[justCNCit]

Hey, I've been fooling around with the Mastercam 9.1 we have at work. I imported a model into it, from DWG, and whenever I try do a surface parallel rough, it says there's no surfaces selected, or none found, and no drive surface.

I've had it working once or twice before, why is it that MC can't find the model? One clue is that when I select real time solid shade, it doesn't shade in the model, it remains wireframe. What do I have to do to this model to make it work.

Thank you.

[psychomill]

Dwg model?

I'd say your file doesn't have any solids or surfaces. Here's a few checks first though.

Click on the "levels" button and click "all on". Then in the menu, click "Screen" then "Attributes". It will tell you everything in that file.... lines, arcs, splines, surfaces etc. My guess is, the file doesn't contain any surfaces.

[Matt Berube]

+1 psychomill. One thing, though... It's supposed to be Screen, Statistics, I think...

justCNCit, try importing a .igs(IGES) or a.xt(parasolid) if you can... That should have some surfaces/solids for you... :banana:

[psychomill]

Matt, you're probably right. I'm trying to remember off the top of my head. I know the buttons like phone numbers. Ask me a phone number and I might stumble. Give me a phone and I can dial anybody.

[cadcam]

So you know surface data is not handled by DXF but in some cases from Autocad we can take a solid from DXF.

Like they have said you can do the following to check what you have:
Main Menu
Screen
Statistics

Look in the lower left hand corner of the screen and see what you have usally just lines & arcs.

What software are you bringing from?

[justCNCit]

Found out that the "solids" I was saving out of autocad in DWG format weren't solids at all, I was testing on some 3d models I found on the net. Apparently, those models were just 3d meshes of some sort, and Autocad didn't consider them solids.

I've yet to figure out a way to convert them to solids, they are closed geometry. How can you have any fun with this machine, when none of the objects off the net are technically solids?

I don't know of any way to convert these to solids. Originally they came as 3DS files, I imported them to autocad, and saved them as DWG's. Before I saved them as DWGs, for Mastercam's sake, I had to change them all to Autocad layer ASHADE in order for the 3d properties (Z value) to save also. If the model was saved under any other layer, they imported to mastercam as flattened 2d data.

That's beside the point, probably. The root of the problem seems to be somethwere in Autocad, where it can't seem to register the model as a solid, which is should be. I wonder if any 3DS file will import to AutoCAD as a solid? or, what do you have to do to make it a solid.


That'd sure make this machine a whole lot of fun. Want an AF-15 as a desk ornament.

[cadcam]

Can you send me one of the files?
I like to look at using Autoview to see whats there.
Email is just fine.

[justCNCit]

Sure, but I can't seem to find your email address.

One thing here is that I created an object in Autocad, basically a block with a surface with cavities and boss's in it, which autocad treats as a solid. Thing is, when importing this to Mastercam, it keeps telling me there are no drive surfaces. Once in a blue moon, it seems to detect drive surfaces, but I'm not sure why it doesn't usually.

I've been saving these files as DWG.

So the file is attached to this thread. Tell me what you think?

oh, and btw phsychomill, I tried that method but don't see Attributes in the screen menu. mastercam tells me under statistics that there's 45 lines, 10 arcs and 11 splines. . . . that's all

[cadcam]

OPk brohgt you file right into mastercam and go wire and a solid.
What version of mastercam are you running.
All data needed to cut this shap is there.

[cadcam]

Here is a screen shot of what came in.

[justCNCit]

ver 9.1

what's this about wire and a solid? there's nothing about wire under the solids menu. Must be a diff ver of mastercam

[cadcam]

no but under Screen statistics it tells you what enitities are on the screen.
How long have you used MC?

When I bring it in I have the option by default to bring in the solid data from your file along with the edge curves being the wire fram.

[psychomill]

oh, and btw phsychomill, I tried that method but don't see Attributes in the screen menu. mastercam tells me under statistics that there's 45 lines, 10 arcs and 11 splines. . . . that's all

Statistics is what I meant. And by your statistics, you don't have any surfaces or solid in your geometry, ... or at at least you didn't import any.

