[Ceramic Man]

I've been using MasterCAM since v6 and am currently using v9, but I've never had to do this before and I can't figure out how or if its even possible.
I'm trying to create a sheet-metal covered model of a structure and the sheet-metal has a corrugated pattern to its surface. I have geometry for 1 section of the corrugated pattern before it repeats again. I need to take this pattern and repeat it along another contour many times until the end of the contour is reached. Sounds easy enough, right? Just like translating using copy with multiple steps. But I need it to wrap around curves the way sheet metal does when you put it over a contoured frame. Its not worth doing if I have to use transform and roll at each of the frame's linear or curve features: it would take days to do it this way. If I can get this figured out, then all I have to do is create a draft surface from the chain of this contour.

Anybody know how to do this?

[Rstewart]

I wouldn't even attempt that in M.C. There's plenty of good 3D CAD software out there that should be up to that task.

[Ceramic Man]

I don't want to have to learn how to use some buggy, limited, freeware CAD just to do this. I've used MC plenty of times before for architectural type things. I know I can get pirated copies of any CAD, but not gonna do it. I downloaded a pirated copy of Solidworks years ago and guess what.... virus.. a new release trojan that wasn't in Symantec's definition files yet. So I learned my lesson and now I ''work with what I've got".
Seriously, MC can't do this? I can think of several times I needed to do something like this for a milling operation, but not as repetetively, so I just created the geometry manually.

[bostosh]

Post a sample, MC'x's cad section should be capable

[gogego]

look into surfaces I think sweep might be of help.

[Ceramic Man]

Ok, check it out. As you can see, on the left is a blown up view of the sheet metal profile. It needs to be repeated every 9 inches and follow the contour of the shape of the building (as illustrated by the arrows and points) all the way to the other side of the building. Along the way, it will have to be rolled around the corners. This is what makes it a pain to do manually: the ends of the building's corner arcs dont necessarily coincide with the 9" length of the profile.
Once the 2D profile is in place, the sheet metal surface can be easily created with a draft surface or, as gogego said, with a swept surface using the side wall bottom line as the "along" contour.
Yes, it can be done with multi-step translation (straights), rolling (around corners), and trimming. But it seems like such a basic type of CAD operation that me-thinks there might be some function in MasterCAM that I don't know about. Im always figuring out new things in MC and there are plenty of functions I have never used because I dont know what they do. If MCamX3 can do this, but not my version 9, let me know. I have access to X3, I just dont know my way around the newer interface because I dont have it at home to play around with.


This IS mostly an attempt to learn something new rather than just me being lazy and not wanting to translate and roll and trim. Oh how all that work would make my fingers sore from too much keyboard and mouse usage!

PS- I didnt realize there were so many cool smilies to use! Like this one :stickpoke and this one (flame2) Those are awesome!

[gogego]

just clean up the contour make sure everything is nice and tangent and there are no gaps or overlaps with analyze chain...it seems 9 has the same drafting capabilities as the X versions just requires a few more steps... there are just more shortcuts and toolbars to create geometry and more toolpaths options... :cheers:
CHEERS!

[Ceramic Man]

just clean up the contour make sure everything is nice and tangent and there are no gaps or overlaps with analyze chain...it seems 9 has the same drafting capabilities as the X versions just requires a few more steps... there are just more shortcuts and toolbars to create geometry and more toolpaths options... :cheers:
CHEERS!

I think you are under the impression that creating a surface from geometry is my problem, but its not. That part is suuuper easy. Its getting that Chain of geometry on the left side of the picture in my previous post to repeat itself a bunch of times while following the green contour that is the profile of the building. A contour following another contour- thats what Im trying to do.

Thats another excellent smiley!

[gogego]

hmm..lets see if this works

[IMG][/IMG]

like this? just taking a cross section along a frame...
CHEERS!

[Ceramic Man]

No, not like that.
Like this:

I created this just for you, Gogego.

[Ceramic Man]

Oops, I hit enter and it submitted but I wasnt done yet...

