design and toolpath suggestions

[CAM CRAZY]

I am looking for some guidance. I uploaded a file on the FTP site trode suggestions

lvl 1&2 are the original imported file from the customer

lvl 10 and 11 are the trode that I created

 

1st

As you can see on the trode I created surfaces from the solid and extended them for safety clearence in the cavity. then I created the 1/2 barrel just as a stopping point for the toolpath.

Question: is there a effective way to create the trode as 1 solid entity instead of having floating surfaces over the solid 1/2 barrel?

I think this would help me have a smoother toolpath as I could then add fillets were the barrel and floating surfaces meet.

 

2nd. I am mostly a self taught Mastercam user and at times still unsure of what toolpath to use. On this file I have 8 operations. ops 1-6 are what I was going to use and ops 7 and 8 are now the ones I am concidering to use instead of ops 4-6. Do you guys have any thoughts on this?

 

Thanks!!

Aaron

 

X3 MU1

vista

[Todd Tracey from Fastech]

Have you see or heard of "Electrode maker" from the Moldplus group?

Ask your reseller about it.

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

I think your design method is as efficient as it can be with Mastercam. Sure you could probably stitch it all together into a single solid but if Mastercam is your only design tool it's going to take more time than it's worth...

 

Hmmmmm... I see now that your signature shows you have Solidworks... Why not create the electrode in Solidworks then just machine it in Mastercam. This is the method I use with Topsolid and the real benefit is the improved documentation with the more advanced design software (Solidworks also excels at this task).

 

Regarding your machining strategy I like both methods you used and would probably select the best one by evaluating the finish produced.

 

Typically I use the same basic strategy as you except I prefer the older toolpaths due to less calculating time... I'd use Surface Rough Pocket, Surface Rough Restmill, Surface Finish Contour (with shallow cuts removed) and finally Surface Finish Shallow on this part. This method serves me well on 90% of my electrodes.

[CAM CRAZY]

Thanks for the input. As far as solidworks goes I am a beginner at it. mostly learning by On the job training.