Solids Machining For Turning

Enhancements in SmartCAM V16.5 from SmartCAMcnc include automated turning toolpaths created directly from solid model, solid model verification and usability improvements. Solid machining capabilities are now available for SmartCAM Advanced Turning software. In a single step, users can create roughing, semi-finishing and finishing toolpaths directly from the surfaces of a solid model. Linear, contour and groove-roughing options are available, and semi-finishing and finishing toolpaths are created using the profile process.

The software update also provides core improvements that are said to make it easier to work with solids data and help streamline the user interface for common programming tasks, the company says. These improvements include pop-up menus for step and layer lists; radial slice of solids; single-click choosing of profile and tangent surfaces; graphical display of conic centers for wireframe arcs, ellipses and helices as well as for surface cones, spheres and torus; surface conic center snapping and optional projection of cursor coordinates to model surfaces; and improved element data display and measurement.

Also, the ShowCut verification module allows easy creation of complex verification stock and fixturing from an ACIS solid or STL model, the company says. ShowCut verification is included with all SmartCAM milling and turning applications.