So, Gogego, are you a butcher masquerading as a machinist? Because I am a machinist masquerading as an architect right now.
I hope you see the problem. See the corner where theres a gap in the sheet metal? If you can figure out how to make that contour sticking out of the top of the vertical wall wrap around the red arc such that it meets up with the continuing sheet metal on the 14degree slanted roof... In less than 5 minutes from when you start... then you know something I dont and I want you to explain how you did it.

If you private message me your email, I will send the MC9 to you if you want.

But seriously, in the time Ive spent in this forum giving you examples, I could have done it the hard way by now. I just want to learn a better way, darn-it!
(chair)

[gogego]

this may be useful info
Sheet Metal Bending Operation - OEM Enclosure Inc.

Unless the draft is going to be used to manufacture from directly se if you can draft the perimeter using sharp corners, you could use xform roll to wrap the stepped fence profile around an arc..now assuming all the corner rad. are the same you can just xform the contour section to the other radii to create the along for creating the surface....If this isn't quite what your looking for sorry I couldn't help.. good luck on your project.
CHEERS!


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[Superman]

Not sure if this is capable, mastercam dafting is a little basic

but
read up on how to place text on a curve
your only limitation is that you only have V9.0 ( the one that everybody has )

[Ceramic Man]

I have given up on plan A, which was to superimpose one contour onto another. Looks like MasterCAM just cant do that. HEY DEVELOPERS! I'd like to see a C-hook to do this. I know that the math is simple, I even know how I would write a macro to do this on a mill. The only problem is I dont know how to program in C, java, or any other PC software language! Just Basic, and of course, Fanuc and GE Macro.

Gogego: Im guessing that it took you 30 minutes or more to draw that. It is exactly what Im talking about, but a pain in the butt to do, huh!

C-hook.... do it, do it, hey do it. C'mon do it!
Seriously I think it would be very useful to many mill programmers.
Are there C-hooks from 3rd parties (or new ones) that arent listed in the MC documentation? If so, it might already exist because I really havent searched for it on the internet yet.
I shall search now.

[gogego]

less than 30mins, just make 2 sections of fence, one straight and one arced to fit the radius this is where I had problems, I think it was because I wasn't on the origin but the xform for some reason would appear around the origin. ..Create the perimeter, analyze the perimeter to get the total length of fence, translate the straight fence then walked that around the perimeter. At the 1st corner radius, analyze arc length , then I continued walking the fence around, and translated, rotated and trimmed the arc section of fence as needed...this would be easier on X3 since I think you can preview the xform-roll. Either way it would be nice to just draft 1 section of fence have that follow a contour and project a surface where it is wanted...crazy

CHEERS!

[Ceramic Man]

Yes, that is the biggest reason that its a pain in the butt. XForm-->Roll only rolls around an axis, not a line or point. And it doesnt seem to work from the front Cplane... No matter what axis I select to roll around.
That means Ive got to Transform my geometry between views to Top view, move it such that the origin is at the center of where I need to roll it, then roll and trim, transform back to correct position, an transform back to front Cplane.
WHAT A PAIN!

Now you see why I started this thread!
Mcam-->(nuts)<--Me

[gogego]

I wonder if the new dynamic xform might address this issue, seems odd to limit the roll function around only 2 specific axis (X,Y).
CHEERS!

[Ceramic Man]

I emailed MasterCam support asking about a C-hook for this and at first they replied that MC cant do this. But then I got another email back that said there might be a way to do it. They requested I send them the MC9, so I did. Hopefully I will have an answer tomorrow. If there was a smiley crossing fingers, it would be appropriate here.

[gogego]

I am certainly interested in how this task can ge accomplished, I am going to see how this works on dynamic xform or if.
CHEERS!

[Superman]

I am in the line of thought that this may be accomplished in the same way it's done in AutoCAD.

a chain comprising of lines & arcs, converted to a spline ( single entity ) and then a pattern [ block/wblock ] placed along that spline [ polyline ]

[]=AutoCAD terms

very similar to placing text onto a curve in Mastercam

the pattern may have to be saved and called up like you would a font letter ( I'm thinking out loud, so that others may chip in )