Tag Archives: Surfcam

CAMWorks 4 Solid Edge Comments and Thoughts

Posted on August 16, 2013 | 6 comments

In a bit of a holding pattern for now until September for posts on actual CW4SE parts I will be working on. However there is a bit of news and a bit of reflection and comments upon CW4SE.

As of right now there is no forum for CW4SE. The official Geometric forum has a section for SW users only and this should be changing soon and will include a section for SE users. Even though the basic program is the same it has been Geometrics decision that SE users should not have access to the SW users forum. Since both are closed forums I guess that you must have a seat of one or the other to access them. I have no idea what will be there and it is a shame that years of experience as cam users on the SW side of things will be roped off to SE users but with the politics that could result I guess I can understand why the two will be kept separate.

I don’t think SE at the official BBS site has any intention of having a forum either and the one time I mentioned a need for one it was met with a rather curt reply from a Siemens guy that this was Geometrics job and not Siemens. Sometimes I wonder about who talks to who and who plans these things as I would have thought that a forum would have been planned and who was responsible for what would have been picked and resources dedicated. Support for CW4SE is important and unless the VAR’s are slated to fill this area I am not sure how smooth the initial support for CW4SE will be. I think this gets back to the Dart Board idea I promulgated some time back where planning is chaotic and meetings are had to decide what to talk about in the next meeting and then another one to determine if the first two meetings were effective and on and on they go. People, time passes and this is a roll-out of a new product and an important addition to SE’s ecosphere. It is important to get this right and we are months after SEU2013 and this forum is still not established. But beyond the forums there is another category and it is who does your potential VAR have as a trained support guy? CW4SE is a new integration with SE but it is not a new program. I am hoping all the major VAR’s intend to have a veteran of CAMWorks for SW on staff to answer questions on the CAM side. The program is the program and if your VAR is intending to provide support based on freshly trained guys who have not themselves cut chips with this program it could be a problem. Make sure you ask your VAR of choice what he intends to do in this area. I have no idea what Siemens official policy is towards mandatory minimum support required of VAR’s to sell CW4SE and so it is left up to the buyer to be aware of this. Make sure your VAR can support you before you buy would be my suggestion.

There is a book out there, “The CAMWorks Handbook 2013” that is for the SW integration that looks interesting. Obviously the CAD side of it is for “Brand X” and includes nothing for direct editing 😉 but from what I have read and seen with the CW4SE manual given out with the program (I assume it will be the same one I was given during beta testing) it may be a decent alternative learning method for the bits and pieces of CAM needed to decide what features are needed to do differing CAM plans. Disregard the constant references to the class B modeler and you should be alright. If I order the book I will report on what I find.

There have been webinars from various VAR’s out there. I don’t know what all of them are doing but I do know that Saratech has a veteran CW user running theirs. Now is the time by the way to tell your VAR’s that you expect at least one guy in the organization that has actually cut chips with CW4SE to be there for support for CW4SE. Remember that the only time you have to get your wishes across to these guys is going in so push for all you can before signing with one.

On the program front as planned and announced some time ago September is rapidly approaching and working with assemblies will be an additional function to be released then. I don’t know what else is coming out and as I have reminded people if they want it talked about they have to release information. Hopefully this will happen soon.

In any case I expect to have my seat soon and then it will be on to some real parts. One thing I will be interested in is how CW4SE will work for a small shop like mine where automation and the Tech Data Base setup is not so beneficial. I want to just recognize features I want to pick and go from there and also avoid populating the TDB with my own tools so I can just pick them as I go. For instance, the TDB has a lot of tools in it but not one three flute endmill. This is the preferred endmill for cutting aluminum and as it is recommended by Volumill for just this I am surprised that Geometric did not have any of these in the tools for milling section. The TDB is an area where there could be improvements made and from what I gather in talking to some SW users of CAMWorks they agree. Now the TDB is a powerful tool for automation and I think is particularly beneficial for larger shops with a system set up for tool and machine management but this is a little complicated for those who just want to pick a tool, or input the cutter data individually for each tool path and go from there. In My old program for instance I can scroll through a list of tools and just pick it and edit it right there if I need to and save the new tool to the library. Far easier than this TDB thing is. Of course I am quite familiar with the old program and not CW4SE yet so my opinions here could change as get used to using it. It would be nice if Geometric would allow for the importing of tool libraries into their TDB from manufacturers but as of right now you have a tedious excel like chart to fiddle with and you have to add these things in one by one. It would also be nice to be able to do away with having a tool library required to create a cam plan and just pick and assign tools to the cam plan and have it be remembered as tool whatever in spot whatever and then just save it. Automation is really cool for those shops that want or need it but some greater consideration for those shops that don’t want this would be nice.

