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TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES VISAYAS

Capt. Sabi St., City of Talisay, Negros Occidental

College of Engineering
Office of the Program Coordinator

LEARNING MODULE

MEE512 :
ME ELECTIVE 2:
COMPUTER AIDED
MANUFACTURING

DEPARTMENT: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

COMPILED BY:

ENG. JANREY L. BUENCONSEJO

2020

This module is a property of Technological University of the Philippines Visayas and intended
for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and is NOT FOR SALE NOR FOR REPRODUCTION.
 LEARNING GUIDE

Week No.: 8-13__

TOPIC/S

Lesson 1: Introduction
Lesson 2: The Mastercam UI
Lesson 3: Setting Up a CAM Program
Lesson 4: Mastercam Design
Lesson 5: Basic 2D Operations
Lesson 6: Dynamic 2D Operations
Lesson 7: 2D Hole Operations
Lesson 8: Feature Based Machining
Lesson 9: Transforming Operations
Lesson 10: Backplot and Simulate
Lesson 11: Generate NC Files

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Use MASTERCAM UI
Rotate and orient a model.
Select a CNC machine.
Create a 2D contour toolpath.
Create a facing operation.
Drill a hole.
Understand FBM settings.
Pattern a toolpath group.
Backplot a toolpath.
Simulate a toolpath.
Generate G code.

IMPORTANT

ASK YOUR INSTRUCTOR FOR THE LINK TO ACCESS TRAINING

INSTRUCTIONS.

This module is a property of Technological University of the Philippines Visayas and intended
for EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY and is NOT FOR SALE NOR FOR REPRODUCTION.
 Lesson 2-01: Setting Up a Default Machine

This module will cover the process to add default machines to a fresh install of Mastercam
Design 2020.

1. Open a new document in Mastercam 2020. Once opened, the user interface
should look like the image for this step.

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 2. Default machines can be added to the drop-down Mill list for later use. To begin,
look on the top left corner of the screen. The top left part of the screen is the
Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) which contains several icons representing commonly
used features such as creating new files and saving. The area below the QAT is
called the ribbon. The ribbon contains a series of tabs starting with the File tab.
To proceed with the step, click on the Machine tab. Clicking the Machine tab will
open the tab displaying its tools and options.

3. Click the Mill button in the Machine Type group. In the drop-down menu, select
the Manage List... option. This opens the Machine Definition Menu Management
window.

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 4. The left side of the Machine Definition Menu Management window displays two
available machines to add to the Machine Definition Menu Items list. Click the
first item in the list and click the Add button to add it to the Machine Definition
Menu Items list on the right side of the manager. Repeat the step to add the
second item in the list. Then press the green OK button.

5. These machines are now available in the machine type drop-down menu. To
confirm this, click the Mill button. The two added machines are the inch and
metric versions of the default Mastercam Mill. These options will still be available
in this menu after restarting Mastercam. Click in an open space to close the drop-
down menu. Then, continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-1: Graphics Window and Manipulating
the Model

Whenever you learn a new program, it is a great idea to get comfortable with the user
interface. This module will focus on learning the access points and manipulating the
models.

1. To change the units of the file, click the File tab in the upper left corner of the
screen.

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 2. In the left column of the File screen, choose the Configuration option.

3. At the bottom of the System Configuration window, use the Current field’s
drop-down menu to select the metric option.

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 4. After changing this option, notice that the Units for Analyze Measurements
changes to Millimeters.

5. Click the Green OK button in the System Configuration window.

6. Manipulating models is an important part of the Mastercam experience. Click the

Open button in the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

7. Navigate to the dataset supplied with this lesson and choose the
MCU_2DMill_XYZ file.

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 8. Click the Open button in the Open window to open the file.

9. A System Configuration pop-up window will appear to warn you that the units
will be switched from Metric to Inch. This happens because the file was saved in
the Inches units and your current file is set to Metric. Click the OK button in the
System Configuration window.

10. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to verify that the units have been changed to the Inch
setting. Click the OK button in the System Configuration window when you are
finished.

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 11. The model is open in the graphics window. To rotate the model, click and hold
the center mouse button or the scroll wheel, then move the mouse.

12. A small yellow icon will appear to illustrate the point around which the model
rotates. If the cursor is off the model when you click the center mouse button,
the icon will appear at the model’s center by default. If the cursor is located on
the model when you when you click the center mouse button, the icon will
appear where the cursor was.

13. The model view can be snapped to pre-determined angles. Click on the View tab.

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 14. In the Graphics View group, click on the Isometric view button; the cube in the
graphics window snaps to an isometric view.

15. The mouse’s scroll wheel can be scrolled forwards or backwards to zoom in or
out of the model. The view will zoom to the location of the cursor.

16. The model can be centered to the graphics window by clicking the Fit button in
the Zoom group. Alternately, the keyboard shortcut for the Fit command is
[ALT+F1].

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 17. Holding the [Shift] key and moving the mouse will pan the model across the
screen.

18. Holding the [Ctrl] key and moving the mouse will rotate the model around the
view. The center of rotation is dependent on the location of the mouse cursor.
Click the Isometric button in the Graphics View group when you are done
rotating the model; this will return you to the isometric view.

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 19. Click the right mouse button in an empty part of the graphics window to open a
right-click menu. This menu allows you to choose views to which the model can
snap. For example, choose Gview> Isometric Reverse to snap the view to the
reverse isometric graphics view. Examine the other options in this right-click
menu. Return to the isometric view when you are finished.

20. Some of the view buttons in the Graphics View group have additional options in
drop-down menus; to access these drop-down menus, click the small triangle
next to the button. Familiarize yourself with the controls for manipulating the
model, then continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-02: The Mastercam Configuration File

In this module the Mastercam Configuration File will be introduced and steps will be given
to change Mastercam to use metric or English units.

1. Open Mastercam 2020 to begin.

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 2. Left click the File tab on the left side of the ribbon. Unlike the other tabs which
open below the ribbon, the File tab opens the backstage view over the whole
window.

3. Left click the Configuration button on the left side of the backstage view. This
opens the System Configuration window which allows the user to change several
settings in Mastercam.

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 4. Left click on Default Machines in the left side of the window. This opens a page
of settings showing all the default machines and allows the user to individually
change the default machine for the Mastercam Mill, Mastercam Lathe,
Mastercam Router, and Mastercam Wire.

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 5. To change Mastercam to use metric units, left click the Current dropdown list at
the bottom of the window to change the current configuration file and left click
on “mcamxm.config <Metric>”. This changes each of the default machines to use
metric units.

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 6. Now that the machines use metric units, one setting still needs to be changed to
allow Mastercam to display CAD files in metric units. Click Analyze and change
Units for Analyze Measurements to Millimeters. Steps 5 and 6 of this lesson can
be used whenever Mastercam needs to be changed between metric or English
units.

7. Change Units for Analyze Measurements back to Inches and change the
Current configuration file back to “mcamx.config <Inch>”. Click the green Okay
button. Proceed to next module.

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 Lesson L2-02: Accessing Tabs

To work efficiently, you need to know how to access your tools; this lesson describes the
Mastercam 2020 user interface and focuses on the tabs.

1. Mastercam 2020 has a ribbon interface which is similar to many applications you
probably already use. Across the top of the ribbon are tabs such as File, Home,
and Wireframe.

2. Each tab contains various tools you will need. For example, click on the
Transform tab to reveal tools that allow you to transform various aspects of the
model.

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 3. Click the Open button in the Quick Access Toolbar to open a file from the
supplied data set.

4. Navigate to the file “MCU_2DMill_Chain Bracket – User Interface” and click the
Open button to open it.

5. A System Configuration pop-up window will appear to tell you that the units of
the file do not match the current loaded configuration file. Click the OK button to
accept this. This will convert the file to a metric configuration.

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 6. When the file loads, some information will appear in the Toolpaths Manager on
the left side of the screen. Notice that a machine is already selected. This gives
you access to new tabs.

7. The Toolpaths tab at the top of the screen is a contextual tab. It appears due to
the settings of the file and has Mill written above it in red letters. Notice the 2D,
3D, and Multiaxis toolpath options available in the Toolpaths tab. If the selected
machine had been a lathe instead, the tool paths tab would say Lathe above it,
and lathe options would be available in the groups.

8. In addition to the 2D toolpath options shown in the ribbon, you can click the
down arrow in the lower right corner of the box to reveal the gallery.

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 9. The gallery has many more options from which to choose.

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 10. Navigate back to the Home tab and notice the Dialog Box Launcher button in
the lower right corner of the Attributes group. Clicking this button will allow you
to see expanded options for the group. Notice that not all groups have this
button. A tooltip display will appear when you hover your cursor over this button.

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 11. Click this button to reveal the Entity Attributes Manager. Click the OK button to
close the Entity Attributes Manager. Since no changes have been made, there is
no need to save the file. Continue to the next module.

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 Lesson L2-03 - Machine and Control Definitions

This exploratory module will give a brief overview of the Control Definition and Machine
Definition managers which affect the function of Mastercam 2020.

1. Open Mastercam 2020 to begin.

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 2. Left click the Machine tab on the ribbon. This will show both the Control
Definition button and the Machine Definition button in the Job Setup group.
Note that changes made in the Machine Definition manager or the Control
Definition manager are saved to the hard drive and affect all programs which use
the edited files. Left click the Control Definition button to briefly explore the
options available in this menu.

