MASTERCAM LATHE

TUTORIAL
May 2021
 MASTERCAM LATHE TUTORIAL

May 2021
© 2021 CNC Software, Inc. – All rights reserved.
Software: Mastercam 2021

Terms of Use
Use of this document is subject to the Mastercam End User License Agreement. The Mastercam End User License
Agreement can be found at:

http://www.mastercam.com/companyinfo/legal/LicenseAgreement.aspx

Be sure you have the latest information!

Information might have changed or been added since this document was published. The latest version of the
document is installed with Mastercam or can be obtained from your local Reseller. A ReadMe file (ReadMe.PDF) –
installed with each release – includes the latest information about Mastercam features and enhancements.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction 7

General Tutorial Requirements 8

General Setup 9

Exercise 1: Getting Ready to Work 9

Select configuration file 10

Exercise 2: Loading a Machine Definition 10

Rename the Machine Group 11

Exercise 3: Orienting the Part 12

Exercise 4: Using a Lathe Coordinate System 14

Exercise 5: Creating 2D Geometry 16

Create a level for the new profile geometry 16

Create the profile 17

Exercise 6: Setting Up the Stock in the Left Spindle 18

Exercise 7: Defining the Chuck Jaws 22

Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter 27

Exercise 1: Facing the Part 27

Enter the cutting values 28

Exercise 2: Roughing the Outer Diameter 29

Chain the geometry 29

Enter the toolpath parameters 30

Select the tool 30

Enter the cutting values 31

Exercise 3: Finishing 36

Enter the toolpath parameters 36

Exercise 4: Backplotting the Toolpaths 37

Adding Grooves and Threads 43

Exercise 1: Grooving on the Outer Diameter: Multiple Chains 43

Exercise 2: Grooving on the Outer Diameter: Rough Pass Only 46

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 Exercise 3: Finishing with Plunge Cuts 48

Exercise 4: Adding a Thread Toolpath 52

Select the tool 53

Enter thread shape parameters 54

Enter thread cut parameters 56

Exercise 5: Verifying the Toolpaths 57

C-Axis Drilling Operations 61

Making Drill Geometry 61

Exercise 1: Adding a New Toolpath Group 64

Exercise 2: Creating a C-Axis Drill Operation 65

Enter the Toolpath Parameters 66

Select the tool 67

Define the Hole Depth 67

Configure Rotary Axis Motion 68

Exercise 3: Copying the Drilling Operation 70

Exercise 4: Modifying the Drilling Parameters 71

Cutoff and Stock Flip 75

Exercise 1: Cutting Off the Part 75

Exercise 2: Programming a Stock Flip 78

Re-align Part Geometry 78

Enter new stock and chuck jaw positions 79

Machining the Inner Diameter 83

Exercise 1: Creating New Tools in the Lathe Tool Manager 83

Create the 9.6 mm drill 83

Create the 11.4 mm drill 86

Create the ID roughing tool 87

Create the ID finishing tool 88

Create the ID threading tool 89

Exercise 2: Facing the Back of the Part 90

Exercise 3: Drilling the First Inner Diameter 90

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 Exercise 4: Drilling the Second Inner Diameter 93

Exercise 5: Roughing and Finishing the Third Inner Diameter 95

Exercise 6: Adding an ID Thread 98

Exercise 7: Refining Your Verification Results 102

Post Output 107

Exercise 1: Renumbering Tools 107

Exercise 2: Posting 108

Conclusion 110

Mastercam Resources 110

Contact Us 110

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial— Introduction

INTRODUCTION
Mastercam Lathe delivers turning software with powerful toolpaths and techniques. In this tutorial, you create
general turning, milling (c-axis), and miscellaneous operations to program the interior core of a hose nozzle in
Mastercam 2021. The part requires basic lathe operations such as facing, roughing, and finishing as well as grooving
and threading toolpaths.

Starting with Chapter 2, a blueprint at the beginning of each lesson provides the necessary dimensions you need to
create the toolpaths. Within the parts folder that is delivered with this tutorial, you will find the original SOLIDWORKS™
part used in the tutorial.

l Nozzle - 2.SLDPRT

For your reference, the folder also provides a sample of the part after each lesson:

l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L1.mcam

l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L2.mcam
l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L3.mcam
l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L4.mcam
l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L5.mcam
l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L6.mcam
l Hose Nozzle - Inner Core - L7.mcam

Place these files (extracted from Mastercam Lathe Tutorial.zip) anywhere on your system, but be sure to also keep
unmodified copies.

Mastercam is a CAD/CAM software program with solutions for a wide array of machining applications. While this
tutorial requires only a basic familiarity with Mastercam, its intention is to provide you with an introduction to the Lathe
product. Use the resources listed at the end of this tutorial to explore and learn more about other features and
functions in Lathe and in Mastercam.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial— Introduction

Goals
l Set up the job by creating a stock and fixtures.

l Move the solid model to its machine orientation and create any necessary 2D geometry.

l Create and edit tools as required by the part operations and dimensions.

l Program operations to work on a part’s inner and outer diameter.

l Use Mastercam’s verification tools and posting to check your work.

WARNING
This tutorial is for educational purposes only. We have not verified the values and settings in this tutorial with our
machines or tools. Do not use the values in this tutorial to cut parts without proper verification and testing for
your environment.

Screen colors in the tutorial pictures were modified to enhance image quality; they may not match your Mastercam
settings or the tutorial results. These color differences do not affect the lesson or your results.

Estimated time to complete this tutorial: 4 hours

General Tutorial Requirements

All Mastercam 2021 tutorials have the following general requirements:

l You must be comfortable using the Windows® operating system.

l The tutorials cannot be used with Mastercam Demo/Home Learning Edition. The Demo/HLE file format (emcam)
is different from Mastercam (mcam), and basic Mastercam functions, such as file conversions and posting, are
unavailable.

l Each lesson in the tutorial builds on the mastery of the preceding lesson's skills. We recommend that you
complete them in order.

l Additional files may accompany a tutorial. Unless the tutorial provides specific instructions on where to place
these files, store them in a folder that can be accessed from the Mastercam 2021 workstation, either with the
tutorial or in any location that you prefer.

l You will need an internet connection to view videos that are referenced in the tutorials. All videos can be found
on our YouTube channel:
www.youtube.com/user/MastercamTechDocs

l All Mastercam tutorials require you to configure Mastercam to work in a default Metric or Inch configuration.
The tutorial provides instructions for loading the appropriate configuration file.

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 CHAPTER 1 
GENERAL SETUP
Before generating toolpaths for the part, you must prepare Mastercam and the part file. This preparation includes
such tasks as selecting a machine definition and defining the stock.

Goals

l Open and orient the part.

l Select a machine.

l Create 2D CAD part geometry.

l Define stock boundaries.

l Add chuck jaws.

Exercise 1: Getting Ready to Work

This tutorial includes the files you need to complete the exercises. You can find these files in the tutorial’s Parts folder.
Place these files on your system wherever convenient, but be sure to keep an unmodified set. In preparation for this
tutorial, set up Mastercam as described here.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

Select configuration file

1. Start Mastercam using your preferred method:

a. Double-click Mastercam's desktop icon.

OR

b. Launch Mastercam from the Windows Start menu.

2. Select the default metric configuration file:

a. Click the File tab.

b. Choose Configuration from Mastercam's Backstage View to open the System Configuration dialog box.

c. Choose ...\mcamxm.config <Metric> from the Current drop-down list.

d. Click OK.

Exercise 2: Loading a Machine Definition

Your part file needs at least one machine group before you can create toolpaths. Mastercam creates a machine group
whenever you select a machine. To see how machine selection works, complete the following exercise.

