MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)
MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)
MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)
Solids
Tutorial
Version 9 Solids Tutorial
(Metric version)
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Note: The parts for the exercises in this tutorial were created using metric
units of measurement. When you open one of the tutorial parts, if you are
using a configuration file based on different units of measure, Mastercam
will automatically switch configuration files to match the units in the
current file. For example, if you are working with the metric configuration
file for Mastercam Mill (Mill9m.cfg) and you open an inch part, the
system switches to the inch configuration file (Mill9.cfg).
Click on the
question
mark then
Tip: You can also click on any
press [Alt + H] field for more
anywhere within information.
Mastercam to get
additional help.
Press the
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to get
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dialog box.
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The following picture shows you some of the main features of the
Mastercam workspace.
Toolbar
Each button is a shortcut to a common menu command.
Hold the cursor over a button to see what it does.
Main Menu
You will select
most of your
commands
here.
Menu buttons
Use these two
buttons to navi-
gate menus.
Secondary
Menu
Use these 10
buttons to
organize and
control drafting
operations
Repaint
Redraw the screen and remove remnants.
Fit to screen
Enlarge or reduce the display scale to fill the screen.
Unzoom by 0.8
Reduce the display scale by 0.8.
Unzoom
Return to the display scale before last zoom.
Zoom with window
Use the cursor to draw a box around the area to be enlarged.
To the right of these buttons in the toolbar are green buttons that
control the graphics view (Gview), which is how you view the part in
the graphics window:
Side view
Front view
Top view
Isometric view
Dynamic rotation
Use the mouse to rotate the part in the window.
Note: The graphics view does not affect the plane in which the part
geometry exists. In Mastercam, this is called the “construction
plane” or “Cplane”. Please refer to Mastercam’s online Help for
more information on Cplanes and Gviews.
When you right-click in the graphics window, a menu appears that
lets you control the display in a similar way to the toolbar buttons and
also provides some additional controls:
Zoom control
Enlarge the display scale of the
windowed selection, or reduce it by
50%. Dynamic controls
Use the mouse to spin (rotate)
the displayed part, to move the
Draw control
view right, left, up, or down,
Enlarge or reduce the display scale to
(pan), or to zoom in or out.
fit the screen, or refresh the screen.
View control
Choose the top, front, side, or
isometric view.
AutoHighlight
Highlight any entity under the cursor.
AutoCursor
Snap to the nearest entity for selection.
The first operation that you perform when creating a solid is referred to as
the base operation. There are many ways to perform a base operation,
which defines the initial solid. In this exercise, you will define the chair
seat's basic shape by extruding, or driving out, a chain of curves along a
linear path. The shape of the curves defines the shape of the resulting
solid.
Turning on the AutoCursor and AutoHighlight features
The AutoCursor feature aids the process of entering points in
Mastercam by automatically detecting entity positions, such as
midpoints and endpoints. AutoHighlight makes it easier to identify
entities by automatically highlighting an entity when the cursor is
over it. You will turn on both of these features before you create the
chair seat.
1. Right-click in the graphics window. Mastercam displays the
following menu.
2. Choose OK to create the solid body. Your part should look like
the following picture.
Once you have performed the base operation and defined the initial solid,
you can perform additional operations to customize the model further. In
this exercise, you will create indentations in the top of the chair seat to
make it comfortable and attractive. You will use the Sweep function to
remove material from the extruded solid.
Selecting the section chain and sweep path
The Sweep function requires you to define two sets of geometry. The
first set consists of one or more chains of curves. These chains are
called section chains because their cross-sections define the shape of
the resulting solid, cut, or boss. In this case, you will select one
section chain to use as a cut. The second set of geometry consists of a
single chain, which defines the path along which the section chain is
swept.
1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Sweep. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
3. Define the section chain by selecting the red geometry at the
position shown in the following picture.
2. Choose OK. The system cuts the shape of the section chain from
the chair seat.
3. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will further customize the chair seat by rounding its
center edge using fillets, or blends.
Selecting the center edge
1. Turn off shading.
2. Choose Fillet from the Solids menu. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
3. To limit your selection to solid edges, toggle Edges to Y and all
other Yes/No options to N, as shown in the following picture.
4. Move your cursor over the geometry at the position shown in the
following picture.
Smooth Linear
4. Press [S] to turn on snap mode. The prompt area indicates that
snapping is on.
Note: When snapping is active, the cursor snaps to the point
entity closest to the cursor’s position when you left-click the
mouse.
5. Position the cursor crosshair over the point at the position shown
in the following picture, and click.
9. In the prompt area, type 288 for the radius, then press [Enter].
10. Choose Done to return to the Fillet Parameters dialog box. The
Edge List area now shows four radius positions for EDGE 1.
In this exercise, you will fillet the remaining edges on the top of the seat
using a constant radius value. To save time and reduce the number of
edges that you have to select manually, you will select one edge to fillet,
and propagate the fillet to all tangent edges.
Smoothing the chair seat’s inside edge
1. Turn off shading.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
3. Select the edge at the position shown in the following picture.
4. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
6. The next edge is difficult to select because it is small and there are
several edges in this section of the geometry. To be sure that you
select the correct edge, toggle Verify to Y, as shown in the
following picture.
11. Choose Done from the Pick Solid Entity menu. The Fillet
Parameters dialog box opens.
12. Enter 24 for Radius.
13. Set Overflow to Maintain Edges. This option prevents the fillet
operation from failing in cases where a fillet is large enough to
overflow onto faces beyond its two adjacent faces. The system
maintains the edges of the fillet's adjacent faces.
14. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
15. Choose OK. The system creates the fillets along the seat’s top
front edge.
16. Choose the Screen-Unzoom toolbar button to view the entire
chair seat. The Maintain Edges option prevents the fillet from
overflowing past the edge shown in the following picture and
causing the operation to fail.
7. Choose OK. The system fillets the seat’s top outer edge.
8. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
9. Choose Solids mgr from the Solids menu. The Solids Manager
opens.
10. Double-click on Solid to expand the list of six operations that you
performed to create the solid model of the chair seat.
Note: You will learn more about the Solids Manager in the next
chapter.
11. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager.
12. Save the file.
You have created your first solid model using Extrude, Sweep, and Fillet
operations. In the next chapter, you will create a solid model for a plastic
cap. To complete this model, you will learn new methods of creating and
modifying solids.
You will build on skills that you learned in the previous chapter and learn
new skills, such as:
Creating a base solid (Revolve)
Adding material (boss) with draft to a solid (Extrude)
Cutting material from a solid (Extrude)
Trimming extruded bosses and cuts to solid faces
Setting the solid display (hidden lines and radial display
curves)
Filleting solid edges using face selection
Hollowing out a solid with an entry hole
Editing operation parameters
Reordering operations
Changing a solid feature by modifying its underlying curve
geometry
Regenerating a solid
Creating a curve along a solid edge
In this exercise, you will perform a base operation to define the round
shape of the plastic cap. To do so, you will create a revolved solid by
driving the shape of a chain of curves in a circular path around an axis.
