 Adding Delcam's FeatureCAM feature-based CAM system has allowed tooling manufacturer Parlec, Inc., to take full advantage of the advanced capabilities of its turn-mill machines. The company's previous CAM package could not automatically address simultaneous operation of the machines' twin spindles. Two programs had to be created separately and then synchronised manually, a time-consuming and error-prone process.
Parlec is a leading provider of premium metalworking tooling products and accessories. Its wide range includes tool-holders, driven and static tooling, tapping and boring tools, work-holding systems, and pre-setters, totalling more than 8,000 individual products. Most of them are manufactured at the company's 140,000 sq.ft. facility in Fairport, New York.
Manufacturing Engineer and Process Leader Tim Provo estimated that the machining operations at the plant handle about 18,000 different components. Typical of the premium products manufactured by Parlec are HSK toolholders. The quick-change tapered tool-holder system is a worldwide standard for precision, high-speed applications, and the holders themselves are highly detailed and precise.
"In addition to turned features, there are a lot of precise milling features on the HSK holder,'' Mr. Provo said. "There are holes around the outside of the part as well as slots on the bottom of the taper that orient the tool up into the spindle. There are radii on the outside of the slots and, if they are in the wrong location, the tool won't go into the spindle or the fit will be poor. When you start putting all this milling inside of a lathe, it soon becomes complex.''
Mr. Provo noted that FeatureCAM also provides 3D simulations of the machining process. He called the simulations "absolutely key'' to a programmer's efforts. "When you are programming, you create geometry and generate code, and then you look at the 3D graphics. The machine simulation actually is a 3D model of the machine with the chucks, etc. If you set everything right, you can virtually run the part inside the software package. You get an accurate representation of what is going to happen when the program is run at the machine.''
The feature recognition within FeatureCAM is especially useful to Parlec because the company continuously improves its various product lines. The company's tool-presetting equipment, for example, has linear guides secured by bolts in counter-bored and tapped holes. When new guide technology is added, the configuration of the holes changes. "When you open up a file, FeatureCAM will recognise if the model has changed, will prompt you to reload the model, and will tell you what has been changed.'' Programming is faster because the updated features that need to be changed can be identified very quickly and easily. In addition, knowing precisely what and where the changes are minimises confusion that might arise through later steps in the production and inspection process.
Mr. Provo noted that creating toolpaths is just one aspect of the relationship with a software provider. "There are two pieces to software for programming. You have the software you actually use to create toolpaths and geometry, and then you run it through your post-processor that turns it into code that the machine understands.'' Creating a post-processor can be "very tedious,'' he said, because "everybody runs things a little bit differently. Operators sometimes like to see things a certain way and FeatureCAM can tailor the post-processor to the shop's own methods if necessary.''
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