1. Open the part file, Nozzle-2.SLDPRT, which is provided with this tutorial.

If SOLIDWORKS files are not displayed, select All Files (*.*) from the file type drop-down.

2. Save the part as Hose Nozzle - Inner Core.mcam.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

Saving the part under a new name helps prevent you from accidentally modifying the original.

3. From the Machine tab, choose the Lathe machine type, and select Default.

The menu lists all available machine definitions. This tutorial uses Mastercam’s default Lathe machine. Normally,
you would select the machine on which you plan to cut the part from the list displayed here.

NOTE
l To customize the Machine Selection lists, choose a machine type from the menu and Manage List. For more
information on the dialog box that displays, click the dialog box’s Help button.

Rename the Machine Group

Machine groups store complete jobs for a specific machine. For example, if some toolpaths will be cut on a lathe, and
other toolpaths on a mill, you can simply create a second machine group. Each machine group can store its own job
setup information and tools, and use a different set of toolpath defaults. The toolpaths from each group will post to
separate NC files.

Mastercam lets you create as many machine groups as you need to organize your work.

1. Right-click the machine group, and select Groups, Rename from the pop-up menu.

Mastercam highlights the current group name.

2. Type a new machine group name.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

The machine group name can be anything you want, but it is best to choose a name that describes the machine
and its operations.

3. Select File, Save to save the file.

Exercise 3: Orienting the Part

Before you can machine the part, you need to move the geometry to its machine orientation. In this exercise, you use
Mastercam’s dynamic gnomon to re-align the part geometry to a typical horizontal lathe.

1. If necessary, press [F9] to display axes.

2. Right-click and change the GView to Isometric to view the entire part from another angle. You may wish to
unzoom to get a clearer view of the origin.

3. Select Dynamic from the Transform tab.

The Dynamic function panel displays.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

4. Select the part and press [Enter], or click the End Selection button.

5. Use the AutoCursor to place the dynamic gnomon on the origin and click.

See Mastercam Help for more information on the AutoCursor.

6. Confirm that Move is selected in the function panel.

7. Select the center segment of the green arc to rotate the part 90 degrees so that its length lies on the X axis.

Use your mouse to rotate the gnomon, or enter 90 into the on-screen input box.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

8. On the function panel, click the blue button (OK and Create New Operation).

9. Select the part again, and rotate it 90 degrees so that the hole aligns with the Z axis.

Use the same method you used previously to rotate the part from its original orientation.

10. Click OK to accept the transformation.

11. Right-click and choose the Clear Colors command from the mini-toolbar to remove the result colors from the
translated geometry.

12. Save the file.

Exercise 4: Using a Lathe Coordinate System

The coordinate system for a traditional lathe turning application differs from the coordinate system for milling
applications. Instead of a 3D/XYZ space, a lathe coordinate system for typical turning applications is 2D, with the tool
axis perpendicular to the spindle (Z axis) instead of parallel to it. In other words,

l The D (diameter) axis in Lathe is equal to the Y axis in Mill.

l The Z (length) axis in Lathe is equal to the X axis in Mill.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

Mastercam includes special lathe construction planes that let you work in radius or diameter coordinates. For
conventional 2D turning applications, use the options in the Planes Manager to select the desired coordinate system.

1. Select the Planes tab to open the Planes Manager.

If a Managers tab is not available, select it from the Managers group on the View tab.

2. Click Select lathe plane from the Planes Manager toolbar, and select +D +Z from the drop-down menu.

When working with a lathe, you can orient the construction plane to work in radius (X/Z) or diameter (D/Z)
coordinates.

3. Click in the +D +Z row of the C column to set +D +Z as your construction plane.

The Status bar indicator displays the new settings. The gnomon in the lower-left corner of the graphics window

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

displays the current coordinate system.

By default the Tplane is the same as the Cplane. For 2D turning, you can leave the WCS as the Top plane.

Exercise 5: Creating 2D Geometry

Hose Nozzle - Inner Core.mcam is an imported solid with no wireframe geometry. Most Lathe operations use a two-
dimensional profile of the part in order to chain the geometry. There are two ways to create such a profile from a solid
part in Mastercam: the Turn Profile function and Solid chaining.

l Turn Profile generates a two-dimensional profile by creating wireframe geometry. We use this method in this
tutorial and use the Levels Manager to organize the entities.

l Solid chaining eliminates the need to create wireframe geometry. It spins a profile around the selected axis "on
the fly" when you select geometry for a toolpath. See Mastercam Help for more information about chaining
solids.

Create a level for the new profile geometry

Use levels to organize part geometry. By organizing your files into levels, you can more easily control which areas of
the drawing are visible at any time and what is selectable. In this section, you create a level specifically for the 2D
profile geometry that you will create in the next section.

1. Click the Levels tab to open the Levels Manager.

2. Create a new level by typing 2 and Turn Profile in the Number and Name fields.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

The new level displays in the table with zero entities. A blue check indicates that it is the current level.

The current level displays on the Home tab.

Create the profile

1. From the Wireframe tab, select Turn Profile.

2. Select the part as prompted. Press [Enter], or click the End Selection button.

3. Use the Spin method.

l The Spin method creates a profile by spinning the geometry about an axis.

l The Slice method produces a profile by creating a cross-section through the geometry on the XY plane.

4. Reduce the Tesselation tolerance to 0.01.

5. If necessary, choose the Upper profile option.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

6. Click OK.

7. Return to the Levels Manager, and hide Level 1 (click the X in the Visible column) to view the profile.

The illustration above shows the part from the TOP view.

8. Save the file.

Exercise 6: Setting Up the Stock in the Left Spindle

This exercise teaches you to create the stock for the part, set the stock margins and grip length, and place the stock at
the correct Z position.

Creating the stock before creating the chuck jaws makes it easier to locate the stock relative to your part. Then, when
you create the jaws, you can choose to automatically position them relative to the stock.

1. Open the Toolpaths Manager. Expand the Properties group and click Stock setup to open the Stock Setup tab of
the Machine Group Properties dialog box.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

2. In the Stock section, select Left Spindle and click Properties.

The Machine Component Manager - Stock dialog box opens.

3. In the Name field, type Lathe Tutorial Stock to name the stock setup for the left spindle.

4. Choose Cylinder from the Geometry drop-down selections.

Cylinder lets you create 3D bar stock. This is suitable for most turning operations.

5. Click the Make from 2 points button.

6. In the graphics window, select the origin and the top of the part’s back face.

If you have not already done so, change the GView to TOP.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

Mastercam calculates the distance between the points and enters the values of the part’s outer diameter (OD)
and length directly into the fields.

7. Add an additional 30 mm to the Length field.

The additional stock (about 30 percent) provides enough material for the left spindle chuck to hold the stock in
place during machining.

Fields that take number values have a built-in calculator that let you enter simple formulas directly into the field.

8. Confirm that the Position Along Axis is set to 0.0, and the Axis field has -Z for the stock direction.

These two values determine the location and orientation of the cylinder. The center of the part’s face lies on
the origin, and the part is positioned along -Z.

9. Select the Use Margins option to activate the stock margin fields.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

l Enter 4.2 mm in the OD margin field and 1.0 mm in the Right Margin field.

Mastercam adds the margin to the stock boundary.

10. Click the Position/Orientation On Machine tab, and make sure the option, Stock is drawn in position on the
machine is selected.

11. Return to the Geometry tab and click the Preview Lathe Boundaries button to view your results.

12. Press [Enter] to return to the Machine Component Manager - Stock dialog box.

13. Click OK to accept your lathe stock setup settings.

The left spindle stock is defined.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

Exercise 7: Defining the Chuck Jaws

In this exercise you will define the position and grip length for the chuck jaws. You can only use the method described
below after the stock has been set up.

