MastercamX Migration

8/9/2019 MastercamX Migration

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An Introduction to

Point Verifcation

in Mastercam X

This Paper should supply you with more than enough inormation to start veriying

data in Mastercam X. It begins by showing the basics o point entry, creating surace

osets, and creating curves on edges. A spread o the Mastercam X interace is

presented on pages 5 & 6 to give you a labeled map o just about every pertinent

eature plus a brie explanation on navigation and view manipulation. Then, a brie

introduction to the new selection tool bar is given ollowed by actual methods o

data verication. An appendix is provide with various tips, shortcuts, and other

inormation intended to enhance overall prociency with Mastercam X (this will be

updated over time).

INDEX

Topic Page

1. Creating the Point ....................................................................................................1-2

2. Creating the Oset Surace - Changing the Normal ................................................. 2

3. Creating the Oset Surace - Creating the Surace ................................................... 3

4. Creating the Oset Surace - Shortcut, Skipping the Normal .................................3-4

5. Creating Curves on Surace ...................................................................................... 4

6. The Mastercam X Interace &Veiw Manipulation ...................................................5-67. Introducing the General Selection Tool Bar ............................................................. 7

8. Veriying Properties o Holes and Slot ..................................................................... 8

9. Veriying Surace Points ........................................................................................... 9

10. Veriying Trim Edge Points ..................................................................................... 10

11. Appendix ................................................................................................................. 11+


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The rst Mastercam X eature or our consideration concerning

point verication is the AutoCurser tool bar and how it is used

specically or point entry. It is a completely new interace or entering or creating

points (among other geometric entities such as lines).

Creating or entering a point is usually the initial starting point in the process o pointverication (o course).

The Create Point button will initialize or activate the AutoCursor bar. Pressing

the Fast Point button orthe Space Bar will activate Fast Point.

Fast Point allows you to type in the coordinates as you would in Mastercam 9.

This is a very requent operation so I created a short cut or Create Point; the F12 key.

Pressing theF12 key then oowing with the Space Bar wi aow you to immediatey

enter your coordinates. Cicking Enter pugs in your point cicking the Space Bar

again aows you to enter another point and so on. Cicking fxes the ast point

entered and exits the Point creation unction.

You will notice the Ribbon Bar near the top o the Mastercam X screen (see below),

its dynamic, meaning that it will change as you pick dierent tools (its title will indicate whattool is active i none is active it will just say Ribbon Bar. This eature is new in Mastercam X.

It will display all possible options associated with the tool or unction that is active at the time. In

the case o Point only two options are available, Edit Point and OK. More about this later.

1

F or the most part, adjusting to point verication in Mastercam X requires a shit in thinkingon how things were done in Mastercam 9. Once you make this shit the program becomesmuch more intuitive and you will nd that the new interace has many serious advantages over

version 9.

My challenge will be to highlight these advantages and in doing so encourage you to migrate.

Creating the Point


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Changing the Normal o a surace implies nding the direction toward which th

materials thickness extends (oten described as the design side). For various reason

this direction is oten reversed and needs to point in the opposite direct beore th

correct oset surace can be created.

At this point you must use the Ribbon Bar. In the case o the Change Normal ribbo

(above) only two options are available; Flip or OK. Since our the arrow initial

pointed in the wrong direction we need to reverse the direction b

clicking the Flip button. Clicking saves and exits the Chang

Normal unction.

Arrow indicates incorrect Normal direct. Arrow indicates correct Normal direct.

A Note About the Vertical Tool Bar on the Let and CustomizationThe vertical tool bar on the let has been created rom scratch. I designed it specically as th

all - in - one point verication tool bar. It contains virtually all the tools necessary or veriyin

points and I recommend that you use it.

Inevitably, you will need to use other tools and this tool bar contains only a small raction o too

available. In Mastercam X your can create all sorts o tool bars, customized or any specialize

task imaginable. You can go through the Menu and nd basically all the same commands. Yo

can also easily create shortcut keys or requently used commands.

Note: I you beieve you have miss typed a coordinate cick (Edit Point) then ca up t

ast coordinates entered by sequentiay cicking on the down arrow o each X, Y, and

coordinate, make your corrections then cick Enter. A point wi be created at the ne

coordinate. Cicking fxes the ast point entered and exits Point creation.

