Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Drilling OperaEons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
1. Create a 3d Model File www.Truong2008.com
a . T h e L a b ’s p r e f e r r e d m o d e l i n g p r o g r a m i s R h i n o c e r o s . M a s t e r C a m w i l l a l s o w o r k
with other modeling programs like Maya, 3DS, and Solidworks are all supported.
b . We w i l l b e g i n i n R h i n o . P l e a s e p re p yo u r m o d e l a s m u c h a s p o s s i b l e to avo i d h av i n g
to edit any imperfecEons later on in MasterCam. While this program provides numerous
p o s s i b i l i E e s a s a C A D / C A M g a t e w a y, s i m p l e t a s k s s u c h a s m o v i n g a p o i n t f r o m o n e a r e a
to another proves to be very difficult. With Eme you will begin to understand how this
program works, and you will learn how to complete these tasks; but for the Eme being‐
sEck with what you know!
Origin Point
The origin point in any program
should be 0,0,0. This is a screen
shot from Rhinoceros, It displays
an 8’x4’ rectangle with its lower
leQ corner posiEoned on the
Origin Point. This should also be
t h e c a s e w i t h y o u r m o d e l ; w i t h i t ’s
lower leQ most point located at
the origin.
Figure 1.1
Levels|Layers
www.Truong2008.com For this Excersise you should have
your points posiEoned at your de‐
sired heights. Feel free to create
them on different layers. Master
Cam will convert your layers to
‘ l e v e l s ’ ‐ a n d f u n c E o n v e r y s i m i l a r.
See Figure 1.2a and 1.2b
Figure 1.2a and b Once you have your file created,
save as a .3DM and open Master‐
Cam X4.
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MasterCam X4
Drilling OperaHons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
2. MasterCam X4 www.Truong2008.com
a. Once MasterCam is open, we will immediately open your file. File/Open/and Load
y o u r R h i n o M o d e l . W e m a y h a v e t o h i t ‘ E n t e r ’ a B e r w a r d s t o a p p r o v e a n e w ‘ M a c h i n e
G r o u p ’. B e f o r e w e e v e n b e g i n c r e a H n g t o o l p a t h s , w e w i l l fi r s t s e l e c t t h e e q u i p m e n t
that will be used.
F i g u r e 1 . 3 b. At the top of your screen, please select Machine
T y p e / R o u t e r / c n c _ m o H o n _ 9 5 0 . H i t ‘ E n t e r ’ t o a c c e p t a n e w
‘ M a c h i n e G r o u p ’ ; a n d b e s u r e t o d e l e t e y o u r p r e v i o u s ‘ M a c h i n e
G r o u p ’. F e e l f r e e t o H t l e t h e s e a s y o u p l e a s e ; m a k e s u r e n o
spaces are used. See Figure 1.3
Figure 1.4a and b
Levels|Layers
To w a r d s t h e b o \ o m o f y o u r s c r e e n y o u m a y c o n t r o l
y o u r l a y e r s . L e B C l i c k o n ‘ L e v e l ’, a n d t h e ‘ L e v e l
Manager ’ will open. Here you can control your
L a y e r s f r o m R h i n o . Yo u m u s t a l w a y s h a v e a ‘ M a i n
Layer ’‐ so if you are looking to turn off one of your
layers, and cannot do so; you may have to right
click on another layer and make it your ‘Main
L a y e r ’. S e e F i g u r e 1 . 4 a a n d 1 . 4 b .
Opera&ons Manager
The ‘OperaHons Manager ’ contains
all the tools you will need to
create toolpaths, edit, and back‐
p l o t . ‘A LT‐ O ’ c l o s e s a n d o p e n s t h i s
w i n d o w. Yo u r ‘ M a c h i n e G r o u p ’
contains all the external proper‐
Hes; such as: stock size and origin,
e q u i p m e n t , a n d To o l S e [ n g s .
We w i l l fi rst s et o u r sto c k s i ze .
Select ‘Stock Setup’ in your Ops
Figure 1.5
M a n a g e r.
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MasterCam X4
www.Truong2008.com Drilling Opera:ons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
3. Stock Setup
a . M u c h o f S t o c k S e t u p i s s e l f e x p l a n a t o r y. H e r e y o u w i l l s e t u p y o u r s t o c k s i z e f o r
s i m u l a : o n a n d p o s t p r o c e s s i n g p u r p o s e s . Yo u s h o u l d h a v e a w i n d o w s i m i l a r t o t h e o n e
shown in Figure 1.6 on your screen.
