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Advanced Multiaxis Mill Training Tutorials

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Mastercam X Training Tutorials Advanced Multiaxis Mill Applications Date: Dec 4, 2008 Copyright 1984 - 2009 In-House Solutions Inc. - All rights reserved. Software: Mastercam X Mill Authors: Mariana Lendel ISBN: 978-1-926566-01-6 Notice In-House Solutions Inc. reserves the right to make improvements to this manual at any time and without notice. Disclaimer Of All Warranties And Liability In-House Solutions Inc. makes no warranties, either express or implied, with respect to this manual or with respect to the software described in this manual, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. In-House Solutions Inc. manual is sold or licensed "as is." The entire risk as to its quality and performance is with the buyer. Should the manual prove defective following its purchase, the buyer (and not In-House Solutions Inc., its distributor, or its retailer) assumes the entire cost of all necessary servicing, repair, of correction and any incidental or consequential damages. In no event will In-House Solutions Inc. be liable for direct, indirect, or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the manual, even if InHouse Solutions Inc. has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. Copyrights This manual is protected under the copyright laws of Canada and the United States. All rights are reserved. This document may not, in whole or part, be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent, in writing, from In-House Solutions Inc. Trademarks Mastercam is a registered trademark of CNC Software, Inc. Microsoft, the Microsoft logo, MS, and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation; Mastercam Verify is created in conjunction with Sirius Systems Corporation; Windows 95, and Windows NT; Windows XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Acknowledgements "Thanks to the In-House Solutions team for helping in the production and marketing of this book. It simply wouldn't be the same without all your efforts. Finally, thank you, the reader for making this purchase; I hope it serves you well." Mariana Lendel

TUTORIAL SERIES FOR

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK


This book provides a comprehensive step by step approach to learning Mastercam Advanced Toolpath functionality. It contains pages of projects, helpful hints and different strategies used to machined the parts. The parts geometry can be downloaded from http://www.emastercam.com/files/x3_multiaxis.html The book covers six part projects that are machined using enhanced 5-axis multisurface machining strategies. For some of the projects we used simplified interfaces that have been customized for specific applications such as Projection, Port and 5Axis Swarf. The rest of the projects are machined using the full interface that gives you access to all the available parameters and options. Each tutorial walks you through all the procedures from Toolpath instructions, to Verification and G-Code Generation.

LEGEND:
Step to follow to complete the tutorial Additional explanation for the current step

Callouts that give direction on how to complete the task

Callouts that describe the parameters used in the current step

Bold text (usually) represents Mastercam terminology [] represents Mastercam prompts

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Getting Started ................................................................................ A-1 Advanced Multiaxis Projection Tutorial 1-1

Advanced Multiaxis Port Tutorial ..................................................... 2-1 Advanced Multiaxis Swarf & Pencil toolpath Tutorial 3-1

Advanced Multiaxis Surface Finishing Tutorial ................................. 4-1 Advanced Multiaxis Surface Roughing and Finishing Tutorial ........... 5-1 Advanced Multiaxis Gouge Check Strategy Tutorial.......................... 6-1

TUTORIAL SERIES FOR


TUTORIAL 4 ADVANCED MULTIAXIS SURFACE FINISHING TOOLPATHS

Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

This tutorial covers Mastercam's Advanced Multiaxis Toolpath functionality. To apply these toolpaths to a 5-Axis machine tool, a customized post processor for your machine is required. Mastercam has a post available called mpgen5ax that can be configured for several different machine tool styles. However, this is a very generic post in terms of language and ability to handle different configurations. We recommend that you contact your local reseller for a professionaly configured post to handle your machine's configuration take advantage of your machine/control's full functionality. In-House Solutions has a team of engineers dedicated to post development. Our development services are available worldwide. www.inhouseposts.com You may be required to program according to a certain style or methodology that is specific to your machine/control/post. This may not be covered in this tutorial. For instance: You may be required to position your stock with respect to the machine zero position as opposed to having a local part datum. You may be required to use the Misc Values boxes for input to the post. Your post may need to prompt for tool gauge lengths to compensate for tool length. The nature of the additional information required depends largely on your machine/control/post. Contact the developer of your post processor for details.

