Customizing Setup Sheets in Mastercam with Excel Integration

[XXDALIXX]

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I have a question  that I thought this community might be able to help with. I work as a CNC programmer and use Mastercam for my projects. After I've completed my programming, I usually fill out an Excel file with tool part numbers, references, revisions, dates, and part images.

Recently, I came across the concept of setup sheets in Mastercam, and I realized that they can do something similar to my Excel file. I'm wondering if there's a way to customize my setup sheet by integrating my Excel data directly into it. This would save me a lot of time and effort.

Has anyone tried doing something similar, or does anyone have any insights into how I might go about it? Any tips, guidance, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[Jake L]

https://www.emastercam.com/forums/topic/106592-custom-setup-sheets-vs-mastercam-ones/

Checkout this post, a ton of good info in there

[XXDALIXX]

Hey Jake,

Thanks for sharing the link. After taking a closer look at the post, it does seem a bit more complex than I initially thought.

[crazy^millman]

3 hours ago, XXDALIXX said:

Hey Jake,

Thanks for sharing the link. After taking a closer look at the post, it does seem a bit more complex than I initially thought.

X+ is ideal for this.

[XXDALIXX]

1 hour ago, crazy^millman said:

X+ is ideal for this.

Unfortunately, our company doesn't want to spend any additional money, so we're looking for a solution that can be implemented without extra expenses.

[crazy^millman]

51 minutes ago, XXDALIXX said:

Unfortunately, our company doesn't want to spend any additional money, so we're looking for a solution that can be implemented without extra expenses.

They would rather thrown money away gotcha.

[Jake L]

1 minute ago, XXDALIXX said:

Unfortunately, our company doesn't want to spend any additional money, so we're looking for a solution that can be implemented without extra expenses.

You just got to prove the return on investment.

Ex. if I spend 3 hours a week typing tools into a tool sheet and getting X+ or something similar can bring that 3 hrs to 5 minutes... how many weeks before the product pays for itself and from then on it's saving money at no cost. 

[XXDALIXX]

6 minutes ago, Jake L said:

You just got to prove the return on investment.

Ex. if I spend 3 hours a week typing tools into a tool sheet and getting X+ or something similar can bring that 3 hrs to 5 minutes... how many weeks before the product pays for itself and from then on it's saving money at no cost. 

You're right about the return on investment. I actually tried something similar in the past. I proposed a 5-axis operation that would have saved a significant amount of time, and I provided data to prove it. However, they decided to stick with the old method, reasoning that two people were sufficient. It's sometimes challenging to convince decision-makers, even when the potential time and cost savings are clear.

[Jake L]

1 minute ago, XXDALIXX said:

It's sometimes challenging to convince decision-makers, even when the potential time and cost savings are clear.

Too true

[AHarrison1]

Just now, XXDALIXX said:

You're right about the return on investment. I actually tried something similar in the past. I proposed a 5-axis operation that would have saved a significant amount of time, and I provided data to prove it. However, they decided to stick with the old method, reasoning that two people were sufficient. It's sometimes challenging to convince decision-makers, even when the potential time and cost savings are clear.

I see that often, bean counters gladly stepping over a dollar to pick up a penny

[So not a Guru]

On 10/24/2023 at 8:53 AM, XXDALIXX said:

Hi everyone,

I hope you're all doing well. I have a question  that I thought this community might be able to help with. I work as a CNC programmer and use Mastercam for my projects. After I've completed my programming, I usually fill out an Excel file with tool part numbers, references, revisions, dates, and part images.

Recently, I came across the concept of setup sheets in Mastercam, and I realized that they can do something similar to my Excel file. I'm wondering if there's a way to customize my setup sheet by integrating my Excel data directly into it. This would save me a lot of time and effort.

Has anyone tried doing something similar, or does anyone have any insights into how I might go about it? Any tips, guidance, or resources would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

For a simple tool list, you can select your operations, in the Toolpath manager, right-click (with your cursor in the Toolpath manager) and select Tool List.

[cruzila]

The box stock setup sheets can give you a good start. I spent way too much time before I found out about the better options out there. The best advise is already been given, but the active reports can get you something that may work.