Feature Based Drilling

[Thad]

Yes.

 

EDIT: Hang on, maybe not. I'm looking at it again.

[Thad]

No, it was listed as a drill. Now it's working.

[Thoob]

I was just going to ask that same thing. Glad you got it working.

[Thad]

1. How do I make hole sizes default to a certain hole type? I always want .406 holes to be tapped holes. Right now they are always found as drilled holes and I have to change it to tap.

 

2. Is there a parameters file of some sort that I can look at to see what hole sizes I already have defined and how they are defined? I kinda thought the .map file would be it, but it doesn't appear that way.

[Thoob]

You should be able to go into your operation defaults and change it.

[Thad]

You should be able to go into your operation defaults and change it.

 

I'm not sure what you mean.

[Thad]

I set all of my tap sizes up in the hole map area. When I open a new file and use FBM, all the features are defined as drilled holes. I know I can change the hole type to taps, but I'd like it to default to taps for those particular sizes. Our design department has gone to great lengths establishing hole sizes so there are no conflicts in sizes of taps, reams, clearance holes, etc.

[Thoob]

I'm at home right now (sick) but off the top of my head, go into where you would define your stock. Go into files, then there is a selection for operation defaulls. Go into your FBM and set defaults from there.

[Thad]

I'm familiar with setting operation defaults but I don't see how it's related to the questions that I asked.

 

I hope you're feeling better soon.

[Thoob]

Maybe its not, lol. I am a little weirded out. I'll have to take a look when I get back.

[Mick]

Thoob and Thad...

 

Hehe, for some reason that makes me laugh

[Thoob]

I'm familiar with setting operation defaults but I don't see how it's related to the questions that I asked.

 

I hope you're feeling better soon.

 

You are right, you can't put in a default until you select your holes. I get what you are asking now. What I would do is just highlight the .406 holes all at once, right click and change them to a tapped hole in the features list. I am not sure how else to get them to default. Sorry. have you tried contacting your dealer?

[Thad]

have you tried contacting your dealer?

 

Yes, still haven't heard back yet. I was hoping I didn't get a quick reply from them so I'd have a chance to play with it enough to get all of my questions together and figure out a little bit how it works.

 

Any idea on #2 above?

[Thad]

Is there a way to make the spot drill go deeper so that it chamfers the hole too?

 

As I see it right now, my operations library is more efficient and does all of these things for me.

[Thad]

In the operation defaults, I can pick which spot drill to use all the time, but it doesn't stick.

[Thad]

What I would do is just highlight the .406 holes all at once, right click and change them to a tapped hole in the features list. I am not sure how else to get them to default.

 

That's how I do it now, but that kinda ruins the "automatic" part of it if I have to set it every time.

 

As I mentioned before, we design hole sizes so that there is only one possibility of what kind of hole it is. Reamed holes are onsize, taps are the tap drill size, and clearance holes are .002 over the nominal size.

1/2 ream = .500

1/2 tap = .422

1/2 drilled hole = .502

 

I will never want to ream a .502 dia and I'll never want to tap a .500 dia. I need MC to detect a .422 hole and know that it's a 1/2 tap without any interaction from me, other than the original time I set it up.

[Thoob]

xxxx man, thats beyond what I use the FBD for, lol. We do clearance holes mostly, sizes ranging from 1/2"-2.5". The main reason I like FBD is cause when a part has multiple diameters, I don't need to analyze each hole. i set my tolerances within .01 so if the hole is drawn between .495-.510, thyen it still uses a 1/2" drill. I have used it with spot drilling and blind holes but never for taps. I'm sorry I can't help you with that part.

[Thad]

From reading the tutorial, I should be able to create a custom map file and save it. Then I can bring in my part, load my custom map file and it should then correctly identify the diameters of the holes as the hole type that I specified. I follow the tutorial step by step but it seems to save a blank map file. I've done it four times now and my custom map file is empty every time. Has anyone seen this?

 

Also, when creating my custom map file, 3 of the finish tools say they are tools from my MCX-6 file. I don't know where it's getting that from because there are no tools in the file. They should all be listed as library tools. ??? See attached.

 

I've also attached a screen shot of my custom map file (opened in notepad) after it has been saved. You see there's nothing in it.

[Thad]

I have used it with spot drilling and blind holes but never for taps.

 

It actually works fairly well on taps. I think at this point, my only complaints are the map file and having to edit the spot operation to go deeper so the spot drill will chamfer the hole.

[Thad]

On the spot drill, if I give it a "max percentage of finished hole" greater than 100%, it will spot deeper and chamfer the hole. Yay! Progress!

[Thoob]

I'm not sure why your list is coming up empty. I can't do anything to get mine to be empty. I put in some random tools, hit select all, save as "test" and it comes back like this.

[Thad]

Once you click save, does the list disappear immediately?

 

Can you select it from the drop down list and have the tool populate the page or is it still blank? Try switching to a different map file, then come back to your test file. What happens?

 

I don't think it's a read/write privileges thing because I have those privileges and the new file name shows up...but it's empty.

[Thad]

I just added 4 sizes and saved it as thad. As soon as I click save, the list goes blank. If I open thad.map in notepad, the values show up. See attached. If I change maps files and re-find features, then switch back to thad.map, all values are gone. This seems to be a temp file of some sort. I'm not having fun.

[Thoob]

Mine does not go blank. I opened a new Mastercam instance, went to hole mapping, selected my "test" and hit ok. It did not dissapear. I can select between the "hole" and my "test" and it works fine. Not sure why yours is doing that.

[Thad]

Are you running X6 MU2?

 

I never clicked OK after selecting it from the dropdown list. I can't image that would make a difference, but I'll give it a try in the morning.

 

I appreciate all of your help on this Thoob.