Best way to split cores and cavities

[Phil Orenstein]

Anyone have mold designing experience in splitting cores and caviities to design a mold from a part. Do you have better results in solids, surfaces or wireframe? Do you find MC solids robust enough to do the job with complex parts? Anyone using Moldplus?

 

A big hello to my buddies here and a thank you for answering my little flurry of questions. I'ts a bit late now and I start work at 7 AM so I guess I'll be back on this forum tomorrow.

 

Thanks again, Phil

[crazy^millman]

Well I can tell you this Mold plau rock with surfaces and solids rock wit hsurfaces but it all depends on the part we have a full mill 3 seat with solids and another mill3 seat with moldplus and we both beisgn and make molds doing it both ways and they both work well. I pefers to use soilds to create mt molds from then sometimes create surfaces from that where as my co wokers like to olny work with surface where as that is all he can work with. I am design a mold right now doe a 26" x 28" by 3" deep where as he is doing one that is the same excpet 7" deep. It is kinda one of those try soemthing see what works best for you. I know of alot of people who use Solidworks and Pro-E to make molds in and I have seen in done both way in them also kinda depnds on the person doing the design work and what they feel comfortable doing it in more than anything I think. But sure someone will have come and jump all over my comments but just hope that gives you soem ideas.

 

Crazy Millman

[Phil Orenstein]

See my "painful" comments on your reply to my last entry. Boy is this forum addictive. I was supposed to go to bed 2 hours ago cause I get up at 5AM. When my boss sees the red eye, I'll blame it on Mastercam!

[Midwest]

Splitting core and cavity works well either way solid or surfaces. Depends on the job and who is doing the design work. One tip with surfaces I use is to change the colors of the surfaces. A to brown and B to grey. Then I move all of one color to a new level and label the levels A surfaces and B surfaces. I'm also looking at Moldplus, I have 7 days left for the 30 day trial. I really like what I have seen. Hopefully the boss will let me keep moldplus around. This is a real time saving piece of software for building molds. The electrode part would have saved me a lot of time on the last job. I worked a little today showing my boss how fast I can pick an electrode and extend the surfaces. I think I impressed him enough to buy.

 

Splitting A and B sides works in mold plus and is faster than than doing manually. Like I decribed above, with the 2 colors.

 

Surfaces, Solids and Moldplus they all work, just depends on the mold or job.

 

Vacation next week

 

Hope this helps

[crazy^millman]

Midwest you can make Moldplus put the halves of the molds on different layers and colors automatically when you pick what will be your parting line. My coworks also like to use hide with Moldplus he is an ex Cimatron user and is kicking but on Mastercam. I keep telling him between the 2 of us we might just figure this thing out lol.

 

Crazy Millman

[cadcam]

I have used moldplus for this vary thing sense 95-96 this works great.

you can talk with your dealer to get a 30 day demo to try it out if you do not have it.

[Midwest]

Moldplus is a great product it makes everything faster. Splitting A and B sides is faster with moldplus into layers and colors. I agree. The electrode feature also puts the elotrode on a new layer. I wish I had more time to play with the software before the 30 day trial. I do think it will be added to my box after my vacation though.

 

Awesome product

[Gilberto]

Mastercam Design+Solids+Moldplus+@utomold is probably the best solution in the market for mold design: core/cavity/inserts/sliders/etc.

But you need to know how to use it!

Some operations are better with solids, other with surfaces....other with "sheets" (open solids)

To split core/cavity/partsurf use Moldplus.

Then make sheets from the surfaces.

Then extrude and trim solids to sheets.

Make inserts/sliders also with sheets.

Trim to sheets is great because it is associative.

 

We have also developed @utomold, a moldbase design software, that packed with Mastercam Design+Solids+Moldplus is getting better results then the competition. (Pro/E, UG, Catia, SW, etc.)

 

We are developing toturials to pack with automold, to help users to do complete mold design in Mastercam.

 

 

Phone original surfaces www.grandesoft.pt/automold/Phone-Surfaces.zip

 

automold demo video www.grandesoft.pt/automold/automold.zip

 

ex:

Make core/cavity inserts using the Phone-Surfaces.MC9:

 

1. use Moldplus/Solidsep to separate core/cavity surfaces.

make sure use diferent levels.

ex: Cavity on level 100, Core on level 200.