Stock Size and Origin
I n t h e g r a y w i n d o w, i n s e r t t h e d i ‐
mensions of your stock. More im‐
p o r t a n t l y, s e t y o u r o r i g i n . T h i s c a n
be done by clicking the boGom leH
c o r n e r. ( A s s h o w n a b o v e ) M a k e
sure you insert your origin values
as well in the ‘Stock Origin’ area.
( 0 , 0 , 0 ) We ca n a l s o c h o o s e h ow
our Stock is displayed with the
‘Display Op:ons’ Click on the the
‘Display ’ box next, and choose
‘ W i r e f r a m e ’ o r ‘ S o l i d ’. S e e B e l o w.
Figure 1.7
Stock
When you are finished, select the
checkmark buGon at the boGom of
the window to apply the op:ons. If
at any point you are confused on
certain op:ons, click the help
b u G o n i n t h e b o G o m o f a n y w i n d o w.
The help menus are very intui:ve!
To y o u r r i g h t , y o u w i l l s e e a 1 2 ” x
12” x 1” Solid (Display) Stock posi‐
:oned on the correct origin.
www.Truong2008.com
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MasterCam X4
Drilling Opera:ons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
4. Drilling Opera.ons
a . N e x t , s e l e c t ‘ To o l p a t h s ’ a t t h e t o p o f y o u r
s c r e e n , a n d c h o o s e t h e ‘ D r i l l . . .’ o p : o n . Yo u w i l l b e
p r o m p t e d t o a s s i g n a ‘ To o l p a t h N a m e ’, a n d a n ‘ N C
name’‐ please do not use spaces. www.Truong2008.com
Drill Point Selec-on
With the ‘Drill Point Selec:on’ Window now
open; you have mul:ple ways to select your ge‐
o m e t r y. F o r y o u r D r i l l i n g P u r p o s e s , t h e ‘ E n : ‐
:es’ op:on, or the ‘Window Points’ op:on will
work well. Window points allows you to draw a
window over all of the points you would like to
select, whereas En::es allows you to select
t h e m s i n g l y ‐ o r ‐ w i t h a w i n d o w. Yo u a l s o h a v e
the op:on of choosing how your points are
‘Sorted’‐ or the order in which they are milled.
Click on the ‘Sor:ng ’ op:on and browse
through the different op:ions.
Sor-ng
‘Sor:ng ’ allows the
user to change the
order in which
their geometry is
milled. For large
complex jobs this
may speed up your
milling :me.
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MasterCam X4
Drilling Opera+ons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
5. Drilling Opera.ons
a. A%er selec+ng our Drilling points, we move on to the toolpath menu. (Figure 1.8)
Here we will set our parameters for milling. On the far le% of the menu are the
P a r a m e t e r s a n d S e D n g s ; i n t h e c e n t e r a r e v i s u a l i z a + o n s o f w h a t y o u a r e c r e a + n g . F or
this opera+on, we will using the ‘Drill’ op+on as our toolpath type.
www.Truong2008.com Figure 1.8a and b
Select ‘Drill’
op+on.
To o l
M o v i n g o n t o t h e ‘ To o l ’ o p + o n , w e m u s t
s e l e c t a t o o l t o u s e .W e c a n fi n d o u r t o o l s b y
s e l e c + n g t h e ‘ S e l e c t L i b r a r y To o l . .’ b u P o n .
Once the tool library window opens, browse
the dFab rool Library by selec+ng the ‘New
Library ’ buPon located near the top of the
w i n d o w. O u r t o o l f o l d e r i s l o c a t e d u n d e r
c/mcamx4/router/tools/cnc_router_inch. Hit
‘o k’ a n d s el ect yo u r to o l .
Cut Parameters
Under the ‘Cut Parameters’ area, we can
select how we would like our bit to Drill. In
order to save your material and any bits
used, ‘Chip Break’ is a safe method to Drill.
T h i s o p + o n a l l o w s u s t o d r i l l i n ‘ p e c k s ’. T h e
bit drills a predefined increment, and then
another un+l we reach our desired depth. For
t h i s o p e r a + o n , w e w i l l s e t o u r ‘ 1 s t P e c k ’,
‘ S u b s e q u e n t P e c k ’, a n d o u r ‘ P e c k C l e a r a n c e ’
t o . 2 5 ”. A l l o t h e r o p + o n s r e c e i v e a v a l u e o f
Zero.
