Mold design

[cnc_works2000]

Is there someone here who make injection molds with Mastercam

[HevyMetl]

Welcome to the forum!

 

Do you mean completed design and manufacturing or just Manufacturing?

 

I do all our our mold and electrode design with PROE and PROMold. I do all of our toolpath generation with MC.

[cnc_works2000]

I do mold with Mastercam. I take interest in any part specialy about molds

[jimp]

I used to make the programs for Injection and compression moulds a few years ago machine quartz now but still a toolmaker at heart.

 

JimP

[Gary]

OUrs is all done with mc. Rubber molds not to much for slides ect.

[Hardmill]

Most of our work is designed in solidworks, machined

only w/ Mastercam

 

 

PEACE

[El Scotthead]

Our mold designer still designs molds the old fashioned way--in autocad, 2D.

But I'm happy to report that all electrodes and prototypes are done in Mastercam.

 

 

scott

[gavetta]

A few years back, I work for a company that used pro-e to slit core/cav and everything else was MC. I designed and ran my own electodes from the geometry the mold "designer" gave us for the core and cav. I was looking at the latest version of Mold PLus online just yesterday and though "boy...wish we had that back then"

[cnc_works2000]

I have about 10 molds designed in Mastercam and I want to excange experience about it

[Micromoldmaker]

I am trying to get my boss to buy me Moldplus Professional. It looks like it complements Mastercam nicely. I'd like to give it a try. Mastercam just has too many limitations when doing solids design.

[gavetta]

Hey Micromold,

I've yet to actually use Moldplus myself but have seen an older version in use and it was pretty slick back then (around ver MC6-MC7 times...?) and from what I can see it looks like it's got a lot more features/enhancement. I saw a designer use it to split sufaces to creat core/cav. Seemed to work well on a fairly complex parting line.

[KEVCAM]

I'm with you senior hardmill..

 

"Most of our work is designed in solidworks, machined

only w/ Mastercam "

 

 

Just waitin for X X X !

[Racer X]

I do all my work on MasterCam. Cavity core separation, mold design, electode design and all my machining. (no mold plus here I had it at the last place I worked and only used it a few times. I found too many places on complex partlines that it just didn't work correctly. It is probably better now). I have done some pretty complex molds with it and have had little trouble. I am considering purchasing solidworks at present. But will see how much the design side of X improves first.

 

Cheers

[gavetta]

This might sound crazy.....but I knid of miss designing electrodes and cutting steel (more the electrodes). It was kind of like pcs of a puzzle fitting together, once you saw the finished part it all came together. I do mostly prototype parts out of plastic, aluminum, modulon, etc (ocassionally a fixture out of steel). I did enjoy mold work though. Sorry to go off topic cnc_works2000. Seems like Moto GP is the guy you want to talk to.

[cnc_works2000]

Hi Moto GP, my email is [email protected] if you want write me. All my work in Mcam too. I don't problem with design.

[Dan_AKA_ROY]

Parting surfs are created in a snap with mold plus. Lots of great features!

[betts]

+1 to Dan on the Mold Plus. It is pretty reliable now on the core and cavity split. I haven't seen or tested anything that is 100% with complex parts, but then there would be no need for us now would there?

[Dan_AKA_ROY]

I copied and pasted this from mold plus help. It goes over core/cavity separation

 

 

 

SOLID SEP instantaneously separates the core and cavity halves of complex multi-surface files created by a Solids Modeler and imported into Mastercam. This tedious and boring design job can now be done in minutes instead of hours.

 

The separation direction is relative to the active construction plane. Any plane is possible but most parts will be separated with the Construction plane indicating TOP. Therefore, rather than calling either side a Core or Cavity, based on the part orientation, the part is simply separated to a Z+ height or Z- height. The user can determine which is Core and Cavity. We do not name it as Core or Cavity since the parts are oriented in opposite ways sometimes. Therefore we use the terminology CP Z+ and CP Z- to indicate construction plane Z+ and construction plane Z-.