Apparently, those models were just 3d meshes of some sort, and Autocad didn't consider them solids.

The 'meshes' are sufaces. What creates them are the 'wires' that Cadcam is talking about. It's not something you convert into solids but you can use them to create a solid. The file appears to be good and even has a solid from what Cadcam posted (I'm assuming you got a solid too right Cadcam, and not just surfaces?). Try converting the file again in MC. This time when the window pops up, read all of it first to make sure you check mark what you want brought in.

[cadcam]

psychomill , I got his DWG file and brought that right in as a Solid with what we call edge curves that are wire.

There was no surface data but all can be pulled from the solid if want but why.

Did he give you a DXF or a DWG in the begenning?

Jay

[justCNCit]

That DWG file I put here was my own autocad creation, and it was a solid to begin with. Half the time when I loaded that into MC, it gave me no drive surfaces error. Keyword here is half the time. . . whether I choose solids or trimmed surfaces at this point, in MC import, it makes no difference and it works now. ???? wasn't working before

To answer your other question, I haven't been using MC for more that a couple weeks. Several years of experience with 3d modeling, though.

So as you probably know I'm trying to make a surface rough out of them to mill it out on wood.

My second problem here is probably an autocad problem - I downloaded a few 3DS models that I wanted to mill. Seems that they are only wireframes, though. Autocad keeps saying they're not solid. Seems that they're only polygon meshes.

There an easy way to convert those to solid?

btw, here's the 3DS file in it's orignal form. Renamed it .DWG so I could upload it, but it's a 3DS file.

[ObrienDave]

Greetings,

If you look at what is happening when you import a "solid" file into Mcam
or Solidworks, you will see that they BOTH process trimmed surfaces first, THEN they
create the solid, THEN they delete the trimmed surfaces.
Then, when you actually get to machine the "solid" using ANY surface technique,
Mcam re-creates and blanks the trimmed surfaces anyway in the current level.

So, therefore, you do NOT actually machine the solid model.

I do use solids to actually make models. It makes life so much easier to do fillets, and
cavities with draft angles and just about everything else. GRAVY TIME!
But, for actual machining, I use surfaces.

Sorry for the rant.

[cadcam]

SOrry but you are incorrect ,MC uses the solid not the surface drives from the solid to tool path.

What version of MC are you running?

[ObrienDave]

Greetings,

I realize the icon shows that the geometry came from a solid.
And my statement about blanking the surfaces was in error,
but, the operations manager says "xx drive SURFACES" under geometry.
Shouldn't it say "xx Solid Faces" or "xx drive faces" or something like that?

Thanks for your reply, but, I stand by the rest of my previous post.

[justCNCit]

I think I figured it out. One way to be sure that what you have is a solid in MC is to click on shade solids, and if there are any solids on screen they will be shaded, and if they are wire and not solid(and thus pretty much useless) then they appear as wire.

However I noticed in Autocad that the models I was working with were not even solids, AutoCAD won't treat some of my wireframe models as solids unfortunately. I had some cool models, but turns out that the 3DS format stores only as wireframe/poly meshes.

That's the thing - if you want to download cool meshes, it's likely that they're not an AutoCAD format. And if they're not an AutoCAD format, then 99% sure they won't come into autoCAD as a solid. AutoCAD is picky about that.

The only possible workaround that I understand would work, is to decipher a DXF file, figure it out and know how it stores solid information in a text editor or whatever, and then replace the coords used for the solids in the DXF with your own coordinates and number of coordinates and that way sneak in your data as a machinable solid there.

Really it boils down to file formats. Some formats such as DXF and DWG produced by autoCAD can store solid models. Some can't, and those'd be the non-proprietary ones. Try make a solid cube, save it as DXF, and reload it. It will reload as solid. However, if you make that solid cube, and export it as 3DS or some other format that doesn't know what solids are, and then reload that file, you will be left with a useless non-machinable wire frame model.

Am I right or am i right?

[justCNCit]

ps. I use mastercam 9.1.

Is it possible to use a wire mesh in MC using a surface machine, not a solid machine? If it can't be done using solids, then there must be another way for MC to handle geometric data, right?