3. Clicking on Control Definition opens the Control Definition Open Options

dialog box since a machine group is not selected. Left click the Open a control
definition file button which appears as a folder with a green arrow.

4. Left click the “DEFAULT” file and then left click Open.

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 5. The Control Definition manager opens displaying the settings stored in the
default control definition file. Note once again that any changes made here are
saved to the disk and affect all programs which use the altered file. At the top left
of the manager there are five buttons. In order they are New File, Open File,
Save, Save As, and Set Password Protection. The Set Password Protection
button can be important in some contexts to ensure the control definition file is
not changed. It is also possible to change post processors from this manager.

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 6. The options under Control topics: can be explored by clicking the items in the
list. Left click Operation Defaults in the Control topics: list. Left click on the plus
mark beside “2D Toolpaths” in the settings. This should expand all options in “2D
Toolpaths”. Click on the plus mark beside “4 – Pockets (Standard)”. Then, left
click on “parameters”.

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 7. This window allows changes to be made to the parameters of a 2d pocket
operation. Changes here affect all programs which use this file. For the purposes
of this module, no changes need to be made. Left click the red Cancel button on
the bottom right. Then press the red Cancel button to reject all changes and
close the manager.

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 8. To explore the machine definitions, go to the Job Setup group on the Machine
tab and left click the Machine Definition button.

9. Since no machine is selected, this opens the CNC Machine Types dialog box. Left
click the Open button.

10. Left click on “MILL DEFAULT” and left click open to load the default Mastercam
Mill settings into the Machine Definition manager.

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 11. The Machine Definition manager can be used to view machine definition files.
These files tell Mastercam what components a machine has and how they are
used. Additionally, different post processors can be selected from this manager.
No changes need to be made here in this module. Consult with the Mastercam
reseller for help in creating or modifying machine definition files. Note that
modifications made here will change the disk copy of the machine definition file
and will affect all programs which use this machine definition file. Left click the
red Cancel button to close the Machine Definition manager without saving
changes.

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 12. It is also possible to change some of these settings in a local copy which does not
affect all other programs. To begin, left click on Mill in the Machine Type group
on the Machine tab. This opens a dropdown menu. Left click on the option which
ends with “MILL DEFAULT.MCAM-MMD”.

13. On the left side of the screen, in the Toolpaths manager, expand “Machine
Group-1” by left clicking on the adjacent plus icon. Left click on the plus icon
beside Properties. Then, left click on “Files”. This opens Machine Group-1’s
Properties.

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 14. In the Files tab in the Machine – Toolpath Copy group, press the Edit button
which appears as an exclamation mark. This opens the Machine Definition
manager, but it loads a copy of the default machine definition file. Changes made
here through the Manager do not affect other programs or files.

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 15. To demonstrate that changes are local to this machine group, expand the “Tool
Changer Group” by left clicking the adjacent Expand button and right click
“Automatic Tool Changer”. In the drop-down menu, left click on Properties...

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 16. Type the number 20 into the Number of tool pockets field. Left click the green
Okay button.

17. Control definition settings can also be locally changed. Left click the Control
Definition button on the top right of the Machine Definition Manager for
Machine Group-1.

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 18. Under Control topics, left click on “Linear” to expand that category and left click
on “Mill”. Under Motion control change the Rapid Motion setting to Linear
interpolate at maximum feed rate by left clicking the circular Select button
beside the option. Settings like this can be changed locally for testing without
altering default machine control file.

19. Left click the green Okay button. Click Yes to save changes to the Machine
Group.

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 20. Under Machine Configuration expand the “Mill Spindle Group”, the expand “Z
Axis”, “B Axis”, and “C Axis”. Right click on “Tool Spindle” and select Properties...
in the drop-down menu.

21. Change the Maximum spindle speed from 50000 to 20000 and click the green
Okay button. This setting can be used to limit the rotation speed so the program
cannot make the machine exceed its maximum rotation speed. To finish making
these changes, click the green Okay button on the Machine Definition Manager
for “Machine Group-1”. Click the green Okay button on Machine Group
Properties.

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 22. Remember that steps 12-21 changed a local copy of the default machine
definition file saved in “Machine Group-1”. To show that the disk copy of the
machine definition file remains unchanged, go to the Machine tab and click the
Machine Definition button. This creates a warning that changes made affect a
disk copy. Press the green Okay button to continue.

23. Under Machine Configuration expand the “Tool Changer Group”, right click
“Automatic Tool Changer” and click Properties... in the drop-down menu. The
Number of tool pockets should be set to 32 here even though this parameter
was locally changed to 20 in “Machine Group-1”. Left click the red Cancel button.

24. Under Machine Configuration expand the “Mill Spindle Group”, the expand “Z
Axis”, “B Axis”, and “C Axis”. Right click on “Tool Spindle” and select Properties...
in the drop-down menu. The Maximum spindle speed: should still be set to
50000 even though it is locally set to 20000. Click the red Cancel button and click
the red Cancel button again to return to close the open managers and settings.
Proceed to next module.

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 Lesson 2-03: Navigating the Managers

Understanding and using Mastercam’s managers is important part of working efficiently.

This lesson will introduce and describe the managers.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. By default, the managers are displayed on the left side of the screen. The
Toolpaths Manager is currently open and allows you to organize your machine
groups, toolpath groups, and toolpaths. Multiple machine groups can be created
for instances such as moving a part from a mill to a lathe. Additionally, toolpath
groups can be broken down by operation. This is useful for instances when you
need to flip a part to machine the other side.

3. The bottom of the Toolpaths Manager has tabs which allow you to access the
other activated managers. Navigate through the other managers and investigate
the information available in each of them. Return to the Toolpaths Manager.

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 4. In the ribbon, click on the View tab. The Managers group allows you to activate
or deactivate the various managers. The Groups and Multi-Threading managers
can be turned on if desired. The Art manager might be grayed out if your version
of Mastercam doesn’t support it. The Toolpaths, Solids, Planes, Levels, and
Recent Functions Managers will be activated for the duration of this course. Make
sure you are comfortable navigating between the managers, then continue to
the next module.

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 Lesson L2-04 - Migration Wizard

This module will use the Migration Wizard to convert files from earlier versions of
Mastercam to Mastercam 2020.

1. There are a couple locations on the computer that contain key information for
this module. To begin, open Windows file explorer to the drive where Windows is
installed. From here, navigate to “Users/Public/Public Documents/Shared
Mastercam 2020”.

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 2. Open the directory “CNC_MACHINES”. This folder contains the machine definition
files and the default control definition files that were shown in the last module.

3. Navigate back to “Shared Mastercam 2020” and then open the “mill” folder. Then
open the “Posts” folder. This folder contains the MPFAN post processor. The files
in these locations are important for later steps in this module.

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 4. Next open another window in Windows file explorer and open the dataset
provided with this lesson. Unzip the “Shared Mastercam 2020” and “shared
Mcam2019” archives. The “shared Mcam2019” folder contains files from an old
version of Mastercam that will be converted and moved to the “Shared
Mastercam 2020” folder.

5. Now that both these locations are open, start Mastercam 2020 and create a new
file.

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 6. To open the Migration Wizard, left click the File tab to open the backstage view,
then left click the Convert button on the left. Finally, left click the Migration
Wizard button.

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 7. Click Advanced. This allows the user to specify a particular folder to be
converted.

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 8. Left click the Migrate shared Mastercam files check box. Then left click the
Browse... button to select the source folder for the migration.

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 9. In the file browser, navigate to the “shared Mcam2019” file that is mentioned
earlier and left click OK.

10. In the Migration Wizard under Source folder, click the Include subfolders
checkmark. This causes the wizard to convert all files contained within any folders
inside the “shared Mcam2019” folder.

11. Left click the Browse... button to select the destination folder.

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 12. Navigate to and select the “Shared Mastercam 2020” folder. Left click the OK
button. This tells the wizard to put the converted files in the “Shared Mastercam
2020” folder. Then, left click the Next button in the Migration Wizard.

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 13. This step allows the user to select which file types should be converted. For this
lesson, leave all file types selected and click the Next button.

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 14. In this step, the user can limit the migration to only affect files from a particular
version of Mastercam. For this exercise, leave all version selected and press Next
and then press Finish.

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 15. Once the computer finishes the conversion, left click Yes. This bring up the Event
Log which contains information about what was converting. For this lesson, this
log does not contain any essential information, so press the Exit button on the
top right of the Event Log to close it.

16. Since this process placed the created files in the “Shared Mastercam 2020” folder
in the lesson dataset, they need to be copied to the appropriate locations in
“Shared Mastercam 2020” directory in the “Public Documents” directory. Open
the “mill/Posts” directory in both “Shared Mastercam 2020” directories. Copy the
“Generic Haas 3X Mill” and “Generic Haas 4X Mill” files over to the real
“mill/Posts” directory located in “Public Documents”.

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 17. Now open the “CNC_MACHINES” directory in both the dataset Mastercam folder
and the real Mastercam folder. Copy the files found in the dataset.