 

 

A typical part will show results with 96% or more of the part’s surfaces being correctly identified. There will be a few vertical or circular surfaces that will not be correctly separated. In this circumstance, the user can immediately move the desired surfaces that are shown at a separate Z height to the either half using the Move Undef feature. Beyond that, the user still has full flexibility to move any surfaces to either half with a simple click of the mouse. As soon as the desired surface is indicated and selected, it is immediately moved to the opposing half with the corresponding change in attributes that were defined for the opposing half.

 

 

ATTENTION: THERE ARE FEW RESTRICTIONS WITH SOLID SEP

 

SOLID SEP FUNCTIONS BEST WITH PARTS CREATED IN A SOLIDS MODELER THAT HAVE AN EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR. GEOMETRY CREATED WITH MASTERCAM SURFACE MODELING OR ANOTHER SURFACE MODELER WILL HAVE PROBLEMS ESPECIALLY IF THE THICKNESS OF THE PART WAS CREATED USING THE OFFSET SURFACE FUNCTION THAT REFERNENCES THE BASE SURFACE.

 

MAKE SURE THAT ALL (OR AS MANY AS POSSIBLE) DUPLICATE SURFACES ARE ELIMINATED. DUPLICATE SURFACES CAN SEVERELY AFFECT THE PERCENTAGE OF SURFACES CORRECTLY SEPARATED.

 

 

TIP: After translating a file into Mastercam, verify the following:

 

1. All the surfaces are NURBS surfaces. To perform a quick check, click on Modify, XtoNurbs, All entities. This will convert any non-NURBS surfaces to NURBS format.

2.Move all splines, lines and arcs to another level or simply delete them This will avoid confusion in the future for splitting.

3. Perform an analysis on the surfaces to make sure there are no bad surfaces. Analyze, Surfaces, Check Model, All Surfaces and use the default settings.

4. Re-orient the part to the desired location for solid separation.

 

5. Run the File, Next Menu, RAM-saver to clean the database of duplicates, corrupt entities, etc.

6. Save the file and then perform the Solid Separation.

 

 

IF YOUR PART CONSISTS PRIMARILY OF CYLINDERS WITH VERTICAL WALLS, SOLID-SEP WILL HAVE DIFFICULTIES SEPARATING THE SURFACES. ALL THE SURFACES MUST HAVE COINCIDENT COMMON EDGES OR THE SEPARATION WILL NOT FUNCTION CORRECTLY. THIS IS WHY SOLID-SEP FUNCTIONS BEST WITH MODELS CREATED IN A SOLIDS MODELER.

 

 

Result Attributes

 

 

Colors and Levels

Allows the user to control the attributes of each result for simplifying future manipulation. It is highly recommended to use the default colors and for additional simplicity, define a different level for each result type (at-least the CPZ+, the CPZ- and the rest to the same level). You can change the name of the levels if you desire by clicking on the furthest right button for the corresponding level. This will open the Mastercam Levels dialog to rename the levels. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT ALL THE COLORS ARE SET DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER. The default settings are set for all colors to be different.

 

 

Name Levels

The levels will be named according to the names in the left column. The user can always click on the respective button and give custom names if he desires to do so. If you wish to use custom names, MAKE SURE THIS BUTTON is NOT CHECKED!

 

 

Open

Translate the surface geometry using the CP translation heights upon separation.

 

 

CP Translation Heights (Z)

Allows the user to physically separate the parts after the surfaces have been identified as core or cavity by a user defined value. The translation direction is normal to the active Construction Plane. This allows for easier viewing of the core and cavity surfaces.

 

 

CP Z+

Translate the surfaces marked to the CP Z+ direction by this specified value. This side could represent the Core or the Cavity Side.

 

Undecided

Move the Vertical, Straddle or Unknown surfaces to the specified Z height. This automatically calculates to half the Z height of the CP Z+ value and is user-definable.

 

 

Mode

Specifies whether the part should be separated using the inch or metric mode. As a default, Moldplus always selects the default Mastercam Units system.

 

Tol. Between surfaces

The Tolerance between surfaces is required when developing the topology of complex parts. If your part was created in millimeters, the recommended default value is 0.05 MM and in inches it is 0.002 inches. You may vary these values slightly to increase or even decrease the percentage of surfaces correctly separated.

