How to insert tabs to part.

[HannesN]

Hi,

My 2. question in 2 days. Hope you do not mind!

I am looking for a solution to easily and hazzle-free insert tabs/bridges to simple 2.5D parts. Lets say I wanna cut a simple square out of a sheet of MDF . How to keep the square in place while routing - with thin tabs, right? Is there any built in tabbing in solidcam as for Vectrics Cut2D or a straight forward workaround/hack to achieve the same?

Also being challenging here: These tabs should be aligned to the 'bottom' of the part and only be a fraction as high as the part itself - not to just say very thin.

I'd very much appreciate your kind help on this one! Looking forward to hear from you.

Best, Hanns

[metalworkz]

Hello Hanns,
I don't know about Solidcam but for Cut2D there is a tab option on profile toolpaths in the newer version. Adding tabs to the toolpath in Cut2D is very easy and pretty much drag and drop on the vectors.
There are some other ways to achieve keeping the part in the blank and the 'onion skin' or 'foiled' option has worked for me on various materials. When cutting the profile of you part simply set your cutting depth about .015" short of the actual material thickness for wood(I have used this with redwood and poplar but not MDF yet) For materials like aluminum you can do the same thing only much less material can be left to hold the parts, and probably .002" to .005" should be enough to foil the part in the blank. It is fairly easy to break most of the foiled material from the part and usually not hard to finish cleaning up the edges.
There is another option that works very well with sheetmetal fabrication and I have seen it work well with aluminum and that is the machining version of a micro-joint on the corners of the part. For example on a square part make your profile vectors so that there are 4 separate toolpaths that cut within about .020" of each other at all four corners at the ends of the cutting toolpath. That small .020" to .030" wire tab will normally hold the part very well in the blank and it is easily cleaned up as there is only a small protrusion at each corner after breaking out of the blank.
You might be advised to try these methods on a small scrap part to see which one will work for you and you might have to modify the last option if needed to increase the wire joints or make them smaller.
I hope something here helps you out!

[HannesN]

Hi Wes,

Thanks for your reply! I tested the onion skinnig on MDF and my results were unfortunately pretty poor. The material is just to brittle and not really made for this nice workaround.

I guess the tabs are just a very straight forward and 'headache of post processing the part' - free tool and I am quite surprised it's so not obvious to do in SC.

Thanks again, Best, Hanns

[metalworkz]

Hello again Hanns,
Did you look at the other option I mentioned at the end of my post? It does not involve creating tabs(so to speak) but it does leave the material tabbed at the corners. You can simply increase or decrease the tab width by how long you make the vectors for each side and end up with probably a good method to hold the part without doing any special work for bridges of tabs in programming. Odd shaped parts may be a bit more work but if you have an offsetting tool in your drawing software it might not be too bad. Good luck with your project!

[HannesN]

Hi Wes,

Now I got it. Yeah that sounds like a clever idea. So not doing 'horizontal', but instead 'vertical', right? I will look whether this is more feasible for me to accomplish in SC/SW than the thin horizontal ones. I'd almost say it is. I'll come back when I have results.

Still if someone out there is having a worklflow to do this I would very much appreciate to hear about it.

Thanks, best, Hanns

[Brakeman Bob]

Hans,

The way I deal with tabs in SolidCAM is to create surfaces in the part called CAM in the assembly that SolidCAM creates when you start a *.PRT file.

This is more SW than SC, but here's how I do it. I create sketches using a surface of the DesignPart as the sketch plane. Then extrude the sketch by however thick you want your tab. In Aluminium I use 0.15mm

Bob

[HannesN]

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your reply; was seeing your post just now after some more hazzle with tabs.

I actually do the tabs as you proposed; so SW-wise no real problem.

Just to recall: I am looking to keep simple flat pieces in place while milling profile operations on a 2.5d job.

So what I want to have is either a.) a 'vertical' tab - the tool path of the profile operation describing the perimeter of the part simply does not mill where the tabs are - or b.) a 'horizontal standard' tab as in packages like Cut2D.

For now I can't think of a simple and evident workflow for achieving one of these options - both approaches involve massive 'path-picking work' and multiple passes and for that are quite a pain when 'rapid' prototyping.

I'd very much appreciate your sharing of ideas and approaches. Looking forward to hear from you.

Thanks a lot, Best, Hanns

[mykrowyre]

Hans, did you ever find a good way to do tabs in solidcam? I've been researching this for a few weeks now, and like you, I have not found a straight forward way to do this. Yes, I can add the tabs when creating the part, but as you said this means doing lots of path picking in solidworks.

Would be interested to hear which method you finally settled on.

Thanks
tom

[HannesN]

No method I settled to. Just coming back to this issue now. It's a pain and I can hardly believe it's supposed to be done the way described in the thread. Would be happy to hear back from you and anyone who has a good idea. Best, Hannes

[tjfdownsouth]

If you are milling MDF or UHMW then i usually stop my profile cut short of going all the way through the last path like 0.02. This leaves a paper thin piece left to hold the part in place which can easily be removed with a utility knife. In wood this doesn't work because it splits with the grain so i have to do the SW method.

Tim

[HannesN]

Hi Tim, Yeah sure that's how I work around it as well. Nevertheless that's not to satisfying. I'll start a new thread being more precise of what I think of from beginning. Thanks, Hannes

[guru_florida]

Reviving an old thread here but, after you create the tabs in the CAM part....how do you machine around them using simple Profile operation? If I am selecting/creating a profile around the actual part, then there is no way to subtract out the tabs. There is also no check surfaces anymore.

Hans,

The way I deal with tabs in SolidCAM is to create surfaces in the part called CAM in the assembly that SolidCAM creates when you start a *.PRT file.

This is more SW than SC, but here's how I do it. I create sketches using a surface of the DesignPart as the sketch plane. Then extrude the sketch by however thick you want your tab. In Aluminium I use 0.15mm

Bob