Friday, December 16, 2016

Basic speed and feed calculator

****Disclaimer on this one***
numbers given by the calculator are suggestion only...please verify values and everything before actually running on machine!!

whew...now that the disclaimer is out of the way...

Hello!  I have posted a new script for Fusion users.  Today's script is giving the ability to have a speed and feed calculator in Fusion to help guide people to numbers needs to have proper spindle speed, cutting feedrate, chip load, surface footage and so forth.

See image below to reference which values can be changed for calculation purposes:

I realized last time that people may not know where to put these script files.  So, later i will be posting a quick video on my youtube page to show how to load these scripts into Fusion!

For the download link to the calculator please visit my Fusion Scripts page!

Happy programming!

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Putting toolpaths on a sheetmetal part in Inventor

"How do i take this sheetmetal part, flatten it and put some toolpaths on it to send to my machine?"

Have you ever asked this question when using Inventor and HSM?  Well, today we will look at how to do this.

Now, you might think...man it can't be that hard; just hit the flat pattern button and start programming.  This process doesn't work because by clicking the flat pattern button you are basically just creating an imagine of the part flattened and doesn't offer an actual solid body to program from.
So we say...








NO to Flat Pattern!

Instead what we will use are the Unfold and Refold operations.










Let's start with Unfold:
click on the button to start it.
First we pick the face that we would want to stay stationary and everything unfolds from this.
next, (red arrow) we pick the all bends button.
Then click the OK button.




















Now, at this point you can create a setup and program toolpaths and post code.  once you are done click the button for Refold.
you will follow the same steps as you did with the unfold picking the stationary face and then all bends.  if you add cut features be sure to add above the unfold so that when you need to update the toolpaths you can just drag the end of part under the unfold and update toolpaths or add new ones and then repost out code.

Hope this is helpful!
Happy Programming!







Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Fusion Scripts page Now up!

okay, so this post I am taking a break from the post processor series to bring you something new for the Fusion 360 CAM users out there.

I don't know how many of you know that there is CAM API in Fusion.  It is constantly getting new capabilities in it to enhance the user experience of the api.  So, I am going to be developing scripts for Fusion 360 utilizing the CAM api and will be posting links to those scripts so that everyone can have access to these.

The first one has been posted up on the page and i will be adding a "how to" video on how to use the script.

Fusion Scripts Page

later there will be posts on how to customize this script to meet your needs as an end user for the post processor selection.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Importing 2D CAD data pt.2 (Inventor AnyCAD feature)

Okay, so this one has been a long time over due, but here we go.
A while back we covered importing 2D CAD data into Autodesk Inventor the legacy route; where you import it while in a sketch and all the geometry comes in as one sketch and you lose that link between it and the CAD file.
So, let's look at how we can do this the new and improved route.

In Inventor start a new part file; then click the "Import" button.



then path to the Autocad file that you are wanting to import for use.  Once you have selected the dtawing file select a reference plane for the sketch.


then select the center point for the 0,0 point of the autocad file.


Once you have done this then it will place the dwg file as reference into your part file.
Now, from here you can create a sketch and start projecting the Autocad geometry to create a solid part.




Sunday, October 16, 2016

NC editor for the MAC users (currently 3 axis sim limit)...

This post is a follow up to the one from last week.  The NC Editor that i had talked about in the last post was for PC users...but, what about our MAC users out there.  Well, don't fear!  Thanks to a good friend challenging me; I found an NC Editor for you MAC users...luckily it is free as well!

http://camotics.org/

It will work the same way as i laid it out in the last post where once you have it installed.  Assign it in the preferences for you default NC Editor program.  And make sure that you are selecting the executable as well for that default file selection in the preferences.

(edited 4/17/2017)
A good friend brought to my attention that the g-code wizard editor from cnccookbook is MAC compatible as well.  This will be a program that you will have to pay for, but from the features i have seen it will be well worth the money.  Below is the link to the trial download:

G-code Wizard Editor

Happy programming!

Monday, October 10, 2016

NC Editor for Fusion 360....an NC Editor that is free!

So, here is a quick tip to start your Monday morning off with Fusion CAM.

With Fusion 360 CAM when you post code out it goes to the brackets software which is great for text editing.  But, what if you wanted an actual NC Editor to post your code into?  Well, you can have one and it is free!  NC Corrector is the program for you! (thank you to Daniel Lyall for showing this one in the Fusion 360 Forum)

NC Corrector Link:  click here

Once this is downloaded Here are the steps to setup the NC Corrector as your default Editor.

1. go to the Preferences page:


2. Go to the CAM portion under the General group and then hit the browse button by External Editor:

3.  Find the executable file for the NC Corrector software.  I put mine on my D drive:

once you select it and hit Open on the file dialog.  Click Ok on the preferences dialog and then next time you post code it will post into and open the NC Corrector software.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Importing 2D CAD Data into Inventor Pt. 1

So, to kick off posting tips and tricks again I am going to have a 2 part post showing ways to import 2D Cad data into Inventor for use in the CAM environment.

Let's go ahead and dive into today's tip!

In Autodesk Inventor start a sketch on a work plane.  Once the sketch is active; look for the insert panel on your ribbon bar.  Then pic on the command called ACAD.

Once you do this a dialog box will pop up to select the file you want to import.  Once you have found the file you want select and hit open.
Now starts the actual importing aspect.
There are a couple of ways to select the geometry that is being imported.
1. Red arrow - you can turn on and off certain layers and only those layers showing will be imported.
2. Blue & Green arrow - uncheck the "All" check box and then in the graphics window (Green Arrow) select the geometry you want imported.


After you have done this hit "Next".
This last page of the importing is important because it will affect the geometry imported.  On the last page there is an option for "Constrain End Points" and "Apply Geometry Constraints".  Make sure these 2 options are checked or your geometry will not import as closed loops and you won't be able to create actual features from it.

Click the Finish button and then you will have the 2D CAD data in your Inventor Sketch.  From here you can go ahead and create features from the new geometry.