Checking visible levels of geometry
Level 1 is the main level, on which geometry will be created in a later
exercise. Level 2 is the level on which some of the geometry
contained in this file is located. You will check to be sure that both of
these levels are visible.
1. Open cap-wireframe-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
2. Choose the Level button on the Secondary Menu.
Note: The number on the button indicates the main level, on
which geometry will be created (in this case, level 1).
3. Check to be sure levels 1 and 2 are visible, as shown in the
following picture.
Tip: To
make a level
visible or
invisible,
click in the
Visible
column next
to a level
number. The
red check
mark
indicates
that a level
is visible.
3. Choose Done.
4. Select the rotation axis (line) at the position shown in the
following picture.
5. The Revolve menu sets the rotation direction. To create the round
base of the cap, you will rotate the geometry a full 360 degrees.
Therefore, the rotation direction does not matter. Choose Done.
The Revolve Chain dialog box opens.
Setting revolve parameters
1. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
In this exercise, you will create a nozzle on top of the cap's base. You will
use the Extrude function to add material, called a boss, to the revolved
solid.
Chaining the geometry and setting the extrusion direction
1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude.
3. Select the yellow geometry at the position shown in the following
picture.
In this exercise, you will trim material from the nozzle to refine its shape.
You will do so by cutting the revolved solid with an extruded chain of
curves. The chain of curves is located in the middle of the nozzle, which
makes it difficult to know the distance to extrude the cut in either
direction. Therefore, you will extend the cut through the entire nozzle
(versus a specified distance) in both the extrusion direction and the
opposite direction.
1. Turn off shading.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Extrude.
3. Select the light blue geometry at the position shown in the
following picture.
In this exercise, you will simplify the solid model display by turning off
the display of hidden lines and reducing the number of radial display lines,
which represent the surfaces of closed, circular solids (cones, cylinders,
spheres, tori).
1. Turn off shading.
Note: Be sure to turn off shading. You cannot change the display
of hidden lines when a solid model is shaded.
2. Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. The Solids
Display dialog box opens.
3. Choose Hidden. By selecting this option and not setting the Show
Hidden Lines option, you remove the edges that would not
otherwise be visible in the current view from the display.
4. Enter 180.0 for Radial Display Curve Angle for Circular Faces.
This option sets the angle between radial display lines. Increasing
this value reduces the number of display lines along a circular
face.
6. Choose OK. The following pictures show what your part looks
like before and after the display changes.
Before After
The clean lines of the display now make it easier to see the cap's sharp
edges. In this exercise, you will smooth the edges using the Fillet function
that you learned about in the previous chapter. In addition to selecting
individual edges, you will select entire solid faces to fillet. Face selection
saves time when all of the edges of a face will be filleted with the same
radius value.
Creating a fillet using edge selection
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
2. Toggle the Edges option to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
3. Select the two edges shown in the following picture. The system
highlights the selected edges.
Note: Edge selection works as a toggle. If you select the wrong
edge, select it again to deselect it.
8. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges. Your part should look like
the following picture.
5. The cursor symbol changes to show that a face has been detected.
Click to select the face. The system highlights the face.
6. Select the face shown in the following picture (the top of the cap's
nozzle). The system highlights the face.
Note: When a solid face is selected, its edges can only be filleted
with a constant radius. Therefore, the Variable Radius option is
not available. To vary the fillet radius along an edge, you must
select the edge separately.
11. Choose OK to fillet the edges of the selected faces. Your part
should look like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will use the Shell function to hollow out the cap.
There are two ways to shell a solid, depending on your selection. If you
select solid faces, the system hollows out the solid and opens the selected
faces to form entry holes into the solid. If you select the whole solid, the
system removes material from the interior of the solid to form the shell,
but the solid remains closed. In this exercise, you will shell the solid and
create one entry hole.
1. From the Solids menu, choose Shell.
2. Toggle the FromBack and Faces options to Y and all other
Yes/No options to N.
Note: The FromBack option filters out the faces in front (based
on the current view) so you can select the cap’s bottom without
having to rotate the solid.
3. Select the cap’s bottom face at the position shown in the
following picture. The system highlights its edge. This face
defines the entry hole.
In this exercise, you will cut a hole in the nozzle using extrusion
techniques that you learned in a previous exercise. The cut will extend in
one direction through the front of the nozzle.
5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points to the left
(toward the front, or outside, of the cap). If it doesn't, choose
Reverse It.
7. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
8. Clear the Both directions check box.
9. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
In this exercise, you will make the cap easier to grasp by adding a tab to
the outside of the cap. You will do this by extruding a chain of curves as a
boss across the nozzle. You will trim the boss to an external face so that it
does not penetrate the hollowed interior of the cap, which would interfere
with the function of the nozzle.
1. Turn off shading.
2. The tab geometry is located on level 3. Use the Level Manager to
make level 2 invisible and levels 1 and 3 visible.
Tip: For information on making levels visible or invisible, see page 32.
5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points toward the
nozzle. If it doesn't, choose Reverse It.
7. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
8. Choose Add Boss.
9. Enter 18 for Distance.
10. Select the Trim to selected faces check box.
Note: To prevent complicating operations unnecessarily in your
own work, use this option only when you need to avoid disrupting
a solid by adding a boss or cut that would extend too far into the
target solid.
11. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
15. Choose Done to create the boss. Mastercam trims the boss to the
selected face and to all adjacent faces.
16. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
The tab that you created in the previous exercise does not extend to the
other side of the cap, as it should. You will fix this problem by increasing
the extrusion distance. To do this, you will edit the operation parameters
using the Solids Manager.
Increasing the extrusion distance
1. From the Solids menu, choose Solids mgr. The Solids Manager
dialog box opens.
2. Expand the operation history by clicking on the + sign next to the
word 'Solid'.
3. Click on the + sign for the last Extrude Boss operation in the list
to expand its structure.
5. Enter 37.2 for Distance then choose OK. Mastercam marks the
operation with a red X.
Note: An operation marked with a red X is called 'dirty', which
indicates that the operation has been modified in some way.
6. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new distance into the solid
model. Mastercam trims the boss to the face that you selected in
the previous exercise and to all adjacent faces.
7. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager. Your part should look
like the following picture.
8. Dynamically rotate the cap to view its interior. Your part should
look similar to the following picture. Notice that the tab does not
penetrate the cap's interior.
In this exercise, you will use the Extrude Cut function to cut holes in the
tabs. These holes will be used to attach the cap to a base. You will do so
by extending a cut through the entire solid. The tab operation required you
to trim the boss to a face to prevent adding material to the interior of the
shelled solid. This step is not necessary for this operation because the cut
will not change the interior of the solid, which is already hollowed out.