18. These machines files should now be usable in Mastercam. Return to Mastercam
and left click on the Mill button in the Machine tab. Left click Manage List... to
bring up the Machine Definition Menu Manager. Add the “GENERIC HAAS 3X
MILL” and the “GENERIC HAAS 4X MILL” to the machine definition menu. Left
click the green OK button.

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 19. Left click Control Definition in the Machine tab. Click the Open button. Open
the “GENERIC HAAS 4X MILL” control definition file.

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 20. Left click the Post processors: dropdown and select the “GENERIC HAAS 4X MILL
PST”. Left click the green OK button. This changes the disk copy of the “GENERIC
HAAS 4X MILL” control definition file to use the associated post processor.

21. To confirm that the disk copy is altered, click the Mill button in the Machine tab
and select the GENERIC HAAS 4X MILL option in the drop-down menu.

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 22. In the Toolpaths manager on the left side of the screen, left click “Machine
Group-1”. Left click to expand “Properties” and left click “Files”.

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 23. The Post processor should be set to use the “GENERIC HAAS 4X MILL PST”. Left
click the red Cancel button. Proceed to next module.

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 Lesson 2-04: Selection Bar

The Selection Bar will allow you to customize your selection criteria so that you can
efficiently select or ignore different types of geometry in your work area.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. The Selection Bar is at the top of the work area.

3. The first section of the Selection Bar helps you select or deselect items.

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 4. The next button to the right is the Selection Settings button. Clicking this button
will reveal many options that you can choose to select or ignore when selecting
items in the work area. Click the OK button to close this selection window.

5. The next icon shows the various options you have when selecting items in the
work area. The down arrow button further expands your choices. The default
setting of this drop-down menu is Automatic but can be changed to suit the
selection method you want to use.

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 6. The next button is Selection Mode which allows you to change which entities in
the work area are selected when you use a selection box. The default setting is
set to In.

7. The In setting means that as you drag a box to select items, only the items that
are fully inside the selection box will be selected. Press the Esc key to deselect
any selections you made.

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 8. Change the Selection Mode to the Out option. Drag a selection box that does
not overlap the model. Notice that everything outside of the selection box is
selected.

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 9. Change the Selection Mode to the In+ option. Drag a selection box that partially
overlaps the model and noticed that the entire model is selected when you
complete the box. Investigate the Selection Mode’s Out+ and Intersect options
as well. Return the Selection Mode to the In option when you are finished.

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 10. The last few options on the Selection Bar are Verify Selection, Invert Selection,
and Select Last. Investigate these options. Continue to the next module.

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 Lesson L2-05 - Mastercam Tech Exchange

This exploratory module will demonstrate the available community-made post processors
available on the Mastercam website.

1. Open a web browser, navigate to Mastercam.com, and log in to begin.

2. Move the cursor over Communities on the top right of the screen and select
Tech Exchange in the dropdown menu.

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 3. On the tech exchange, there are a set of tabs that allow the user to search for
items in different categories. The available tabs are Sample Files Tool, Libraries,
Posts, Plugins, and Mill Turn Environments. For this module, go to the Posts
tab.

4. In the Keyword field, enter “Haas” without quotation marks and left click
SEARCH to search for relevant post processors.

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 5. Scroll through the results and notice the many available post processors. Some
of these post processors need to be purchased before they can be downloaded.
These have a Buy Now button above the result. Results without this button can
be downloaded for free. Additionally, the files included are shown in the center of
the result. If the package is downloaded, the files need to be placed in the
“Shared Mastercam2020” directory located in “Public Document” before they can
be used.

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 6. Some post processors available are for older version of Mastercam. The available
version can be seen on the top right of the package. Since this package is from
the 2019 version of Mastercam, it needs to be converted with the Migration
Wizard before it is usable.

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 7. There are a few other useful features of the Tech Exchange worth noting. The
user can search for post processors without entering anything in the Keyword
field. Additionally, on the top right there is an option to filter the search results by
the version of Mastercam they support. Also, entries can be sorted by various
criteria. Take some time to explore this page. When finished, proceed to next
module.

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 Lesson 2-05: Level Manager Overview

Understanding how to create, modify, and organize levels is an important fundamental

aspect of Mastercam.

1. Continue with the file from the previous lesson.

2. Navigate to the Levels Manager by clicking the Levels tab at the bottom of the
screen.

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 3. Notice the green checkmark next to level 20. This indicates that level 20 is the
active level. The X in the Visible column indicates that this level is visible. Click on
the X to turn off the visibility for level 20, then reactivate visibility by clicking in
the cell to re-insert the X; the level is now visible again. The number in the
Entities column indicates how many entities are on that level.

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 4. Make level 10 the active level and the only visible level. The Entities column
shows that there are 233 entities on this level, and they all appear to be
wireframe geometry. When you are finished, make level 20 the active level and
the only visible level.

5. If you need to add a new level to the Levels Manager, click the Add a new level
button at the top of the manager.

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 6. The next button is the Find level from geometry button. When geometry in the
work area is selected, clicking this button will highlight the geometry’s layer
inside the Levels Manager.

7. The next two buttons are Turn all levels on and Turn all levels off. Clicking
either of these buttons will either show or hide all the levels in the Levels
Manager. The next buttons are Reset all levels and Hide level properties. The
level properties are at the bottom of the Levels Manager; the Hide level
properties button will hide this information.

8. The next button is the Display Options button. This allows you to activate
customize different aspects of the Levels Manager. Investigate the options in all
of these buttons at the top of the Levels Manager.

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 9. Press the [Esc] key to deselect any selected entities in the work area. Make sure
the Home tab in the ribbon is active. Navigate to the Organize group and notice
the bottom field displays the current active level. You can use the drop-down
menu to change the active level by selecting the desired level from the list. Make
level 20 the visible level.

10. Next to the drop-down menu is a Change level button. This can be used to
change a selected entity’s level. To do this, select the entity you want to move to
a new level, then click the Change level button, then select the level to which you
would like to move it. These features in the Organize group can also be found in
the right-click menu by right clicking in an open area of the work area.

11. Levels can be created in several different ways. Right-click in an open section of
the work area to open the right-click menu. Click in the level field and type
“100:New Level”. Press the Enter key and notice the new level has been created.
The new layer is active and visible.

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 12. Make level 61 visible and hide level 20. In the work area, select the surface by
clicking on it. Click the Change Level button.

13. In the Change Levels window, activate the Copy option. Make sure the Use
Active Level option is checked, then click the OK button. The selected surface is
now copied onto level 100.

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 14. Turn off the visibility for level 61 and notice that the surface is still visible in the
work area because it is now also on level 100.

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 15. Make level 20 the active level and make it visible. Right-click level 100 and
examine the options in the drop-down menu. Choose the Delete entities option.

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 16. To delete level100, make sure level 20 is active, then right-click on level 100 and
choose Clear empty levels> Selected. Notice that level 100 is removed from the
Levels Manager. Click the Save button in the Quick Access Toolbar to save the
file. When creating new levels, the numbers you use will be specific to your
industry; make sure you know your industry standards for numbering levels.
Continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-06: Attributes

Attributes of wireframe, solid, and surface geometry can be modified using the options in
the Attributes group.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Navigate to the Home tab and notice the Attributes group. The functions in this
Attributes group can also be found in the right-click menu when you right-click
in an open section of the work area. Three drop-down menus allow you to
change attributes of a selection’s points, edges, or line weight. The first three
buttons in the Attributes group allow you to change the wireframe color, solids
color, or surface color. Make level 10 and level 61 visible and notice that the
elements in those layers are the colors indicated in the Attributes group. Hide
level 10 when you are done.

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 3. In the work area, select the solid body. Use the drop-down menu in the
Attributes group to change the solid body’s color to red. The default color for
solid bodies has not changed, only the color for the selected solid body. If this file
contained multiple solid bodies, only the selected bodies would have changed
colors while the others would have remained at the default setting.

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 4. Follow the same procedure to change the color of the surface body to magenta.
Again, the default color for surfaces is still green, so any new surfaces created will
be green.

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 5. The next button is the Set Materials button. This allows you to set a material
appearance for the selection.

6. The next button is the Clear Colors button. In the work area, select the solid
geometry. The selected body turns yellow because it is highlighted. Pressing the
[Esc] key will deselect this geometry the body will appear red again. Alternately,
you can click the Clear Colors button to deselect the geometry.

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 7. To reset colored items to the default color selections, select the item you want to
revert back to the default settings and click the default color button in the
Attributes group. Reset the solid and surface geometry back to the default color
settings.

8. The Mastercam default colors can be reset. After modifying an entity, click the
Set From Entity button to take the attributes of the selected entity and make
them the default settings. Do not reset the default colors at this time.

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 9. The last button is the Set All button. This button allows you to change attributes
of multiple selections, even if the selections are a mixture of wireframes, solids,
and surfaces. To undo any color changes, click the appropriate default color
button in the Attributes group.

10. In the Attributes group, there is a 2D/3D button. Clicking the button will toggle
between 2D to 3D. This is a reference to the construction plane and affects how
you create your wireframe geometry. This will be discussed in a future lesson.
Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-07: Using Quick Masks

Quick Masks are powerful tools and can help you efficiently select only the desired entities
in the work area while avoiding the others.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. The Quick Masks are displayed on the right side of the screen. Most of the
buttons are divided in half; each half of the button performs a slightly different
function.

