Originally Posted by
ka9ppa
Saturday, July 19, 2008 2:51 am
RE: LOOKING FOR BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR CAMWORKS
Hello,
This is my first time to post a question.
I am working on an independent study project at (unnamed) University this summer. My project is to design my part, using Solidworks, to be injection molded, create the mold around it, separate the mold and apply CamWorks to create the machine code to produce the mold Core and Cavity on a Hurco CNC mill. Once I have produced the mold, I am to produce 25 good parts using injection molding equipment.
I have designed my part, created and separated the mold, and am now trying to apply CamWorks. I have been struggling with this process all week. I am just trying to feel my way through, (I am now at the point of just using trial & error for everything), because I can find no documentation for the program and all of the students have gone home for the summer. Even in the Engineering Library there were only four books on Solidworks and none of them listed anything in the index for CamWorks.
I am getting pretty familiar with the process of applying CamWorks since I have now attempted it many, many times. (For most details I am applying 2.5 axis. On some I am applying 3 axis). One simple thing that is even messing me up is that when I run a simulation, the end mill often comes in from the bottom (with the part correctly oriented by first placing it in Isometric view), this is surely extremely easy to correct but I have yet to locate the exact place to establish the orientation. (As I said, I have no documentation to work with/from).
Some additional points that are giving me trouble include:
1) That my stock block (6061 aluminum) needs to be exactly 0.500” thick, and so I wish to make an initial pass across the top to establish this thickness and then base all following machining from there. Even this simple step is giving me trouble.
2) My part has both a deep-cut square with an island, and a deep-cut slot near the center. I am having trouble getting CamWorks to recognize these without going to extremes and machining elaborate new features for me. (For a further example, I click on the inside walls for an deep cavity, and then CamWorks tends to machine EVERYTHING else, pretty much leaving only the cavity. –This is surely simple if I only have some information).
3) These same details, as well as the perimeter of the part (to be molded) have radii around the edges but I am having a great deal of trouble (controlling) getting CamWorks to simply travel down the part (using a ball-end end mill) to create a smooth and efficient radius. Instead, it wants to zigzag across the part, giving me a radius, but inefficiently and with scallops everywhere instead of a nice smooth radius.
On the good side, tool changes, speeds & feeds, etc. are not a problem. But I sure am having trouble on the items listed above.
Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks very much,
ka9ppa