1. In the Chuck Jaws section, select Left Spindle and click Properties.

The Machine Component Manager - Chuck Jaws dialog box opens to the Geometry tab.

Confirm that your settings match those in the picture above. Although, we use a simple definition for this
tutorial, Mastercam allows you to define your chuck jaws by selecting a solid model or a chained profile. See
Mastercam Help for more information about enhanced support for modeling chucks and chuck jaws.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

2. Click the Parameters tab.

3. In the Position section:

l Select From stock.

l Enter 25 mm in the Grip length field.

Mastercam uses these settings to calculate the position of the chuck jaws relative to the stock, and to determine
how much stock is being held by the chuck jaws. Since you added 30 mm of extra stock in Exercise 6 on page 18, a
grip length of 25 mm gives enough clearance to cut off the part.

4. Confirm that the other values on the Parameters tab match those in the graphic below.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

5. Click OK to accept these settings.

The Stock Setup tab displays with the left spindle’s chuck jaws defined.

6. Select the Shade boundaries option to more easily see the stock boundaries and chuck jaws you have created.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—1: General Setup

7. Click OK to close the Machine Group Properties dialog box.

8. Save the file.

You have prepared your part. Now you can create toolpaths.

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 CHAPTER 2
FACING, ROUGHING, AND FINISHING THE OUTER DIAMETER
Once you have set up your job, you can begin creating toolpaths. Several toolpaths are normally involved in machining
a lathe part. In this lesson you create the toolpaths necessary to shape the outer diameter (OD) of the part. Then, you
backplot the operations you created to check your work.

Goals

l Apply lathe toolpaths to the outer diameter of the part.

l Select tools and enter cutting values for each toolpath.

l Use Backplot to check your work.

Exercise 1: Facing the Part

Face toolpaths prepare the face of the part for further machining. Once the face of the part is clean, you can use it to
set tools or determine tool offsets.

You do not need to chain geometry to create a face toolpath. Mastercam can create the toolpath entirely from
parameters you enter in the Lathe Face dialog box.

1. Choose Face from the Lathe Turning tab.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

2. From the Toolpath parameters tab, select the default OD roughing tool: T0101 R0.8 OD ROUGH RIGHT - 80 DEG.

The tool numbers called out in this tutorial are the defaults listed in the default library: Lathe_mm.Tooldb. Your
tools may have different tool numbers.

Mastercam uses different colors to represent the orientation of lathe tool inserts.

l The tool has an orange insert when the insert faces away from you (insert down).

l The tool has a yellow insert when the insert faces towards you (insert up).

3. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

Enter the cutting values

1. Click the Face parameters tab.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

2. Confirm that Use stock is selected.

Use stock is available only if you have defined the stock boundary in Stock Setup. (See page 18.)

3. If necessary, enter 0 in the text box, or click Finish Z and select the origin from the graphics window to place the
finished face at the origin.

4. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

5. Click OK to create the toolpath.

If you use stock for the start and end positions of each pass and the stock changes, the start and end positions of each
pass are automatically updated when you regenerate the toolpath.

Exercise 2: Roughing the Outer Diameter

Use rough toolpaths to quickly remove large amounts of stock in preparation for a finish pass. Roughing passes are
typically straight cuts parallel to the Z-axis.

Mastercam includes several types of roughing toolpaths:

l Standard rough toolpaths, which let you access all of Mastercam's roughing options.

l Canned rough toolpaths, which use your machine tool's canned cycles to create the most efficient code
(however, these do not offer as many options as the standard rough toolpaths).

l Canned pattern repeat toolpaths, which create roughing passes in the shape of the part contour, rather than
cutting parallel to the Z-axis.

l Dynamic rough toolpaths, which remain engaged in the material more effectively, and use more of the surface
of your insert, extending the tool life and increasing the cutting speed.

l Contour rough toolpaths, which are useful for parts where the initial stock shape is similar to the final part
shape, such as using a casting for stock.

In this exercise, you create a dynamic rough toolpath with a semi-finish pass.

Click here to see the difference between a dynamic rough toolpath and a standard rough toolpath.

Chain the geometry

1. Right-click in the Toolpaths Manager. Select Lathe toolpaths, Dynamic rough.

The Chaining dialog box displays, and you are prompted to select an entry point.

Mastercam Lathe defaults to partial chaining.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

Access an extensive list of commands from the Toolpaths Manager’s right-click menu.

2. Click the geometry at the first entity (a) and then, at the last entity (b) to create a partial chain.

3. Click OK in the Chaining dialog box to accept the chain.

4. The Lathe Dynamic Rough dialog box opens.

Enter the toolpath parameters

Like many other toolpaths in Mastercam, you create the Dynamic Rough toolpath by entering tool and cutting values.

Select the tool

Use the Toolpath parameters tab to select a tool, set feeds and speeds, and modify other general toolpath
parameters. This tab is similar for most Lathe toolpaths.

The tool numbers called out in this tutorial are the defaults listed in the default library: Lathe_mm.Tooldb. Your tools may
have different tool numbers.

1. From the Toolpath parameters tab, select the OD roughing tool: T142142 R5 OD TOOL - 10 BUTTON.

Lathe dynamic rough only supports button tools.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

2. Type OD - Dynamic Rough in the Comment field.

Comments help identify the operation in the Toolpaths Manager. They can be output to the NC file when you
post.

Comments are optional. In this tutorial, not all operations will have comments.

3. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

Enter the cutting values

1. Click the Dynamic rough parameters tab.

2. Decrease the Stepover value to 25%.

3. Increase the Stock to leave in X and Z to 0.4.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

4. Select the Prevent up cutting option, and click the Non-cutting Region button to view these parameters.

Prevent up cutting lets you specify the non-cutting portion of a round insert. When Prevent up cutting is
selected, and Angle is set to 0 degrees, Mastercam cuts only with the lower portion of the tool insert.

The image on the left shows the part with Prevent up cutting turned off. The tool shank crashes into the
material as it tries to cut the toolpath.The image on the right shows the part with Prevent up cutting turned on.
The tool cuts only with the specified portion.

5. Close the Non-cutting Region dialog box after you have viewed it. If the Angle is set to 0, you do not need to
modify any parameters.

6. Select the Semi Finish option and click the button to open the Semi Finish Parameters dialog box.

The arc motion of the dynamic toolpath can leave an uneven surface. After the rough passes, the semi-finish
pass follows the contour of the part with the roughing tool, smoothing and preparing it for the finish operation.

a. Increase the semi-finish Feed rate to 0.8 mm/rev.

b. Increase the semi-finish Spindle speed to 600 CSS.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

Click OK if the Tool Settings Modified message displays.

c. Click OK to return to the Lathe Dynamic Rough dialog box.

7. Click OK to create the toolpath.

Mastercam detects that the tool is approaching the stock closer than the specified clearance distance, stops the
operation, and displays the Tool Clearance Violation warning. Additionally, the graphics window displays where
the tool collides with the stock.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

8. Select the option to quit the toolpath, and choose to keep the operation when you are prompted.

Mastercam marks the attempted Dynamic Rough operation as dirty.

9. Click the Parameters folder to reopen the Lathe Dynamic Rough dialog box and modify the operation.

10. Click the Lead In/Out button.

The Lead In/Out dialog box opens.

The parameters in this dialog box control how the tool approaches and/or retracts from the part for each pass
in the toolpath. This eliminates the need to create extra geometry for this purpose.

a. Click the Lead in tab.

The Lead in and Lead out tabs have identical options for creating entry and exit moves. This allows you
to set different values for each move and to combine different types of moves.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

b. Enter -90 in the Angle field, and increase the Length of the vector to 3.0.

This is the angle the tool follows as it approaches the part and the distance it travels as it moves towards
the part. Modifying the entry vector will keep the rapid motion of the tool from violating the clearance
as it begins the semi-finish.

c. Click OK to return to the Lathe Dynamic Rough dialog box.

11. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values, and click OK.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

12. Regenerate the toolpath, and save your part.

The graphics window displays the Dynamic Rough toolpath.

Exercise 3: Finishing
Use finish toolpaths to have the tool follow the contour of chained geometry. Typically, a finish toolpath follows a
roughing toolpath.

1. Choose Finish from the Lathe Turning tab.

The Chaining dialog box displays, and you are prompted to select a point or chain a contour.

2. Select the same geometry that you selected for the Dynamic Rough toolpath. (See page 29.)

3. Click OK in the Chaining dialog box to accept the chain.

The Lathe Finish dialog box opens.

Enter the toolpath parameters

Entering the toolpath parameters for any finish toolpath uses the same workflow as other lathe toolpaths: first you
select the tool and tool options, and then you enter the cutting values.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

1. Select the finishing tool: T2121 R0.8 OD FINISH RIGHT - 35 DEG.

2. Decrease the feed rate to 0.2.

3. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

4. Click the Finish parameters tab.

5. Change the Finish stepover to 0.3 and the Number of finish passes to 2.

The operation makes two finer finish passes and avoids excessive cut depths.

6. Leave all other parameters on this page at their default values.

7. Click OK.

Mastercam creates a finish operation on top of the previous roughing operation.

8. Save the part.

Exercise 4: Backplotting the Toolpaths

In this exercise, you use Backplot to check the work that you have done. Backplotting shows the path the tools take to
cut your part and lets you spot errors in the program before you send it to the machine.

1. Click the Select all operations button in the Toolpaths Manager.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

2. Click the Verify selected operations button.

Mastercam Simulator opens a view of the part in Verify mode in a separate window.

3. Click Backplot on the Home tab.

The Simulator window changes to Backplot mode.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

4. Select the Initial Stock option in the ribbon bar’s Visibility group to see the stock before machining.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

5. Select the Initial Stock option again to view the part profile against a translucent display of the initial stock.

6. For a better view of the operations in the Mastercam Simulator, use the Page Up key to zoom into the part and
[Ctrl + Arrows] to pan the view.

The views in Mastercam and Mastercam Simulator windows can be synchronized. Turn this option on or off from
the View tab of Mastercam Simulator.

7. Click the Play button at the bottom of the Simulator screen.

Simulator backplots all three toolpaths with information about the current toolpath motion displayed in the
Move List on the right-side of the screen.

8. To pause the simulator at the end of each operation, select Operation Change from the Stop Conditions drop-
down.

9. Use the Play [R], Step Forward [S], and Step Backward [B] keys to view the operations again at your own pace.

There are several shortcut keys in Mastercam Simulator that can make your workflow more efficient. See Help
for a complete list.

10. Minimize the Mastercam Simulator, or move it to another monitor.

l You can dock the Mastercam Simulator on a second monitor, and refresh your toolpaths as you make
changes.

l When you close the Mastercam Simulator window, the current layout is saved and used at the
application's startup.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—2: Facing, Roughing, and Finishing the Outer Diameter

The Face, Dynamic Rough, and Finish operations reveal the basic shape of the outer diameter of the hose nozzle. In
the next lesson, you further refine the outer diameter with grooves and threads. You also check your work against
Mastercam Simulator’s Verify option.

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 CHAPTER 3
ADDING GROOVES AND THREADS
Grooves and threads are common features on a lathe part. A groove is an indented or recessed area in a workpiece. A
thread is the helical ridge of a screw. Both groove and thread toolpaths require that you define the shape and
orientation of the operation as well as their cutting values. In this lesson, you create groove and thread toolpaths on
the outer diameter of the part. You also see how you can employ plunge parameters to efficiently remove material in
a finish operation. To analyze the viability of these operations, you use advanced verification features in the
Mastercam Simulator.

Goals

l Create groove operations on a single chain and on non-adjacent geometry.

l Use plunge cuts in a finish operation to efficiently remove material.

l Manually enter thread parameters to create a thread on the outer diameter.

l Use Verify and its functions to check your work.

Exercise 1: Grooving on the Outer Diameter: Multiple Chains

Groove toolpaths are useful for machining indented or recessed areas that are not otherwise machinable by roughing
toolpaths or tools. You can machine several grooves in a single operation, even if their geometry never connects. In
this exercise, you create one groove operation from two distinct chains.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

1. Expand the General gallery, and select Groove from the Lathe Turning tab.

The Grooving Options dialog box opens.

2. Select the Multiple chains option.

3. Click OK.

The Chaining dialog box displays and you are prompted to select an entry point.

4. Chain two of the three grooves by selecting the first and last entities of each chain as shown in the illustration.

l Right-click in the graphics window, and use Zoom Window to more easily select the groove geometry.

l The shortcut [Alt + T] toggles the toolpath geometry display.

5. Click OK in the Chaining dialog box to accept the chains.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

6. From the Toolpath parameters tab, select the grooving tool: T4141 R0.1 W1.85 OD GROOVE CENTER - NARROW.

7. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

8. Click the Groove shape parameters tab, and make sure that all values are as shown.

9. Click the Groove rough parameters tab. Confirm that all values are as shown.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

10. Click the Groove finish parameters tab. Confirm that all values are as shown.

11. Click OK to create the toolpath.

12. Click Only display selected toolpaths to view the toolpath geometry.

Exercise 2: Grooving on the Outer Diameter: Rough Pass Only

In this exercise, you restrict a second groove toolpath to machine just a rough pass on a single, recessed area.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

1. Select Groove from the Lathe Turning tab.

2. Select the Chain option from the Grooving Options dialog box.

3. Click OK.

The Chaining dialog box displays and you are prompted to select an entry point.

4. Chain the third groove by selecting the first and last entity of the chain as shown in the illustration, and click OK.

5. Click OK to accept the chain.

The Lathe Groove (Chain) dialog box opens.

6. Keep T4141 R0.1 W1.85 OD GROOVE CENTER - NARROW selected.

7. Open the Groove finish parameters page, and deselect the Finish option.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

In the next exercise, you use a standard finish operation to remove remaining stock from this groove.

8. Click OK to create the toolpath.

Exercise 3: Finishing with Plunge Cuts

In this exercise, you finish the groove you created. To more efficiently remove the material, activate plunging in both
directions.

1. Expand the General gallery and select Finish.

The Chaining dialog box displays, and you are prompted to select a point or chain a contour.

2. Select the Last button to reselect the geometry chained for the previous grooving operation.

3. Click OK in the Chaining dialog box to accept the chain.

The Lathe Finish dialog box opens with the finish tool used in Operation 3 already selected.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

4. Type OD - Finish with Plunge in the Comment field.

5. Open the Finish parameters page.

You do not need to edit any fields on this page.

6. Click the Lead In/Out button.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

The Lead In/Out dialog box opens.

a. Enter -135 in the Angle field, or drag the angle dial to define the entry vector.

The tool will follow this angle as it enters the cut.

b. Click OK to return to the Lathe Finish dialog box.

7. Click the Plunge Parameters button.

The Plunge Cut Parameters dialog box opens. Use this dialog box to define how you want the tool to handle
plunges along the toolpath. You can choose to plunge in either or both axes. (See image on the facing page.)

a. Select the option to allow plunging in both directions.

l The tool plunges into all sections on the chained path.

l Choosing to plunge in both directions activates the Front clearance angle and Back clearance
angle fields.

b. Keep the default values for both clearance angle fields.

Clearance angles control how the tool plunges and gives additional clearance at the undercut wall.

l The front clearance angle prevents the tool front from cutting with the entire length of the
insert's front as the tool cuts up to the wall.

l The back clearance angle prevents the tool back from cutting with the entire length of the

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

insert's back as the tool plunges to the next cut depth.

c. Click OK to return to the Lathe Finish dialog box.