1. Turn off shading and return to Isometric view.
2. The geometry for the tab holes is located on level 4. Use the Level
Manager to make level 3 invisible and level 4 visible.
3. Choose Extrude from the Solids menu. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
4. Select the yellow circle at the position shown in the following
picture.
12. Move the dialog box so you can see the direction arrow on the
geometry.
13. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points into the cap. If
it does not, select the Reverse direction check box.
Note: This option is the same as choosing Reverse It on the
Extrusion Direction menu.
14. Choose OK to cut the attachment holes.
15. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
16. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Side. Your part
should look like the following picture. Note that the cut goes
through the entire solid.
In this exercise, you will determine the current size of the attachment
holes by analyzing the radius of the circle that was used to create the cut.
You will then increase the size of the circle and rebuild the model to make
the attachment holes match the size of the circle.
Analyzing and editing the circle's radius
1. Turn off shading and return to Isometric view.
2. Choose Main Menu, Analyze.
3. To limit the entities that you can select to analyze, choose Only,
Arcs. Mastercam displays the Analyze Entity menu.
4. Select the circle at the position shown in the following picture.
2. Choose Regen All to rebuild the model using the new radius
value.
3. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager.
4. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will create a snap edge, or lip, on the cap that allows
the cap to snap onto a can. To do so, you will use the Sweep function to
cut material from the inside of the cap.
Creating an edge curve
As you learned in Chapter 2, the Sweep function requires two sets of
chains, one to define a cross-section of the cut and one to define the
sweep path. In this exercise, you will define the section chain using
existing curve geometry on level 5. The sweep path will be the
interior edge of the shelled cap. There is currently no curve geometry
to define this path, so you will extract a curve based on the geometry
of the edge.
1. Dynamically rotate the cap to view its underside.
2. Use the Level Manager to make level 4 invisible and to set the
Main Level to number 5. This is the level on which the edge
curve will be created.
8. Select the inner edge of the cap at the position shown in the
following picture. Mastercam creates a curve along the edge.
6. Choose Done.
7. Define the sweep path by selecting the red edge curve that you
just created, as shown in the following picture.
In this exercise, you will complete the model of the solid cap by
smoothing the cap edge. You will select one segment of the snap edge to
fillet and propagate the fillet to the remainder of the edge. You will
maintain the edges of the fillet's tangent faces to prevent the fillet from
overflowing onto a third set of faces. For more information on propagating
fillets and setting the overflow condition, see Exercise 5 in Chapter 2.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Splitting the draft angle at the center line of the part
Creating a 180-degree revolved boss
Combining operations involving multiple chains
Chamfering solid edges
Analyzing solid properties
In this exercise, you will perform a base operation to define the body of
the connecting rod. To do so, you will extrude a chain of curves in both
the positive direction (indicated by the direction arrow) and the opposite,
or negative, direction. In the same operation, you will apply a 5-degree
draft angle inward in both directions from the mid-plane of the part
(defined by the chain of curves).
In this exercise, you will add material to the ends of the connecting rod.
You will do this by revolving chains of curves to form a boss at each end.
One boss will be a full circle; the other will be 180 degrees.
Creating a 360-degree revolved boss
1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Revolve.
3. Select the magenta geometry to revolve at the position shown in
the following picture.
5. To define the rotation axis, select the dark gray dashed line shown
in the following picture.
Note: Where you select the line affects the rotation direction.
6. The direction arrow indicates the sweep of the arc that the
revolved boss will make. It should point toward the body of the
connecting rod. If it does not, choose Reverse.
Note: If the sweep arc does not intersect the body of the
connecting rod, the following error message displays. This
message indicates that you are attempting to create a separate
solid body, which is not allowed for an Add Boss operation.
5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow on each chain to be sure it points
toward the body of the connecting rod. If both arrows point in the
correct direction, continue with step 7. Otherwise, take one of the
following actions:
If both arrows point in the wrong direction, choose Reverse It.
If one arrow points in the wrong direction, choose Reverse
One, then select the chain whose direction arrow points in the
wrong direction.
7. When both direction arrows point in the correct direction, choose
Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
Setting extrusion parameters
1. Enter Con Tabs for the operation name.
2. Select Add Boss.
3. Select Combine Ops.
4. Clear the Draft check box.
5. Enter 24 for Distance.
6. Clear the Both directions check box.
In this exercise, you will cut bolt holes in the tabs at the 180-degree end of
the connecting rod. You will perform two extrude cut operations, one for
the bolt holes and one for the spot faces. The bolt holes are used to attach
the connecting rod to its mating half. The spot faces are the flat surfaces
where the nuts or bolts are tightened.
Chaining the geometry for the first set of cuts
1. Turn off shading
2. From the Solids menu, choose Extrude.
3. Select the two small green circles, as shown in the following
picture.
3. Choose OK to cut the spot faces. Your part should look like the
following picture.
In this exercise, you will remove material from the connecting rod. You
will do so by extruding shallow cuts on the top and bottom of the rod’s
body.
Chaining the geometry
1. Unzoom from the 180-degree boss.
2. Zoom in on the body of the connecting rod.
3. From the Solids menu, choose Extrude.
4. Select the light blue geometry at positions 1 and 2, as shown in
the following picture.
5. Choose Done.
6. The direction arrow should point down into the body of the rod
for chain 1 and up into the body of the rod for chain 2. Correct the
arrow directions, as needed, then choose Done. The Extrude
Chain dialog box opens.
Setting extrusion parameters for the top cut
1. Enter Lightening Cuts for the operation name.
2. Select the Draft check box.
3. Enter 5.0 for Angle.
4. Choose Extend by specified distance.
5. Enter 3.6 for Distance.
6. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
In this exercise, you will bevel the rod’s edges to ease assembly and add
strength. You will do this by chamfering selected edges. Chamfering
replaces sharp edges with linear faces by adding material to internal edges
or removing material from external edges.
Setting the display of hidden lines
To make it easier to select the edges to chamfer, you will change the
solid display. You will increase the number of radial display curves
and change the display of hidden lines (those not normally visible in
the current view) to dashed, dimmed lines.
1. Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. The Solids
Display dialog box opens.
2. Select Hidden.
3. Select Show Hidden Lines.
4. Select Show dimmed and enter 80 for the dimming factor
(intensity).
5. Select Show dashed.
6. Enter 45.0 for Radial Display Curve Angle for Circular Faces.
Tip: For more information about this option, see Exercise 4, "Reducing the
number of display curves," in Chapter 3.
Distance 1
Distance 1
11. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will smooth the edges of the connecting rod by
performing several fillet operations on selected edges and faces. You will
use a different radius value in each operation, which affects the size of the
rounded edges.
5. Unzoom from the boss, and zoom in on the body of the rod.
6. Select the edges shown at positions 5 and 6 in the following
picture.
7. Unzoom from the body of the rod, and zoom in on the 360-degree
boss.
