A couple of questions about MC

[Tarkus]

I have some experience with mastercam, however, I've kind of found myself in a position where I need a couple of questions answered... Hopefully somebody here can help me out. I'm currently using MC9 but soon to be using MCX

1. Is it possible to use a solid as a stock piece? For instance, say you have a solid of an existing casting, can I use that solid to determine where it's actually cutting rather than a rectangular prism or cylinder when doing verification?

2. This is about 4th axis milling... Am I correct in assuming that you need to create a new WCS every time you want a feature at a different A angle? What if I wanted to drill 45 holes around a cylinder? would I need a different WCS every time?

Any help is greatly appreciated

[mishikwest]

1. In v9 you can use a solid as a stock for verify. You need to draw your solid casting, save as an STL, and then in the verify dialog select "use file" for verify stock definition.

In X, there is an option right off the bat in the verify dialog to use a solid as a stock. That solid has to be in your current file, and visible on the screen. If it meets those criteria, you can bypass the the stl stage. If you want to use a solid in a different file for stock def, then you need to save as an stl and go the previously mentioned route.

2. For 4th axis, you do not use wcs to change A. output. It will not output a A move in your post (generally speaking). You set your wcs, and then leave it. You change you Tool and Construction plane (T/C), and THAT will output A. moves.

hth.

[dmealer]

Hello,
Another easy way for you to drill around your part, if there is a pattern and it's equally spaced holes, is the transform toolpath option. It will let you repeat a patter around the A axis. For an example, the other day I needed to drill a 4 hole pattern at 4 diffrent places around a cylinder and another 1 hole pattern of a differnt size at 4 places around the same cylinder. All this required was creating 2 points and no new planes. I can send you a copy of the file if it will help.
Regards and MERRY CHRISTMAS
Dalen Mealer

[cadcam]

I use the WCS with 4th but waht I do is use it to create named viws so I can set my Cplan & Tplane from it vary easly and they stick better .

I am includeing a sample that has points around a dia and drilling that use the Axis Postioning in the 4th axis button.

[Tarkus]

Awesome, I got 'er figured out guys. Thanks for your help!