custom tools

[Avarillas]

I need some help creating custom tools in x2

quick reference anybody

[Avarillas]

Its a Buuuuuuuuggggggggggggggggg!

[Guest]

I do custom tools as their own file and NEVER have a problem and I use A LOT of custom tools.

 

What are you having for a problem?

[crazy^millman]

Well this is from help for Mill:

 

quote:

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A tool profile is geometry that describes the shape of a tool. Mastercam uses the tool profile to simulate a tool in Backplot and Verify. Mastercam provides a tool profile for each tool type shown in the Tool tab of the Define Tool dialog box. These tool profiles are stored in separate Mastercam files in the MCAMXMillTOOLS or MCAMXRouterTOOLS directory. For example, the file FACEMILL.MCX stores the default tool profile used by all face mill tools.

 

Mastercam provides a variety of tool types, each with a corresponding default tool profile. When you define a tool using one of Mastercam’s built-in tool types, Mastercam automatically scales the default profile based on the tool diameter and other dimension that you enter in the tool definition. This ensures that cutter compensation is displayed correctly in Backplot and Verify.

 

You can customize tool profiles in either of two ways:

 

You can edit (or replace) the standard profiles, just by opening them up in Mastercam

 

You can create entirely new ones with the Undefined tool type. Use this technique when you need to use a tool that does not match any of the standard tool types. On the Tool Type tab, choose the Undefined button.

 

 

For the Undefined tool type, Mastercam calculates cutter compensation based on the diameter that you enter in the Tool tab. When Mastercam previews the user-defined profile of an Undefined tool in the Define Tool dialog box, the compensation point is indicated by a dotted yellow line on the profile as shown below.

 

 

When you backplot or verify an operation using an undefined tool with a diameter that differs from the custom tool profile, the geometry in the custom profile does not match the cutter compensation, so the tool will appear to be offset from the part.

 

To display a custom tool profile during simulation, select the As defined option in the Profile section of the Backplot options dialog box and the Verify options dialog box.

 

You can save the custom tool profile geometry in either a separate Mastercam file (like the standard tool profiles) or on a level in the part file. An advantage of saving a custom profile to a level of the part file is that the tool geometry can travel with the part file if it gets moved to a different computer. When saved as a separate Mastercam file, the file will need to be moved along with the part file and placed in the same location on the new computer as the old computer.

 

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For lathe I can not find something real and will try to throw you up something tomorrow.

[Tim Johnson]

quote:

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I do custom tools as their own file and NEVER have a problem and I use A LOT of custom tools.

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John,

Do you have issues with custom tools losing the file path? I was always having this problem (my custom files are on our server). I now give all my custom tools its own level and merge the tools into the main file as I need them and that has totally eliminated my problem.

[Guest]

No Tim, I don't, I keep all my custom tools in the tools folder in my install directory.

 

I don't do anything out on the network everything is local.

[crazy^millman]

I have all of my mills tools in my lathe folder since I do mill turn. I also took the mill-big-inch and made it into one that worked for lathe so I do not have to keep going over to the mill directory everytime I am going to do milling.

[gcode]

I have a library of about 60 custom tools complete with toolholder and the quill of the machines (really big horizontals with a W axis)

I keep them on a folder on the network so all the programmers have access to them.

I kept loosing the path to the files, so I moved all my tool libraries into that folder and made it my default tool folder. That solved the problem.