 

 

Vertical Tol. (deg):

This default value defines the tolerance of surface from the vertical in Degrees. This can be modified if you want to isolate draft surfaces but it is highly recommended to leave this value alone.

 

 

Pre-Split Straddle Surfaces

 

This button will split all possible straddle surfaces into 2 separate surfaces before performing the regular core and cavity split. This eliminates the additional step to split straddle surfaces at a later stage. Keep this box checked as a default if your surface models consist of regular and straddle surfaces.

 

Leave Straddle surfaces on Straddle level

This button when checked will split the straddle levels, but not move the surfaces to the relevant Core or Cavity side. The user may want to have these surfaces on a separate level.

 

 

DO IT

 

Perform the operation. Once this operation is performed, it cannot be undone. Separates the surfaces following the setting.

 

As a default, when you click on this button, an AskBox is displayed, explaining what happens. This is what is displayed when you click on it the first time. You can always deactivate the box by clicking on the “Do not Show Again” checkbox.

 

 

 

 

If you click on Do It more than once, while still in the Sold Sep menu, the following dialog will be displayed warning you that you have already performed the Solid Separation.

 

 

 

 

 

OPEN/CLOSE

 

Opens or closes the part relative to the active construction plane and the Z separation distance defined in the settings. All the CPZ+ surfaces will get moved to the respective height and the Undefined surfaces will get moved to half the CP Z+ height or a user-specified height.

 

The first time the Open/Close function is used, BEFORE a solid separation is used, the following dialog box is displayed, warning you that the Solid Separation operation has not been performed yet.

 

 

 

 

 

MOVE UNDEF.

 

This function provides for easier control of the Vertical, Straddle and Unknown surfaces that are now isolated to a separate Z height. This menu allows better control of these entities.

 

 

UNDO

 

Undo the last changes by selection. This does not undo the main solid seperation. It only undoes the last surface moved individually by clicking on it after the solid separation was performed.

 

 

REDO

 

Redo the last undo(s).

 

 

TIP: Once the Solid separation is done and the Move Undefined features is used to move the undefined surfaces to Core or Cavity, you can easily change the property of any surfaces to Core or Cavity by simply clicking on them.

 

TIP: To FILL the holes for any open holes or gaps, using the Both Options feature of the Close Trims function, using the relevant function (normally Closed Hole or the Merge Brother functions), fill and untrim the holes BEFORE using the Solid separation function. After performing this, if you click on Do It in the Solid Sep function, the filled holes and the untrimmed surfaces will be moved to the appropriate sides for Core and Cavity, thereby not requiring the filling of holes at a later stage. BIG TIME SAVER!

 

 

Example of solid separation. The yellow surfaces are vertical surfaces and remain at the middle Z height. Using the Move Undef. Function, you can easily move the Yellow surfaces to the Top or Bottom.

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

I've been using Moldplus for 6 months or so now... I can't really comment on design features as I mostly deal with electrodes and cutting mold plates. Most of our designs are purchased. I have probably only tried half of the features but mostly I like what I've used with only a couple complaints.

 

1. save often. If you know what you're doing it works perfectly but if you are new to moldplus, you'll find it crashes Mastercam if you confuse it.

 

2. The electrode maker is not as good as it could be. I wish I could customize it more.

 

I have to say, though, that the surface trimming tools are handy enough to justify the cost of the whole package !

[Bill]

Getting back to Mastercam and Mold design... I use MC for my designs now, but the biggest irritant would be the lack of a BOM when I am finishing my prints. I have (had Cadkey license issues) Cadkey and XMD. XMD worked great in the print side of design especially in the building of the BOM, but when I formatted my pc I lost my cad license file and now they want to charge me AGAIN. It kept track and ballooned the components I chose.

 

Cimatron uses some sort of script that produces an Excel spreadsheet.

 

Does anyone out there know if it's possible to write a script similar for Mastercam?

 

That would be extremely helpful for designs.

 

I am at a loss when it comes to writing script.

 

Thank you in advance.

[Gilberto]

For Mold Design in Mastercam check this links:

http://www.mastercam.com/camzone/Newslette....asp#thirdparty

 

http://www.grandesoft.pt/#automold

 

email me if you want a demonstration.

 

Gilberto