new user here

[deckard]

I am an industrial designer with an advanced surfacing background and have been using Pro/Engineer since 1997 and feel I have a strong grasp on the main principles of using CAD. I have been trained to use the CNC module for Pro/E and have been machining products since 2001. I have been going through the tutorials that came with the software and have been able to find my way around Mastercam. I just need to know just how

to use the functions offered by Mastercam.

 

Some of the questions I have are as follows:

 

creating wireframe geometry?

creating construction (datum)planes? is this where you would sketch curves?

move the object closer to the WCS or move the WCS to object?

can single surfaces be modified?

can all three construction planes be displayed at the same time?

 

These are all very basic questions that I know can be easily answered. I'm going through the books which tell me how and what to do for the objects that are given in the tutorials but not for any items that I will be producing. I have been looking at the products that were designed before

my arrival and can see just what they were made of through solid manager but haven't been able to figure out how the surfaces were created or how to modify if necessary.

 

We are going to be using IGES surface data and building solids or surfaces on top of the IGES data. Once our product is designed using surfaces

we would like to be able machine the surface.

 

What is the Mastercam approach to this type of design method?

Create all surfaces and turn them into solids?

Can surfaces or surface models be machined?

 

Based on the questions that I have asked and our approach to product design, what training should I be registered for?

 

I would like to become an effective user of this software and look forward to your response.

[betts]

Welcome to the forum!

"Creating wireframe geo" is pretty simple, once you undestand the system.

 

You can create "construction planes any whee you want, and draw anything from that plane.

 

Personally I rarely move objects, but change my WCS to whatever my need are. Mostly because the items I would be moving are part of a larger assembly and would lose their position in the assembly.

 

Yes surfaces can be modified.

 

For those of us who have been around since before solids, most think its actually easier to machine from surfaces than solids. And some things are only possible with surfaces.

 

In my experience, stitching surfs into a solid is usually only to advantage if there are further changes to make that would be easier to do on a solid. You can export the solid to something else, but it will still be "dumb".

 

I don't have a good answer on the training, but somebody here will as several have different options available.

 

HTH

[Bill]

I would recommend reading the design tutorial front to back but figure after a couple of chapters you will get the hang of it.

 

MC doesn't use datum planes per se. Set your c-plane and Z level and from there you can create "sketches". Depending on how complex your design needs are there are multiple ways to obtain 3 d wireframe.

 

As for machining, same thing read the books that came with it. Get your feet wet and look for a machining class that may be offered by your reseller.

 

Once you get a handle on sketches and creating surfaces I would suggest advanced surface training. Manipulating surfaces can be a bugger at times but there's usually more than one way to skin a cat.

[deckard]

Thanks in advance to everyone for the info.

[Jeremy Haage from MCAM NorthWest]

For Training:

 

I would first check with your local Mastercam reseller to find out what they recommend for your particular situation. There's many books, classes, training CD's, etc. that have been created by various Mastercam resellers so you should have lots of options.

 

One of these options is www.streamingteacher.com This is online video training that you can subscribe to for 90, 180 or 365 days. You can access this from anywhere (as long as you have an internet connection) 24/7. You can subscribe to Mastercam v9 courseware or Mastercam X courseware depending on what you want to learn.

 

Hope this info gets you started in the right direction for learning. Welcome to the forum!

 

Jeremy

[HevyMetl]

As a Pro/e Pro/man Pro/Mold user the first advice I want to give you is that the Pro/E world does not apply to MC. Pretty much forget everything you learned about parametric creation, model order of creation, and parent child releationships. MC is a sketcher on steriods. Constraints don't apply, parent child releationships don't get in the way of creating something for reference then deleting it after its desired effect. The guys are pretty much right on use the tutorials and you will be flying around this software in days.

 

I do all of my design work in Pro and export STEP first then IGES if necessary into MC. I machine right from the STEP solid and use containment boundaries to control areas I want to machine. You can view all three contstruction planes by selcting your VIEWPORTS option. Single Surfaces can not be modified as in pro by changing curves or boundaries, you will have to delete and recreate if you change curves driving the surface. Back to the no parent child relationships thing.

 

Now with that said, MCX works similarly to Pro in that you can preselect items for opereations and movements. Construction planes are much like datum planes without Parent child releations. WCS are the same except you can quickly rereference from one to the other with model failure requiring rerouting. If you have specific questions I would be glad to help, just e-mail me and I can take a look at it. The forums FTP is an awsome place to post a file and have others help with it. HTH

 

WELCOME to the forum.