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 3. For example, the top button in the column is one of the buttons that is split in
half. The top half of the button allows you to select all of the point entities in the
project, while the bottom half of the button will allow you to select only the point
entities inside of the selection box you draw.

4. Before learning how to use the Quick Masks, use the Levels Manager to make
level 10 visible. This adds several different types of geometry to select or avoid.

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 5. Drag a selection box around all of the entities in the work area and noticed that
everything is selected.

6. Right-click in an empty section of the work area and click the Clear Colors
button. This will deselect all of the entities.

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 7. Click the Select only solid entities Quick Mask. Drag the selection box around all
of the entities in the work area and noticed that, unlike in step 5, only the solid
geometry is actually selected. Click the Clear Colors button to clear the
selections.

8. Click the Select only arc entities button. Drag the selection box around all of the
entities in the work area and noticed that only the arcs are selected. Click the
Clear Colors button to clear the selections.

9. Since Quick Masks are a powerful tool that can help you efficiently select certain
things, is a good idea to plan your project so that you can take advantage of
them. For instance, knowing that there is a Select only entities by color button,
you can choose to add color to certain faces or bodies so that the group is easier
to select in the future. Take time to familiarize yourself with the various Quick
Masks available at your disposal so that you can note in which circumstances
they would be useful.

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 10. When you’re done investigating the Quick Masks, use the Levels Manager to turn
off the visibility to level 10. Right-click in an empty section of the work area and
select the Isometric option to return to an isometric view. Save the file and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-08: Creating Viewsheets

Viewsheets are powerful tools that can help you set up and organize your models,
especially when dealing with multiple fixtures or multiple orientations during the
machining process.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Navigate to the ribbon’s View tab. In the Viewsheets group, click the On/Off
button to activate the viewsheets.

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 3. A tab with the label “Viewsheet 1” is added to the bottom of the work area. The
plus icon to the right of the tab allows you to add additional viewsheets.

4. Activate the Planes Manager by clicking the Planes tab. Planes Manager has
important information you will need to reference when setting up a Viewsheet
Bookmark, so make sure that this tab is activated and available for reference.
Navigate back to the Levels Manager.

5. In the Levels Manager, make levels 99 and 85 visible. In the Graphics View group
of the View tab, click the Isometric button to go to an isometric view. In the
Zoom group, click the Fit button to fit the model to the screen.

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 6. Select the stock body inside the vise jaws. Navigate to the Home tab. In the
Attributes group, change the appearance to Glass Level 7. Press the [Esc] key
to deselect the stock. Navigate back to the Home tab.

7. A Viewsheet Bookmark will save the visible wireframe, solid, or surface entities in
their current orientation. It will also save any plane information such as the
construction plane, WCS orientation, or tool plane. Navigate to the Planes
Manager and click in the Op1 plane’s T column cell. This will add a T to the cell to
indicate that the tool will be coming from this direction. Notice that the
coordinate system in the work area adjusts, and the z-axis is now pointing
upwards. Also click Op1’s cell in the C column to activate this plane as the
construction plane.

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 8. Navigate back to the Levels Manager and hide level 99. The raw stock is hidden,
and the machined part is now visible. In the Home tab’s Attributes group, click
the Set Material button and change the machined part’s material back to metal.

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 9. Right-click on the Viewsheet 1 tab at the bottom of the work area and select Save
Viewsheet Bookmark. A bookmark icon is added to the Viewsheet 1 tab to
indicate that it is saved as a Viewsheet Bookmark.

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 10. To verify that the Viewsheet 1 bookmark has captured all the necessary
information, navigate to the Planes Manager and rotate the model to a different
perspective. Navigate to the Levels Manager and make some other layers visible.
After randomly modifying the perspective and visibility of parts, double-click on
the Viewsheet 1 bookmark and notice that the view returns to the isometric view
and the extra components’ visibility is turned off. Any changes made to the
Planes Manager is also reset. Using Viewsheet Bookmarks can help you efficiently
return to custom views and settings.

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 11. More than one Viewsheet Bookmark can be created. Navigate to the Levels
Manager and turn on the visibility for layers 86 and 88. Hide level 85. Rotate the
model so the machined part is facing upwards.

12. Navigate to the Planes Manager. Set the G, WCS, C plane, and T plane to the Op2
plane by clicking in the appropriate cells.

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 13. Click the Isometric button to go to an isometric view. Notice in the Planes
Manager that the graphics view G is no longer in the Op2 plane.

14. To save this information as a Viewsheet Bookmark, click the plus icon next to the
Viewsheet 1 bookmark. Accept the Viewsheet 2 name. Right-click the Viewsheet 2
tab and choose Save Viewsheet Bookmark. Viewsheet 2 now has a bookmark
icon in the tab to indicate that it has been saved as a bookmark. You can now
toggle between the two Viewsheet Bookmarks by double-clicking the non-active
bookmark. All the custom settings you specified are saved into each. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-09: The Status Bar

The Status Bar displays useful information so you can quickly see details about your file
without navigating through tabs or managers.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module. Alternately, use the Chain
Bracket Status Bar file supplied with the course. Either file should have the same
content.

2. The Status Bar is located at the bottom of the screen and has several pieces of
useful information. The first piece of information in the Status Bar displays
whether the section view is on or off, and the second displays how many entities
you currently have selected.

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 3. The next section displays the current X, Y, and Z coordinates of your cursor. You
can see the X and Y values change as you move your cursor around the work
area. The Z coordinate does not change because the file is currently set to 2D
construction. The piece of information to the right of the Z value displays that the
construction mode is currently set to 2D instead of 3D. As noted in a previous
module, the 2D and 3D construction option can also be toggled in the Home
tab’s Attributes group, or in the right-click menu.

4. To reset the Z value, click on the Z value in the Status Bar. When the data field
pops up, type the value you want to use, then press enter. Alternately, the Z value
can be adjusted in the Home tab’s Organize group, or in the right-click menu.

5. The next three pieces of information in the Status Bar are the C plane, T Plane,
and WCS. The designated plane for each of these is displayed. To change the
plane designation for any of these options, click the down arrow to expand a
drop-down menu. Select the new designation from the list. The Named option
will allow you to select from planes that have custom names.

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 6. The next section allows you to change the display state of your model. There are
multiple options for wireframe or shaded geometry. Click through these options
to see how they affect your model, then revert back to the default settings. The
scale and units are displayed in the work area just above the appearance options.
Make sure you familiarize yourself with the Status Bar’s options, then save the
file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 2-10: The Configuration File

Creating custom configuration files is a way for you to customize Mastercam and optimize
your workflow.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 1. Navigate to the View tab. In the Appearance group, turn off the material
appearance by clicking on the Material button. The model will return to a shaded
display. Navigate to the Toolpaths Manager and the Home tab. Mastercam is
now returned to its base state.

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 2. Navigate to the ribbon’s File tab. In the left column, choose the Configuration
option.

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 3. A System Configuration window opens. Choose the Colors option in the left
column. This window allows you to change the default colors Mastercam will use.
For instance, choose Solids from the list in the System Configuration main
window. The default color for solids is a blue gray color which is color number 56.
This information appears above the list. If you want to change the default color
for solids, that would happen in this window. Notice at the bottom of the System
Configuration window that the current configuration is the metric configuration.
Any changes made will only affect the current configuration file.

4. In the left column, the Colors option has a + icon next to it. Clicking the plus icon
will show you additional categories with features that can be modified. For
example, the Advanced Toolpath Display option allows you to change the
toolpath colors for the various segments of the toolpath: cutting, rapid, feed,
entry, exit, and more.

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 5. In the left column, click on the Converters option. This window lets you
customize how items such as solids are imported into Mastercam. The Solid
import section has options which can be activated to heal solids during the
import process, use surface stitching, or import a SOLIDWORKS part history. The
STL Export section allows you to customize the default units of an STL file.

6. Click through the various options in the left column and note the many aspects of
Mastercam that can be customized to optimize your workflow. If you choose to
create a custom configuration file, click the Save As button in the System
Configuration window. If you click the System Configuration’s OK button
without saving the configuration file, the changes will only be applied to the
current document and will not be selectable as a configuration file for use in
future documents. For now, click the System Configuration’s Cancel button to
close the window without making any changes. Save the file and continue to the
next lesson.

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 L3-01 - The Tool Manager Interface

This exploratory module will briefly cover the Tool Manager and the use of tool libraries.

1. To begin, open Mastercam Design 2020 and create a new file.

2. Left click the ribbon’s Machine tab to activate it. Then, left click the Mill button
and select the GENERIC HAAS 3X MILL in the dropdown menu.

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 3. A machine group will appear on the Toolpaths Manager, and the Mill Toolpaths
contextual tab will open. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, left click the Tool Manager
button in the Utilities group. This opens the Tool Manager in Mastercam Design.

4. The Tool Manager has a number of features. On the top left, it allows the user to
select which machine group is being modified. Tools that are used in the machine
group are displayed in the upper box with a green checkmark next to them. The
bottom box contains a number of tools that can be added. The tools available
here are based on the tool database that the machine group is set to use. Left
click the green OK button to close the Tool Manager.

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 5. In the Toolpaths Manager, expand Machine Group-1, expand Properties, then
left click on Files to open the properties window for the machine group.