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Objectives:

TUTORIAL 4

The Student will finish the turbine blade using Advanced Multiaxis surface toolpaths with different strategies: Strategy no.1
Use parallel cuts along X-axis as pattern; Area to be machined set to full, avoid cuts at exact edges; Output 4-axis format about X-axis; Moves between slices less than 110% of the stepover set to direct; Large moves set to retract to clearance area set as a cylinder parallel to X-axis;

Strategy no.2
Change the pattern to morph between 2 curves; Change the percentage for moves between slices direct to less than 400 of the stepover;

Strategy no.3
Change the move between slices from linear to advanced spiral; Use margin equal to tool radius as the tool is too large to finish the fillet surface;

Strategy no.4
Use lead angle to avoid cutting with the bottom of the ball end mill; Gradually tilt the tool axis from -15 degrees to +15 degrees to avoid gouging the fixtures; The Student will finish the ends of the blade and the fillets surfaces using an Advanced Multiaxis toolpath strategy consisting of: Use parallel to curve as pattern; Area to be machined determined by number of cuts; Output format set to 5-axis; Use lead angle to avoid cutting with the tip of the ball end mill; Use limits to contain tool within conical angles to avoid gouging the fixtures; Moves between slices less than 400% of the stepover set to direct; Large moves set to retract to clearance area set as a cylinder parallel to X-axis;

The Student will check the toolpath using Mastercam Verify verification module by:
Running the Backplot function.
The geometry file, Tutorial4_geometry.zip, can be downloaded from www.emastercam.com/files under Advanced Multiaxis X The finish part, Tutorial4_Geometry and completed toolpaths.zip including the toolpaths, is also provided on the same location www.emastercam.com/files

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X TOOLPATH CREATION STEP 1: SET UP THE STOCK TO BE MACHINED.
Machine type
Mill Select Mill Default.MMD

TUTORIAL 4

Select the plus in front of Properties to expand the Toolpaths Group Properties if necessary. Select the plus sign

Select the Tool Settings to set the tool parameters and the part material. Tool settings

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Change the parameters to match the following screenshot.

TUTORIAL 4

Assign tool numbers sequentially allows you to overwrite the tool number from the library with the next available tool number. (First operation ttool number 1; Second operation ttool number 2, etc) Warn of duplicate tool numbers gives a warning if you enter two tools with the same number. Override defaults with modal values enables the system to keep the values that you enter. Feed Calculation set From tool uses feed rate, plunge rate, retract rate and spindle speed from the tool definition.

Select the OK button to exit Toolpath Group Properties.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

STEP 2: FINISH THE TURBINE BLADE USING ADVANCED MULTIAXIS SURFACE TOOLPATH.
Strategy 1 Use parallel cuts along X-axis as pattern; Area to be machined set to full, avoid cuts at exact edges; Output 4-axis format about X-axis; Moves between slices less than 110% of the stepover set to direct; Large moves set to retract to clearance area set as a cylinder parallel to X-axis;
If using a simplified interface, remember that you can always go back to the full interface by clicking Switch to Advanced Interface on the Misc tab. This will bring your current strategy over to the full interface so its a nice way to help you through the initial setup and selection process. You will find that the full interface gives you much more control over your toolpaths.

Toolpaths
Advanced Mutiaxis Select the OK button to accept the NC name. Select 5 Ax Multi Surface in the Select User Interface list.

Click on the 5 Ax Multi Surface button.

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TUTORIAL 4

Click on the Select library tool button in the Toolpath parameters. Use the Filter option to select the 1/2 Ball Endmill. Make sure that you select the None button first and then the Spherical as the tool type.

Change the Tool Diameter to Equal and 0.5. Select the OK button to exit Filter. Make sure that the tool is selected and select the OK button to exit Tool Selection. The Toolpath Parameters page should look as shown below.

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Select Surface paths tab. Select Parallel cuts as the Pattern. Set the Machining angle in X,Y to 0 degrees. Set the Machining angle in Z to 90 degrees.

TUTORIAL 4

Parallel cuts option will create passes that are parallel to each other. The direction of the cuts is defined by the two angles. With machining angle in XY set to 0 and in Z set to 90 the slices will be parallel to Y Axis.

Click on Drive surfaces button. [Select surfaces for machining] : Select Color in the Quick Mask

toolbar. (Right side of the graphic area).

Click on Color button and select the green color no 30-. Select the OK button to exit the Select All dialog box. Press Enter button to finish the selection.

