Mastercam Delivers Dramatic Speed Increases for Crucial Toolpaths

Mastercam Delivers Dramatic Speed Increases for Crucial Toolpaths

Mastercam's latest release delivers two important tools to NC programmers interested in speed. Mastercam users will see a boost in speed while creating a specific set of toolpaths, and will be able to take advantage of a series of new high-speed machining tool motions.

Faster Constant Z toolpaths - Mastercam's new approach to important Z-level machining delivers dramatically faster processing time. Generation times for multi-surface 'pocket' and 'contour' roughing, multi-surface leftover or 'rest' milling, and multi-surface contour finishing can be reduced by 10% to 75% or more, depending on the exact cut. The most dramatic increases are in multi-surface contour roughing and finishing, where the user can easily save three quarters or more of their processing time. Mastercam's new Z-level cutting techniques also deliver a better finish on STL files. Traditionally, STL files could result in a faceted finish. Mastercam's new strategy can yield results as high-quality as toolpaths created from a surface or a solid model.

Smoother High-Speed Multisurface Pocketing - CNC Software also announces two new high-speed machining techniques that expand Mastercam's HSM capabilities. These new tools will help ensure smoother transitions and will reduce interrupted cuts.

Current multi-surface pocket toolpaths use a constant stepover. When a small island of uncut material lies outside those tool moves, the tool makes a small diversion to clean out that area, then continues on with the cut. With Mastercam's new technique, the user has a 'variable stepover' option. This option automatically adjusts the stepover to reduce small, uncut areas. This helps to ensure that the cut remains uninterrupted, which can save you both time and money.

Transition between pocketing passes is also important to high-speed machining. Mastercam will now create true tangential motion between cuts, reducing tool movement and ensuring that the tool stays engaged in the material.

For more information contact:

Michelle MacDonald

CNC Software, Inc.

671 Old Post Road

Tolland, CT 06084

860-875-5006

Fax: 860-872-1565

www.mastercam.com

E-mail: info@mastercam.com

Southwest

Don Disco

MLC CAD Systems