8. Click OK to create the toolpath.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

9. Save the part.

10. (Optional) Backplot the groove and finish toolpaths that you have created in this lesson.

Exercise 4: Adding a Thread Toolpath

A threading toolpath is typically the last toolpath performed on a lathe part because of the need for accuracy. A
threaded part has to fit precisely into another part. You can program threads on the OD or ID to secure parts to each
other.

With Mastercam, you can directly enter toolpath parameters or select geometry to create a thread toolpath.

In this exercise, you use part geometry to create an OD thread toolpath.

1. Expand the General gallery, and choose Thread.

The Lathe Thread dialog box opens.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

Select the tool

1. From the Toolpath parameters tab, select the thread tool: T9191 R0.072 OD THREAD LEFT - SMALL.

2. Enter 400 into the Spindle speed field, and select the mm/rev option for the Feed rate.

The feed and speed rates you enter here overwrite the default settings for this operation.

3. Change the tool’s Home Position.

The home position is where the spindle or turret typically travels to for tool changes. Mastercam lets you
control the home position from several different sources.

In this case, the operation defaults to using the D (250) and Z (250) coordinates defined in the machine
definition. The following procedure shows you how to override the default home position.

a. Choose User defined from the drop-down menu.

b. Click the Define button.

The Home Position - User Defined dialog box displays.

c. Change the D coordinate to 0.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

d. Click OK to return to the Lathe Thread dialog box.

4. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

Enter thread shape parameters

The values you enter into this tab determine the following:

l Thread shape

l Cut location

l Amount of variation

1. Click the Thread shape parameters tab.

2. In the Lead field, enter 1.5 mm.

The blueprint on page 43 shows the lead value.

3. Click the Major Diameter button.

You are prompted to select a point in the graphics window.

4. Click the thread’s largest diameter.

5. Click the Minor Diameter button.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

You are prompted to select a point in the graphics window.

6. Click the thread’s smallest diameter.

7. Make sure that your major and minor values are as shown.

Mastercam automatically calculates the Thread depth from the major and minor diameter values.

8. Click the Start Position button and select the beginning of the thread from graphics window. OK your selection.

9. Click the End Position button and select the end of the thread from graphics window. OK your selection.

The fields on the tab show the location of the start and end of the thread on the Z axis.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

10. Confirm that the Thread orientation is OD.

Thread orientation determines whether the thread is created on the inner or outer diameter of the part.

11. Click the Draw Thread button to preview the thread geometry.

Mastercam creates an outline of the thread.

12. Choose Yes to save it with your part.

Enter thread cut parameters

The values entered in this tab define how Mastercam will cut the material.

1. Click the Thread cut parameters tab.

2. Select the Compute option on the right side of the dialog box.

Mastercam automatically calculates the required acceleration clearance from the lead and left spindle speed.

3. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

4. Click OK to create the toolpath.

5. Save the file.

Exercise 5: Verifying the Toolpaths

Verifying your toolpaths allows you to use solid models to simulate part machining against a selected stock definition.
The result Verify creates represents the surface finish, and shows collisions, if any exist. You can identify and correct
program errors before they reach the shop floor.

In this exercise, you use some of Verify’s features to check the thread operation you created in this lesson.

1. Make sure that the Thread operation is selected in the Toolpaths Manager.

2. Click the Verify selected operations button.

Verify displays in the Mastercam Simulator window.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

3. Right-click in the graphics window and change the view to Isometric. Pan and zoom into the area that will be
threaded.

The illustrations here show the part displayed with Initial Stock turned off.

4. Click the Play button or press [R] to verify the toolpath.

Mastercam Simulator verifies the toolpath.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—3: Adding Grooves and Threads

5. Select the Verify tab.

6. Click Accurate Zoom.

Accurate Zoom smooths surfaces when you view the part in close-up.

Click Reset Zoom to restore the original magnification result.

7. Minimize the Mastercam Simulator, or move it to another monitor.

You have completed machining the outer diameter. In the next lesson, you will create drilling operations using the C-
axis.

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 CHAPTER 4 
C-AXIS DRILLING OPERATIONS
Lathe C-axis toolpaths are included with Mastercam for most common contour and drill applications. When you select
one of these toolpaths, Mastercam automatically sets the Tplane and Cplane to the appropriate settings for the
desired application. These toolpaths also support Y-axis rotation and axis substitution. To use C-axis toolpaths, the
active machine definition must support the appropriate axes. In this lesson, you use two operations to drill a hole
through the part on the C-axis.

Goals

l Create 2D geometry from circular holes in the solid body.

l Add a toolpath group.

l Create a C-axis drill operation.

l Copy and modify an existing operation to create a new one.

Making Drill Geometry

The drill toolpath requires the selection of two-dimensional geometry. Because the method you used to create 2D
geometry in on page 16 did not create a cross section of the part, the geometry for the drilled hole was not created.
In this exercise, you use Mastercam’s Hole Axis function to create the necessary geometry from circular holes in the
solid body.

1. Open the Levels Manager, and make Level 1 visible.

The solid model displays in the graphics window.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

2. Create a Level 3. Name this level, C-Axis Geometry.

3. From the View tab, turn on translucent shading to view the interior of the solid.

4. Use the Isometric Gview and Zoom to more easily see the model’s drilled hole.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

5. Create the C-Axis geometry.

a. Select Model Prep, Hole Axis.

b. [Ctrl + click] the internal face of the upper hole to select both openings of the through hole.

Use [Ctrl + click] to select faces with matching diameters.

c. Place points and circles at both the top and bottom of the holes.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

d. Click OK to accept your selection.

Mastercam creates geometry for both ends of the through hole.

Exercise 1: Adding a New Toolpath Group

Toolpath groups are subgroups that are “children” of machine groups. They inherit machining properties and other
important properties from their parent groups. Toolpath groups house toolpath operations as well as other
subgroups. They are useful for creating sets of toolpaths on the same machine that you will want to post separately.
Mastercam supports unlimited subgroups.

In this exercise you organize your operations into two different toolpath groups: Outer Diameter and C-Axis Drill.

1. In the Toolpaths Manager, right-click Toolpath Group-1, and select Groups, Rename from the menu.

2. Change the name of Toolpath Group-1 to Outer Diameter, and press [Enter].

3. Create the C-Axis Drill toolpath group.

a. Right-click the machine group and select Groups, New Toolpath group from the menu.

A new toolpath group is created.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

b. If necessary, move the insert arrow past the new toolpath group.

c. Rename the new toolpath group: C-Axis Drill, and press [Enter].

Exercise 2: Creating a C-Axis Drill Operation

In this exercise, you create a center drill operation with a C-axis drill toolpath.

1. Expand the C-axis gallery, and select C-axis Drill from the Lathe Turning tab.

The Toolpath Hole Definition function panel opens. Although this operation only requires a simple selection, the
Toolpath Hole Definition function panel provides many techniques for selecting points when your hole-making
toolpath requires something more complex. See Mastercam Help for more information about this function
panel.

2. Select the top point or the top arc.

The illustration page 66shows the top arc selected. When you select open or closed arcs, the drill points are
placed in the center of the arcs.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

The Features list displays the arc and its diameter.

3. Click OK.

The C-Axis Toolpath - C-Axis Drill dialog box opens.

Enter the Toolpath Parameters

In addition to selecting tools and entering cutting values, the C-axis drill operation requires that you define the rotary
axis motion.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

Select the tool

1. From the Tree View, open the Tool page.

2. Click the Select library tool button.

The Tool Selection dialog box opens.

3. Choose 5.CENTER DRILL from the list, and click OK to return to the Tool page.

Use the Filter to narrow the tools displayed in the list.