One of the things I really liked during beta testing was the constant step-over tool path. I was over at the HSMWorks forum the other day and they were complaining about how tough it is to get a constant scallop heighth there. Kind of like I use to have to do with ZW3D you have to create different tool path stepovers at differing places in the part to get a really consistent finish on the part. So you end up with four or more toolpaths to do almost as good as the single toolpath in CW4SE will get you quickly and easily. Just a word here by the way. I find some of the CW4SE GUI to be clunky and some of the nomenclature to be worded in such a fashion that it is hard to remember what it means. So welcome to the real world where no program is perfect and they all expect you to learn according to the idiosyncracies of each different set of programmers. Many of which I believe don’t really grasp what actual users want because they have never cut chips and don’t understand our work flows and the reason for how we choose our work flows. The programmer liked it and it made sense to him so it must be right, right? But don’t mistake my grumbling about these things to be really serious objections to the program as a whole. I know enough about it to state that the improvements to my bottom line for cutting efficiencies will be large over time compared to programs I have used in the past. And of course the fact we now have true integration between CAD and CAM.

The insanity of allowing programmers who have not cut chips to be the final determiners of how a program is set up to work for users is a topic for another day and I am of the opinion far greater heed to user wishes should be made. I am afraid that with Geometric, like most other software authoring companies, once the program gets out the door the silliness is programmed in and it will take an act of God to get programmers to understand that just because what they did can be made to work does not make it the right way or the best way to work and to then fix it. Kind of like how dumb is it that SE still after all these years does not yield accurate manufacturing data for threads but someone in Programville decided it was OK so every user subsequently has to struggle with this. I bet this comes back to haunt them as how can they recognize accurate manufacturing data on holes imported from say SW if they can’t do it for their own program? You use software to design or cut I am sure you have pet peeves based on programmers choices too and this problem is everywhere.

6 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wasting Away in PRitaville

Posted on July 19, 2013 | 9 comments

My mind works in funny ways sometimes and one thing can lead to another. I was and still am completely disgusted with how the powers that be took Matt’s “On The Edge” blog and basically killed it. It should have been left exactly as is with cross links to the official site. It was probably one of the leading sources of reads to the Petri Dish culture site and they have no viable replacement for this. Sorry guys, it is not the same when the pseudopods  of corporate sterility pull it in.

Then I have this guy from Faro show up who does not know anything about SE. Now I kid you not this is how it went with him. I asked him about direct editing and he was not sure what that was. He is an SW CAD user only. We continue to speak and when he mentions Space Claim that’s when I can finally make a bit of headway with him by saying SE has direct editing  like Space Claim does  but actually better. He knew about Space Claim. Now you PR types don’t have to put up with the things I do. You hide in your little offices and talk to each other. I have to stand here and suffer under things like this Faro guy looking at me like I am a little strange. Just like the Mastercam and Surfcam VAR’s I speak to I am reduced to saying “Oh yes, SE has direct editing just like Space Claim does”. Last time I checked Space Claim was a little bitty company compared to SE and just how is it that they are known with these dealers and people and SE is not? Hint for those of you in Rio Lindo, no worthwhile cohesive aggressive marketing or PR plans or execution might be the reason hmmmm?

Let me put this in perspective for you. We also talked about workstations. I mentioned that even though Dell was all I ever see for workstations I remember reading stuff about what a big percentage of the market HP had in this area. He and I both agreed that all we ever see is Dell and could not figure out how these claims could be substantiated based upon our personal observations. So here I am trying to convince this guy that there are many hundreds of SE users in TN  and that SE has the best direct editing and is better than SW or Space Claim. I can see in his face and comments he is thinking another HP.  And based upon his personal experience why shouldn’t he?  This is also what I get from the Surfcam and Mastercam officials I speak to because some companies make a point of promoting their well planned and executed  messages to markets they actually have plans to and then do  target. So now Space Claim is being pushed by Faro, Mastercam and Surfcam dealers in my area but not “SE who?”.