6. In the Machine Group Properties window, there is a Tool Library field which
displays the currently selected tool database. Note that if needed, this file can be
changed here. Left click the red Cancel button to close the window.

7. Left click the Tool Manager button in the Mill Toolpaths tab to reopen the Tool
Manager. To change to tool library file, left click the Open button.

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 8. This opens a window to navigate to a tool library file. By default, this opens to the
“Tools” folder in the “mill” folder, in the “Shared Mastercam 2020” folder. The
supplied library for this course, needs to be placed in this directory. Left click the
Cancel button. Then, left click the green OK button to close the Tool Manager.

9. In Windows File Explorer, open the dataset for this lesson in one window and
open the “Shared Mastercam 2020” folder located in “Public Documents” in the
other window.

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 10. Copy the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” file from this lesson’s dataset to the “Shared
Mastercam 2020/mill/Tools” folder.

11. Return to Mastercam and click the Tool Manager button. Click the Open button
which appears as a yellow folder in the Tool Manager. Select the “MCU 2020 3D
Mill” file and click Open.

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 12. The bottom of the tool manager should now display a number of different tools
that can be added to that machine group. Note that there are several features
here to make searching for a specific tool easier; the Filter button allows the user
to filter by type of tool. Also, the display mode can be changed to only display
tools, assemblies or both. For now, select every item on the bottom and click the
Copy selected library tools to machine group button which appears as an up
arrow to add them to the machine group. Then, click the green OK button.

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 13. Another more detailed version of the tool manager can be accessed outside of
Mastercam Design. Go to the Windows Start Menu and open the Mastercam 2020
Tool Manager. This launches the Tool Manager as a standalone application.

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 14. Click the Open button which appears as a yellow folder on the top left of the
window. Select the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” file and click Open. This opens a copy of
the file in the Tool Manager.

15. To open another file at the same time, open another instance of the Tool
Manager from the Windows Start Menu and open the “mill_inch” file in the new
instance.

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 16. On the first instance of the Tool Manager, click on Tool Assemblies in the
Database Explorer. This shows the assemblies in the center. Left click the 1/4
Chamfer Mill to select it. This displays the assembly tree at the bottom left which
contains all the components in the assembly. The bottom center of the screen
contains a graphical preview of the assembly. Note that parts can be clicked and
dragged in the preview to modify to tool.

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 17. The standalone Tool Manager also has drag and drop functionality. To
demonstrate this, move both instances of the tool manager so that they’re visible
on screen. In the second Tool Manger instance that shows the “mill_inch” file, left
click “Cutting Tools” in the Database Explorer. Then, left click and drag “3/4
COUNTERSINK 82 DEGREE” tool to Cutting Tools in the Database Explorer of the
first Tool Manager instance. This copies the countersink tool from the “mill_inch”
database into the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” database.

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 18. Since the tool is unneeded, right click the copied version of the tool and select
Delete in the dropdown menu. The previous step simply demonstrated that it is
possible to copy tools between databases. Keep the current file open in
Mastercam Design as well as both instances of the Tool Manager and proceed to
the next module.

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 Lesson 3-01: Machine Selection

Before creating any toolpaths in Mastercam, a machine needs to be selected. This lesson
will describe the process of selecting a machine.

1. Open the supplied file, MCU_3DMill_Chain Bracket – Program Set Up.

2. Navigate to the ribbon’s Machine tab. The Machine Type group has several
machine options from which to choose. Select Mill > Manage List.

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 3. A Machine Definition Menu Management window opens and has two choices
for mills; the default file uses inches for the units and the default MM file uses
millimeters. Select the MILL DEFAULT MM.MCAM-MMD file, then click the OK
button in the Machine Definition Menu Management window.

4. In the Machine Type group, click Mill > Default.

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 5. A few things automatically populate inside the Toolpaths Manager. Machine
Group-1 is created with a Properties - Mill Default and Toolpath Group-1
subcategories.

6. Click the plus icon next to Properties – Mill Default to expand it. There are
several useful subcategories under the Properties - Mill Default category. These
subcategories will be covered in detail in a later module.

7. After selecting the machine, the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab appears in the
ribbon. 2D, 3D, and Multiaxis tool paths are now easily selectable in the
contextual tab.

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 8. Each of the toolpath groups has an Expand gallery button to display additional
toolpath choices.

9. Examine the other groups in the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab and note the
available options. After you have familiarized yourself with the options, save the
file and continue to the next module.

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 L3-02 - Creating Tool Assemblies

This module will cover the steps to create tool assemblies in the standalone Tool Manager.
Additionally, it will cover the process to alter the tool projection of an assembly. This is
useful for avoiding collisions between the holder and the model during the machining
process.

1. Continue with the files from the previous lesson. Make sure the Tool Manager
that is opened to the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” is on the right side of the screen and
the Tool Manager open with the “mill_inch” file is on the left. Future directions in
this module reference these as the right Tool Manager and the left Tool
Manager.

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 2. In the right Tool Manager’s Database explorer, double click Tool Assemblies,
Holder and Cutting Tools to open each of these sections as tabs in the top
center of the manager. Clicking each of these tabs will show the contents of their
respective categories in the database.

3. To free up room in the interface. Close the Properties panel on the right side of
the right Tool Manager by clicking the Close button beside Properties.

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 4. To allow multiple tabs to be open at the same time, left click and drag the
Assemblies tab to pin the tab to the bottom tiling position.

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 5. On the left Tool Manager, double click on Holder in the Database Explorer to
open the Holders tab.

6. In the right Tool Manager open to the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” database, there are
three tool assemblies and one tool which is outside an assembly and does not
have a holder. The next few steps demonstrate how to create an assembly for
this tool. To begin, go to the left Tool Manager and click the Search button.

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 7. The search parameters should already be set to look for holders. Change the
Search Item dropdown to Name. Then, leave Condition as =, and change the
Value dropdown to “B4Y4-0562” without the quotation marks. Press the [Enter]
key on the keyboard, then press the Search button. There should be a single
search result.

8. Left click and drag the B4Y4-0562 holder from the search results over to Holder
in the Database Explorer in the right Tool Manager. This adds the B4Y4-0562
holder to the MCU 2020 database. Then close the Search Window.

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 9. Minimize the left Tool Manager and maximize the right Tool Manager. This
creates more room for the next few steps.

10. Click and drag the Tools tab and tile it to the right side.

11. On the bottom Assemblies tab, there should be 3 assemblies. To make another
assembly, press the Assembly button in the New Component group in the
Home tab on the ribbon. Once this is done, a blank assembly should be created
at the bottom of the Assemblies tab.

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 12. Left click and drag the “B4Y4-0562” holder from the Holders tab and drop it in
the Assembly Tree to add the holder to the new assembly. Left click and drag the
“E_ECI-E4R500” tool from the Tools tab into the Assembly Tree to add the tool to
the assembly. Once this is done, both the tool and holder should be graphically
represented at the bottom of the Assemblies tab next to the Assembly Tree.

13. When these components are added to the assembly, the Tool Manager
automatically gives it a name based on the components. It can be helpful,
however, to give the assembly a custom name. To do this, open the View tab on
the ribbon and left click the Properties button to restore the properties view on
the right.

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 14. Left click and drag the border of the Properties Panel to expand it. Change the
Assembly Name to “1/2 Bull Nose ISCAR”. Change Tool Number to 6.

15. To clear up screen space, left click and drag the left border of the Properties
Panel and pull it to the right to reduce its size. Close the Holders tab, close the
Tools tab, and close the Start Page tab. This should leave the Assemblies tab to
take up the entire workspace.

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 16. To change how far the tool extends from the holder, hold [CTRL] on the
keyboard while holding down the left mouse button over the holder in the
graphical preview. The position of the holder can be changed by moving the
mouse along the tool. The position can be snapped to specific increments by
moving the mouse over the ruler which appears along the tool.

17. This position can also be changed in the Properties Panel. Change the Tool
Projection to 2.75.

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 18. Minimize the stand-alone Tool Manager and return to Mastercam. Note that all
the changes made through the stand-alone Tool Manager are automatically
saved to the database. Next, open the built-in- Tool Manager by left clicking the
Tool Manager button in the Mill Toolpaths tab.

19. In the built-in Tool Manager, left click the Open button which appears as a yellow
folder and open the “MCU 2020 3D Mill” file. This should display four assemblies
and a single tool at the bottom of the Tool Manager.

20. Change the Display Mode to Assemblies. Now only the assemblies should be
visible.

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 21. In the bottom section of the Tool Manager, left click the “1/2 Bull Nosed ISCAR”
assembly and left click the Add up arrow button which adds the assembly to the
machine group. Also, previously, the “CHATTERFREE_ECI” tool was added by itself
to the machine group. This tool is still in the machine group even though there is
also an assembly containing this tool in the machine group. To remove the
“CHATTERFREE_ECI” tool, right click on it and left click Delete Tool(s) in the drop-
down menu.

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 22. It is possible to modify a tool assembly within Mastercam. To begin, right click
the “1/2 Bull Nosed ISCAR” assembly and select Edit projection... in the
dropdown menu.

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 23. Press the [O] key on the keyboard to snap the tool assembly to the origin. From
here the position of the tool holder can be changed by clicking it and dragging
similar to how this is done in the standalone tool manager. Press the [Enter] key
to finish editing the assembly and return to the Tool Manager.

