PartMaker Inc., a division of Delcam Plc best known for its specialty CAM software designed for automating the programming of multitasking Turn-Mill Centers and Swiss-type lathes, has come out with a modeling module intended to bring 3D CAD capabilities to CNC machinists.
The software can drive the full spectrum of CNC (Computer Numerical Control) applications, including milling, turning, wire EDM, multitasking, Turn-Mill, and Swiss-turning. PartMaker has always offered a base level of CAD, but it had limited functionality and only provided 2D, not 3D capabilities, according to Hanan Fishman, PartMaker’s president. “PartMaker has always had basic CAD -- I liken it to AutoCAD for the machinist. In other words, it has 2D drawing capabilities and is designed for minimum keystrokes and to be easy to use by shop floor personnel,” Fishman told us.
The 3D model of a hydrolic spool was created in PartMaker Modeling using its direct
modeling capabilities to adjust cross holes.
Though 2D functionality has long been sufficient, requirements are starting to change for the PartMaker customer base -- the bulk of which consists of medical device manufacturers. Most of them now work regularly with 3D models, and it isn’t uncommon for the CNC software to run into data quality issues when working with IGES and STEP files, which is typically how partners working in different CAD systems exchange models, Fishman said.
Unlike native 3D CAD files, IGES and STEP files do not maintain a rich set of data about the product in a history tree. Companies with concerns about sharing intellectual property convert their native CAD files into so-called dumb STEP or IGES files. This strips out much of the intelligence and leaves only a surface model. This is perfect for sharing, but not oversharing.
Manufacturing teams typically have to recreate that intelligence before they can send the file off to a machinist to create a part with the proper tolerances. However, the recreation process is fraught with translation issues, and Fishman said PartMaker Modeling’s vision of CAD is designed to address that specific problem.
As a hybrid modeler supporting surfaces and the Parasolid industry-standard solid modeling kernel, PartMaker Modeling includes an internal Solid Doctor tool that automatically repairs models. It turns the simplified IGES or STEP surface model into a solid model that can drive CNC machines and 3D simulations without any translation issues. It also frees machine shops from having to invest in multiple CAD systems, most of which have capabilities they don’t use or need, Fishman said.
”This allows people to accept poor-quality data from all sorts of different systems and repair it and turn it into a watertight, machineable solid model,” he said.
This struck a chord as the first piece we've done on CNC software in a while. Do most CAD vendors offer CNC connectivity, or do CNC machines tend to have proprietary software to run the machine and that's it?
You are right, Alex. We haven't written about CNC software lately. Most of the CAD vendors have some CNC integration and compatibilities, but it isn't a feature set that they readily talk up. It more likely that CNC vendors have their own proprietary programs that are tuned for particularities of their specialty systems. This was interesting to me because it was a variation of CAD for a very specific audience, that be users of CNC machines. So the idea is giving them just enough CAD without requiring them to invest in expensive CAD platforms to get the cursory functionality that they need.
Beth, does the solid model actually get used to machine the part? If that's the case, how much automation does this bring to the process for the machinist?
I would like to see more articles about CAD->CAM software. I think the 3D printers are pretty cool, but sometimes you need to cut a block instead of build it up. From what I've seen at Makezine, and Instructables, there are a notable number of DIY CNC machines out there. It would be nice to see CAM software affordable for these folks so they can spend more time making and less time futzing with kludgie software.
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