I believe there is an entrenched almost government like bureaucracy with SE that is the legacy of years gone by that has as of yet not been fixed. I figure these people band together to protect the way it has been over they way it should be.  Void of creativity they plod on  spending time with safe things they have done year after year and not one of them ever stops to think of the idea that doing things the same way does not bring about growth. It is a damning indictment of these individuals who are stifling the growth of SE to protect their paychecks. That they have so little vision for the future that they would be willing to sacrifice the future of the company to remain on familiar and comfortable ground. Technically brilliant the guys in Huntsville who code SE  must wonder what is in the water over in PR and Marketing. I hope they never step over there to drink any of this.

I believe that if this problem is not fixed the fate of SE to be also ran will be sealed because these people will prevent SE from ever knocking SW off their throne if things are not changed. Again I say that expecting different results from  the same tired failed methods and people is not the paradigm a hungry for success company would employ. If I was in charge when these sorry Petri Dish guys come in offering the same old tired excuses for why they can’t do things right or won’t do things right and not providing good results it would result in severe discomfort. These people forget that their sole reason to be employed is to deliver results and they are supposed to FIX the problems stopping dynamic growth not offer reasons why this can’t be done. I don’t care what the problems are. You guys have had how many years now to figure this out and plan for growth and you can’t do this?  I don’t get it. Rather than being excited about being with a company that is experiencing  tremendous growth these clowns want to stay where they have been turf protecting themselves and their paychecks and relegate SE in the mean time to also ran status.

So as I stewed over this for the next few days thinking about how I personally had over three lost income and unpaid weeks of my time in hurry up last-minute beta training, testing and parts cutting for SEU13 and time spent blogging to promote it all plus money out-of-pocket to attend because I care and want things to work out right inspiration strikes. Don’t know how wasting time morphed into wasting away in Margaritaville but then inspiration needs no logical explanation does it.  So for the marketing and PR sides of Siemens/SE a theme song.

Hats off  to the PR and marketing guys at Solid Works who prove it can be done and dedicated to those with SE who prove how it can’t be done.
Wasting Away in PRitaville

Been here for five years
Watching the things here
It is the best soft ware never seen
Rarely been heard of
Nary a sight of
Some things don’t change sad as that seems

Refrain
Wasting away again in PRitaville
Searching hard for something to find
Some people claim that it’s still the same
But I know, it’s not PR’s fault

I don’t know the reason
I searched for all season
Not much to show but this internet bill
But it’s a real beauty
A big monthly cutie
Why I still search it I haven’t a clue

Refrain

I blew out my Laptop
Cleaned out my desktop
plugged the cable back in at home
but no website contenders
the drought never ends here
It’s just blind hope that keeps me around

Final refrain
Wasting away again in PRitaville
Searching hard for something to find
Some people claim that it’s still the same
But I know it’s not PR’s fault
Yes some people claim that it’s still the same
And I know it’s not PR’s fault

 

UPDATE

OK folks I go to the    http://community.plm.automation.siemens.com/t5/Solid-Edge-Community-Blog/SEU13-Presentations-Available-for-Download/ba-p/2351    web site today and we have a perfect case in point. I want you to go there. The first half of this long scroll down page is one third content and the rest is just stuff. Who really cares about company officials taking up one half of one third of the whole page and being placed at the top right section of this page? Top right is one of the two most important placement areas when you wish to convey a message and these marketing PR whizbangs fill it with company rosters. 😦 😦 😦 Right where we should have relevant community and user information or links or articles or SOMETHING of value we have instead space just filled to be filled. Scroll down and tell me how much more of this is the same. Can you believe this is what PR and Marketing think is an attractive selling and information tool for SE? It is a perfect example of crank a mindless cookie cutter fill in the blanks page out like we always have and get a paycheck stuff. They do these things and think they are of worth in PRitaville.

9 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , ,

Solid Edge for Manufacturing, CAMWorks for Solid Edge Constant Stepover

Posted on July 1, 2013 | 13 comments

One of the family of parts I design and manufacture is extrusion dies for Polin Depositors. One of the recent designs is one you have seen in other posts as the Guitar Die. Soon if you go to the Music City Arena in Nashville  you may just find a guitar crouton next to your salad or maybe a chocolate chip cookie made with this die for the Polin Depositor.guitar die top

Now this part has presented problems before with finishing where the corner round goes into the cavity. The way I have had to deal with this to prevent stair stepping in the past has been to basically create three or four cut paths to accommodate varying degrees of slope.

