splitting a mould into cavity and core

[ngkim]

does anyone know how to split a mould into a cavity and core parts using mastercam without that moldplus c-hook enhancements?

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Very carefully.

It a long and tedious process and would take considerable space to detail.

In a nutshell, you'll need to decide which surfaces will be your core and which ones will be your cavity, put them on seperate levels then translate/rotate into position. If you need parting line stuff, you'll need to translate/rotate into position, create a curve slice for your parting line and trim the surfaces keeping the trimmed surfaces then seperate them again. Very long and tedious process. Moldplus SolidSep is so worth the little money it costs. Basically it'll pay back after the first or second mold because of how much time you'll save. I can do in 5-10 minutes with Moldplus what it takes even the most advanced user doing it the old fashioned way 8-12 hours. .... and I am a novice user of Moldplus.

Something to think about.

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James M.

Mastercam Enthusiast

[cadcam]

Like james said you need to know what you are looking at .

of course being a mold maker you have a better perspective for what is what.

i have done alot of them with & without moldplus, moldplus is a vary GOOD plus when comes to saving time.

So the answer is yes i have done it many times without moldplus, it is just a time factor.

so do you need the help of us?

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jay/ aka cadcam

Precision Programming

email: [email protected]

web: www.ppcadcam.com

[mikee]

Solidworks can do mold cavity work also. I've done some work with it. It will split cores and cavities wherever you want.

just my 2 cents

mikee

[Bill]

Hey guys, I have moldplus and alot of the times I don't use solid sep. That is what most of job is "splitting molds and creating parting lines".

A somewhat easy way to do it, if you know what a mold has to be i.e. line of draw and such, is like James said.

What I do is:

rotate the part into the line of draw

shade part

check front and side views for visible part line (naked eye)

Set con plane to top unshade and modify normal with (surface_ show back_ on)

:this will show any undercuts on the surfaces

:shade again change level with that level off and start moving cavity half surfaces that will not need to be split

:Do the same for known core surfaces

: with what is left create Part line

: split remaining surfaces and repeat process

 

Not to boast or anything but 8 hours MAYBE on a real complex tool with multiple slides and lifters, but usually I can split them in an hour or so

But like I said that is mainly what I do all day.

P.S. I do like solid sep sometimes if I have a an easy split.

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B. Henderson

OMEGA PlASTICS

[email protected]

opinc.com

[This message has been edited by Bill (edited 07-12-2001).]

[mopar]

What does your parting line have to look like? do you have geometry we can see?

[yenkls]

Mikee,

To the best of my knowledge, although Solidworks is in general a good product, it has nothing to do with mold design. In Mastercam we can at least easily find the parting line, while SolidWorks hasn't even this ability.

Have a nice weekend.

 

[Mark H]

yenkls

Not taking anything away from Mastercam or Moldplus, but Solidworks has some very promising add-ons for mold work. Our engineers are currently trying them out - moldworks and splitworks.

[This message has been edited by Mark H (edited 07-13-2001).]

[gmenzies]

I aggree with Mark H . i use solidworks daily for core and cavity splits . very powerful tool. the add on we bought

was geometry works to add alot more surface

tools functiality . (very similar to fastsurf)

we switched from cadkey to solidworks for mold design . and very happy with the results.