Material parameters for CNC processing

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CAM module allows creating CAM technologies for parts which have a Woodwork for Inventor material assigned to them, which ultimately are transformed into CNC programs. Using CAM module, CAM technologies may be created manually or automatically. The automatic mode requires some settings, which help the CAM technology generator (Solver) to make certain decisions. The settings depend on:

 

1.Material type.
2.Material itself.
3.Material thickness.

 

CAM module can generate technologies for CNC workcentres or CNC nesting routers. Therefore, each material can have different CAM operating settings, which individually control the creation of CAM technologies:

 

hmtoggle_plus11. Settings for CNC workcenters

 

The following settings are used for CNC workcentres:

a.CNC workcentre which will process the workpiece.
b.Workpiece oversize, which may be automatically assigned to the workpiece at the moment of assigning the Woodwork for Inventor material for the model.

 

hmtoggle_plus12. Settings for Nesting Router

 

Important! Shape nesting may be used only for board, laminated board or multilayer board. Therefore, these settings are available only for this type of material. Other types of material do not have such settings.

 

The following settings are used for CNC nesting routers:

 

1.CNC machine which will carry out shape nesting.
2.Spindles for nesting contour processing
3.Type of workpiece fixing on the table until the processing of raw material board is completed (Onion Skin, Bridges) and their settings.
4.Milling operation settings (cutting direction, etc.) of the nesting contour.

 

Shape nesting settings may be saved as nesting configuration and such configurations may be used for selected materials. This way, there is no need to specify how each material should be processed during shape nesting. Instead, indicating the appropriate shape nesting configuration is enough.

 

Along the way, the dimensions of raw material sheet are saved and later used to automatically determine the original size of the sheet in developing shape nesting design.

 

The user may specify which process is a priority: processing in CNC workcentre or in CNC nesting router. This way, CAM module Solver can create CAM technologies depending on the material the parts are made of. For example, parts made of plywood will be processed by CNC nesting router, while parts made of solid wood will be processed by CNC workcentre. If relevant machines are not specified in the material’s description, the automatic CAM Solver understands that parts made of this material should not be processed and CAM technology is not created for them.

 

You will find the settings in the description of creation of material groups.

 

Measurements of raw material

 

Woodwork for Inventor CAM module has a functionality that allows creating CNC technologies, where parts are cut from a single sheet of raw material. This is referred to as a Nesting task. To ensure automatic selection of sheets, measurements of raw material sheets are now specified for each fill material in the material database. These measurements are used when Woodwork for Inventor Nest&Route program performs search of raw material sheets to be used for cutting the parts based on the material of the specific part.

 

 

CNC machine for the material

 

Specific material can be assigned CNC machine that has to be used for the processing of parts made of the given material. CAM Solver automatically creates CNC technologies for specific machines based on these settings. Several machines can be specified for one material. For example, you can first create a technology (a JOB in CAM module) for cutting out parts from a single sheet. Then, on another CNC machine, the technology can be used for side drilling. The important thing is the type of machine specified: CNC Processing Centre or Nesting Router. Types of technologies to be created depend on this selection.

 

If no machine is specified, CAM Solver understands that parts made of this material are not used to automatically create CNC technologies. For example, glass sheets are not processed as a material using CNC machines. On the other hand, it does not prevent users from creating this CNC technology manually.

 

You will find the settings in the description of creation of materials.