Besides the Volumill routine in CAMWorks for Solid Edge (CWFSE) my second favorite tool path is constant step over. This gives me a constant step over based upon the distance across a face and not just in “Z” or “X-Y” as was my previous fate in life. Now a word of warning here. This tool path follows contours it assigns across your part for maintaining this constant step over. This can result in gouging if you are using this path to cut down to a face. The way to avoid this is to create a contain or avoid feature and this will stop the tool path from gouging the floor of the part.

Guitar Die closeup

Is this not a beautiful thing? It did not matter where I looked in these cavities all the tool marks were completely concentric. I used a sketch  profile around the cavities for containing and picked tool on the profile and I have a perfect blend going into the hole and then completely down to the bottom. Now keep in mind the finish can be as fine as you want it to be if you are willing to spend the cutting time to get there. This quality of finish is good for this type of application and requires nothing finer.

I can see that many of my 3D parts will require two tool paths only. Volumill with intermediary step cuts at sufficiently small cut amounts to allow for going directly into the constant step over finish tool paths.

13 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,

CAMWorks for Solid Edge Beta Team

Posted on July 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

Beta Team

Wanted to take a bit of time to thank the BETA testing team for CAMWorks for Solid Edge. Some of these guys flew in and spent four days of time in Huntsville and we all spent time there and afterwards fiddling with stuff new to us. So from left to right we have Solid Edge users and testers Tim Hoeing, Dave Ault, Joe Hourihan and Larry King. Jim Wright from Siemens, Marc Bissell from Geometric and Mark Burhop from Siemens.  This was a small team because what we were really testing was the interface between Solid Edge and CWFSE. The CAM program is robust and proven but the integration with SE was new. I have been particularly impressed with how quickly and dramatically this integration has improved from the first beta version we had to this last one from 6-19. I look forward to using again a completely integrated CAD and CAM program and not having to look for another CAM program again in my working career.

A special tip of the hat to those with Siemens who knew that things the way they have been were not good enough and they determined to change this to the way things should be.  This lack of CAM integration was perhaps the single largest remaining vestige of the Venture Capital types who are so good at buying up companies and then saddling them with new debt, starving them of funds, direction and R&D while writing themselves grossly out of line benefits packages.  It appalls me to think of both the damage to the companies and then to this head below the radar cookie cutter mentality that has become so pervasive here they are having to work on as a result of these guys. Who knows where Solid Edge could have been if someone like Siemens who understands what CAD and CAM and PLM etal software really is about had bought them before the loot and plunder venture guys did.  I am sure that the competitors of UGS/Solid Edge have really enjoyed watching them being shackled but those days are over.

Just as a reflection upon the CAD and CAM community with any software here. It takes people who are willing to spend some of their time they can’t replace to help things move forward to the benefit of all concerned. From a local user group you participate in or help to run up to beta testing software so what is released can be better your involvement is important. Have you considered getting involved in your software of choice to make it better?

Leave a comment

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solid Edge for Manufacturing, Thermal Dynamics of Cutting

Posted on July 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

One of the things I considered when shopping for a new mill was High Speed machining. The idea that smaller end mills at higher RPM’s would yield more cubic inches of metal removal per hour than old school big hog slow rpm ones would. And that in addition my mill would be hammered a lot less and the end mills last longer. Another consideration keeping this in mind was the choice between a direct in line spindle or a gearbox driven spindle. I chose the direct drive 10,000 RPM one for my mill for two reasons. A better finish possible due to vibration reduction from the gearbox and the fact that the in line spindle actually has a much higher torque output than the gearbox does from around 1500 RPM if I remember right on up to the max RPM.  The only serious consideration I had for the gear box was tapping holes but then thread milling is the answer for tapping problems above 5/8″ which the in line drive does just fine.

So I am cutting some tool paths for the first time with Volumill and I thought why not get some pictures of this. Just like freezing Humming Birds in flight with the camera lets just see what chips look like was my thought. Volumill chips

Now I had been told that the best way to cut steels and stainless steels  was with carbide and to cut it dry with proper feeds and speeds. This produces nearly complete heat transfer from the cutter and work piece to the chips. Part of the problem with coolant and carbide and HSM is that carbide does not withstand the thermal shock of heating and cooling that happens with being engaged in the cut and then quenched with coolant. It will break the edges down prematurely.

So I get the trusty old camera out and the above picture is the result. I thought it was interesting how hot the chips were that they would have temper colors just six or so inches away from the cut. Now let me tell you these chips were moving fast and there was a lot of heat there. When we finished the roughing cut on this part I put my hand on it and it had barely perceptible heat above what the table on the mill had.