Creating the Oset SuracePart 1: Changing the Normal


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Creating the Oset SuracePart 2: Creating the Surace

Once the suraces normal is determined to be acing the right direction an oset surace

is easily created.

Select the surace that needs to be oset (yellow - the color o selected items).

Click the Create Oset Suraces... button in the Verication tool bar.

Set the metal thickness in the Oset Distance on the Ribbon Bar (see below).

Click the OK in the Ribbon Bar (new surace is magenta - result).

Creating the Oset SuracePart 3: The Shortcut (skipping the Normal)

Actually, in Mastercam X it is not necessary to set the Normal beore beginning the processo creating oset suraces. In act, that step can be completely eliminated. Not only can you set

the direction o the oset surace in the process o creating the suraces, but you can manipulate

the direction o multiply suraces and select completely new suraces while your at it. The

Mastercam X oset surace interace is much more comprehensive then Mastercam 9s.

3


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Creating Curves on Suraces

I you intend to do any Edge Point or Hole/Slot Location verication you will nee

to create an curve on one or more o the surace edges. You can either choose th

Create Curve on All Surace or Create Curve on One Edge commands.

To create edges on all suraces you select all the oset suraces youve just createand click the Create Curve on All Edges command all edge curves will b

generated.

To create a curve on one edge (such as or nding the properti

o a hole or slot) click on the Create Curve on One Edg

command then select the surace adjacent the hole

slot. When an arrow appears slide it to the edge o the hole

slot and click. A single curve will be generated on that edge. You ca

click Escape or Enter to exit the command.

Select two or more suraces or creating osets (without setting the normals) then type in th

oset distance and click End Selection (see page 7 - General Selection Tool Bar), th

automatic preview shows you how your suraces will be generated (magenta). One selecte

surace is still yellow meaning that the oset is going in the wrong direct (below the yello

surace). By clicking the Cycle/Next button you will notice an arrow indicating the direction

one o the oset suraces. Clicking it repeatedly will cycle you through all the selected surace

When the arrow disappears its on the one surace that is reversed. Clicking Flip

will pop the oset surace around to the correct direct. Clicking Apply accepts the suracyou have generated and allows you to go on to oset more suraces. Clicking OK accep

the suraces and leaves the Oset Surace command.


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Custom VericationTool Bar

5

Hint Line

Common Tool Bar

Create Line Perpendicular

Xom Project

Create Oset Suraces

Change Normal

Smart Dimension

Drating Options

Point Dimensions

Circular Dimensions

Create Curve on All Edges

Create Curve on One Edge

Create Arc 3 Points

Create Line Endpoint

Create Point Dynamic

Analyze Entities Properties

Analyze Point

Midpoint

Create Point Position

Ribbon Bar(Create Line Endpoint Mode)

General Selection Bar

1 2 3 4 5

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27


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AutoCurser Bar

6 7 8

1. Conguration

2. Key Mapping

3. File Merge/Pattern

4. Ram Saver

5. Trim / Break (custom: F11)

6. Screen Grid Settings

7. Change Entity Attributes

8. Un-Blank Entity

9. Blank Entity

10. Copy

11. Paste

12. Regenerate Display List

13. Analyze Entity Properties

14. Analyze Position

15. Analyze Distance

16. Analyze Angle

17. Analyze Dynamic

18. Graphic View axes

19. WCS T/C Plane axes

20. Create Note

21. Point Dimension

22. Parrallel Dimension

23. Horizontal Dimension

24. Vertical Dimension

25. Create Rectangular Shape

26. Create Curve at Intersection

27. Create X-Hatch


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The General Selection Tool Bar

Mastercam Xs General Selection tool bar builds on Mastercam 9s selection eatures and

provides a means to quickly and comprehensively select a specic entity or specic group(s) o

entities. This new interace can be intimidating, but it is more se expanatory then version 9s.

7

Some operations related to point verication

will require you use the General Selection

tool bar. The most common button will be the

End Selection (above right), which is required

in the process o perorming a task, such as

creating oset suraces (Page 4).