8. Select the edge shown at position 7 in the following picture.
9. Unzoom and check your selections. When all seven edges are
selected, choose Done. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.
10. Enter Fillet 12-millimeter for the operation name.
11. Enter 12 for Radius.
12. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
14. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
Notice that the center line of the part is now rounded.
4
5
10
11
12
8. Unzoom and check your selections. When all twelve edges are
selected, choose Done. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.
9. Enter Fillet 3-millimeter for the operation name.
10. Enter 3 for Radius.
11. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
4
3
In this exercise, you will analyze the connecting rod's current weight and
edit the solid model so that its weight does not exceed 1,750,000 grams.
You will do this by cutting material from the body of the connecting rod.
Analyzing the connecting rod’s weight
You will calculate the rod's weight based on the density of steel in
grams per cubic millimeter (k/mm3).
1. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Area/volume, Solid props. The
Solid Properties dialog box opens.
2. Type 7.8 for Density and press [Enter]. Notice that at this density,
the rod's mass exceeds the 1,750,000 gram weight requirement.
In this chapter, you created a solid model for a connecting rod. You built
upon techniques that you learned in previous chapters and learned how to
perform new operation types, such as Chamfer. In the next chapter, you
will create a solid model of a forging die based on the connecting rod that
you built in this chapter.
In this chapter, you will build a solid model of a steel forging die. The
shape of the forging die will be defined by the connecting rod that you
created in Chapter 4.
Note: A backup file containing the connecting rod was provided with the
other tutorial parts in case you did not complete Chapter 4.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Creating multiple solids in the same file
Creating a primitive solid
Suppressing solid operations
Removing one solid volume from another
Scaling a solid body
7. Choose OK. Your part should look like the following picture.
Notice the reference point located below the forging die.
Reference point
In this exercise, you will create a block-shaped solid to represent the die
stock for the forging die. You will use the Primitives function to create the
solid block. This function lets you quickly create solids in simple,
predefined shapes. Unlike the solids that you have created so far, a
primitive solid is not defined by curve geometry.
Creating a primitive block
Before creating the block, you will change the construction color to
distinguish the block from the connecting rod, which was constructed
using light gray.
1. Choose the Color button on the Secondary Menu.
2. Set Current color to 10 (light green) then choose OK to close the
Color dialog box.
1. Choose Height.
2. In the prompt area, type 24 and press [Enter].
3. Choose Length.
4. In the prompt area, type 150 and press [Enter].
5. Choose Width.
6. In the prompt area, type 250 and press [Enter]. The connecting
rod now fits within the block, as shown in the following picture.
7. Choose the Gview-Front toolbar button. The top face of the die
stock bisects the forging die.
9. Choose Done to complete the block and exit the Block menu.
10. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager. Notice that there are
now two solids contained in this file. The first one is the
connecting rod, which you created in Chapter 4. The second one
is the die stock.
Connecting Rod
Die Stock
In this exercise, you will reduce the connecting rod's weight. You will do
so by further deepening the lightening cuts, just as you did in Exercise 8
of Chapter 4. The rod is no longer a physical solid; it is a tool body whose
form is removed from the die stock. Therefore, the change that you make
to the connecting rod will be manifested in the forging die.
1. Expand the Lightening Cuts operation (if necessary) and double-
click on Parameters.
2. Enter 5 for Distance and choose OK.
3. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new distance into the model.
4. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager. Your part should look
like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will increase the size of the forging die to
accommodate for shrinkage of the steel. You will do so by scaling the
model by 2%.
1. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Scale.
2. Select the forging die.
3. Choose Done.
4. Choose Origin from the Point Entry menu to scale the solid about
the system origin (0,0,0). The Scale dialog box opens.
5. Enter 1.02 for Scale factor.
6. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Creating a base solid (Loft)
Changing the light intensity on the shaded solid
Removing select defining curves from the solid
In this exercise, you will create circles along a spline at six pre-defined
points. The circles will form cross-sections of the windshield and define
the windshield’s basic shape. Before you create the circles, however, you
will set the construction plane (Cplane) and construction depth (Z).
Up to this point in the tutorial, you have not been concerned with the
construction settings because Mastercam uses the plane and depth of the
underlying curve geometry when constructing solids. However,
Mastercam creates wireframe geometry (lines, arcs, splines) on the plane
and at the depth that you define.
Note: The current construction settings are reflected on the Cplane and Z
buttons on the Secondary Menu.
Setting the construction plane and depth
You will set the construction plane to (right) side view and set the
depth based on the midpoint of an existing line.
1. Open windshield-wireframe-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
2. Choose the Cplane button on the Secondary Menu.
3. Choose Endpoint from the Point Entry menu, and select the
brown line shown at position 1 in the following picture.
9. After you have created the six circles, press [Esc] to exit the
function.
10. Choose the Screen-Clear Colors toolbar button to remove the
group/result colors from the last two circles.
In this exercise, you will use the Loft function to create a solid based on
the circles that you defined in the previous exercise. The system creates a
lofted solid by transitioning between two or more selected closed chains
of curves, which define the cross-sections of the solid.
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Loft.
2. Select the circle at position 1 in the following picture. Note the
direction of the arrow that displays on the chain. It is important
that the chaining direction be the same for all the chains that you
select.
Note: The chaining direction determines how the system
transitions between chains when building the lofted solid. It does
not matter which direction the arrows point, just that they point in
the same direction.
7. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading. Your part should look like the
following picture.
8. Choose Main Menu, File, Save and save the file as windshield-
solid-mm.mc9 in your working folder.
In this exercise, you will trim the front and bottom of the windshield to
make it more aerodynamic.
Preparing the part (setting levels, hidden lines, etc.)
1. Choose the Level button on the Secondary Menu. The Level
Manager opens.
2. Make level 4 visible by clicking in the Visible column for this
level. Level 4 contains two rectangles, which you will use to trim
the windshield’s shape.
Note: Chain 1 contains a branch point where the brown and red
entities intersect. Because the color mask was turned on and the
first entity that you selected was brown, the system ignored the
red entities and followed the brown line at the branch point. If
you had not used the color mask, the system would have stopped
the chain at the branch point and prompted you to select the next
entity manually.
6. Choose Done to end the selection.
Note: The extrusion direction does not matter since you will
extrude the chains in both directions.
8. Enter Trim Front for the operation name.
9. Select Cut Body.
10. Select Extend through all.
11. Select Both directions.
12. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
14. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
5. Choose OK three times to close the dialog boxes and return to the
graphics window.
6. Set the graphics view to Top. Your part should look like the
following picture.
7. Choose OK to create the cut. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Chain 3
Chain 2
5. With your cursor positioned over the selected chains in the list,
right-click to open the following menu.
The lofted solid now transitions from the first circle to the fourth
circle, which creates a steeper slope.
10. Unsuppress the Trim Front and Trim Bottom operations.
Tip: To unsuppress an operation, right-click on it, then choose Suppress. The
operation icon will no longer be gray.
11. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager. Your part should look
like the following picture.
In this exercise, you will fillet the outside edges and nose of the
windshield. You will use a constant radius for the outside edges and a
variable radius for the nose.
12. Choose OK to close the Fillet Parameters dialog box. Your part
should look like the following picture.
2
1 3
10. Expand the three edges in the edge list section of the dialog box.
There are two vertices, or endpoints, listed for each edge.
11. Click on each vertex in the list. The system highlights the
corresponding vertex in the graphics window.
12. Set the radius of each vertex using the values shown in the
following picture.
Tip: Click a vertex in the list, see which vertex is highlighted in the graphics
window, then use the picture above and type the correct value in the Radius
field.
13. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges. Your part should look like
the following picture.
In Exercise 5, you shelled the part with a constant wall thickness of 1.32
millimeters. However, when you filleted the outside edges and nose, the
wall thickness decreased in the filleted areas. In this exercise, you will
reorder the solid operations in order to smooth the inside edges and restore
a uniform wall thickness of 1.32 millimeters.
1. Turn on shading.
2. Dynamically rotate the part to view the underside of the
windshield. Your part should look similar to the following
picture.
By moving the Fillet Sides operation above the Shell operation, the
shell operation is also applied to the fillets. When the fillets get
shelled, the system creates a smooth inside edge and maintains a
constant wall thickness of 1.32 millimeters.
In this exercise, you will add a screw plate to the back of the windshield.
The screw plate will contain two through-holes, which will be used to
attach the windshield to the body of the toy car.
Preparing the part
1. Switch to Isometric view.
2. Turn off shading.
3. Return to wireframe display lines.
Tip: Choose Screen, Surf disp, Solids. Select Wireframe, then choose OK.
4. Press [Alt + E] to turn off the Hide function that you turned on in
Exercise 5. Mastercam un-hides the curve geometry.
5. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look like the
following picture.
2
1
11. Define the “to” translation point by selecting the bottom outside
corner (endpoint) of the solid, as shown by position 2 in the
previous picture. The Translate dialog box opens.
12. Check your settings against the following picture.
Note: If you do not get the correct results, press [Alt+U] to undo
the translation, press [F3] to repaint the screen, then repeat the
steps, making sure that Cplane is set to 3D.
Adding the screw plate to the solid model
You will use the transformed screw plate curves to extrude a boss
onto the windshield. You will set the extrusion distance to match the
wall thickness of the shelled solid (1.32 millimeters).
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude.
2. Select the red arc at the position shown in the following picture.
11. Choose OK to create the screw plate. Your part should look like
the following picture.
3. Choose Done.
4. Look at the direction arrow on each chain to be sure it points
down into the screw plate. If both of the arrows point in the
correct direction, continue with step 5. Otherwise, take one of the
following actions.
10. Choose OK to cut the through-holes. Your part should look like
the following picture.
11. Turn on shading and rotate the part to the back of the windshield.
Your part should look similar to the following picture.
In this exercise, you will fillet the inside and outside of the top edge that
runs along the back of the windshield. You will also fillet the top face of
the screw plate.
Filleting the back outside edge
1. Hide all geometry except for the solid windshield.
Tip: Press [Alt+E], and choose All, Solids, Done. Only the solid remains in the
graphics window.
10. Choose OK to fillet the top outside edge of the back of the
windshield.
8. Choose OK to fillet the top of the screw plate. Your part should
look like the following picture.
10. Choose OK to fillet the edge. Your part should look similar to the
following picture.
In this exercise, you will create a nose attachment that will allow the front
of the windshield to snap onto the toy car. You will then create a snap
closure on the nose attachment to lock the windshield into place.
Preparing the part
1. Turn off shading.
2. Switch to Isometric view.
3. Fit the geometry to the screen.
4. Turn on Hidden display lines, but don’t show them.
Tip: Choose Screen, Surf disp, Solids. Select Hidden, clear Show Hidden
Lines, then choose OK.
Geometry for
the nose
attachment
3. Choose Done twice to end the selection and accept the default
extrusion direction. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
4. Enter Nose Attach for the operation name.
5. Select Add Boss.
6. Clear Combine Ops.
7. Enter 4.8 for Distance.
8. Select Trim to selected faces.
9. Select Both directions.
10. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
13. Select the windshield's top inside face at the position shown in the
following picture.
16. Rotate the part to view the inside of the windshield. Your part
should look similar to the following picture.
Notice the nose attachment has been trimmed to the inside face.
Join line
Copy of line
Extracted edge
Join line curve (line)
3. Choose Done.
4. Make sure the extrusion direction points to the right (away from
the nose attachment). If it does not, choose Reverse It.
5. Choose Done.
6. Enter Snap Closure for the operation name.
7. Enter 2.4 for Distance.
In this exercise, you will fillet the sharp edges on the snap closure.
Because you will fillet all of the edges using the same radius value, you
will save time by using face selection.
1. Zoom in on the snap closure.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet.
3. Toggle Faces to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
4. Select faces 1 through 4, as shown in the following picture.
4
5. Toggle the From Back to Y.
6. Select the side and back faces, as shown in the following picture.
Side
Back
11. Choose OK to fillet the snap closure. Your part should look like
the following picture.
12. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look like the
following picture.
In this chapter, you created a lofted solid for a windshield on a toy race
car. In the next chapter, you will import and modify a solid model of a
two-piece injection mold for a camera.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Importing Parasolid® files
Checking solids for error conditions
Using translucent shading
Creating an operation history for an imported solid
Renaming operations in the Solids Manager
In this exercise, you will import two solids, one that represents the camera
cavity and the other that represents the camera core. Each solid is
contained in a separate Parasolid® file. You will merge both solids into
one Mastercam file (MC9).
Importing the camera cavity
1. Choose Main Menu, File, New and choose Yes at the prompt to
initialize the geometry and operations.
10. Switch to Isometric view and fit the camera cavity to the screen.
Your part should look like the following picture.
11. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading. Your part should look like the
following picture.
5. The system asks you if you want to delete the current part. Choose
No to merge the core into the same file with the cavity. Both
halves of the mold now display in the graphics window. Each half
is a separate solid.
6. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look like the
following picture.
10. Turn on shading and dynamically rotate the graphics view so that
you can see the underside of the camera core. Your part should
look similar to the following picture.
In this exercise, you will use the Check Solid function to analyze the solid
cavity and core for error conditions that may require repair or
reconstruction. This tool is particularly useful for checking the integrity of
imported solids. If Mastercam detects errors, such as self-intersecting
bodies, wireframe edges intersecting faces at locations other than at
vertices, etc., it describes them and highlights their location in the model.
1. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Surfaces, Check solid. The
Check Solid dialog box opens.