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MasterCam X4
Drilling OperaFons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
5. Drilling Opera.ons
www.Truong2008.com
Linking Parameters
‘Linking Parameters’ allows us to define im‐
portant processing values. ‘Clearance’
should always be set to a value higher than
that of your stock. ‘Retract ’ sets the height
in which the tool moves before the next tool
pass; this should also always be set to a
v a l u e h i g h e r t h a n y o u r s t o c k . ‘ To p o f S t o c k ’
should obviously be set to the height of
your stock. ‘Depth’ is the final opFon. Al‐
lowing us to set the final machining depth.
This should be set to zero.
Absolute vs. Incremental
A b s o l u t e Va l u e s a r e a l w a y s m e a s u r e d f r o m t h e o r i g i n . ( 0 , 0 , 0 ) I n c r e m e n t a l Va l u e s a r e
r e l a F v e t o o t h e r p a r a m e t e r s , o r y o u r g e o m e t r y. I . E . ‐ i f w e s e t o u r c l e a r a n c e t o 3 ”, a s a n
absolute value, the tool would always use a clearance plane 3” above the table. If we
set Clearance to 3” as Incremental, it would use a clearance plane 3” above our geom‐
e t r y. F o r t h i s o p e r a F o n , C l e a r a n c e i s t h e o n l y o p F o n t h a t s h o u l d b e s e t t o ‘A b s o l u t e ’. A l l
other opFons can be set to Incremental.
H o m e / Re f. Po i n t s a n d P l a n e s ( W C S )
T h e ‘ H o m e / R e f. P o i n t s ’ w i n d o w, g i v e s u s t h e o p F o n o f s e L n g a ‘ H o m e P o s i F o n ’. A
spot in the operaFon where the tool can begin from, and finsh with. This can be any‐
w h e r e o n t h e t a b l e s o l o n g a s i t c l e a r s y o u r s t o c k ! X 0 ,Y 0 , Z 5 s h o u l d w o r k fi n e . L a s t l y,
s e l e c t t h e ‘ P l a n e s ( W C S ) w i n d o w, a n d m a k e s u r e t h a t a l l p l a n e s a r e s e t t o a ’ T O P ’
v i e w. D o u b l e c h e c k y o u r s e L n g s , a n d h i t t h e c h e c k m a r k b u W o n t o a p p l y y o u r s e L n g s .
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MasterCam X4
Drilling Opera:ons
Crea%ng a Drilling Opera%on:
6. Finaliza*on
a . A % e r a p p l y i n g o u r s e 1 n g s , w e s h o u l d fi n d a n e w t o o l p a t h c r e a t e d i n o u r O p e r a : ons
M a n a g e r W i n d o w. I f t h e i c o n n e x t t o ‘ To o l p a t h ’ a p p e a r s t o h a v e a n ‘ X ’ o v e r i t , y o u
may have to correct a thing or two, but if you have a clean icon‐ then you are ready
to simulate your opera:on.
* Clean Opera:on * Dirty Opera:on
www.Truong2008.com
B a c k p l o ( n g a n d Ve r i fi c a 2 o n
I f w e l e % c l i c k o n ‘ To o l p a t h ’ i n o u r O p e r a : o n s M a n a g e r, w e c a n v i e w o u r t o o l p a t h s
t h a t w e h a v e j u s t c r e a t e d p a r a m e t e r s f o r. Yo u c a n s i m u l a t e t h e e n : r e o p e r a : o n b y
d o i n g s o . H o w e v e r, i f y o u w o u l d l i k e a m o r e r e a l i s : c s i m u l a : o n , y o u c a n r i g h t c l i c k o n
‘ To o l p a t h ’, a n d a ‘ V e r i f y ’ w i n d o w a p p e a r s . Yo u m a y s i m u l a t e y o u r o p e r a : o n w i t h y o u r
stock displayed. Both of these simula:on op:ons will also regenerate your toolpaths.
So if you happen to have a ‘Dirty Opera:on’‐ this may be a quick way to solve it. Final‐
l y w e p o s t o u r o p e r a : o n b y s e l e c : n g t h e ‘ G 1 ’ i c o n a t t h e t o p o f y o u r O p . M a n a g e r.
Congratula:ons, you may now run your file!
Post
Post your opera:on by select‐
ing the ‘G1’ icon at the top of
y o u r O p e r a : o n s M a n a g e r.