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Select the Show button to see only the selected surfaces.

TUTORIAL 4

Press Enter key to continue. Select Done button to continue. Select Full, avoid cuts at exact edges as the Area Type.

Area Type - Full, avoid cuts at exact edges option will allow you to generate the toolpath on the whole surface avoiding the surface edges.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

In the Sorting field set the Cutting method to One Way, Cut order to Standard and Direction for one way machining to CCwise. Enable Enforce cutting direction (assume closed contours) as shown. Enforce cutting direction option is recommended for geometry that is not completely closed to machine the surface like a closed contour.

Set the Cut tolerance and the Maximum stepover as shown.

Select Tool Axis control tab and change the parameters as explained and shown below. Set the Output format to 4 axis. Select Rotary Axis button and enable X axis. Select the OK button to exit. The Tool axis should be set to Be tilted relative to cutting direction.

Ortho to cut dir at each pos side tilt direction is determined by an orthogonal line from the current surface contact point to the lower edge curve. That means that the tool axis is always orthogonal to the toolpath.

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Select Link tab. Change the parameters as shown.

TUTORIAL 4

Links between slice options set the tool movements at the stepover based on the small move size. The small move sizes can be set as a percentage of the stepover or as a value. In this case, if the move between slice is smaller than the small move size the tool steps over Direct (the shortest way to the next slice). If the move between slice is larger than the small move size the tool steps over at the Clearance area (rapids back to the clearance area) Click on the Clearance area button and set the Type to Cylinder parallel to X and change the Radius to 2.0.

Select the OK button. Select the OK button to exit 5Axis Multi Surface.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X STEP 3: BACKPLOT THE 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.


Select the Backplot selected operations button. Make sure that you have the following buttons turned on (they will appear pushed down). Display tool Display tool Display rapid moves Rapid move Select Option button .

TUTORIAL 4

Disable Simulate Axis Substitution and Simulate Rotary Axis. Disable Connect Bottom, Connect Top and Shade in the 4-5 Axis tool vectors as shown.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot Options.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and enter S to shade the part if needed. Change the graphic view to Front Graphic View. Select one operation at a time and then select the Play button.

Note that the cuts (slices) are perpendicular on the X axis and parallel between each other. This is the result of the pattern used (parallel cuts with machining angle in Z 90 degrees).

Select Previous stop button to restart backplot. Select the Fit button.

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Select Zoom Target icon. [Pick a point to zoom from]: Select a point as shown in the screenshot below

TUTORIAL 4

Select the corner of the window

Select the Point here

[Choose a corner of your zooming box]:Select the corner as shown above. Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and press the left arrow key three times to rotate the part.ss Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and enter S to unshade the part Select the Step Forward button right. several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the

Note the unwanted rectract movements to the clearance area. This happens when the stepover movement is bigger than the small move size. This is a result of both the pattern used (parallel cuts with machining angle in Z 90 degrees) and of the size of the small move.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot.

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TUTORIAL 4

STEP 4: CREATE ANOTHER TOOLPATHE USING MORPH BETWEEN 2 CURVES PATTERN


Strategy 2 Change the pattern to morph between 2 curves; Change the percentage for moves between slices direct to less than 400 % of the stepover;
Select Toggle toolpath display on selected operations to remove the toolpath display.

Toolpaths
Advanced Mutiaxis Select 5 Ax Multi Surface in the Select User Interface list.

Click on the 5 Ax Multi Surface button.

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TheToolpath parameters should look as shown.

TUTORIAL 4

Select Surface paths tab and change the Pattern to Morph between 2 curves.

Morph between 2 curves option will create parallel passes that morph from the first curves shape to the second curves shape.

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Click on the First button. Select the green color curve as shown below.

TUTORIAL 4

Select here the chain

Make sure that the chaining direction is CW and the chain starts just above the small fillet.

Select the OK button to exit Chaining dialog box. Click on the Second button. Select the Fit icon. Select Zoom Target icon. [Pick a point to zoom from]: Select a point as shown in the screenshot below. Select the corner of the window

Select the Point here

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[Choose a corner of your zooming box]:Select the corner as shown above. Select the green color curve as shown below.

TUTORIAL 4

Select chain 2 here

Select the OK button to exit Chaining dialog box. Select Drive surfaces button. Select the Fit button.

[Select surfaces for machining] : Select Color in the Quick Mask toolbar.

