CAD/CAM Products Speed CNC Programming
Delcam’s CAD/CAM products feature a range of enhancements designed to speed and ease programming for CNC machines
Share




Delcam offers a range of enhancements to its CAD/CAM products designed to speed and ease programming for CNC machines. PowerMill 2012 features a Flowline machining enhancement that divides the tool path between a pair of drive curves in a constant number of passes rather than a varying number of passes with constant stepover. According to the company, this approach provides a high-quality surface finish while lowering cycle time and minimizing wear on the cutter and machine tool.
FeatureCAM 2012 includes back-boring and spiral-roughing strategies to improve production machining programming on lathes, mills and turn-mills. Back boring enables more parts to be completed in a single setup, and larger bores can be produced on the reverse side of the part. Spiral roughing can be used instead of Z-level roughing, and a single, continuous tool path instead of a series of levels provides a smoother finish with no dwell marks.
The 2012 version of Delcam for SolidWorks featues wire EDM programming. Other options include programming of turning, turn-milling, drilling, and two- through five-axis milling.
A range of direct modeling options have been incorporated into the 2012 release of PowerShape that are focused on design for manufacture, particularly on preparing product designs for the development of molds and other types of tooling.
Related Content
-
6 Machine Shop Essentials to Stay Competitive
If you want to streamline production and be competitive in the industry, you will need far more than a standard three-axis CNC mill or two-axis CNC lathe and a few measuring tools.
-
Can ChatGPT Create Usable G-Code Programs?
Since its debut in late 2022, ChatGPT has been used in many situations, from writing stories to writing code, including G-code. But is it useful to shops? We asked a CAM expert for his thoughts.
-
2 Secondary Coordinate Systems You Should Know
Coordinate systems tell a CNC machine where to position the cutting tool during the program’s execution for any purpose that requires the cutting tool to move.