2. Choose Perform Check. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays.
3. Toggle Solids to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
4. Select the camera cavity (light blue solid). Mastercam reopens the
Check Solid dialog box and reports the number of errors that it
detected. In this case, no errors were detected.
2. Click on Body for the first solid in the list. Mastercam highlights
the camera cavity in the graphics window.
3. With Body selected, right-click to display a menu, and choose
Rename. The name field becomes editable.
4. Type Cavity, and press [Enter].
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to name the second “Body” operation
using the name Core. The Solids Manager should look like the
following picture.
12. Choose OK twice to close the New Geometry Attributes and Find
Features dialog boxes. Mastercam processes the search, creates
the operations, and opens the Solid Feature Detection dialog box.
13. Choose OK in the Solid Feature Detection dialog box. This
reopens the Solids Manager dialog box.
Mastercam found eight holes and created five operations. Four holes
represent the spot faces. These are blind holes, in which the cuts do
not penetrate the entire solid. Mastercam creates a separate operation
for blind holes. The other four holes represent the bolt holes. These
are through-holes, which cut through the entire cavity. Mastercam
grouped these cuts together in one operation because the “Combine
operations” option was selected on the Find Features dialog box. This
option applies only to through-holes.
Renaming the cut operations
You will rename the Extrude Cut operations to better organize the
model in the Solids Manager.
1. Click on each Extrude Cut operation in the list. Mastercam
highlights the corresponding holes in the model. The first four
Extrude Cut operations correspond to the spot faces. The last
Extrude Cut operation corresponds to the four bolt holes.
2. Rename the first Extrude Cut operation as Spot Face 1.
Tip: Right-click on the operation, choose Rename, type the new name, and
press [Enter].
Now that you have created an operation history for the camera cavity, you
can edit the operations. In this exercise, you will modify the parameters
and geometry that define the cut operations that correspond to the camera
cavity’s spot faces.
Shortening the cut distance for the spot faces
In order to change the cut distance for the spot faces, you will edit the
parameters of the Spot Face operations.
1. Expand Spot Face 1.
2. Double-click on Parameters. The Extrude Chain dialog box
opens.
3. Enter 12 for Distance, and choose OK. Mastercam returns to the
Solids Manager and marks the operation dirty.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the three remaining spot faces.
5. Choose Regen All to incorporate the change in the model.
6. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager.
Increasing the size of the spot faces
In order to change the size of the spot faces, you will edit the
associated geometry (circles), which define the spot face cuts.
1. Turn off shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Only, Arcs.
3. Select the dark purple circle at position 1, as shown in the
following picture.
4. In the prompt area, Mastercam displays data for the circle. On the
Analyze Entity menu, toggle Edit to Y. The data now displays in
the Analyze dialog box where some of the data is editable.
5. Enter 24 for Diameter, and choose OK to close the dialog box.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for the three remaining spot face circles,
as shown at positions 2, 3, and 4 in the following picture.
4
3
2
7. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager. All four Spot Face
operations are marked dirty.
8. Choose Regen All. Mastercam increases the size of the spot face
holes.
9. Close the Solids Manager and save the file.
In this exercise, you will create curve geometry to represent a sprue hole
and a gate. A gate allows molten plastic to be injected into the mold, and a
sprue hole allows air to escape from the mold as the plastic fills the void
between the mold halves. In a later exercise, you will use the curve
geometry to cut the sprue hole and the gate in the solid model.
Managing geometry levels
In this exercise, you will name the levels on which you have created
part geometry in previous exercises.
1. Choose Level from the Secondary Menu. The Level Manager
opens.
2. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 1 for Number
and Camera core/cavity for Name.
3. Enter 2 for Number and Cavity hole geometry for Name.
4. Enter 3 for Number and Sprue hole/gate geometry for Name.
5. Make level 2 invisible by clearing the red check mark in the
Visible column for this number.
6. Choose OK to close the Level Manager.
Extracting an edge curve
When you imported the camera files into Mastercam, you had the
option to create curves along all edges of the solids. You did not
select this option, however, because it would have resulted in the
creation of a lot of unnecessary geometry. You will now extract a
single edge curve, which you will use to create the sprue hole and
gate.
1. Unblank the camera core.
Tip: Choose Main Menu, Screen, Blank, Unblank. Select the camera core
and choose Backup.
Parallel
line
Extracted
edge curve
Gate circle
In this exercise, you will extrude the circles that you just created as cuts on
the mold to form the sprue hole and the gate. You will cut the sprue hole
in two operations. The first cut will extend through the entire core. The
second cut will extend part way through the cavity.
Cutting the sprue hole in the core
1. Zoom in closely on the sprue hole and gate circles.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude.
3. Select the 4.5-millimeter diameter circle, as shown in the
following picture.
4. Choose Done.
5. Make sure that the extrusion direction arrow points up. If it does
not, choose Reverse It.
6. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
7. Enter Sprue Hole Core for the operation name.
8. Select Cut Body.
9. Select Extend through all.
10. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
11. Choose OK. Since this file contains more than one solid,
Mastercam prompts you to select the one you want to cut, called
the target body.
12. Fit the geometry to the screen.
13. Select the top of the camera core (light gray solid) at the position
shown in the following picture.
Mastercam cuts the sprue hole in the core. Your part should look like
the following picture.
Sprue hole
Mastercam cuts the sprue hole in the (light blue) cavity. Your part
should look like the following picture.
4. Choose Done.
5. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points to the left. If it
does not, choose Reverse It.
6. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
7. Enter Gate for the operation name.
8. Enter 36 for Distance.
9. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
Mastercam cuts the gate in the cavity. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Gate
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Importing a surface model
Solidifying a surface model
Adding draft to solid faces
Extracting surfaces from a solid
Extracting edge curves from a surface
Creating a ruled surface
Trimming a surface to curves
Creating a sheet solid by stitching surfaces
Trimming a solid to a sheet solid
Creating a solid drawing layout
In this exercise, you will read an IGES file into Mastercam. The IGES file
contains multiple surfaces that represent a container for which you will
create a two-piece plastic injection mold.
1. Choose Main Menu, File, Converters, IGES, Read file.
2. Open container-mm.igs from your working folder. The IGES
Read parameters dialog box opens.
3. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
In this exercise, you will make several changes to the container to give it
its final form. You will add fillets and draft to the Y-shaped standoff in the
middle of the part to make it moldable. Once the part design is complete,
you will create an injection mold for it.
Solidifying the imported surfaces
Before you make changes to the model, you will solidify it by
stitching the imported surfaces into a single solid. In solid form, the
part will be easier to modify.
1. Choose Color from the Secondary Menu. The Color dialog box
opens.
2. Set Current color to 7 (light gray) and choose OK to close the
dialog box.
3. Choose Level from the Secondary Menu. The Level Manager
opens.
4. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 1 for Number
and Solidified part for Name.
6
3 5
4
5. Choose Done to end the selection. The Fillet Parameters dialog
box opens.