This part we were cutting was 4142 steel and we were using the Milling Advisor recommended f&s of 10000 RPM and 269 IPM. I for one find it quite fascinating how technology advances in all areas at the same time to give different results where the rubber hits the road. From the carbide substrates and coatings in the end mill to the algorithms used in Volumill and the idea of faster smaller deeper cuts with in line spindles we get a whole new way of productivity. And seeing is believing.

Leave a comment

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

CAMWorks For Solid Edge

Posted on June 25, 2013 | 6 comments

Yes folks it is finally time to talk about this program and not have to hold anything back. Formally announced today CAMWorks For Solid Edge will be the first truly integrated CAM program for Solid Edge. The question has been posed many times why NX Cam Express  (NX CE) could not be ported to Solid Edge. Quite simply NX CE is design to work inside of NX and to accomplish that has to be capable of opening legacy files from way back in NX and work on them.   Solid Edge files could be imported into NX CE but they had to then be translated into a version of NX Cad to work right.  There was and is no way to take and make Solid Edge directly and truly integrated under these conditions so the search began for an integration partner.  Siemens owns it all by the way so the idea that NX did not want to port NX CE to Solid Edge because it would cost “them” profit is not valid. It was for technical reasons only.

A truly  integrated CAD and CAM program  brings efficiencies to the manufacturing world that can’t be accomplished any other way. One mouse click to get to Solid Edge and one mouse click to get back to CAMWorks For Solid Edge. Right there in the same environment and on the same “page”.  It is the only way to go if you can. I am pretty sure every reader of this post understands the power here so I am not going to dwell on this.

The criteria to be met once NX CE was ruled out was to find a company that had solid knowledge of CAM with proven products and a track record of success with integration.  Along the way it became more complicated when HSMWorks was bought out. Now it became imperative that the partner company not only be qualified but also not  be in danger of being bought out from under Siemens feet as HSMWorks was with Solid Works.  Siemens works in ten-year planning periods and they had to be sure that their partner choice was also committed to this ten-year planning period too. Not only do they want to know where they will be in ten years they want their customers to know. Stable rational management planning capabilities both in Siemens and with their customers is predicated on knowing what your tools will be so you can make plans accordingly.

There is something like fifty or so differing CAM programs I have been told and when the search began it was a little daunting for the Siemens SE integration guys who had no idea the CAM market was this populated. They were used to CAD and that market is nowhere near as fragmented. However when you start tire kicking a bunch of them fall to the side quickly for a variety of reasons.

Geometric’s CAMWorks was the final pick and became the integration partner. I have had the privilege (Such as being a beat tester is as those of you who have been there know!) of being a beta tester for CWFSE (CAMWorks for Solid Edge). Now understand that we did not have the Beta to play with until three weeks ago and I did not actually cut parts with it until Wednesday through Saturday last week. As a result it is hard for me to sit here and try to answer questions other than in generalities. I do feel qualified to do that however.

CWFSE is not a simple CAM program and there is not a simple one out there however that can do all the things CWFSE does. This is the price to pay for having a powerful program at your fingertips.  Automatic Feature Recognition like that found in CWFSE  is a very powerful tool that is in many ways the CAM equivalent to the Synchronous Tech capabilities in Solid Edge. To make it work right you have to properly set up your tool crib. Once this is done AFR is quite powerful and in many cases will automatically yield tool paths that will need little tweaking to completely cut a part. For those of us like myself who still like to work off of features I pick Individual Feature Recognition is a great tool. Plus you can get  Volumill with CWFSE and the metal removal capabilities there are nothing less than phenomenal. We were looking up recommended speeds and feeds from the Volumill Milling Advisor and were a little timid to take their word for things at first. Cutting 4142 with a .5″ five flute end mill at 1″ depth with a 7% step over at 287 IPM is not something I have done before.  I am counting dollar signs for the future as I contemplate the increased efficiencies CWFSE and Volumill will be bringing to this shop.

In any case there will be a far more about CWFSE in the near future as this new program is put through  its paces.  I am just VERY pleased to be sitting here at SEU2013 today and see the culmination of CAM integration finally happen for Solid Edge. This is extremely important to Solid Edge considering the fact that  design software has no reason to exist without a product being produced somewhere at some time from it.

