Modification To a Solid that drives toolpaths

[Dave.L]

OK, So today I realized that I made a geometric mistake when creating a solid (in Solidworks)

 

So, I fixed the solid and then had no idea how to fix the one in MC. With that said, I deleted the solid in MC and re imported the SW solid

 

The part is not too involved, only about 30 operations so it was not too bad reselecting all the geometry.

 

However, I can see where this could get ugly quick with a complex part.

 

Someone please tell me there is an easy way to update the solid that I am unaware of

[Colin Gilchrist]

Hi Dave,

 

There are a ton of tools that you can use in Mastercam to fix or change a solid. What did you need to do? Can you post up some pictures of before/after? Then I can tell you what commands you would need to use.

 

The short answer is "not really". There is a function called "Change Recognition" that is supposed to make it easy to update toolpaths when a part changes, but good luck getting it to work on something complex. To be fair, I haven't investigated it in a while. It really depends on exactly how you are changing the geometry...

[Dave.L]

Hi Colin,

 

I don't want to modify the solid within MC, at least I would prefer not to. I guess if a needed to make a minor change it would be worth doing but my preference would always be to re import the corrected solid.

 

I will take a look at the "change recognition" function you mentioned.

 

Thanks.

[Superman]

I have found that selecting solid entities for creating toolpaths to be a bummer at times,

 

Your toolpaths "dirty" at a blink of an eye, solid fillet a feature on the opposite side of the part and any operation that has any reference to the solid is dirtied.

 

I create selected surfaces from the solid and use these to create toolpaths. If the solid is modified, then the surfaces that are incorrect are moved and hidden and the proper surfaces are re-selected. The dirty operations that require re-picking are the ones that had been affected by the alteration.

[Mike Whitten CAD/CAM Contractors]

There are many ways to do this so it really depends on preference. I just do as Superman has mentioned. I always keep the "master" in SW with a coordinate system set up so it lands in Mastercam perfectly. I never reference the solid in Mastercam in any way. I just use the wire or surfaces (created from solid). This way you can pop a new "Master" solid in at anytime quickly and easily. Just notate your levels appropriately and away you go. Change Recognition does work pretty well, but I prefer the foregoing method better.

 

Mike

[Greg Williams]

I do the same as Mike

[FP1]

quote:

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I always keep the "master" in SW with a coordinate system set up so it lands in Mastercam perfectly.

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I haven't used Solidworks since 2006, and am just getting back into it now. Can someone post a screen shot of this "coordinate system" function from Solidworks?

[Mike Whitten CAD/CAM Contractors]

Here is a link to a PDF of the help in SW:

link

 

Mike

[Dave.L]

I use the solid and some wireframe geometry to create toolpaths. It seems as MC will select wireframe geometry when viewing the model in wireframe. I seem to get solid geomtry for tool paths when I select centers of holes.

 

To be honest, I have not spent time in the help file to fully understand the entity selection process (I need to do that).

 

When I deleted my solid (to import the revised one) I was suprised to see that I had a bunch of wireframe entites, I don't understand this and the purpose

 

I often use wireframe since I find the shaded (solids) in MC to be really poor compared to solidworks and other systems.

[Joe788]

Dave, when you're in "file/open", if you have the file type set as a solid, there will be an options button. That button will let you choose whether or not to create edge curves with the solid.

 

I personally only use the solid for verification. I'm old school, so I like surfaces and wireframe.

[Dave.L]

Hey Joe,

 

Thanks For the tip, I'll give it a try.

 

Happy Holidays!!