Click on Color button and select the green color no 30. Select the OK button to exit the Select All dialog box. Press Enter button to finish the selection.

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Hold down Alt key and enter S to shade the part. Select the Show button to see only the selected surfaces.

TUTORIAL 4

Press Enter key to continue. Select Done button to continue. Select Link tab and change the Small move as size in % of stepover as shown.

Select the OK button to exit 5-Axis Multi Surface.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X STEP 5: BACKPLOT THE SECOND 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.


Make sure that you select only the second 5-Axis Multi Surface operation .

TUTORIAL 4

Select the Backplot selected operations button. Change the graphic view to Front Graphic View. Select the Fit icon. Select the Play button.

Note that the cuts (slices) are morphing between the two curves and also that the rapid movements from both ends of the surfaces are gone.

Select Previous stop button to restart backplot. Select Option button .

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

Disable Simulate Axis Substitution and Simulate Rotary Axis. Enable Connect Bottom, and disable Connect Top and Shade in the 4-5 Axis tool vectors as shown. Change the Length to 0.05

Select the OK button to exit Backplot Options. Select Zoom Target icon. [Pick a point to zoom from]: Select a point as shown in the screenshot below

Select the corner of the window

Select the Point here

[Choose a corner of your zooming box]:Select the corner as shown above. Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and pres the right arrow key one time to rotate the part. Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and enter S to unshade the part

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Select the Step Forward button right.

TUTORIAL 4
several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the

Note the direct movements when the tool steps over. They will leave scallops on the part.

Direct movements

Select the Previous stop button to restart Backplot. Hold-down Alt key and enter S to shade the part. Select the Step Forward button several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the right.
Note that the tool is cutting through the fixture. The tool radius is bigger than the radius of fillet surface. In the next step we will fix both problems.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

STEP 6: CREATE A NEW TOOLPATH TO AVOID GOUGES AND TO MAKE A SMOOTHER TRANSITION BETWEEN PASSES
Strategy 3 Change the move between slices from linear to advanced spiral; Use margin equal to tool radius as the tool is gouging the fixture;
Select Toggle toolpath display on selected operations to remove the toolpath display.

Right-mouse click on the folder in front of the second 5-Axis Multi Surface and hold it down and drag the operation below. Release and select Copy after.

Select the Parameters on the third operation.

Select Parameters Change the Comment in the Toolpath parameters as shown below.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

Select Surface paths tab and change the Area Type to Full, start and end at exact surface edges. Enable Spiral as cutting method.

Full, start and end at exact surface edges option will generate the toolpath on the whole surface and up to the surface edges or to the nearest possible position. Spiral option will generate spiral cuts on your surface. This option can be used with all patterns. It takes parallel cuts and creates a spiral effect for the step over.

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Select Margins button and change the Margins as shown.

TUTORIAL 4

Select the OK button to exit Margins. Select the OK button to exit 5-Axis Multi Surface. Select Regenerate all dirty operations.

STEP 7: BACKPLOT THE THIRD 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.


Make sure that you select only the third 5-Axis Multi Surface operation . Select the Backplot selected operations button.

Select the Step Forward button right.

several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the

Note that the tool is shifted from the fixture with the radius of the tool.

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Hold Alt key and enter S to unshade the part. Continue to select the Step Forward button shown to the right.
Note that the step over movements are removed because of the true spiral cutting method.

TUTORIAL 4

several times until the tool reaches the position

Select the Previous stop button to restart Backplot. Hold-down Alt key and enter S to shade the part. Change the graphic view to Top Graphic View. Click in the graphic area and hold-down the Alt key and press the down arrow Select the Step Forward button right.

three times.

several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the

Note that the tool shaft might gouges the fixture. To avoid gouging the fixture we will gradually tilt the tool axis.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot.

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TUTORIAL 4

STEP 8: CREATE A NEW TOOLPATH TO GRADUALLY TILT THE TOOL AXIS BETWEEN THE FIXTURES
Strategy 4 Use lead angle to avoid cutting with the tip of the ball; Gradually tilt the tool axis from -15 degrees to +15 degrees to avoid gouging the fixtures;
Select Toggle toolpath display on selected operations to remove the toolpath display.

Right-mouse click on the folder in front of the third 5-Axis Multi Surface and hold it down and drag the operation below. Release and select Copy after. Select the Parameters on the fourth operation. Select Parameters Change the Comment in the Toolpath parameters as shown below.