6. Enter 1 for Radius and choose OK to close the dialog box.
Mastercam fillets the selected edges and reopens the Solids
Manager. There are now two Fillet operations listed for the solid.
Adding draft to the vertical walls of the standoff
Currently, the Y-shaped standoff has vertical walls, which are not
moldable. You will change the design by adding a 5-degree draft
angle to the vertical walls. To save time, you will select one face to
draft and apply the draft angle to tangent faces.
1. Right-click in the operation list of the Solids Manager and choose
Solids, Draft Face.
2. On the Pick Solid Entity menu, toggle Faces to Y and all other
Yes/No options to N.
3. Select the vertical face shown in the following picture.
10. Choose Done. The walls of the standoff should now look like the
following picture.
In this exercise, you will create a solid to represent the mold stock
(material) from which you will create the injection mold for the container.
10. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
You have completed the part design for the container and defined the mold
stock. In this exercise, you will create a parting surface. The parting
surface will be composed of multiple surfaces. You will use these surfaces
to split the mold stock into two pieces and define the shape of the mold
core in a later exercise.
Extracting surfaces from the solidified part
You will extract surfaces from the solidified part. You will use these
surfaces to define the portion of the parting surface that will cut the
shape of the mold core.
1. Press [Alt + 2] to open the Level Manager.
2. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, type 2 for Number
and Surfaced part for Name.
Select
here
Chaining
direction
arrow
12. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Front. Your part
should look like the following picture.
Offset
contour
Notice that the offset geometry is located at the top of the part. Also,
the lines extend beyond the mold stock by 12 millimeters in every
direction. The surface that you create using these lines later in this
exercise will be used to split the mold stock. Therefore, it must extend
at least to the extents of the mold stock (or beyond, in this case).
Deleting unnecessary surfaces
Previously, you extracted a surface for each solid face in the piece
part. However, you need only the surfaces that define the mold core.
Therefore, you will simplify the geometry by deleting unnecessary
surfaces from the part.
1. Open the Level Manager.
2. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, type 4 for Number
and Parting surface for Name.
3. Make levels 1 and 3 invisible.
Tip: Click in the Visible column for levels 1 and 3 to remove the red check
mark. The geometry on these levels will no longer display in the graphics
window.
10. Select the six fillet surfaces around the top face, as shown in the
following picture.
Tip: If you
4
accidentally 3 5
delete the
wrong
surface,
choose the
Delete-
Undelete-
2
Single
toolbar
button.
6
11. Select the six outer vertical walls, as shown in the following
picture.
5
3
1 6
After the faces have been deleted, your part should look like the
following picture.
6. You no longer need the bottom surface (yellow) and outer edge
curve (red). Delete them, as shown in the following pictures. This
leaves only the inner chain of edge curves, which will be used in a
later exercise.
Note: Make sure the direction arrow points in the same direction
for both chains.
10. Choose Done to end the selection. The prompt area displays the
current ruled surface settings.
11. The surface error tolerance should be set to 0.02, and the surface
type should be set to N (NURBS). If your settings match these
settings, continue with step 12. If your settings do not match these
settings, take one or both of the following actions:
To change the surface error tolerance, choose Tolerance from
the Ruled Surface menu. In the prompt area, type 0.02 and
press [Enter].
To change the surface type, toggle Type to N on the Ruled
Surface menu.
12. Choose Do it. Your part should look like the following picture.
12. Choose Main Menu, Delete, All, Arcs. Mastercam deletes the
red arcs that define the shape of the container.
13. Choose Lines. Mastercam deletes the green lines that you used to
create the ruled surface.
14. Repaint the screen.
15. Check the screen statistics. There are now only surfaces
remaining in the graphics window.
16. Save the file.
Solidifying the parting surface
You have created all of the surfaces required to define the parting
surface, which you will use to trim the mold stock. However, you
can't trim a solid to multiple surfaces. In order to trim the mold stock,
you must first stitch the surfaces to form a single solid. The resulting
solid will be an open sheet solid, which has no thickness (volume).
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, From surfaces. The
Stitch Surfaces into Solids dialog box opens.
2. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
In this exercise, you will use the sheet solid that you created in the
previous exercise to trim the mold block into two pieces. The parting
surface (sheet solid) contains the shape of the final product. Therefore,
after the mold block has been trimmed, the mold core will be complete.
1. Use the Level Manager to set the Main Level to number 3 (Mold
block) and make level 2 invisible.
Your part should look like the following picture. There are now two
solids visible in the graphics window. The light blue solid represents
the mold stock, and the light green solid is a sheet solid, which
represents the parting surface and contains the shape of the final
product (container).
The graphics window now contains only the two halves of the mold,
as shown in the following picture.
12. Dynamically spin the solid to see the finished core. Your part
should look similar to the following picture.
In the previous exercise, you used the parting surface to split the mold
stock into two pieces. The core side is complete. Its shape was defined by
the parting surface, which was created from the inner surfaces of the
surfaced container. The mold core now fits exactly within the mold cavity.
In this exercise, you will modify the cavity to create a void where the
molten plastic will be injected into the mold. You will do so by removing
the volume of the solidified container from the mold cavity. The outer
faces of the container will define the shape of the cavity and create the
void.
1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading.
2. Make level 1 visible.
5. Define the target body by selecting the light green block solid
(mold cavity) at position 1 in the following picture.
6. Define the tool body by selecting the solidified part (light gray
solid) at position 2 in the previous picture.
7. You will use only one tool body, so choose Done to exit the Pick
Solid Entity menu. The system removes the volume of the part
(container) from the block. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Notice the void between the core (light blue solid) and the cavity
(light green solid). The molten plastic will be injected into this void to
form the part (plastic container).
14. Turn off translucency but keep shading turned on.
15. Save the file.
In this exercise, you will use the Layout function to create a drawing
layout of different views for the mold core. Mastercam creates curve
geometry (lines, arcs, splines) to represent the selected solid in each of the
defined views. After you create a basic layout, you will customize it
further by turning on hidden lines, repositioning and aligning views on the
page, and adding a detail view.
Creating a basic drawing layout
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Layout. The Solid
Drawing Layout dialog box opens.
2. Set Paper Size to A1 (841 by 594 millimeters).
3. Choose 4 View DIN. This option creates a layout with four views:
Bottom, Front, Left (side), and Isometric.
4. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
8. Choose OK.
9. Mastercam prompts you to select a solid for which to create the
drawing layout. Select the mold core (light blue solid). Mastercam
creates the layout and displays the Solid Drawing Layout menu.
Note: You will use this menu later in the exercise to customize the
drawing layout further.
10. Press [Alt+2] to open the Level Manager.
11. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 5 for Number.
12. In the Visible Levels section of the dialog box, choose All off to
make all levels invisible except for the main level.
(Bottom) (Isometric)
(Front) (Left)
1
2
Aligning views
You will clean up the drawing layout by aligning the translated Front
side view with the Bottom view and the translated Left side view with
the Front view.