4. In the Comment window, type C-axis Drill - Center Drill.

Define the Hole Depth

1. Open the Linking Parameters page.

2. Enter an incremental cutting depth of -3.0.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

3. Keep all other options on the Linking Parameters page at their default values.

Configure Rotary Axis Motion

C-axis toolpaths automatically set the rotation type to Axis substitution around the Z axis. This gives you the choice of
chaining either flat geometry which will be rolled around the cylinder, or geometry which is already properly
positioned in 3D space.

1. Open the Rotary Axis Control page.

The Axis substitution option is the only rotation type available for C-axis drill operations.

2. Set Rotation direction to CW (clock-wise), and confirm that Unroll is selected.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

Mastercam unrolls the geometry onto a flat plane in a clockwise direction relative to the selected axis. When
you post the toolpath, the geometry wraps back onto the cylinder using the axis substitution and rotary
diameter parameters.

3. Enter the Rotary diameter. Use the dimension from the blueprint on page 61, or follow the procedure below.

a. Right-click in the Rotary diameter field, and select D = Diameter of an arc.

b. Select the circular edge of the model.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

A built-in calculator reads the dimensions of the selected arc directly into the Rotary diameter field.

4. Click OK to create the toolpath.

5. Save the part.

6. Backplot and/or Verify this toolpath following the procedures you learned in the previous lessons.

Exercise 3: Copying the Drilling Operation

The final drill operation uses the same geometry and many of the same parameters as the center drill operation you
created in Exercise 2 on page 65. In this exercise, you copy and paste one operation in the Toolpaths Manager in order
to quickly create a new one.

1. Right-click and drag the drill toolpath you just created below the red arrow.

2. Release the mouse button and choose Copy after from the menu.

Mastercam creates a new operation.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

3. If necessary, move the insert arrow past the new toolpath.

Exercise 4: Modifying the Drilling Parameters

In this exercise, you create the drill-through operation by modifying the parameters in the center drill operation that
you copied.

1. Click the new toolpath’s Parameters folder to open the dialog box.

2. Open the Tool page.

3. Click the Select library tool button, and select the 6 mm drill.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

4. Click OK to return to the Tool page.

5. Type C-axis Drill in the Comment field.

6. Open the Linking Parameters page.

7. Using the dimension on page 61, enter the cut depth.

8. Open the Tip Compensation page.

Use this page to configure how the tool drills all the way through the stock.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—4: C-Axis Drilling Operations

a. Select the Tip Compensation checkbox to activate the parameters on the page.

b. Enter a 1.0 mm breakthrough amount.

This insures that the full diameter of the tool breaks through the bottom of the stock.

9. Click OK.

10. The new toolpath is marked dirty in the Toolpaths Manager.

11. Regenerate the toolpath, and save your part.

You have completed machining the outer diameter of the hose nozzle. In the next lesson, you prepare for machining
the inner diameter with Mastercam’s cutoff and stock flip operations.

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 CHAPTER 5 
CUTOFF AND STOCK FLIP
Lathe’s part handling operations manipulate the stock and reposition chucks, tailstocks, and steady rests. Operations
can output a comment and a program stop in the NC code to let the operator manually reposition the stock or a
peripheral, or they can output code to automatically control peripherals. Mastercam Lathe currently supports the
following part handling operations:

l Stock flip (reposition stock on the same spindle)

l Stock transfer (reposition stock to a different spindle)

l Stock advance (program a bar feeder)

l Chuck (clamp/unclamp/reposition)

l Tailstock (advance/retract)

l Steady rest reposition

In this lesson, you prepare for machining the inner diameter with Mastercam’s cutoff and stock flip operations.

Goals

l Create a cutoff operation.

l Program a stock flip.

Exercise 1: Cutting Off the Part

Cutoff toolpaths vertically cut off pieces of the part, such as sections of bar stock. You do not need to chain geometry
for a cutoff toolpath. Instead, you select the point where the part is cut off.

In this exercise, you use the options in the cutoff toolpath to separate the part from the bar stock.

1. Expand the General gallery, and select Cutoff from the Lathe Turning tab.

2. Select the cutoff boundary point at the point indicated.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

To more easily select the cutoff boundary point:

l Change the GView to Top

l Hide Level 1

l Turn off the toolpath display [Alt + T]

The Lathe Cutoff dialog box opens.

3. Select the cutoff tool: T151151 R0.4 W4. OD CUTOFF RIGHT.

4. Click the Stock Update button to open the Stock Update Parameters dialog box.

Use this dialog to define whether the stock will be based on the finished part or leftover stock after the cutoff
operation.

a. Select the Keep separated piece option.

Mastercam will display the part boundary after the part is cut from the stock.

b. Click OK.

5. Click the Cutoff parameters tab.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

6. Select the From stock option.

Mastercam computes the Entry amount from the maximum stock diameter at the Z coordinate of the cutoff
boundary point.

7. Select Chamfer to cut a chamfer on the corner of the part.

8. Click Parameters to enter chamfer dimensions in the Cutoff Chamfer dialog box.

a. Enter 0.25 in the Width field.

The chamfer is defined by its width. Mastercam automatically calculates the height from this dimension
and the angle.

b. Click OK to return to the Cutoff parameters tab.

9. Click OK to create the operation.

Mastercam cuts the part from the stock.

10. Save the part.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

Exercise 2: Programming a Stock Flip

A stock flip lets you program operations on the opposite side or back of a lathe part in the same Mastercam file. Stock
flip operations output a comment and program stop in the NC code, which lets the operator manually remove the
stock and reposition (flip) it in the chuck.

In this exercise, you program the new stock and chuck position.

You can only program part handling operations such as a stock flip when they are supported by the active machine
definition.

1. Use the procedure described on page 64 to create a new toolpath group. Rename the group Back/Inner
Diameter.

The new toolpath group will include the stock flip and the operations machining the back and inner diameter of
the part.

2. Select Stock Flip from the Part Handling group on the Lathe Turning tab.

The Lathe Stock Flip dialog box opens.

Re-align Part Geometry

Use the options in the Lathe Stock Flip dialog box to create a copy of the part geometry that is flipped about the Lathe
Z axis and to hide the original geometry.

Mastercam blanks the original entities. They are not deleted. (See Help for more information on blanked entities.)

1. If necessary, select the Transfer geometry and Blank original geometry options.

2. Click the Select button under the Transfer geometry option.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

Mastercam returns you to the graphics window.

3. Window-select the entire part, and press [Enter] or the End Selection button.

All entities are selected.

4. In the Level Options section, offset the level of the transfer geometry by 100.

Enter new stock and chuck jaw positions

Use this procedure to define the new stock position and the final position of the chuck jaws after the stock flip.

1. To position the transferred stock, click the Select button under Transferred Position, and choose any point on
the back edge of the part.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

As indicated by the image in the dialog box, the point you select (Z -89.0) will be transferred to Z0 after the stock
flip operation

The point you choose does not have to be on the face of the stock. You can choose any convenient reference
point.

2. To set the final position of the chuck jaws, click the Select button under Final Position, and chose the point from
the graphics window, as indicated in the graphic page 81.

This is where the chuck jaws will grip the stock after the stock flip operation.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—5: Cutoff and Stock Flip

3. Click OK to create the operation.

The stock and chuck display in the graphics window in their transferred positions.

1. Save the part.

The part is now in the correct position for you to machine the features of the back end and inner diameter.

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 CHAPTER 6 
MACHINING THE INNER DIAMETER
In this lesson you create the toolpaths necessary to machine the inner diameter (ID) of the hose nozzle. You may
notice that many of the toolpaths need only slight adjustments applied to work on the inner diameter. After you have
created the toolpaths, use Verify to inspect your work.

