Delcam User Groups meet at Mazak and CNC Machine Services

Delcam demonstrated the 2016 releases of its FeatureCAM automated programming system and its PowerMILL CAM software for high-speed and five-axis machining at VIP User Group Events at the Mazak Western Technology Center in Gardena, California, and at CNC Machine Services in Snohomish, Washington. 

In addition to software enhancements in the 2016 releases, customers were shown live demonstrations of high-efficiency area clearance with Delcam’s Vortex strategy on the Mazak Variaxis i700 and the programming of a Mazak Integrex i150 using the Advanced Simulation & Verification module in PowerMILL.  Other demonstrations showed the benefits of integrated probing and On-Machine Verification with the PowerINSPECT inspection software.

Commenting on the event, Kevin Ennis, Senior Toolmaker at MTC Nike said, "I enjoyed attending this meeting very much.  It was great to meet all of the guys from Delcam and share contact information.  These guys are very knowledgeable and it showed during their presentations as well as during breaks when they made themselves available to answer questions.  While I have seen some of the material presented on PowerMILL on Delcam.TV, they were able to dig in deeper, show more of the features and answer questions.  Also, I did enjoy learning about FeatureCAM, especially the probing capabilities.” 

The main enhancement in PowerMILL 2016 is the ability to mirror complete machining projects in one operation and to maintain automatically the machining characteristics, for example, to specify whether climb or conventional milling should be used in each section of the toolpath.  Previously, only individual toolpaths could be mirrored.

Automatic mirroring saves considerable time whenever right- and left-hand versions are needed of a part or tool.  It is also faster to program the machining of symmetrical objects since it is possible to program one half and then mirror the toolpaths to complete the part.

Simulation in PowerMILL has been improved with ability to simulate complex tool changes, an auto-translucency option that will allow viewing of the table attach point at all times, and the ability to draw translucently the safe areas for rapid moves.

Among the most important enhancements in FeatureCAM 2016 are further improvements to the Vortex strategy.  The ability has now been added to adjust and fine tune the non-cutting moves of 2.5D and 3D Vortex toolpaths, with options to retract the tool and/or to increase the feedrate.  These options can be set individually, or can be combined to achieve an optimum toolpath, with a reduced cycle time.

Other enhancements in the 2016 release include support for bar-fed mills, more efficient turning, and user-interface improvements to make programming even easier and faster, in particular when using multiple set-ups.

12 February 2016