Assemblies in mcam?

[Michael Reynolds]

Does anyone design assemblies in mastercam? If you do, how do you link the files together? Seems like a lot of work to manipulate levels to do this.

Thanks all!!!!

Mike R.

[Charles Davis]

Forget it. If you are doing complex assemblies, you really need something like Solidworks.

The way I do them in Mastercam is assign each part to a level. I then "save some" to save out each part as a different component, then Merge to create a new "build" of the assembly.

It works, but it's pretty ugly.

Mastercam was never meant to be a design package for complex assemblies. Solidworks has great tools for doing this (like, just click on a part in the assembly, and boom, you're now working on that component. Save it, and the part updates and the part in the assembly updates. Way cool).

[ 12-14-2001: Message edited by: Charles Davis from San Diego CADCAM ]

[Michael Reynolds]

Thanks Charles, that's what I thought.

Mike R.

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

I'm with Charles on this one. As someone who routinely uses Mastercam in ways that ....... well,...... let me just say the kind folks at Mastercam probably did not envision it would be used in the ways I do on a fairly regular Basis. I do use it as an Assembly Modeler and it is very cumbersome. The system slows down, for example, a part that I am making right now is teetering on 10MB, 90% of that is Model! Solids, Fixtures, Surfaces, Wireframe, Custom Tools Tools, I think I'm using around 30-40 Levels. But, I would rather manage one file than a handful.

JM2C

[bb]

have been createing assemblies for some time of press tools .I start with a lay out drawing a 2d tool design . i place the 2d views in suitable construction plane and position.layering views something like this plan view of bottom tool level 201 top tool 202 section aa lev 203 etc.the tool components are created on levels relative to there item no. item 1 level 1 etc.i've recently discovered by copying surfaces useing current contruction attributes the blanked base surfaces also are layered this may speed the layering process.this works in v8.11 but did not in previous versions.we machine the die components useing toolplanes and constuction planes in what we call die position.

we also use solid edge (recent purcase).i agree with charles about solid modeling design packages being a better way. i model smaller assemblies in mastercam being more familular with the product this will change as i get better at solid edge.we convert the solid edge assy via. parasolid translators. all the solids are on one level the last or highest level no. wire frames come in on sequential layers.