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 24. Left click the green OK button to close to the Tool Manager. Leave Mastercam
open and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 3-02: Using the Plane Manager

To maintain complete control over planes, custom planes need to be created. This lesson
will describe the process of creating and modifying custom planes.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Navigate to the Planes Manager and notice that the standard planes are all
automatically created. By default, the work coordinate system (WCS),
construction plane (C Plane), and tool plane (T plane) are all set to the Top plane.
The WCS helps drive things such as orientation of the default views. The C Plane
dictates where geometry is created. The T plane determines the direction from
which the tool is coming.

3. Click the small down arrow next to the Planes Manager’s green plus icon, then
select the From solid face option from the drop-down menu. This allows you to
create a plane based on a face of a solid part.

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 4. In the work area, select the large face of the solid part by clicking on it.

5. The Select plane window will appear. This window allows you to select the best
orientation for the coordinate system of the plane. Cycle through the available
options and notice how the coordinate system changes. Choose option 1 by
clicking the OK button in the Select plane window.

6. The New Plane control panel opens in the manager area. In the Name field, add
a name of “From Solid”.

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 7. In the Origin section of the New Plane Control Panel, click the Reselect button.
In the work area, position the new origin so that it is at the center of the bore
feature on the part.

8. If the center of the bore is difficult to select, use the Selection Bar’s AutoCursor
drop-down menu to select the Arc Center option. The center of the bore is much
easier to select now.

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 9. Navigate to the New Plane control panel’s Advanced tab. The options in this tab
will be beneficial while creating planes. Investigate the options, then click the
green circle with the checkmark in the upper right corner of the New Plane
control panel to create this new plane. The From Solid plane is added to the
Planes Manager and a From Solid Viewsheet is now added to the bottom of the
work area. You have now created a custom plane and have dictated the height of
the plane and the origin of the plane.

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 10. In the Planes Manager, click the green plus icon’s down arrow and select
Dynamic from the drop-down menu.

11. A dynamic gnomon appears when you drag your cursor into the work area.
Select the center of the bore as the placement for the gnomon. Notice after you
place the gnomon that the gnomon can be further adjusted in several different
ways. The gnomon can be translated along or rotated about any of the three
axes. Leave the gnomon at the center of the bore, the same location you chose in
step 7.

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 12. Select the Z-axis of the gnomon by clicking on it.

13. Next, select a reference on the edge of one of the nearby bosses. This will move
the gnomon upwards 15.5 mm. Since there was no geometry created at this
height to which the gnomon could be attached, this is an efficient way to position
the gnomon. Change the name of the plane to “Dynamic”, then click the green
circle with the checkmark to create the plane. A new plane is added to the Planes
Manager and a new Viewsheet with a Viewsheet Bookmark is added to the
bottom of the work area.

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 14. The Viewsheet was created with an isometric view of the part, but this can be
changed. Rotate the model, right-click the viewsheet tab you want to modify,
then choose Save Viewsheet Bookmark. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 L3-03 - Creating a New Tool

This lesson will cover the process of creating a new tool in Mastercam Design 2020. This is
useful for creating representations of tools available in a shop and making them available
for use in Mastercam.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. To get started creating a new tool, left click the Tool Manager button in the Mill
Toolpaths tab to open the Tool Manager. Note that new tools can be created in
the standalone Tool Manager, but this tutorial focuses on using the built in Tool
Manager.

3. In the top part of the Tool Manager, right click and select Create Tool... in the
dropdown menu.

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 4. Select the Custom tool in the Milling category and click next.

5. Left click the Import custom geometry from a file button. This can be used to
import geometry from a STEP file or from a Mastercam part file.

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 6. Scroll down and left click the “TAPERMILL” and click Open. Now the preview
should display the model from this file.

7. It is possible to change to preview to display either the geometry from the file, or
the geometry specified in the parameters to the left of the preview. Try using the
render dropdown menu a few times. For this exercise, the file geometry will not
be used. Press Cancel to return to the Tool Manager.

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 8. In the top part of the Tool Manager, right click and select Create Tool... in the
dropdown menu. This time select the Flat endmill and click Next.

9. There are a number of parameters available to change the geometry of the tool.
In actual use, these parameters should be set to match a physical tool that is
being representing in Mastercam. For the purposes of this example, leave the
parameters at their default values and click Next.

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 10. This next page contains more parameters to define the tool. Again, these should
be set to match whatever tool is being represented. For this tutorial, set the
Spindle Speed to 5000. Some of the parameters can be calculated based on
other parameters. Click the Recalculate button which appears as a calculator to
use this feature.

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 11. Information about the coolant system the tool uses can also be entered here.
Left click the Dropdown arrow below the Material field. Then, click the Coolant
button. This opens a separate window. From here, click the dropdown menu for
Flood and select On to tell Mastercam that this tool uses flood coolant. Then click
OK and click the Finish button.

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 12. The new tool should now appear in the machine group with the name “0.5 Flat
Endmill” in the top part of the Tool Manager. Since this is a sample tool created
as a demonstration, right click the tool and select Delete tool(s) in the dropdown
menu. Then, click the green OK button to close the Tool Manager and continue to
the next module.

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 Lesson 3-03: Level Creation for Organization

In this lesson, you will learn to merge an existing file into a current file. Also, you will learn
how to move geometry from one level to another and how to organize levels.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Navigate to the ribbon’s File tab, then select Merge in the left column.

3. Select the supplied file “MCU_3DMill_Chain Bracket – Program Merge”, then click
the Open button. A vise is now added to the current file and is properly aligned
because the coordinate systems in the two files match.

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 4. If the part needed to be repositioned, this could be accomplished in the Merge
Pattern control panel on the left side of the screen. This control panel also allows
you to mirror or scale the merged part. Additionally, the part could be added to
the active level by selecting the Active level option. Examine the options in this
control panel, then click the OK button to accept the default settings.

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 5. Navigate to the Levels Manager; notice that the fixture is on one level while the
vise is on a different level. Specific industries have standards for numbering
levels; you should always follow industry’s standards. To change a level number,
double-click on the level number and enter a new value. Change level 100 to level
105.

6. Make sure level 86 is active, then navigate to the Home tab’s Organize group. In
the levels field, type “10:Part Geometry”, then press the [Enter] key. Level 10 is
added to the Levels Manager and the name is Part Geometry. The level is
currently empty, and the fixture needs to be added to it.

7. In the work area, select the fixture by clicking on it. Make sure the level 10 is the
active level.

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 8. Right-click in open section of the work area and click the Change Levels button.
In the Change Levels window, leave the Copy option selected and make sure the
Use Active Level option is selected. The Levels Manager now shows that level 10
has one entity.

9. Hide level 10, then select the fixture in the work area. This will select the fixture
on level 86. Press the [Delete] key to delete the fixture from this level. When the
warning dialog box appears, click the Delete all selected entities button to
delete the entity. The Levels Manager now shows that level 86 has 0 entities.

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 10. Select level 86, right click it, then choose Clear empty levels > Selected from the
drop-down menu. Level 86 is deleted.

11. At the bottom of the Levels Manager, enter a value of 1 into the Number field. In
the Name field, enter the name “Part Wireframe”. Level 1 is created and added
to the Levels Manager. Any future wireframe geometry that needs to be created
will be placed into this level.

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 12. The Levels Manager has a column named Level Set. Briefly described, level sets
allow you to group levels together. Levels 1 through 99 will have the part
wireframe and the part geometry. Levels 100 through 199 will have information
critical for the setup of the machining operation. Double-click in level 1’s Level
Set cell. In the Levels Manager’s Level set field, enter “Geometry”. Make level 10
the active level, then add a Level Set description of “Geometry” for level 10.

13. Make level 105 active, then add a Level Set description of “Toolpath Setup-1”. The
three levels in this file are now organized into Level Sets; this can help you
efficiently select levels that all belong to the same Level Set. Continue to
investigate creating, modifying, and organizing levels. When you are finished,
save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 3-04: Machine and Toolpath Group
Overview

Understanding Machine Groups and Toolpath Groups is critical to efficient modeling in

Mastercam. This module will briefly describe these groups.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Fit the model to the screen, then resave the Viewsheet Bookmark.

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 3. A machine group contains all the information for a specific machine. For
example, all of the operations to be performed on a three-axis mill will be in one
machine group, then all of the operations to be performed on a five-axis mill will
be in a separate machine group. Machine groups are a good way to organize
everything that happens on one specific machine. In this file, Machine Group-1’s
properties lists Mill Default as the machine to be used.

4. Left click on Machine Group-1’s Files category. This will open the Machine Group
Properties window. Notice that the three categories listed in the Toolpaths
Manager are represented as tabs inside the Machine Group Properties window.
In the Files tab, the Group name is set to the default Machine Group-1.
Comments about the machine can be added to the Group comment field if
necessary. The Machine – Toolpath Copy section contains information about the
machine, the control, and the post processing.

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 5. The next section displays the file paths for the Tool Library, Operation Library,
and the default settings.

6. The next section of the Files tab allows you to customize the information that is
automatically populated in the NC file.

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 7. Continue to the Tool Settings tab. Change the Default program number to
1001. The Feed Calculation section allows you to specify the criteria by which the
feed is calculated. Examine the options in this tab.