 

2. make Bound Box with extra size. ex: X=50, Y=50, Z=20

 

3. Make automatic PartSurf on level 150 (Moldplus)

 

4. Close holes with SuperTrim(Moldplus), "closed hole" and "open gap" on level 150

 

5. With levels 100 and 150 (cavity+partsurf+closed holes) make a solid sheet. (make solid from surfaces)

answer "yes" to create curves on open surfaces edges.

use "Screen/Endpoints" to easly see if the sheet as open edges...

(you may not see a samall spline, but a point is always visible)

 

6. create a rectangle, ex: 230x130 at x0y0z0

Make a solid extrude with 50.0 both sides

 

7. Trim this solid with the sheet.

make sure the arrow points to the side to keep.

 

 

8. Repeat the same steps for the Core solid.

use surfaces on level 200 and 150 (core+partsurf+closed holes) ......

 

 

If you want to try automold, please email with your SIM Number and dealer name/email.

 

 

Gilberto

[Phil Orenstein]

Thanks all I'll try out Mold Plus. If it can help in the laborious process of separating cores & cavity and redesigning poorly designed un-moldable parts, then it's a winner. That process involves changing draft angles, adding seal-off and shut off details, getting rid of corner fillets (for machinable line geometry) etc.

 

I now use MC solids to trim a mold base to a sheet solid. To automate the surface picking process, can I select all surfaces from a top view and change the color? Can I do this in MC or do I need Moldplus for this?

[Phil Orenstein]

Thanks all I'll try out Mold Plus. If it can help in the laborious process of separating cores & cavity and redesigning poorly designed un-moldable parts, then it's a winner. That process involves changing draft angles, adding seal-off and shut off details, getting rid of corner fillets (for machinable line geometry) etc.

 

I now use MC solids to trim a mold base to a sheet solid. To automate the surface picking process, can I select all surfaces from a top view and change the color? Can I do this in MC or do I need Moldplus for this?

[TimHollis]

I'm still only playing with SolidWorks 2003, I got 2004 last week, but I’m waiting to finish my current project before upgrading AGAIN!!!!!!!

 

 

Anyway, what I do like about it……

I can take the Virgin Solid Part.

And with a couple of clicks using their Mold Tools, create everything I need.

I create my core and cavities, usually in this order.

Core Half- Core side of part- the whole part- cavity side of part- cavity.

Stack-em, explode them, hide different layers-folders.

Has all the usual ops, auto draft-shrink-scale about.

Associativity, changes made apply to all files.

 

There's lots I don’t like, the biggest being that it looks like they have gone to yearly releases. Every year a new version, I don’t mind change, but I’m uncomfortable with a major yearly upgrade to the new version.

 

The dreaded (This file is a newer version- please contact your re-seller.)

 

This week, I’m going to upgrade to SW2004, and as soon as I have some time, I’m going to evaluate Mold plus.

 

Thanks

Tim H.

 

[ 11-22-2003, 09:49 AM: Message edited by: TimHollis ]

[Phil Orenstein]

My boss is a SW user but he said he has had trouble with splitworks. Among others, it wouldn't allow the application of draft along stepped surfaces, which shouldn't be too difficult.

[HECTOR]

Hi

cores/cavities goto pro/estudens.com they have a

personal pro/e software for 300dollars you can

learn pro mold

[chip]

I would create everything in MC........The problem I encounter in MC is: when you have complete assemblies, (cavities, cores, slides) MC files start to get too big and just opening a file could take up lots of time.

 

I have been creating everything in Solid Works, and bring it into MC for my toolpaths, I definitly like drawing in MC over SW.

 

For creation of Cavities cores and slides it is easier for me to keep track of files and updates in solid works. Here where I work now I have to cut my own stuff.

 

I have created many of molds in wireframes and surfaces though. Sometimes depending on the mold it easier in MC.

 

To each his own.

 

[mold100]

I love Mastercam but I gotta say Solidworks 2004

is great. Moldworks and splitworks are unbelievable addons.

[robk]

quote:

---

I love Mastercam but I gotta say Solidworks 2004

is great

---

My copy of Solidworks came in on Friday. Getting installed sometime this week .

It's gonna be like Christmas a month early .

 

Rob

[Tony]

I gave molpplus a fair shake.

But SW is already in my box.

 

To make Electrodes in SW

just Start another "Configuration"

within you model and you will

no longer be attatched to the Default and or

the Assembly.

Now start rollin back the Tree!