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TUTORIAL 4

Select Tool axis control tab and change the Output format to 5 axis; change the Lead angle to cutting direction and the Tilt angle at side of cutting direction.

Lead angle to cutting direction defines the lead/lag angle of the tool axis from the surface normal in the direction of the toolpath cut. This angle allows you to move the tool contact from the tip of the ball end mill. Tilt angle at side of cutting direction defines the side tilt value of the tool axis from the surface normal direction based on the toolpath cut direction.

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Select the Advanced button and change the parameters as shown.

TUTORIAL 4

Gradual Side tilt angle change This new angle increment will be added onto the side tilt angle value for every new cut. So in the end the final tool axis orientation is the side tilt angle value plus the gradual side tilt angle change value. That means at the beginning of the toolpath the side tilt angle will be -15 degrees and at the end of the toolpath will be + 15. Select the OK button to exist Advanced options for tilting relative to the cutting direction. Select the OK button to exit 5-Axis Multi Surface. Select Regenerate all dirty operations.

STEP 9: BACKPLOT THE FOURTH 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.


Make sure that you select only the fourth 5-Axis Multi Surface operation . Select the Backplot selected operations button.

Change the graphic view to Top Graphic View. Select the Fit icon.

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Select the Step Forward button several times until the tool reaches the position shown to the right.
Note the tool axis orientation at the beginning of the toolpath.

TUTORIAL 4

Continue by selecting the Play button.


Note the tool axis orientation at the middle of the toolpath.

Note the tool axis orientation at the end of the toolpath.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot.

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Select the Move the insert arrow down one item until the insert arrow is below the last operation.

TUTORIAL 4

The last operation has the best strategy to follow when finishing the turbine blade. In the next step we will finish the blade ends and the fillet surfaces.

STEP 10 MACHINING THE LEFT END OF THE BLADE AND THE FILLET SURFACES.
Select Toggle toolpath display on selected operations to remove the toolpath display.

Change the graphic view to Isometric. Select the Fit button. Click in the graphic area and hold-down the Alt key and enter S to unshade the surfaces.

Toolpaths
Advanced Multiaxis Select 5 Ax Multi Surface in the Select User Interface list.

Click on the 5 Ax Multi Surface button.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

Click on the Select library tool button in the Toolpath parameters. Use the Filter option to select the 1/16 Ball Endmill. Make sure that you select the None button first and then the Spherical as the tool type.

Change the Tool Diameter to Equal and 0.0625. Select the OK button to exit Filter. Make sure that the tool is selected and select the OK button to exit Tool Selection. The Toolpath Parameters page should look as shown below.

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Select Surface paths tab. Select Parallel to curve as the Pattern.

TUTORIAL 4

Parallel to curve option will align the cut direction along a leading curve. The neighbouring cuts are parallel to each other. Click on Single edge button. [Add chain]: Select the red color chain as shown below. Select the chain here

Make sure that the chaining direction is CCW. Otherwise select Reverse button.

Select the OK button to exit from chaining.

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Click on Drive surfaces button. [Select surfaces for machining]: Select Color in the Quick Mask toolbar.

TUTORIAL 4

Click on Color button and select the blue color no 9 and holding down the Ctrl key select the green color no 30 as shown. Select the OK button to exit the Select All dialog box. Press Enter button to finish the selection. Select the Show button to see only the selected surfaces.

Press Enter key to continue. Select Done button to continue.

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Select Determined by number of cuts as the Area Type. Enter the Number of cuts as shown.

TUTORIAL 4

Select the Margins button and change the margins as shown.

Set the margins sum to the radius of the tool.

Select the OK button to exit Margins dialog box. Make sure that the Sorting parameter are set as shown.

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Set the Cut tolerance and the Maximum stepover as shown.
Note that the Cut tolerance and the Maximum stepover have a major impact in both Mastercam and on the machine. If youre experiencing difficulty, try slightly tweaking both fields around your desired values.

TUTORIAL 4

Select Tool Axis control tab and change the parameters as explained and shown below. Set the Maximum angle step to 1 degree to increase the number of points along the cut for a better toolpaths. The Tool axis should be set to Be tilted relative to cutting direction.

