not wrong, there is usually more that 1 way to skin it
( easiest method, if you got real problems with planes, is to create a new session, and orientate the part to the TOP view in the way the tool would see the part - but this gets messy, multiple drawings, toolpaths everywhere, difficult to verify blah, blah....you'll lose yourself very quickly )

in your situation, ( there are shortcuts, but to explain the long way )
- 1 method may be to rotate the Gview, around Y by ±7.3333°, ( when happy that this view is correct,) then name this "NEW VIEW", place the origin/offset # etc. Then use that "NEW VIEW" as your WCS & T/C planes in your toolpath operations
-using the "View Manager" enables you to copy, modify, rename, modify origins, or switch planes etc ( you cannot delete the system planes )

[jimtech]

Because your toolplane will still be TOP, what I have done is go to Front GView then rotate the part to the angular orientation you need about the origin. You view at Top GView will then be correct. No need to create a new WCS or toolplane unles you are doing the rotation on a tilting rotary setup. Make sure Mastercam is in 2D not 3d (toggle on bottom task bar) or you will be skewed at a compound angle rather than a simple angle

[cadcam]

Jimtech, this is fine if he has no other paths in the reg top plane other wise it will dirty the other ops.
if you want to to do rotation then use WCS rotation and you can tell the "Z" to rotate around the "X" or "Y" to setup the plane as a new WCS top.

[chavez0101]

If you are using a version of x you can hit wcs button click on wcs by geometry and click on 2 lines to create your new view and name it.
Make sure you go into the view manager and click on your new view and hit the = sign to make it active.