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 8. Continue to the Stock Setup tab. This tab allows you to customize the stock
representation directly inside the machine group. Click the OK button to close the
Machine Group Properties window.

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 9. As mentioned earlier, the Machine Group contains all the properties of a
machine. The Toolpath Group will contain all the toolpaths used to cut a part’s
geometry. The red arrow underneath Toolpath Group-1 is called the insertion
arrow; the next operation that is created will be placed at the insertion point. The
insertion point can be moved to different locations based on the location in the
sequence you want the next operation to be created.

10. Right-click on Toolpath Group-1 to reveal the drop-down menu. This is a way to
directly access the various operations this machine can perform. Investigate the
other options in this drop-down menu. Inside this menu, there are many useful
functions you will commonly access. Click the OK button when you are finished.

11. In the Toolpaths Manager, there are many buttons at the top of the manager.

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 12. The Regenerate all selected operations button allows you to update operations
with the new information that has changed. The next button allows you to
regenerate any operations marked as dirty.

13. The buttons in the lower left corner are for various display settings.

14. The buttons for moving the insertion point are on the bottom room.

15. On the top row, there are several options for visually backplotting or verifying the
toolpaths you have created. The Post selected operations button is also in this
group. This will allow you to transform your toolpaths into G code that a machine
can read. Take some time to investigate the many buttons here and familiarize
yourself with them. These buttons will be frequently used during this course.
Save the file and continue to the next module

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 Lesson 3-05: Stock Creation

The stock material needs to be created before any toolpaths can be specified. This module
will cover a couple different ways to create and modify a stock model.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. The chain bracket model and a model representation of the raw stock material
need to be merged into this file. Click File> Merge. Choose the supplied file
“MCU_3DMill_Chain Bracket – Stock Merge”, then click the Open button. The
chain bracket and the stock representation appear in the file and are already
aligned. Click the green OK button in the Merge Pattern control panel.

3. In the Levels Manager, notice level 20 contains the guard solid geometry and
level 99 contains the stock solid geometry. The part geometry needs to be moved
to a new level. Navigate to the Home tab’s Organize group. In the levels field,
enter “101:Fixture Setup-1”, then press the [Enter] key.

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 4. Hide level 20 and level 99, then select the fixture in the work area. Click the
Organize group’s Change Levels button. In the Change Levels window, change
the option from copy to move so that the fixture is moved to level 101. In the
Level set field, enter a value of “Toolpath Setup-1”. Click OK. Level 10 should have
0 entities after this operation is complete.

5. The guard needs to be moved to level 10. Turn on the visibility for level 20, then
select the geometry.

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 6. Click the Change Levels button and move the guard to level 10. If level 10 is not
the active level, deactivate the Use Active Level option, then click the Select
button. Choose level 10 from the Select Level window then click the OK button in
the Select Level window. Click the OK button in the Change Level window. The
Levels Manager should show that level 20 has 0 entities. Select level 20, then
right-click it and select Clear empty levels> Selected.

7. In the Levels Manager, select level 99. Double-click the level number and enter a
new value of 100. For the level set field, enter “Toolpath Setup-1”. Hide level 1.

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 8. Next, the stock needs to be set up. Navigate to the Toolpaths Manager. Inside the
machine group properties, click on Stock setup. Click the Bounding box button.
This will allow you to select geometry on the screen to assist in creating the
bounding box.

9. In the work area, select the model representation of the stock material. The
Bounding Box control panel shows that the size of this stock is 204 mm by 204
mm. Click the red X Cancel button in the Bounding Box control panel.

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 10. To explore a different option for creating a stock model, activate the Solid/Mesh
option in the Machine Group Properties window. Click the cursor icon button.
Again, select the model representation of the stock material in the work area.
Doing this allows you to use the solid geometry as the stock model. Click the OK
button in the Machine Group Properties window.

11. Navigate to the Levels Manager and hide level 10 and level 100.

12. Navigate to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab and click the Stock Display button
in the Stock group.

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 13. A red bounding box appears as a simulation of the dimensions of the stock.

14. Inside the Stock group, click the Stock Model button. Inside the Stock model
window, enter “Stock Model1” in the Name field. Click the green OK button.

15. Rotate the stock model and notice the created stock model does not align with
the red outline. The reason for the misalignment is the coordinate system of the
dynamic plane has its origin directly over the center of the counterbore feature in
the fixture. When the stock model is created, it centers the model on the origin.

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 16. To align the stock model with the red outline, navigate to the Toolpaths Manager.
Under Toolpath Group-1, click on the Parameters folder. Click the button to the
left of Stock plane to open the Plane Selection window.

17. In the Plane Selection window, choose the Top plane. Click the green OK button
in the Plane Selection window. Click the green OK button in the Stock model
window.

18. In the Toolpaths Manager, a red X appears over the operation because it is
considered dirty and needs to be regenerated.

19. To regenerate a dirty operation, click the Regenerate all dirty operations
button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager.

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 20. The stock model now aligns appropriately with the red outline.

21. Turn off the visibility of the stock bounding box by clicking the Stock Display
button.

22. The stock solid model is considered an operation; to hide the stock model, select
the stock model’s operation then click the Toggle display on selected
operations button in the Toolpaths Manager.

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 23. Navigate to the Levels Manager and make level 10 visible. Navigate back to the
Toolpaths Manager and toggle the visibility of the stock model operation. Notice
that the chain guard fits fully inside the stock model. Stock models are an
effective way for you to visualize the current state of the material. This topic will
be expanded on in future modules.

24. In the Toolpaths Manager, click on Machine Group-1’s Stock Setup. The Machine
Group Properties window has a Display option that could be activated. If this
option is activated, the stock can be displayed as either wireframe or solid
geometry. Activate the Display option, activate the Solid option, then click the
green OK button.

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 25. The bounding box is now a solid red color instead of the original wireframe
appearance. When the Mastercam simulator is used, the appearance of the stock
is taken from the Stock Setup in the Machine Group’s properties. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 3-06: Tool Manager

Before operations can be created, tools need to be added to the Tool Manager. This
module will describe the process of adding and modifying the tools in the Mastercam Tool
Manager as well as the standalone Tool Manager.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Tools for machining the part need to be selected; these tools will be put into the
tool manager. Navigate to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab. Turn off the stock
display by clicking the Stock Display button inside the Stock group.

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 3. Before tools can be selected, you need to know the minimum radii of the part.
This will ensure that you have a tool small enough to machine the smallest
radius. Navigate back to the Home tab and click the Analyze Entity button inside
the Analyze group.

4. In the work area, click on the edges of the various internal radii on the part.

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 5. After selecting the various radii of the park, use the arrow buttons in the Arc
Edge Properties window to cycle through the selections and note their radii. The
arc that is described in the window is concurrently highlighted in the work area.
The image below describes an arc with a 7 mm radius or 14 mm diameter. A tool
with a radius slightly smaller than the smallest radius on the part needs to be
selected and put into the Tool Manager. The tool needs to be slightly smaller
than the smallest radius to avoid tool chatter on the part. Click the green OK
button in the Arc Edge Properties window to close the window.

6. The length of the tool’s cutting portion also needs to be determined. Click the
Analyze Distance button in the Analyze group.

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 7. In the work area, select two points to measure the distance between them. To
find the depth of the park, select a point on the top of the part and a point on the
same plane as the bottom of the part. Even if the line is not vertical, this will give
you an idea of how deep the part is.

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 8. The Analyze Distance window shows that the Δ Z value is 69 mm. This means the
cutting portion of the tool should be at least 70 mm long.

9. Navigate to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab and click the Tool Manager button
inside the Utilities group.

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 10. The Tool Manager window opens. Notice that the window is divided into two
sections. The top section contains the tools that are currently in the machine
group, and the bottom section contains all of the tools in the selected tool
database. The file path for the selected tool database can be seen in its entirety if
you hover the cursor over the abbreviated file path shown in the Tool Manager
window. Tools from the tool database can be pushed up into the machine group
by selecting the desired tool and clicking the up arrow button. Alternately, tools
from the machine group can be pushed down into the tool database by using the
down arrow button.

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 11. In the tool database, each tool’s properties can be edited. Select the tool, right
click it, then choose Edit Tool. The Edit Tool window opens. This allows you to
change its feeds and speeds, number of flutes, and much more. Examine all the
options inside this window, then click the Cancel button. Any changes to this tool
will affect any operation in any file that uses this tool. Similarly, tools in the
machine group can also be edited. Any changes made to these tools will only
affect the operations in the current file. Click the green OK button to close the
Tool Manager window.

12. In the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab, navigate to the 2D group and click the
down arrow button to expand the toolpath gallery. From the gallery, choose the
Drill toolpath option.

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 13. In the work area, select one of the holes on the part. Click the green OK button in
the Toolpath Hole Definition window. In the Drill function panel, navigate to the
tool category in the left column.

14. Inside the Drill function panel, click the Select library tool button. From the list
of tools, select tool 2, then click the green OK button. Tool 2 is added to the
machine group. Click the green OK button in the Drill function panel. The
toolpath is created.

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 15. Update to the Utilities group and click the Tool Manager button. Notice that
tool to is in the machine group inside the Tool Manager window. A green check
icon is displayed next to the tool to indicate that the tool is currently used in an
operation. Click the green OK button to close the Tool Manager window.

