[cobi]

9 I am new to Mastercam I have a solidworks part I brought in and set up my WCS to the center of the hole and started to tool path Than got stuck. I have attached a DWG file to show part. Can send the Solidworks part File to anyone who wants to look Email [email protected] I got it in the sample files for camworks and thought it would be a good one for Mastercam X3.
I brought the part in, Setup the stock and started to tool path. I have machinned for 30 years so I know less is faster (sometimes) but I wanted to get used to picking tool so here goes. First shell mill top, Than I did outside profile(1.0'" EM) Than I cut the 3 small pockets where the holes are. Than I wanted to machine the area around the 3 main pockets up to the boss which is at a different height than the center boss. (The 3 Pockets and holes are no problem) Not sure how to or what to pick for tool path. Do I have to put some sort of material boundary around this area?

Cobi

[Derek Goodwin]

There are always many ways to do something, but here are a couple:

1. you could use Xform offset contour, copy your geometry out by a distance of at least the radius of the end mill, join the geometry to form a boundary and then cut it as a 2D pocket.

2. Requires a solid model and level 3 seat of Mastercam.

Let's say you already machined the three main pockets, and you don't want to waste time cutting air by using the first option. Use high speed toolpaths, select horizontal area from the finish toolpath menu. It will cut any flat surface that it sees, you can control which flat surfaces it cuts, by setting a minimum and maximum depth zone.

There is a Video Tutorial on High Speed Machining Flat Surfaces Here scroll down to The Suspension Brace with High Speed Machining Part Four video. It's a different application, but it will give you the right idea.