Solid Edge is now a complete manufacturing environment. I prefer to think it is the best midrange MCAD/CAM  manufacturing environment out there. There is a synergism that exists here with Solid Edge’s direct editing capabilities with Synchronous Tech and the Automatic Feature Recognition when set up with CWFSE and run in conjunction with Volumill.  OK, I admit I am biased and opinionated here about this. But I have good reason to be and I don’t see anyone else out there with this power to deliver productivity to shops that actually make things. And as a big bonus feature I know where Siemens is taking us in the future and it is to better productivity tools and no cloud type junk.  Their feet are firmly planted on the same ground I have to walk on and their manufacturing considerations are the same as mine because they are using it in their own manufacturing ecosystem.  Practical solutions and planning for real problems we all encounter and I can’t ask for anything better.

Now all you guys over at the Siemens  BBS SE Misc category know what “Quiffsee” is 🙂

CAMWorks For Solid Edge open window

6 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solid Edge for Manufacturing, Guitar Die Corner Rounds

Posted on June 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

Here is the first actual part in this series. But before I go on there are some important comments I need to make.

First off I do not represent myself as an expert and what I show is how this user with his knowledge does things. There may be better ways to do this and if so and you know this better way I encourage you to share it here.  One of the things I want to promote here is the exchange of knowledge in the hopes that by the end of the day each of us will be a bit better at what we do. I know how ZW3D and Solid Edge work but don’t really know how other CAD programs work in depth as an actual user and so I am not going to try to make point by point comparisons with them. You guys know how your stuff works and you can watch how I work and draw your own conclusions about what is more efficient.

There are other CAD and CAM integrated programs out there so this idea is nothing new. What IS new with this integration of SE and “Camworks” (HEY, I saw it by name on Novedge today from a Solid Edge guy so I can say it too right?!) is the power of the synergism of Synchronous Tech direct editing and Camworks with its own class leading time-saving capabilities. The combination of the two is going to create I believe the most powerful and efficient mid-range MCAD and CAM integration in the market place.  I have played with it and I have seen the tool paths and later this week and next week I will be cutting parts with it. And yes for those of you who wonder how I can tell what cutting will be like the tool path generation gives you a very concise prediction tool here and it all looks really good. In addition to this we have proven capabilities where this program of Camworks is integrated with another CAD program and these carry over in full plus some to Solid Edge. By the way, one of the interesting things I have heard is that integration between Solid Edge and Camworks is better than that of Camworks and Solid Works. This is because per someone who told me and who is in a position to know that the Solid Edge guys have made every effort to support integration and have fully opened up the API to Geometric to work with whereas Solid Works has not. In a short period of time the Geometric Cam integration will be best done for Camworks inside of Solid Edge.

I am tremendously excited about this whole thing and just wish I could invite all of you over to watch. After the SEU2013 convention (you are signed up aren’t you? http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu ) I will be able to share as time permits video of how it all works out on YouTube.

For the next month I am really busy between beta testing and SEU2013 and work orders that had to arrive in the middle of all this so I won’t get as much out there as I want to. Of course during SEU2013 I will have some updates if they are not covered already at length elsewhere and my impressions about the new goodies and future direction in any case.

In the mean time here we have a common problem. This one I made myself with a .125 radius inside corner in various places in the part I applied without thinking because I was in a hurry. After cutting the first one I discover that both a .25″ ball end mill and a .25″ x .03R bull nose end mill have the same issue of chatter because of loading up the end mill as it dives into a same diameter corner. Now you can do things like slow the feed rate down as it goes into the corner but high-speed machining was meant to give you quick times to produce parts. Having to significantly slow things down in corners partially defeats this. Substituting a smaller end mill can work sometimes but it too brings it’s own set of problems especially when you have to reach this deep into a part cavity.  We all know this type of design problem is one of the favorite things engineers or designers who don’t cut love to do. Even if you are an experienced machinist and CAD guy these things happen so quick and easy on the spot remediation with part editing is a wonderful solution. Oh, did I forget to mention that I don’t have to worry about where the part came from?

Now you don’t get to see the CAM stuff here but you can see how I address this corner round problem with this part.  There are relationships in the .25″ corners that make editing difficult or impossible if you just grab the corner round and try.  So the first steps are those that involve isolating the features we wish to change. Remember that deleting features to get at what you want is one of the nice things about ST. What you can remove swiftly you can re-apply just as swiftly so the mind set you history only based guys have about what to do here is old hat. This will work just as well on imported parts by the way. As you will see in the video once the rounds are isolated it is easy to change to .13″ radius, re-apply removed features and go from there.  Of course as you may imagine since we now have integration I bet we also might have associative tool path regeneration. Ain’t life grand 🙂

Leave a comment

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solid Edge University 2013 Update, CAM Woo-Hoo!!