Set the Lead angle to cutting direction to 10 degrees to avoid cutting with the tip of the tool. Make the Tilt angle at side of cutting direction 0 degree. Select the Advanced button and make the Gradual Side tilt angle change =0 (If needed)

Enable Limits

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

Click the Limits button to limit the tool axis orientation along the toolpath, and change the parameters as shown.

Limits option allows you to limit the tool axis orientation along the tool path. Contain tool within conical angles option sets the limit between two angles measured from the selected cone axis. The tool axis direction is enforced between 2 cones.

Select the OK button to exit Limits. Select the OK button to exit 5-Axis Multi Surface.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X STEP 11: BACKPLOT THE FIFTH 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.
Make sure that only the last 5-Axis Multi Surface operation is selected.

TUTORIAL 4

Select the Backplot selected operations button.

Change the graphic view to Front Graphic View. Select the Play button.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

STEP 12 MACHINING THE RIGHT END OF THE BLADE AND THE FILLET SURFACES.
Select Toggle toolpath display on selected operations to remove the toolpath display.

Change the graphic view to Isometric. Select the Fit button. Click in the graphic area and hold-down the Alt key and enter S to unshade the surfaces.

Toolpaths
Advanced Mutiaxis Select 5 Ax Multi Surface in the Select User Interface list.

Click on the 5 Ax Multi Surface button.

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Select the 1/16 Ball Endmill and change the parameters as shown below. The Toolpath Parameters page should look as shown below.

TUTORIAL 4

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Select Surface paths tab. Select Parallel to curve as the Pattern.

TUTORIAL 4

Click on Single edge button. [Add chain]: Select the red color chain as shown below.

Select the chain here

Make sure that the chaining direction is CCW. Otherwise select Reverse button.

Select the OK button to exit from chaining. Click on Drive surfaces button.

[Select surfaces for machining]: Select Color in the Quick Mask toolbar. Click on Color button and select the blue color no 30 and holding down the Ctrl key select the green color no 108 as shown.

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Select the OK button to exit the Select All dialog box. Press Enter button to finish the selection. Select the Show button to see only the selected surfaces.

TUTORIAL 4

Press Enter key to continue. Select Done button to continue. Select Determined by number of cuts as the Area Type. Enter the Number of cuts as shown.

Select the Advanced button and change the margins as shown.


Set the sum of the margins to the radius of the tool.

Select the OK button to exit Margins dialog box.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X

TUTORIAL 4

In the Sorting field set the Cutting method to One Way, Cut order to Standard and Direction for one way machining to CCwise. Enable Enforce cutting direction (assume closed contours) as shown.

Set the Cut tolerance and the Maximum stepover as shown.

Select Tool Axis control tab and change the parameters as explained and shown below. Set the Maximum angle step to 1 degree to increase the number of points along the cut for a better toolpaths. The Tool axis should be set to Be tilted relative to cutting direction.

Leave the Lead angle to cutting direction and Tilt angle at side of cutting direction as set.

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TUTORIAL 4

Click the Limits button to limit the tool axis orientation along the toolpath, and change the parameters as shown.

Select the OK button to exit Limits. Select the OK button to exit 5-Axis Multi Surface.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X STEP 13: BACKPLOT THE LAST 5-AXIS TOOLPATH.
Make sure that only the last 5-Axis Multi Surface operation is selected.

TUTORIAL 4

Select the Backplot selected operations button. Make sure that you have the following buttons turned on (they will appear pushed down).

Change the graphic view to Front Graphic View. Click in the graphic area and hold-down Alt key and Press the left arrow key three times to rotate the part. Select the Play button.

Select the OK button to exit Backplot Options.

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Advanced Multiaxis Mill X STEP 14: POST THE FILE TO OBTAIN THE NC CODE.
Click on Select all operations icon.

TUTORIAL 4

Select Post selected operations button from Toolpath Manager.


The active Post Processor is a general fanuc post processor. Please check the information about the post processor at page 1-2.

In the Post processing window, make all the necessary changes as shown to the right.

NC file enabled allows you to keep the NC file and to assign the same name as the MCX file Edit enabled allows you to automatically launch the default editor. Select the OK button to continue. Select OK button to accept the file name. The G-code will look as shown below.

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Select the red X box at the upper right corner to exit the Editor.

TUTORIAL 4

STEP 15: SAVE THE UPDATED MCX FILE.


Select the Save icon.

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