Goals

l Create new tools based on existing tools.

l Create toolpaths on the inner diameter of the part.

l Use Verify’s display tools to inspect your work.

Exercise 1: Creating New Tools in the Lathe Tool Manager

The interior of the hose nozzle part is hollow. You use two drill operations to cut the longest two inner diameters. Both
operations require creating new tools that match the diameter of each drill hole (9.6 mm and 11.4 mm). The third and
widest inner diameter requires roughing and finishing tools that fit within dimensions of the bore (24.5 mm), as well as
an ID threading tool that can cut to the thread standard for garden hoses (GHT).

Although your shop may choose to use standard tools to cut these toolpaths, in this exercise, you create all of these
tools in the Lathe Tool Manager.

Create the 9.6 mm drill

The 9.6 mm drill is based upon a 9 mm drill that is already in the tool library.

1. Select Lathe Tool Manager from the Utilities group on the Lathe Turning tab.

The Tool Manager opens. The upper window displays the tools used in the current Mastercam file.

2. Click and drag T123123 9. Dia DRILL 9. DIA from the library window to the part window.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

When you create or work on a tool in the part window, you are working on a tool definition that is stored in the
machine group. That means if you edit a tool from the part window, you are only changing the definition in the
machine group and not the tool library. If you import the tool from another Mastercam file, the changes you
make here will not appear in the original file.

Select the Filter Active option to filter the list of tools. Click the Tool Filter button to change the filter criteria with
the Lathe Tool Filter dialog box.

3. Using the right-click menu, copy and paste the 9 mm drill in the part window.

4. When prompted, click Yes to add a similar tool.

A copy of the 9 mm drill is added to the part window.

5. Right-click the copied tool, and select Edit tool from the menu.

The Define Tool dialog box opens.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

6. Edit the tool geometry as shown.

These values define the dimensions of the drill body.

7. Click the Holders tab, and edit the dimensions of the holder.

8. Click the Parameters tab and rename the tool.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

9. Click OK to finalize your changes.

The new tool profile displays in the part window.

Create the 11.4 mm drill

Copy and paste the 9 mm drill in the part window again, and use the same procedure you used to create the 9.6 mm
drill to create a 11.4 mm drill.

l Enter the following values to create the tool and holder dimensions.

l Rename the tool: DRILL 11.4 DIA.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

The original tool and the two new tools display in the part window.

Create the ID roughing tool

1. Click and drag T7171 R0.4 ID ROUGH MIN 16. DIA - 80 DEG. from the library window to the part window.

2. Right-click the tool, and select Edit tool from the menu.

The Define Tool dialog box opens.

3. Choose 05 from the IC Dia./Length drop-down.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

This value defines the insert's IC diameter or length (depending on the selected shape). The IC diameter (IC =
inscribed circle) is determined by placing a circle in the insert shape and measuring the circle's diameter.

4. Leave the other parameters on this tab at their default values, and click the Boring Bars tab.

5. Change the holder geometry as shown to fit the newly edited insert.

6. Click the Parameters tab, and rename the tool: ID ROUGH MIN. 10. DIA. - 80 DEG.

7. Click OK to finalize your changes.

Create the ID finishing tool

Create a finishing tool for the bore you will turn.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

1. In the Lathe Tool Manager's part window, use the right-click menu to copy and paste the tool you just edited (ID
ROUGH MIN. 10. DIA. - 80 DEG).

2. When prompted, click Yes to add a similar tool.

3. Right-click the copied tool, and select Edit tool from the menu.

The Define Tool dialog box opens.

4. Enter the following values to create the insert’s inscribed circle diameter and a smaller corner radius.

You can either enter dimensions directly or select them from the drop-down menu.

5. Keep the holder geometry as shown to fit the newly edited insert.

6. Name the new tool: ID FINISH MIN. 10. DIA. - 80 DEG.

7. Click OK to finalize your changes.

Create the ID threading tool

1. Click and drag T101101 R0.036 ID THREAD MIN. 20. DIA. from the library window to the part window.

2. Right-click the tool, and select Edit tool from the menu.

The Define Tool dialog box opens.

3. Edit the insert geometry by increasing the lead (mm/thread) and cutting depth (C) of the insert.

Mastercam uses these values to calculate the default feed rate based on the spindle speed value entered on
the Parameters page.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

4. On the Holders tab, decrease the diameter of the holder (A) to 12.0.

5. Click the Parameters tab, and rename the tool: ID THREAD MIN. 12. DIA.

6. Click OK to finalize your changes.

You have now finished creating the tools that you need to machine the inner diameter of the part.

7. Click OK to exit the Lathe Tool Manager.

Exercise 2: Facing the Back of the Part

It is a best practice to prepare the back face of the part for further machining. Create a face toolpath using the default
roughing tool (T0101 R0.8 OD ROUGH RIGHT - 80 DEG) to finish the back face of the part to Z0.

Use the same procedure to face the back of the part as you used to face the front. If you feel you still need instruction
to create this operation, refer back to Exercise 1: page 27.

Exercise 3: Drilling the First Inner Diameter

Drill operations in Lathe are on the center line of the part and are placed by default at the part origin.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

1. Select Drill from the Lathe Turning tab.

The Lathe Drill dialog box opens.

Unlike most toolpaths, lathe drill toolpaths do not require you to select geometry before entering the toolpath
parameters.

2. Select the 9.6 mm drill from the tool window.

If desired, enter comments for the toolpath.

3. Click the Simple drill - no peck tab.

4. Click the Depth button to define the bottom of the drill hole from a point in the graphics window.

5. Select the point indicated.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

Mastercam returns you to the Lathe Drill dialog box and automatically enters the correct value in the Depth
field.

6. Choose Peck Drill from the Cycle drop-down list.

The name that appears on this tab depends on the cycle you select in the Drill Cycle Parameters drop-down list.
The cycles which are available to you depend on the active control definition.

The parameters tab changes from Simple drill - no peck to Peck drill - full retract.

7. Set the depth for the first and all subsequent peck moves to 2.0 mm.

8. Click OK to complete the operation.

The graphics window displays how the first inner diameter is drilled.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

Exercise 4: Drilling the Second Inner Diameter

This operation uses the depth calculator to adjust the drilling depth of the tool.

1. Select Drill from the Lathe Turning tab.

2. Select the 11.4 mm drill from the tool window.

If desired, enter comments for the toolpath.

3. Click the Peck drill - full retract tab.

Mastercam remembers the last drill cycle you selected.

4. Click the Depth button to define the bottom of the new toolpath’s drill hole.

5. Select the point indicated.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

6. Click the Depth Calculator button.

The Depth Calculator dialog box opens.

With the Use current tool values option selected, Mastercam displays the tool diameter, tool tip included angle,
and tool tip diameter for the tool you choose on the Toolpath page. It calculates the proper drilling depth and
adds it to the existing depth.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

7. Click OK to return to the Lathe Drill dialog box.

The depth of the bottom of the drill point is entered into the field.

8. Leave all other parameters in the dialog box as is, and click OK to create the operation.

Exercise 5: Roughing and Finishing the Third Inner Diameter

In this exercise, you bore the third inner diameter with roughing and finishing operations. With the exception of a
standard finish toolpath, creating roughing and finishing operations on the inner diameter is very similar to creating
them on the outer diameter as you did in Chapter 2 on page 27.

1. Select the Rough toolpath from the Lathe Turning tab.

The Chaining dialog box displays and you are prompted to select an entry point.

2. Click the geometry to create a partial chain as shown.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

3. Click OK in the Chaining dialog box to accept the chain.

The Lathe Rough dialog box opens.

