Jump to content

Welcome to eMastercam

Register now to participate in the forums, access the download area, buy Mastercam training materials, post processors and more. This message will be removed once you have signed in.

Use your display name or email address to sign in:

bmwjoe

Members
  • Posts

    5
  • Joined

  • Last visited

bmwjoe's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

0

Reputation

  1. Colin, I played around on a practice part and that is indeed the way to do it. Thanks. This is what I found worked for me: Create the toolpaths for the entire part; drill, tap, contour, pocket, face, etc. Select start hole toolpath Select the toolpaths that would benefit from a start hole (contour, pocket, etc.) Let Mastercam perform its magic It will create wire frame geometry at all of the plunge operations called out in #1. A new group gets created below the previous operations. This group will have the spotting operation and several drilling operations that are tailored to the end mills selected in #1 Select the spot operation and cut it out and paste it where appropriate among the previous operations Select a drill operation and cut is out and paste it where appropriate. You may have to edit the depths (my parts had several levels.) Select the other drill operations and paste them if needed. When you are done the bottom group will be empty and can be deleted. Thanks for your help. This lets us program quickly and keeps Mr. End Mill happy. Cheers, Joe
  2. I understand there are other ways to do this, however I do want to learn how to use the start hole path. What is the order of operations to get it to drill the holes before the pocket/contour operations? Create pocket #1 Create Pocket #2 Create Contour Create start hole Then what???
  3. We have been using Mastercam mill for about 6 months here and we have had good results. We only do prototype work so we program a job, run it and we are done with it. We have found it quite efficient to mill the parts out of plate and then contour mill around the part and have it drop out of the plate. Of course the endmill does not enjoy plunging into the material. Many of our parts have pockets and other contours so we end up plunging a lot. It sure would be handy to be able to drill pilot holes where the mill enters the part. We stumbled upon the "start Hole" feature under the hole making menu. The issue is we don't know how to use it. When we tried to use it it made another tool group and placed it at the end. The simulation showed the part being machined then the pilot holes being made. (like the parachute that opens on impact.) The tool did generate wirreframe arcs at each of the entry points. We ended up deleting the toolpath, then using the arcs to spot and drill at the entry locations. This made Mr. end mill much happier, but it was a lot more mouse clicks. I purchased the eMastercam Mill Handbook and it is not explained. (If it is, what page?) I tried to go to Google University and found nothing on the start-hole feature. I would appreciate any guidance on how to use this tool properly.
  4. I am trying to get more information on how to apply this toolpath as we often have this type of application. The only way I have been able to apply it is to do it after all the pocket operations, where it puts the toolpath at the end. It does generate centers for all of the tool starts. I then take these centers and generate a drill toolpath and delete the original start hole. Where can I find more information? I purchased Mastercam 2017 Handbook Volume 1, but I don't see it.

Join us!

eMastercam - your online source for all things Mastercam.

Together, we are the strongest Mastercam community on the web with over 56,000 members, and our online store offers a wide selection of training materials for all applications and skill levels.

Follow us

×
×
  • Create New...