Basic 3D Design m a s t e r c a m x g e t t i n g s t a r t e d t u t o r i a l s Mastercam X6 Basic 3D Design December 2011 Be sure you have the latest information! Information might have been changed or added since this document was published. Contact your local Reseller for the latest information. II • MASTERCAM X6 BASIC 3D DESIGN Mastercam® X6 Basic 3D Design Date: December 2011 Copyright © 2011 CNC Software, Inc.— All rights reserved. First Printing: December 2011 Software: Mastercam X6 TERMS OF USE Use of this document is subject to the Mastercam End User License Agreement. A copy of the Mastercam End User License Agreement is included with the Mastercam product package of which this document is part. The Mastercam End User License Agreement can also be found at: www.mastercam.com/legal/licenseagreement/ Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 (cid:88) Tutorial Goals.................................................................................................1 1. Geometry Translation ........................................................... 5 (cid:88) Lesson Goals.................................................................................................5 (cid:88) Exercise 1: Setting Up the Part.............................................................5 (cid:88) Exercise 2: Creating the Drill Holes.......................................................9 (cid:88) Exercise 3: Creating the Pocket and Slot............................................11 (cid:88) Exercise 4: Creating the 3D Outside Perimeter...................................18 (cid:88) Exercise 5: Completing the Wireframe Model.....................................20 2. Dynamic Planes.................................................................. 27 (cid:88) Lesson Goals...............................................................................................27 (cid:88) Exercise 1: Creating the Text Plane.....................................................27 (cid:88) Exercise 2: Creating the First Set of Letters........................................34 (cid:88) Exercise 3: Creating the Second Set of Letters...................................38 3. Surface Creation................................................................. 43 (cid:88) Lesson Goals...............................................................................................44 (cid:88) Exercise 1: Preparing for Surface Creation..........................................44 (cid:88) Exercise 2: Creating the Top Flat Boundary Surface...........................46 (cid:88) Exercise 3: Creating the Bottom Flat Boundary Surface......................50 (cid:88) Exercise 4: Creating the Middle Flat Boundary Surface......................54 (cid:88) Exercise 5: Creating Ruled/Lofted Surfaces........................................56 (cid:88) Exercise 6: Creating Draft Surfaces.....................................................62 (cid:88) Exercise 7: Creating the Final Ruled/Lofted surface............................69 IV • MASTERCAM X6 BASIC 3D DESIGN 4. Creating the Tool Holder Part ............................................. 75 (cid:88) Lesson Goals...............................................................................................76 (cid:88) Exercise 1: Drawing the Tool Holder, Part 1........................................76 (cid:88) Exercise 2: Drawing the Tool Holder, Part 2........................................77 (cid:88) Exercise 3: Drawing the Tool Holder, Part 3........................................82 (cid:88) Exercise 4: Drawing the Tool Holder, Part 4........................................86 (cid:88) Exercise 5: Drawing the Tool Holder, Part 5........................................91 (cid:88) Exercise 6: Creating the Surface.........................................................95 Conclusion .......................................................................................................100 (cid:88) Mastercam Resources.............................................................................101 (cid:88) Mastercam Documentation.....................................................................102 I N T R O D U C T I O N After you have mastered drawing parts with Mastercam’s 2D functions, you are ready to move onto 3D part drawing. Drawing in 3D opens a whole new world of possibili- ties. In this tutorial, you learn many 3D drawing techniques as you construct the connector and tool holder parts, shown in the following pictures. The tutorial titled Basic 2D Design covers 2D drawing with Mastercam. Before attempting this 3D tutorial, you must be familiar with the 2D techniques demon- strated in the 2D tutorial. Tutorial Goals (cid:131) Use construction planes in a 3D environment. (cid:131) Create 3D geometry from 2D parts using translation and offsetting. (cid:131) Define custom views using 3D Dynamic Planes. (cid:131) Use levels to organize 3D geometry. (cid:131) Generate 3D surfaces. (cid:131) Use construction lines as reference geometry. (cid:131) Use Mastercam’s Trim features to clean up your part. TIP: If you have trouble with an exercise, use Mastercam’s undo func- tion ([Ctrl+Z]) to return to a point where the part is correct and start again from there. If undo does not help, go back to the beginning of the exercise, load the supplied file for that exercise, and start again. 2 • TUTORIAL GOALS IMPORTANT: Screen colors in the tutorial pictures were modified to enhance image quality; they may not match your Mastercam settings or the tutorial results. These color differences do not affect the lesson or the exercise results. General Tutorial Requirements All Mastercam tutorials have the following general requirements: (cid:131) You must be comfortable using the Windows® operating system. (cid:131) The tutorials cannot be used with Mastercam Demo/Home Learning Edition (HLE). The Demo/HLE file format (EMCX-6) is different from Mastercam (MCX-6), and basic Mastercam functions, such as file conversions and posting, are unavailable. (cid:131) Each lesson in the tutorial builds on the mastery of preceding lesson’s skills. We recommend that you complete them in order. (cid:131) Focus Series and Exploring Series tutorials require, at minimum, a mastery of the basic Mastercam skills taught in the Getting Started Series modules. A general knowledge of machining principals and practices is also required. (cid:131) You must have a seat of Mastercam X6 Design or higher to complete most of the tutorials in the Getting Started Series. (cid:131) The Basic 2D Machining module in the Getting Started Series requires, at minimum, a seat of Mill Entry or Router Entry. (cid:131) The Basic 3D Machining module in the Getting Started Series requires Mill Level 3 or Router Pro. (cid:131) Additional files may accompany a tutorial. Unless the tutorial provides specific instructions on where to place these files, store them in a folder that can be accessed from the Mastercam workstation, either with the tutorial or in any location that you prefer. (cid:131) The Getting Started Series tutorials are available in an Adobe® Flash® compatible video format. Additional tutorial videos may also be available. Contact your local Mastercam Reseller for more information. (cid:131) You must install Adobe Flash Player to display tutorial videos. You can download Adobe Flash Player from www.adobe.com. MASTERCAM X6 BASIC 3D DESIGN INTRODUCTION • 3 (cid:131) All Mastercam tutorials require you to configure Mastercam to work in a default metric or English configuration. The tutorial provides instructions for loading the appropriate configuration file. MASTERCAM X6 BASIC 3D DESIGN 4 • TUTORIAL GOALS MASTERCAM X6 BASIC 3D DESIGN