Posted on May 28, 2013 | 12 comments

Looking forward with great anticipation to the end of June and SEU2013. Spent some time last week working with some goodies I am prohibited from discussing much so I will have to just hint and make vague generalities and be grudgingly accepting of this for a few more weeks. Detail WILL be forthcoming soon though.

In the mean time though      http://www.solidedgeu.com/assets/doc…da_handout.pdf  will take you to the latest posted agenda for SEU2013 and in particular I would direct your attention to TADA  !!

ScreenHunter_01 May. 26 04.15

That’s right, Wednesday morning 9:00 to 10:00 brings us the first ever CAM section for Solid Edge. And I mean JUST for Solid Edge and none of this NX Cam Express or all the other not truly integrated CAM stuff SE users have had to limp along with up until this point in time.

Now CAM might be old hat for other programs but not here. And while other programs might have a great ecosphere of apps they have other serious problems like forced migration to the cloud or a new kernal or both and soon to be uncontrollable related miscellaneous costs and data hostage taking. HEY all you doubters prove me wrong. Is this not exactly what Carl Bass of Autodesk and Bernard with Dassault have been saying now for some time? These are words of intent out of their own mouths and you better start taking them seriously. The funny thing about Autodesk and Dassault that can’t be said enough is that while they won’t put their source code on the cloud they expect you to do so with your equivalent-in-value CAD and design data. I am amazed at the number of CAD users that just drift along oblivious to these disruptive and damaging and more expensive to boot paradigms heading their way.

What we are going to see in SEU2013 is the maturing of the most powerful mid-range MCAD program which will include for all those who have been complaining about lacks in surfacing the end to complaints in this area.  SE has a plan and it is consistent and it does not include the cloud or kernal switches. And it has of course the most powerful single new tool for CAD and that is direct editing Synchronous Tech built on the Parasolid kernal they just happen to own and control. I can’t begin to state the power of this and those that don’t have it are quickly falling behind in overall efficiency of design. Plus it belongs to Siemens which bought it to improve their own manufacturing efficiencies.

This can’t be  stressed enough and it should be a pivotal consideration for any CAD user or CAD using company. What is the underlying philosophy of the company whose design software you have bought into?

……. If it does not have as it’s reason for existence providing great tools  for your bottom line and manufacturing efficiency.

……. If it is not used by the author for the very same things you intend to use it for and who then prove it out in their own manufacturing ecosystem should you or can you afford to be there?

There is only one major CAD author in this world who operates on a ten year plan and owns design software PRIMARILY to control and develop for it’s own manufacturing enhancement around the world. We who buy into this buy into real world tools void of all the fantasies that seem to currently be emanating from Dassault and most certainly the cloud coming from both Dassault and Autodesk.

Rather than being in the cross hairs of  companies that desire me as chattel with no regard for my future or bottom line I am with a company that worries about what I need and provides it. I recommend for anyone interested that they attend http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

The conference is $550.00 after June 7Th for one and three can go for $1,100.00.  Local hotels are available for roughly $65.00 a night for decent rooms if you want to save additional money. This is by far the most economical conference by a major CAD company in the USA. Come and see what the next reigning king of the MCAD world is all about and be there where it all really and finally begins. Can you tell I am excited? If you knew what I knew you just might be too.

12 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solid Edge University 2013 and Manufacturing

Posted on May 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

There are times where knowing about things and not being able to talk about them is a mixed blessing. It is a privilege to be told and shown things in confidence. But it is a PITA when you know you have good things to share but can’t until the OK to talk is given. Especially when you have a blog and would love to get the word out.

Back in Solid Edge University 2012 there were a few things shown and integrated CAM for the future was one of them. It was public then and still is but that is about all we can say about it. Today however I was given a teaser video and with great delight I will share it with you.

http://youtu.be/X-qPOaQ4-7o

I am excited, I know how droll can you be when software excites you, but I am and you have a clue why now. This is only one of other things that will happen at SEU2013. There is a philosophical shift at Solid Edge towards a complete manufacturing ecosphere and an emphasis on design to manufacture for engineering professionals and companies large and small. They have a plan and are adhering to it to be the best mid range MCAD solution in the world and this will now include integrated applications that will allow for design and then to parts out of your door to customers. After all one of the largest manufacturing conglomerates in the world, Siemens, bought UGS (NX and SE and the rest that goes with them) with the intent to use it to enhance their own production and design. I think better than any other major CADCAM software writing company out there these guys understand and work towards real world efficiency and we get to benefit from this as software customers.