The manual selection deault mode is Window (above middle).The window selection mode in Mastercam X is actually dual in that it

can be used, as its name suggest, by dragging a rectangle around the

objects to be selected or it can also operate in the Single selection

mode; meaning objects can be selected one at a time. These modes can

be used in combination. Also, objects can be deselected by clicking

on an entity again (or, windowing groups o selected entities again).

For the most part, this is all you will need to know about manual

selection accept or, maybe, the Polygon mode with which you can

draw complex multi-segmented polygons or selecting more specic

groups o objects. This mode was also in Mastercam 9 so I wont

elaborate.

All and OnlyClicking All or Only will bring up the dialog box on the let.

They appear almost exactly the same accept All will automatically

select all entities with the particular criteria specied and Only

allows manual selection o entities by clicking on individual entities

or windowing on groups o entities (or both).

Hint: To make things aster, doube-cick the criteria to seect instead

o cicking the criteria then cicking the OK button.

Examples:To select the Wire rame, double click it in the middle section.

Done. (Thats something you could never do in version 9!)

Click on Color in the upper section. A list o all the visible used

colors will appear in the middle section double click the color

to select (great or changing a color to something more user

riendly).

Click Level in the upper section. A list o all visible used/named

levels appears below double click the level to select.

To select more then one criteria, such as arcs and lines, put a check

in the rst box, hold Ctrl then double click the second.


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Mastercam X displays th

centers o arcs with a single pix

point. This works to or advantag

when we wish to identiy arcs opposed to splines. By selectin

the Analyze Point butto

you can analyze the position o

hole i a point that represents th

center o the arc is visible. Simply approach that point with the curser; when it snaps on, a sma

box will inclose the point. Clicking on this point will display the center coordinates.

To view all properties o the arc, use the Analyze Entity Properties

button . For this operation, select the actual arc, not the cent

point. (Hint: aways turn o suraces beore attempting to anayzhoes, sots, and other wirerame geometry. At + S or the butto

wi togge suraces on and o.) The dialog box on the let will ope

and displays all o the arcs properties.

Determining Geometric Properties From Splines(Reer to our pictures at bottom o page)

Some holes and slots will be composed o splines, not ar

(particularly when they are located on suraces which are not fat

For these, arcs need to be created in order to nd their approxima

properties. Click the Create Point Dynamic button and selethe edge curve o the hole (make sure that the surace is not selecte

the arrow should ollow the direction o the spline). Make s

points on the curved portion o the slot as shown. Click Create A

3 Points and create two arcs at either end o the slot. Clic

Create Line Endpoints and create a line between the cente

o these arcs. Analyze position by clicking Analyze Position

and click near middle o line (see picture on lower right, the curs

will take on that appearance). Analyze the diameter or width b

clicking Analyze Entity Properties and select one o th

arcs. At the same time analyze the line slot length will be the diameter plus the line length.

Veriying Properties o Holes and SlotsMastercam X has simplied the process o veriying properties oHoles and Slots. With just

ew clicks you can read the attribute o many hole and slots. (See IMPORTANT on page 1

Create Point Dynamic Create Arc 3 Points Analyze Position (middlCreate Line Endpoints


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Veriying Surace PointsI know everyone ollows their own habit when plugging in points or surace point verication.

I will take the simple example o a ew points on a ew suraces. Ive already explained how to

enter points (page 1) and how to create oset suraces (pages 2-4) so I will begin with the points

and oset suraces already drawn. (See IMPORTANT on page 10)

Click on the Xorm Project button

. Upon being prompted to select

entities to project, window in the points

(or, select singly) they turn yellow

when selected. Ater double clicking

last point or End Selection , the

Project dialog box will display (see

lower let). Select Project onto surace.

When the prompt Select suraces

appears select the surace(s) adjacent

to the points, double click last suraceor End Selection again.

The Project dialog box will display once more. Select Normal

under Surace Projection. Click on the Point/Lines button and

the Project Points dialog box will display (see lower middle).

Make sure all the items are chosen as shown; Points checked,

Output to File checked, and the XYZ radio button selected.

Click twice.

A prompt to Speciy File Name to Write will ollow (click

yes), and another then prompts Append to exiting le? (ClickNo so le will be overwriten).

