flowlines?

[Sem001]

Here is my problem my cmm doesn't recognize surfaces so I have to create flowlines everywhere so the operator can have a poin to pick off of. I know how to use flowlines but the problem is a lot of my surface files contain hundreds of surfaces and it is very time consuming to click on each surface individually and create them is there a way I can select all surfaces use say the constant spacing parameter and create all flowlines at once or posssibly create curves through out a surface and not just on the edges? I am usin v8.1.1 and would appreciate any help ya can give me

[gmenzies]

there are several ways of creating crossections.

one simple way is to use create/curve/slice

you can select a plane and depths and it will slice right through all your surfaces.

or you can create flat surfaces at differant depths and create a intersect curve.

[Zero]

I dont think it is possible to do multiple surfaces at one time with a specified distance between them with mastercam alone.Flowline will do 1 at a time and "flow" with the surface,but like you said you can't do multiple surfaces.There is a c-hook called moldplus that will create curves at a specified distance or number on multiple surfaces at once(I think) normal to any plane.It's got some other pretty nifty features to it as well.I think it might cost like $1500 though.If you need to do this sort of thing alot then it might be worth looking into.I know we got it from our reseller and I think they've got some info on it at mastercam.com.

[Scott Bond]

Hi

Some stuff I use for our guys

plan "a"

create curve project---this will work with many lines arcs,and many surfaces.

plan "B"

Toolpathessurfacefinishparallel

(the cuts will be constant spacing)

backplotsave as geometry ( on their own level)

screen endpointssave points(only if splines are required)

create splines from the points (auto)

I have more options on this stuff if needed.But I am sure the forum brothers will have some new ,hopefuly easier ways

[ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Scott Bond ]

[Guest CNC Apps Guy 1]

Plan "A" was going to be my suggestion or Create Point Project and give it certain locations so Inspector #12 can find himself.

No, wait, after re reading your question, I think you want to use Create, Curve, Slice. Select the surfaces Inspector #12 wants to check, select Done. You'll see this on youe primary menus.

Decide what direction you want your slices to run. Say you select X Constant, you'll be prompted at the bottom of your screen for the X Coordinate of Plane. This means that you'll need to tell it where you want the slices to start. You'll see this This tells you what direction the curves will go and where you plane starts. If you did not select the proper location to start, you can re-select by selecting Plane. The menu will look like this now. Select Spacing to specify how far apart you want your slices. The Options menu gives you these selections to control what you get further. See here. Play around with it, experement, as long as you do not leave, you can always use Alt+U to undo it.

 

Hope this helps.

[ 01-16-2002: Message edited by: James Meyette ]