Holes on Solids

[Thoob]

Hi Guys, I just got some flak from my boss for programming some holes undersize. I had a bunch of 13/16 holes to be drilled, I programmed them with an 11/16 by mistake and the operator did not check it. What I want to know is am I programming them wrong? I have a solid drawn from the customer, I convert it to surface (I don't have solid support) and select toolpath drill, entities. I select the entities and then pick my drill. Is there a way to select holes based on the geometry drawn and it selects the proper drill from my library automatically? Thus I can't program the wrong drill again?

[Goldorak]

create curve on the edges of the solid then drive your drilling toolpath by using entity

[Chris Rizzo]

That would be a function of Feature Base Drilling. I believe you need solids for it. It is pretty amazing and powerful if you do alot of drilling, tapping, c-boring, hole making, anything round, etc. Takes a bit to set it up, but heck it could have paid for itself with this one part here.

[Thoob]

Ok thanks. Now I'm only self taught in Mcam so there is a lot I'm not familiar with, eg creating a curve on the edge. What will that do? I'm talking about a part with about 40 holes.

[K2csq7]

Thoob, use STL compare inside verify, you would have seen that easily.

[Thoob]

I got my boss to buy the solid option. Once I showed him what the FBM did, he had no problem getting it. Thanks fellas.

[heavychevy2155]

I would work closely with my reseller to really dial in the FBM. If you do alot of plate work with holes all over the place it can reduce programming time. Also look into some training from your reseller, a 2 or 3 day class can really help you move forward and become a much better programmer.

[Festus]

Ok thanks. Now I'm only self taught in Mcam so there is a lot I'm not familiar with, eg creating a curve on the edge. What will that do? I'm talking about a part with about 40 holes.

 

if you create curves all sides and then select all the arcs that represent the bottom of your drill points and you're done! Make sure top of stock is equal to deepest hole. analyze entity to see diameter of drill requires.

[CJep]

select the entities and then pick my drill. Is there a way to select holes based on the geometry drawn and it selects the proper drill from my library automatically? Thus I can't program the wrong drill again?

 

 

FBM Drill is the solution,

Yes, you need to have a solid model to work with (surface models don't have features),

The FBM Drill utility can be set to use a specified tool list,

The holes in the solid model need to be drawn correctly,

(example, the designer/emagineer draws an on-size 0.5000 hole that actually needs a slip fit clearance, FBM sees the hole as a 0.5000)

 

As Keith stated, the STL file compare in verify will save some headaches.

 

[JDowe]

You can also use autodrill to automatically create drill toolpaths

here also the geometry has to be drawn correctly

+ 1 on the stl compare to prevent errors