An editor will open with the resulting coordinates o the projected

points. (Note: In Mastercam X you can choose your avorite text

editor. Here I have used EditPad,

an exceent reeware program

that aows you to choose your

own ont and open mutipe fes.

See Appendix.)

9


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Veriying Trim Edge PointsLike Surace Points, everyone ollows their own habit when plugging in points or Trim Edg

point verication. I will take the simple example o a single point on an edge curve. Ive alread

explained how to enter points (page 1), an oset suraces (pages 2-4), and edge curves (page

so I will begin with the point and edge curve already drawn. (See IMPORTANT below)

Click on the Create Line Perpendicular

button . Upon being prompted, select the

line, arc, or spline adjacent to the point made

previously. Ater selecting the line or spline

you will be prompted to sketch a point.

Select the point.

Ater a line has been created, you will

need to zoom in order to see it. Click the

Analyze Position button . (Reminder:

Turn o suraces beore attempting to

anayze wirerame geometry!) Upon being

prompted to select a position, hover over the end point o the line just

created when in the correct position the line will turn yellow and

the curser will change to indicate that you have snapped to the end

point (see let). Click this point and the Analyze Position dialog box

appears with the coordinates o the lines end point.

IMPORTANT:

Make sure, at all times when analyzing entiti

in Mastercam X, that you set planes to Top relativ

to your WCS (Work Coordinate System).

(This is actually the same as Cplane: 3D

Mastercam 9, but is in more exact terminology.)

I this isnt set, all your coordinates will be o


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AppendixThe Appendix begins a series o helpul techniques to urther your prociency with Mastercam X.

(Optimizing Mastercam Xs Confguration) Setting Your Text EditorYou can leave the text editor to Mastercams deault or you can set it to open your editor o choice.

In my case, I have set it to open EditPad, an excellent reeware text editor that will open just about anything

including IGES les and it can open multiple le (screen-shot on page 9).

Hit Alt + F8 or the System Conguration button to access these settings.

(Optimizing the Mastercam Xs Confguration) Setting Screen OptionsYou can set the number oDecimal Places or analyzing to two.

You can set the number o entities or Dynamic Rotation to the maximum o 32767 to create a smootherimage while rotating or spinning.

I recommend checking Free mode in Dynamic Spin. This seems like a more natural, more fexible mode to

manipulate the image.

While your here its not bad idea to check Show Tool Tips. (The Learning Mode is overkill air

warning!)

11

Dynamic Rotation

Decimal Places

Tool Tips

Dynamic Spin


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Setting AutoCurser OptionsThe AutoCurser snaps the curser to predened location on the geometry

while analyzing or creating new geometry.

Access these settings by clicking the AutoCurser button under the

right click menu.

Note: This diaog box is argey se expanatory but, i you need more

inormation, as in All o Mastercam Xs diaog boxs, there is the hep button

that wi take you straight to the context reated section o Hep.Very useu! O a the innovations in Mastercam X, its extensive hep

eatures are perhaps the most advanced.

Extending a Line

To extend a line click Trim / Brake , lock down the Extension length button, type in how long you ne

to extend line, and then click on the line at the end you want extended. Putting a negative number in will short

the line by that length. Click or Enter to apply, Esc or exit unction (Apply allows you to stay in

unction, repeatedly extending lines, or any other unction or that matter).

Monitor SettingsMonitor display recommendations (resolution)

1024 X 768 (minimum)

1280 X 1024 (recommended)

Warning: With anything less than 1280 X 1024 a portion o the Mastercam X window will be lost it will sl

o the right side o the screen.

The Right Mouse Button MenuI you can think, you have to be a

to appreciate the enourmous time savi

potential o this eature.

Can you aord to live without it?

Warning: As with anything good

can be easily abused.

This gem is ound under the Settin

menu, Customize. Click the tab sho

and then click the + sign in ront

Right mouse button manu. From h

you can add or remove any comma

available. Make your most us

command one right click away.

Enough said, Ill leave the rest up

your imagination.


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Click Create Rectangular Shapes ,

expand the dialog box by clicking the in

the upper let hand corner (see opposite pagelet). Place a check in the Surace box and

set the anchor to center. From the point in the

middle o the line drag outward till the rectangle

encompasses the part click OK (hint: create

the rectange in a contrasting coor to the parts

surace, see opposite page top).

