unable to extract lathe profile from solid

[Philcott]

Hi Guys,

 

After reading SmaDoc's question on creating an edge for machining from a solid I created a solid part and followed Jean-Simon's instructions quoted below.

 

quote:

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Hi Sam, welcome to the forum, you'll need the solid option to be able to apply tollpaths on a solid model, if you have it, you'll need to tell the system the part is a solid: "toolpath-rough-solid" an then the system extract a temporary profile of your part so you can chain it.HTH

Simon

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I was able to make everything work as desited. I love learning new stuff so I thought I would try converting a parasolid file from solidworks and put some tools to it's profile. The file came in to M-cam but gave me a message of lines having zero length. I just hit OK a few times an up popped the part. I then tried the "toolpath-rough-solid" method and that is where I got the alarm about being "unable to extract lathe profile from solid." Am I supposed to do something else to create edges first (like a parting line) or did the file come in with errors? I did a search in both the help and the forum but didn't come up with an answer.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Phil

[Harryman]

I seem to get that everytime I need to rotate an imported solid to align it with the DZ coordinates in Lathe. I always end up doing a create/ curve/ slice and working from wireframe.

 

It could be me.

 

I've never been able to turn a solid that had mill operation holes in it.

 

That could be me too. Still learning.

 

Edit: I no sooner shot my mouth off and then just got a lathe rough operation to work perfectly from an imported solid that I had to rotate in two planes to align with DZ.

 

Moral of story: If you can't get it to work, say "it doesn't work," then for sure it will.

 

Harryman yells as he's dragged away "IT WAS SP2... IT WAS SP2..."

 

[ 11-13-2003, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Harryman ]

[Jean-Simon]

Hi Phil, could you share the file or e-mail it see what I can do.

 

Simon

[SmaDoc]

Hehe good point Harryman, if its not working, says its not working, and then it'll work, just make sure that you dont say you have it working finally, otherwise you might run the risk of it not working again. I did finally get it to work, turns out I just wasnt clicking "done" enough times, go figure that it would be something as simple as that. Now that I know how to get the profile from the solid, I just have to setup the chuck and stock settings, and finish creating the needed tool paths. I'm a "n00b" to mastercam, and love it already, sometimes I wish I wasnt limited to the denford machines that we have at our school, but, I guess its better than nothing (although sometimes I'd just like to light them on fire lol).

[dan m]

I really like working with solids. If i'm not importing them i'm creating them. It looks like i'm working so much harder to my bosses (lol). What I have found with lathe is if there is a flat or off center hole in the plain your tool is trying to cut it will not work. So i go into side view and rotate the part so there is nothing in the way (flats or off center holes). after that everything works perfectly for me.

 

hth

[Philcott]

Dan M,

 

The part I was trying to get an edge on is full of holes. I will try another without holes and see what I get. Thanks for the tip.

 

Here is what the part looks like.

 

 

Phil

[SmaDoc]

Thats a pretty nifty part your working on there Phil It ALMOST looks like a hub for a bicycle wheel. Sorry that I can't offer any help :-/, I've only really been using mastercam for a few days. Have tried to use it few times over the past year or 2, but never really tried to do anything, or read the books it came with, not that the books help much. Now though since we upgraded from an earlier version (i think it was 6) to 9.1sp2 and my co-worker that teaches woodshop wants me to get it setup so the students can just take the stock pieces of brass and cut the feet for the clocks their making. Too bad we have the denford novaturn, its not really big enough to do much else :-/ oh well, atleast its a learning experience for me (and the students once I learn it). Good luck in getting your part finished!

[Philcott]

SmaDoc,

 

It is actually the spool for a fishing reel. Notice the similarity to my avatar.

 

Spending time with the software is the best teacher. The manuals are what most of us here in the forum started with and I think most would say they are pretty good. There are a few other books that have proven quite good as well. Also remember the forum is a fantastic place to get help when you get stuck on something.

 

Plug away with it and you will be suprised how quickly mastercam will come to you.

 

Phil

 

[ 11-15-2003, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: PhilCott ]

[P_Scott]

PhilCott,

 

Because you have a large number of holes in this particular solid, it may be difficult to rotate the part to a plane where the profile won't be interrupted. Try Solids-Next Menu-Find Features and when the holes are found, either suppress or delete them from the solids manager. Suppressing them will at least keep them in place so you'll have the ability to bring them back if needed. Deleting them may be better in this case if all you want is the profile shape to turn and then put the holes in on another machine. HTH

[Philcott]

Peter,

 

Thanks for your response. I have tried what you said but I don't seem to have the option to supress the holes only delete them. When I deleted them I was still unable to have mastercam create the temporary profile. O well, I drew the part profile and did it in a proven fashion.

 

Thanks.

 

I have moved on from this job so this is only for educational purposes now.

 

Phil

[P_Scott]

Phil,

 

I'm sorry that didn't quite work the way I said it would for you. If you download the file to the FTP, I'd be happy to take a look and see what the issue is. It could just be that not all breaks in the profile are holes or are just not visible from the same plane. There are other ways to "fill in" the solid part so it can be machined in Lathe. It sometimes takes more time than it would take to draw a simple 2-D profile and be done with the turning toolpath. Glad you were able to work around it.

[Jean-Simon]

Hi Peter, I had a look at the part last week and this way wouldn't betoo efficient for him in this case because there's about 220 holes and there's not much room where the profile is free of interruption. It took about 5 minutes to find all the holes and my system was having a hard time suppressing them and still there was work involved so in that case I'd prolly go traditionnal way.

 

 

Simon

 

 

Simon

[juanki]

Hello everyone!

 

I'm new to the forum and I could say new to Mastercam too, because I still have a lot to learn.

 

I see that this post is way back from 2003, but I'm receiving the exact same message today.

 

I'm trying to create the toolpaths for a part that has to be on the lathe and then the mill. I have never done this before. Did anyone manage to solve this problem without eliminating the holes in the solid? 

 

Thanks!

 

Juan Carlos

[Oppiz]

Try:  Create - turn profile

[CJep]

create turn profile

[juanki]

It did worked!!! Thanks a lot guys!