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8/25/2008 11:07:00 AM
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Delcam will demonstrate the new 2009 versions of its ArtCAM family of engraving software on stand D-3005 at the IMTS exhibition to be held in Chicago from 8th to 13th September. The range comprises the entry-level version ArtCAM Express, for users new to CNC machining, ArtCAM Insignia for production machining and ArtCAM Pro for more complex design and manufacturing, plus the ArtCAM JewelSmith edition for the jewellery industry. While the software is best known for its applications in the woodworking and signmaking industries, it is also used for a wide variety of metal-cutting applications, including the engraving of decorations, logos and lettering into moulds, the manufacture of stamping dies for coins and medals, and the production of embossing dies for cards, packaging and book covers.
The 2009 versions include enhanced machining options across the complete range of products. The main emphasis has been on improved strategies for harder materials to enable more efficient and faster engraving of all types of metal tooling. In particular, area clearance has been made more robust to allow higher feed rates to be used and rest machining has been made more efficient by improving the ordering of toolpaths.
The machining simulations have been made much more realistic as part of a general improvement in the ability to visualise designs in a variety of materials. In addition, an option has been added to display boundaries and other design vectors on the simulation of the machined model. Both these improvements give users a much better guide to the finished quality of the part and allow them to check, for example, that the most appropriate size of cutting tool has been used.
The key enhancements to the design functionality are new sculpting and embossing tools in the Pro and JewelSmith versions. The sculpting tools in ArtCAM duplicate, in the virtual world, the ability to sculpt physical materials but with the added advantage that material can be added as well as taken away.
The new embossing tool allows low-level reliefs that are typically needed for coins, medals or signs, to be created from deeper models. The user can move the model into any position to give the desired perspective and then reduce it to the desired height. Even though the height can be reduced significantly, the design will still preserve all the detail and the illusion of depth from the original.
An important enhancement across the complete ArtCAM range is the ability to export designs in the 3D pdf format used by the Adobe Acrobat reader. This allows designers to send files to potential customers or retailers in a lightweight form that can be viewed in freely-available software. Other general improvements include auto-recovery of data, for example if there is a power failure to the computer, and the ability to hide options that are rarely used so simplifying the user interface.
Delcam will demonstrate the new 2009 versions of its Art