Change the construction color and open the layer

pallet and create a layer called Section. Click

Create Curve at Intersection , select the

surace you just created and click End Selection

. On the Selection Ribbon select all then click

Color, select the color o the part surace, click

End Selection . Mastercam now calculates

the intersection (this my take some depending on

the complexity o the suraces), when done, press

Enter or click .

To project the scan line down to the construction surace click All on the Selection Ribbon and pick the

color o the scan line, click OK. Click the Xorm Project , click the Surace box (third down), select the

construction rectangle, and click End Selection . When the Project dialog box opens click the Move radio

button (along the top o the box) and click OK (see opposite page middle).

Creating a Slice or SectionA Slice, preerably called a Section, is typically drawn adjacent to line scans to illustrate the deviation

o the part (scanned) and the actual CAD model. My approach is to initially create a Construction Surace,

Create Rectangular Shapes on the same plane as the scan line and then use this to Create Curve at

Intersection with the surace o the part. I believe this is the most reliable method in that you can also

project the actual scan to this construction surace thereby eliminating irregularities in CMM line path (which

tends to wander a bit rom a perect plane).

Prepare the le or this procedure by separating the surace rom the Wirerame by placing them on separate

layers. I easible, separate the individual part rom any others by changing it to a unique color (placing it onanother layer wouldnt be a bad idea either). Reer the section on the General Selection Tool bar or help in

selecting the various entities to be separated. The strategy is to isolate the particular surace rom which the

section will be created.

Open the layers pallet and turn o all layers accept the surace to be sectioned. Create a new layer and call it

Scan Line. From the menu select File then File Merge/Pattern. Locate the IGES le created rom the line

scan in PC-DMIS. When it initially merges with the current le it appears as a red line. (It appears red because

Mastercam X groups any fe it merges and a groups appear red by deaut. I you want to change its coor

you need to ungroup it. Cick Groups at the ower right o the screen (see beow) and the Group diaog box

appears. Seect a the groups in the ist on the et and cick Deete. The ine wi turn back and you wi be ree

to change its coor since it no onger is part o a group).

Turn on transparency so you can clearly see the entire scan line. Draw a line rom one end o the scan line

to the other end then place a point on the middle o this line (Note: the curser will change when it is at

the middle o the line as shown below). Set the working plan to be the same as the scan line (in this case

Front ). Click the Z: on the lower middle o the screen (see above) and click on this point. You have now

made the working or construction plane and Z depth as the same as the scan line. (I body parallel to lines)

The image should look similar to this:


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The Construction Surace (blue), Part Surace (green), Scan Line and Section will appear like this:

To enhance this drawing, hatch marks can

be added to the inside o the section outline to

illustrate the metal thickness.

Click on Create X-Hatch and the

Hatch dialog box opens (see below right).

Select Iron or material and set spacing at 1,

click . The Chaining dialog box will open

select a portion o the section and click .*A continuos curve, without voids or

overlapping, is needed or the chaining unction to

work properly.Also, the working plane must remain

the same as the Construction Surace and Z depth

(see opposite page).

*I the hatch doesnt work, you need to

careuy examine the section, eiminating any

voids and overapping segments. Overapping

segments can be difcut to ocate careuy

examine were the arrows stop in the chaining process.

Example o a

Hatched section


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The Entity Attribute ManagerA way to automatically assign entities with particular attribute (such as color, line style, and even level) is

available when this eature is turned on. You may nd this useul when creating Curves on All Suraces as a

way identiying the wirerames entities as being either arcs, lines, or splines.

You might want to disable

this eature in the System

Conguration box unless you

will specically be wanting it.

15


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F1 = Zoom Window

F2 = UnZoom

F3 = Repaint

F4 = Analyze Entity Properties

F5 = Delete Entities

F9 = Display Screen Ino

Alt + F1 = Fit

Customized:F6 = Dynamic Rotation

F7 = Toggle Auto Highlighting

F8 = Set Planes to Top WCS

F10 = Set Plane to Top

F11 = Trim / Break

F12 = Create Point

Alt + T = Transparent

Ctrl + F = Mirror

Alt + S = Toggle Shading on-o

Shortcut Keys

MastercamX Migration

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