4. Select the ID roughing tool you created on page 87 ID ROUGH MIN 10. DIA - 80 DEG.

5. Type ID - Rough in the Comment field.

6. Change the following cutting values on the Rough parameters tab.

l Change the Depth of cut to 1.0.

l Increase the Stock to leave in x to 0.5.

l Decrease the Stock to leave in Z to 0.05.

l Select Use stock for outer boundary from the Stock Recognition drop-down.

7. Click the Lead In/Out button.

The Lead In/Out dialog box opens.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

a. Click the Lead out tab.

b. Enter 0.5 in the Length field.

This is the length of the vector the tool follows as it retracts from the part.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

c. Click OK to return to the Lathe Rough dialog box.

8. Keep all other parameters in the dialog box at their default values.

9. Click OK to create the rough toolpath.

10. Create a finishing toolpath. Use ID FINISH MIN. 10. DIA. - 80 DEG to finish the bore you just roughed. (This is
the finishing tool you created page 88.) Leave all settings at their default values.

11. Save the part.

Exercise 6: Adding an ID Thread

1. Expand the General gallery, and choose Thread from the Lathe Turning tab.

2. From the Toolpath parameters tab, select the thread tool you created on page 89: ID THREAD MIN 12 DIA.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

3. Enter 400 into the Spindle speed field, and select the mm/rev option for the Feed rate.

4. Redefine the Home Position Z coordinate to 250.

5. Type ID - Thread in the Comment field.

6. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

7. Click the Thread shape parameters tab.

8. Refer to the illustration below to enter the following thread dimensions:

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

l Lead

l Major and Minor Diameters

l Start and End Positions

The blueprint on page 83 also shows these values.

If you are cutting a standard thread, click Select from table to display a list of standard thread tables. Mastercam
will automatically fill in the fields for the thread dimensions with values from these tables. See Mastercam Help
for more information.

9. Confirm that the Thread orientation is ID.

10. Click the Thread cut parameters tab.

11. If necessary, select the Compute option to calculate the required acceleration clearance.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

12. Keep all other parameters on this page at their default values.

13. Click OK to create the toolpath.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

14. Save the part.

Exercise 7: Refining Your Verification Results

In Chapter 3, you used Accurate Zoom to more clearly see your work. In this exercise, you use Verify’s Part Sectioning
tools to view the cuts you made along the inner diameter.

1. Press [Shift+ Click] to select operations 12 through 17 in the Toolpaths Manager.

These are all the operations you created on the inner diameter.

2. Click the Verify selected operations button.

Verify displays in the Mastercam Simulator window.

3. Hide the fixture, and change the stock opacity to translucent.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

4. Click the Verify tab and turn the Color Loop on to view each operation’s change to the stock as a different color.

The color of each operation is also represented as a different color on the playback bar.

Improve your view by panning, zooming, and rotating.

5. Click the Play button or press [R] to verify the toolpath.

Although you are able to view the operations through the translucent stock, Mastercam Simulator’s clipping
plane and part sectioning tools offer an even better view of the part’s interior.

6. Change the stock back to opaque.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

7. Select the Verify tab.

8. Select the ZX Clipping Plane button, and Clip Front from the drop-down menu.

A cross-section is drawn through the stock’s ZX plane.

Click and drag the plane to position the cross-section.

9. Select Off from the drop-down menu to stop displaying the clipping plane.

10. Select a quadrant from the 3/4 sectioning menu.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—6: Machining the Inner Diameter

Part sectioning displays your stock in 3/4 sections using a combination of two clipping planes. Once you select a
section, you can click and drag either plane to adjust the view.

11. Click 3/4, Off to turn off part sectioning.

12. Close the Machine Simulator.

You have finished cutting the part. In the next lesson, you organize your tools and post your work to the machine.

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 CHAPTER 7 
POST OUTPUT
Posting uses a specialized processing program to convert your toolpaths to NC code.

Tool numbers that are output to your NC file come from the Toolpath parameters tab or Tool page for each operation.
When you select a tool for an operation, Mastercam generates a default tool number and default tool offsets. If your
machine only accepts a limited range of tool numbers, Mastercam lets you reassign tool numbers for operations in a
machine group.

In the final lesson of this tutorial, you renumber the tools used in the operations you created, and then post the entire
set to the NC file.

Goals

l Renumber all tools used to cut the part.

l Post your work for inspection.

Exercise 1: Renumbering Tools

In this exercise, you renumber the tools for each operation.

1. Select all operations in the Toolpaths Manager.

2. Right-click the machine group.

3. Select Edit selected operations, Renumber tools from the menu.

The Renumber tools dialog box displays.

4. If necessary, clear the last option to renumber tools that are not used in any operation.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—7: Post Output

5. Click OK.

The tools in the Toolpaths Manager are renumbered relative to the current order of the operations.

Use the procedure above to reassign tool numbers after you have already created toolpaths. To automatically assign
sequential tool numbers as you create operations, select the option on the Tool Settings tab in the Machine Group
Properties dialog box before you create toolpaths.

Exercise 2: Posting
In this exercise, you post the operations in the machine group.

1. If necessary, select all operations in the Toolpaths Manager.

2. Click the Post selected operations button in the Toolpaths Manager.

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 Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—7: Post Output

If you have not selected all the operations in a machine group, Mastercam will ask if you want to post all the
operations.

The Post processing dialog box displays. Mastercam uses these settings to handle the files that are generated
when posting.

3. Click OK.

The Save As dialog box displays.

4. Rename the file, or click Save to accept the default NC file name.

Mastercam posts the file, and it is opened in your default file editor. Examine the NC file before sending it to the
machine.

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Mastercam Lathe Tutorial—7: Conclusion

CONCLUSION
Congratulations! You have completed the Maste rcam Lathe Tutorial! Now that you have mastered the skills in this
tutorial, explore Mastercam's other features and functions.

You may be interested in other tutorials that we offer. Mastercam tutorials are being constantly developed, and we
will add more as we complete them. Visit our website, or select Help, Tutorials from the File tab.

Mastercam Resources
Enhance your Mastercam experience by using the following resources:

l Maste rcam Docume ntation—Mastercam installs a number of helpful documents for your version of software in
the Documentation folder of your Mastercam 2021 installation.

l Maste rcam He lp—Access Mastercam Help by selecting Help, Contents from Mastercam's File tab or by pressing
[Alt+H] on your keyboard.

l Maste rcam Re se lle r—Your local Mastercam Reseller can help with most questions about Mastercam.

l Te chnical Support—Our Technical Support department (+1 860-875-5006 or [email protected]) is open

Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. USA Eastern Standard Time.

l Maste rcam Tutorials—We offer a series of tutorials to help registered users become familiar with basic
Mastercam features and functions. Visit our website, or select Help, Tutorials from Mastercam's File tab to see
the latest publications.

l Maste rcam Unive rsity—Mastercam University, an affordable online learning platform, gives you 24/7 access to
Mastercam training materials. Take advantage of more than 180 videos to master skills at your own pace and
help prepare for Mastercam Certification. For more information on Mastercam University, please contact your
Authorized Mastercam Reseller, visit university.mastercam.com/, or email [email protected].

l Online Communitie s—You can find a wealth of information at www.mastercam.com.

l Follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Mastercam), Twitter (twitter.com/Mastercam), and

Instagram (www.instagram.com/mastercamcadcam/) for the latest tech tips and Mastercam news.

l See Mastercam in action on YouTube (www.youtube.com/user/MastercamCadCam).

l For more information on CNC Software, Inc., to find and apply to jobs, and connect with people using
Mastercam, visit us on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/company/cnc-software/).

l Registered users can search for information or ask questions on the Mastercam Web forum,
forum.mastercam.com, or use the Mastercam Knowledgebase at kb.mastercam.com.

Contact Us
For questions about this or other Mastercam documentation, contact the Technical Documentation department by
email at [email protected].

110
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