Enhanced Tool Path Control

CNC Software has released Mastercam X2’s Maintenance Release (MR1), available to all Maintenance customers and all new Mastercam customers. The capabilities include improved tool paths for high speed machining, multi-axis enhancements and more. The high speed machining pencil tool path has been enhanced to provide smoother motion with fewer retracts when used with rest material. Also, the company can calculate the appropriate number of offset passes needed, based on tool diameter. Trochoidal motion in high speed tool paths assists with the machining of harder materials. Maintaining an acceptable tool load, the motion allows feed and speed programming to be reliable. Also, the users control when and how the trochoidal motion occurs in a tool path. The company’s five-axis Flowline tool path has been enhanced to support undercuts. On complicated files when controlling the normal direction of the surfaces is cumbersome, users can either allow undercuts or ignore the normal surface direction. The multi-axis tool paths have also been enhanced to support solid geometry. When a solid model is present, a user can select solid geometry. The company also offers view sheets that save time when working with multiple views or working with different levels at the same time. View sheets let users create different user-defined sheets consisting of the view orientation, zoom scale and visible levels of the part. Bookmarks save specific states inside the view sheet to be recalled later. The current view orientation, zoom and visible level information is saved each time the user moves from one view sheet to another.