1. Choose Align from the Solid Drawing Layout menu. Mastercam
displays the Point Entry menu.
2. Set the alignment axis by selecting the lower-left corner
(Endpoint) of the Bottom view, as shown in the following picture.
7. The left edge of the Bottom and Front views and the top of the
Front and Left views are now aligned. Repaint the screen. Your
part should look like the following picture.
Click
here
first. Click
here
second
Tip: If the cursor is too jumpy, right-click in the graphics window and choose
AutoCursor to turn it off. When turned off, the option no longer has a check
mark next to it on the right-click menu.
Click
here
Mastercam creates the detail view. Your part should look similar to
the following picture.
9. Mastercam asks you if you’re sure you want to exit the Layout
function. Once you do so, you will not be able to access the Solid
Drawing Layout menu for the purpose of editing the current
drawing layout. You have completed all work for this layout, so
choose Yes.
10. Set the main construction level to 3 and make level 5 invisible.
11. Return to Isometric view.
12. Fit the part to the screen.
13. Save the file. You will use the saved file in Chapter 9.
In this chapter, you created a two-piece injection mold for a container
from an imported surface file. You then created a drawing layout for the
mold core. In the next chapter, you will create an electrode with the shape
of the standoff from the mold core.
9 Designing an Electrode
In this chapter, you will create an electrode with the shape of the standoff
from the mold core that you created in the previous chapter. The electrode
will be used in a plunge, or die sinking, EDM (Electrical Discharge
Machining) application to form a cavity in a workpiece.
Note: A backup file containing the mold core was provided with the other
tutorial parts in case you did not complete Chapter 8.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
new skills, such as:
Creating a sheet solid by removing a solid face
Using a solid face to define a construction view
Thickening a sheet solid
Creating non-associative disjoint bodies
In this exercise, you will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity. Doing so
makes the electrode smaller, which compensates for the overburn (spark
gap) between the electrode and the mold. Before you do so, however, you
will define a new construction view at the bottom of the sheet solid.
Defining a new construction view
You will use the View Manager to define a new view based on the
geometry of a flat solid face at the bottom of the sheet solid. You will
reverse the Z direction of the Bottom view and set this view as the
current WCS (work coordinate system). If you left the part in the
original WCS, it would not be shown in the view that it is being
machined in.
1. Dynamically rotate the solid so that the mold core geometry
points upward.
2. Press [Alt+F1] to fit the geometry to the screen.
3. Turn off shading.
4. Choose WCS from the Secondary Menu. The View Manager
opens.
5. Right-click in the View list section of the dialog box and choose
Create, Select menu. The View Manager closes.
6. Choose Entity from the Create View menu.
7. Choose Solid face from the Entity menu. The Pick Solid Entity
menu displays.
8. Toggle Faces to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
9. Select the face shown in the following picture.
11. When the Z axis points upward, choose Save. The View Manager
reopens.
12. Mastercam recognizes the selected view as one of the pre-defined
views and displays the number 4 (for Bottom view) in the V#
column. Enter Bottom for Name.
13. Click in the WCS column for the Bottom view to set this view as
the current view.
14. Choose OK. The WCS button reflects the number of the current
view (n4), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (22.86) of the
selected face.
Thickening the sheet solid
You will thicken the sheet solid by 0.3 millimeters. The added
material will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity.
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Thicken. The Thicken
Sheet Solid dialog box opens.
2. Enter 0.3 for Thickness.
In this exercise, you will create the electrode blank, which is the block of
material from which the electrode is formed.
Defining the shape of the electrode blank
You will create multiple lines connected at their endpoints. The lines
will form a closed boundary that will define the shape of the electrode
blank.
1. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top. The bottom
of the mold core points upward.
Note: You reversed the Z direction for the Bottom view in
Exercise 2. Therefore, the Top view is really the Bottom view.
2. Zoom in on the Y-shaped standoff in the center of the part. Your
part should look like the following picture.
Note: In the picture, the lines have been thickened to show you
the intended result.
11. After sketching all of the lines, choose Backup to exit the
function.
Creating the electrode blank
You will extrude the shape defined by the red lines to form a 60
millimeter solid for the electrode blank.
1. Switch to Isometric view and fit the part to the screen by zooming
in on the entire part.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude.
3. Select anywhere on the red lines that you just created, then choose
Done.
7. Because the tool body completely intersects the target, the result
of the operation is a disjoint body, meaning that the electrode is
cut into two pieces. Mastercam is unable to create disjoint bodies
and maintain associativity between them. However, you have the
option to create non-associative bodies (bricks) from the two
pieces of the electrode. To do so, choose Yes.
12. Choose Done. Only the top piece of the electrode remains visible
in the graphics window.
13. Rotate the electrode to view the Y-shaped standoff.
14. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look similar to
the following picture.
12. Choose OK. The WCS button reflects the number of the current
view (nT), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (-3.475) of
the selected face.
Create the edge curves
1. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top.
2. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, All edges, Solids.
3. Toggle Faces to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
4. Select the top face, as shown in the following picture.
6. Choose OK to cut the electrode. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Alt + 0 Set Z depth for Cplane Alt + X Set main color, level, line
style and width from
Alt + 1 Set main color
selected entity
Alt + 4 Choose tool plane (Tplane)
Alt + Z Set visible levels
Alt + 5 Choose construction plane
Alt + ‘ Create two-point circle
(Cplane)
Alt + - With hidden entities, select
Alt + 6 Choose graphics view
additional entities to hide
(Gview)
Alt + = Unhide selected entities
Alt + A AutoSave
Alt + F1 Fit geometry to screen
Alt + B Toolbar on/off
Alt + F2 Unzoom by 0.8
Alt + C Run C-Hooks
Alt + F3 Cursor tracking on/off
Alt + D Drafting global parameters
Alt + F4 Exit Mastercam
Alt + E Hide/unhide geometry
Alt + F5 Delete using window
Alt + F Menu font
selection
Alt + G Selection grid parameters
Alt + F7 Blank geometry
Alt + H On-line help
Alt + F8 System configuration
Alt + J Job setup
Alt + F9 Display all axes
Alt + L Set entity attributes
Alt + F10 Minimize/maximize screen
Alt + N Edit named views
F1 Zoom
Alt + O Operations Manager
F2 Unzoom
Alt + P Prompt area on/off
F3 Repaint
Alt + Q Undo last operation
F4 Show Analyze menu
Alt + R Edit last operation
F5 Show Delete menu
Alt + S Full-time shading on/off
F6 Show File menu
Alt + T In Toolpath menu, turn
F7 Show Modify menu
toolpath display on/off
F8 Show Create menu
Alt + U Undo last action
F9 Part information on/off
Alt + V Mastercam version number
and SIM serial number F10 List all functions and
execute selected
Alt + W Viewport configuration