OH, and can I say with complete confidence there are NO CLOUDS in our future and no kernel changes either. Life is good when you know where your software of choice is headed and their leadership tells you so in plain English and then shows you with their actions they mean what they say. How refreshing in this day and time to deal with people who put their cards on the table rather than a bunch of obfuscatory PR corporate leader BS meant to gull you into places your companies can’t really afford to be.

There will only be one time where it can all come together for Solid Edge and this year will be it. If you can possibly be there I would most certainly advise it. Hope to see you there!

http://www.siemens.com/plm/solidedgeu

Leave a comment

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Solid Edge Social Community

Posted on January 7, 2013 | 2 comments

I want to announce the formation of the Solid Edge Social Community. Here is the link to it. http://www.soliddna.com/SEcommunity
This has been started by Luc Poulin of SolidDNA who is linked to here at the sidebar.

I think it bears a bit of commentary as to who Luc is and why you should go there if you have an interest in Solid Edge. I first met Luc at PLM World in Nashville 2009 where he was one of 37 Solid Edge attendees. Well before there was a re-establishment of the new SE community he had an interest and was there on his own dime. He has been an active part of the revival of the Solid Edge community not so much with his web sites as with his prolific technical support and how to’s which show up on a regular basis at the Siemens BBS forums and pretty much where ever SE users congregate. Behind the scenes he has been of material help to people like myself, Matt Lombard and many others on how to do things or solve problems.

While I am involved in the use of SE and helping to create a community for users I have never considered myself an expert user of Solid Edge. My business does not require me to be and my plate is full enough that I learn what I need. Luc on the other hand IS an expert and is well regarded by people who go as far back as Solid Edge V1.

He has toyed with the idea of creating a community forum for some time now that would be open to the public that would be geared towards anyone who was interested. I remember discussing stuff like this with him 3.5 years ago. I think highly enough of Luc to have recommended him to Siemens in the past to be a liaison for the French speaking community of SE users in Canada (eh!).

Luc has however remained independent for whatever reason and this is his forum created because he likes Solid Edge and thinks you should too. Luc also has a back ground in actual manufacturing software such as CAM so he knows how all of these tools of ours are supposed to inter-relate to allow us to be productive in our work. I think that outside of Eng-Tips and the official Siemens BBS this site of Luc’s deserves to become within the next year one of the top forums for SE. (As a side note here Eng-Tips while valuable has some odd notions of what is proper and you can’t post things about user groups or conferences or whatever else they don’t like at that time. Eng-Tips is a commercial site and is moderated with their own special interests in mind first and foremost.) I want to encourage everyone who will to go there and register and even more importantly to contribute in some way. Active volunteers and community participants at this time are far and few between with Solid Edge. Really this is true for any CAD software as when you think of the number of subscribers compared to the number of people who participate online very few are there and I think the vast majority who show up are lurkers.

But the establishment of a network of communication which Luc’s forum will help to do has far reaching potential consequences for those who will help.

Networking between users is hard to do when the VARS and software authoring companies keep the lists of subscribers in a vault you never have access to. They generally are not going to help you find other users in your area. Networking between individuals is how you find work, get work, get hired, improve your professional career and most importantly in some ways find a local source of talent you can go to with your laptop and file when you need to be bailed out. The side benefit of enjoying the company of your peers is also well worthwhile in my opinion.

So go there and help kick start this thing with Luc. Stay there and help make it happen. Now I am going to talk to the SE users who primarily participate only on the BBS about something I think is important. For some reason SE users are some of the most insular people I have met in the software world. Pretty independent minded and self reliant they have for the most part only communicated behind the closed doors of the BBS forums and rarely venture into the world at large. Now I am going to say that some of these guys were a big help to me when I started and still are but only on the BBS and rarely do you see these uber users in the public eye or forums. I think it is time for this to change and for these talented individuals to help get this community going. I think Luc’s site is a fine place to start and it is time to do more than show up at something once a year and hide in a closed forum for the rest of it. Did I just say that? Well, really, did I mis-state the truth? I know how many of you guys are excited about the revival of the yearly conferences but I am telling you this is only part of the puzzle to be put together. The university will last four days this year. The forums however last all year and should be an integral part of serious SE users who see value in the growth of SE and the community to their future.

2 Comments

Posted in machinedaudiohornlens.com

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,