16. In addition to the Tool Manager inside of Mastercam 2020, Mastercam also has a
standalone Tool Manager program. Open Mastercam’s standalone Tool Manager
program. Navigate to your computer’s Start menu, locate Mastercam 2020, and
select the Tool Manager program.

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 17. Click the Open button in the Quick Access Toolbar at the top of the screen.
Navigate to the location of the default mill_mm tool database file. Click the Open
button.

18. In the Database Explorer on the left side of the screen, double-click on the
Cutting Tools category. This will open the tools in the main area of the Tool
Manager. Double-click the Tool Assemblies and the Holder categories in the
Database Explorer. These items open and are given their own tabs at the top of
the work area.

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 19. Click and hold the left mouse button on the Tools tab. Drag the cursor down to
the placement graphic to reposition the Tools tab to the right side of the screen.
This allows you to see the Holders tab and the Tools tab at the same time.

20. Navigate to the Home tab’s New Component group, then click the Assembly
button. A new icon is created in the Assembly Tree window below the Database
Explorer window. Select the C6E4 – 0875 holder in the Holders tab and drag it
down to the icon in the Assembly Tree window. Select tool 67 in the Tools tab
and drag it down to the icon in the Assembly Tree window. A tool assembly is
created.

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 21. Navigate to the Assemblies tab and note the preview of the assembly. Select the
toolholder and slide it up and down to reposition it in relation to the tool. This
allows you to accurately depict the projection of the tool from the holder so you
can check for collisions inside Mastercam.

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 22. Changes made in the standalone Tool Manager will automatically be saved to the
tool database file. Go back to Mastercam and click the Tool Manager button
inside the Utilities group. Notice the assembly created in the standalone Tool
Manager is now included inside the database. Click the green OK button in the
Tool Manager window. Tool creation will be covered in more detail in a future
module.

23. Navigate to the Toolpaths Manager, then select the Drill/Counterbore operation.
Right click it, then choose Delete from the drop-down menu. Click the Yes button
in the dialog box to delete the operation. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 3-07: Creating New Tools

Creating and modifying tools is a fundamental part of the Mastercam experience. This
lesson will investigate two different methods for accomplishing this.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Navigate to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab and click the Tool Manager button
inside the Utilities group. This will open the Tool Manager window.

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 3. There are currently two tools on the machine group and one assembly in the tool
database. In the lower right corner of the Tool Manager window, change the
Display mode to the Both option. The tool database now displays both tools and
assemblies.

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 4. In the machine group, right click on one of the tools then choose the Delete
unused tool(s) option.

5. The machine group can be populated with tools from the database. Make sure
the Filter Active option is checked, then click the Filter button inside the Tool
Manager window. A Tool List Filter window will open. In the Tool Types section,
click the None button to clear any existing selections. Next, select the Endmill1
Flat option so that the database tools are filtered to show only the flat end Mills.
Click the green OK button.

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 6. In the tool database, select the 219 FLAT END MILL – 12 tool. Click the Copy
selected library tools to machine group button which has an upward pointing
arrow on it. The tool you selected is now copied into the machine group and
ready to be selected for use in operations.

7. Inside the machine group, right-click tool 219 and choose the Edit tool option.
The dimensions of the tool are fine, so click the Next button. In the Finalize
Properties screen, change the tool number to 10. Examine all the options
available for customization in this window. The spindle speed, feed, plunge, and
retract rates can be automatically calculated using the specified parameters. To
do this, click the calculator icon next to the data fields. Enter a value of 8000 into
the Spindle speed field, and notice that the cutting speed and feet per tooth
values automatically adjust. Click the Finish button to accept all the current
specified parameters. The machine group now lists the flat end mill as tool 10.

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 8. Inside the Tool Manager window, click the Create a new tool library button.
Change the filename to “MCU2DMill”, then click the Save button. A new, empty
tool database has been created. Uncheck the Filter Active option to make sure
that all of the options inside the database are visible. Sometimes databases can
appear to be empty if the database only has tools, but the Display mode is
filtered to show only assemblies.

9. Select tool 10 in the machine group. Click the Copy selected machine group
tools to library button with the downward pointing arrow to copy the tool into
the empty tool database. Click the green OK button. When the dialog box asks
you if you want to save changes to your current library, click the Yes button.

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 10. A different way to populate machine groups and edit tools is to use the
standalone Mastercam Tool Manager. Open the standalone Mastercam Tool
Manager; if the mill_mm tool database file is not already open, open this file. In
the Tool Manager’s Quick Access Toolbar, click the Open button. Choose the
MCU2DMill file, then click the Open button. A new instance of the Tool Manager
will open. Arrange the windows so the new Tool Manager is on the right side of
the screen and the original Tool Manager is on the left side of the screen. In the
original Tool Manager window, close the Holders tab so that only the Tools tab is
visible.

11. In the Database Explorer of the new Mastercam Tool Manager window, click on
the Cutting Tools category. There should only be one tool inside this category.
This tool is tool 10 which is the flat end mill that you modified inside of
Mastercam.

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 12. The original Tool Manager window on the left should have more than 1000 tools
and holders. To make finding tools easier, Mastercam included a search function.
In the original Tool Manager window, navigate to the Home tab’s Search group
and click the Search button. In the search item drop-down menu, select the
Diameter option. In the value field, type 14. In the Actions group, click the
Search button. The Tool Manager will search the database for any tools that have
a diameter of 14 mm.

13. Select tool 220 FLAT END MILL - 14. Click on this tool, then drag it to the new Tool
Manager window and drop it onto the Cutting Tools category in the Database
Explorer. The new 14 mm flat end mill is introduced into the tool database and
the tool number is automatically incremented to tool 11.

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 14. Close the search window in the original Tool Manager. Double-click on the
Holder category in the Database Explorer; this will reopen the Holders tab in
the main window. Select the C4C4-0025 holder. Click it, drag it, and drop it onto
the Holder category in the new Tool Manager window to add it to the new tool
database.

15. Maximize the new Tool Manager window so that it fills the screen. In the
Database Explorer, double-click on the Tool Assemblies category to open the
Assemblies tab in the main window. In the New Component group, click the
Assembly button twice to add two new assemblies inside the Assemblies tab. In
the Properties column on the right side of the screen, change the assembly
name of the first assembly to “12mm End Mill”. Press the [Enter] key. Change the
assembly name of the second assembly to “14mm End Mill”, then press the
[Enter] key. Select the 12mm End Mill assembly and notice that it is visible in the
Assembly Tree window underneath the Database Explorer window.

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 16. Navigate to the Holders tab, select the C4C4-0025 holder, then drag it down to
the 12 mm End Mill assembly in the Assembly Tree window below the Database
Explorer window. Similarly, navigate to the Tools tab and drag the #10 tool and
drop it onto the 12 mm End Mill assembly in the Assembly Tree window.

17. Navigate back to the Assemblies tab and choose the 14mm End Mill assembly.
Navigate to the Holders tab, select the C4C4-0025 holder, then drag it down to
the 14 mm End Mill assembly in the Assembly Tree window. Navigate to the
Tools tab, drag tool #11 and drop it onto the 14 mm End Mill assembly in the
Assembly Tree window. There are now two tool assemblies inside the tool
database.

18. In Assemblies tab, select the 12 mm End Mill assembly. Hover your cursor over
the holder and the graphics window. The holder will highlight. After the holder is
highlighted, hold down the [Ctrl] key and noticed that the cursor changes. Click
the mouse button and slide the holder up and down to change the tool
projection amount. Since the top of the part to the top of the fixture measures 70
mm, set the projection amount to 70 mm. Repeat this process for the 14 mm End
Mill assembly.

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 19. The tool projection amount can also be manually altered in the Properties
window. Use this Properties window to change the tool projection of the 12 mm
End Mill assembly and the 14 mm End Mill assembly to 75 mm. These changes
will automatically be saved in the tool database without clicking the Save button.
Close the standalone Mastercam Tool Manager window.

20. In the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab, click the Tool Manager button inside the
Utilities group. Notice that the tools and assemblies are in the database file.
Select both the 12 mm and 14 mm assemblies, then press the up arrow button to
copy them to the machine group.

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 21. If the tool projection needs to be modified, the right-click one of the assemblies
and the machine group and choose Edit projection. The tool assembly can be
placed into the work area by clicking on the geometry to which you want to
attach it. Then, the projection of the tool can be modified to make sure that the
holder will not strike the part. Press the [Enter] key when you are finished. Click
the green OK button to close the Tool Manager window. Double-click the
Dynamic Viewsheet bookmark to return to that Viewsheet. Save the file and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 3-08: Machine and Control Definitions

Mastercam needs to know the precise attributes of the machine that will be used to create
the parts you model. This lesson investigates ways to customize the machine definitions
and the control definitions to match your specific machine.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Navigate to the Machine tab’s Job Setup group and click the Control Definition
button. This will open a window which will allow you to modify a local copy of the
file. Any changes made inside this window will propagate to future files which
reference this control definition. If, however, the properties are modified inside
the machine group, then the default values in the local copy of the control
definition will not be affected. This means that other files referencing the control
definition will not be affected by the changes, only the current file will be
affected. Click the green OK button to close the window.

3. Inside the Toolpaths Manager, click the Files category. In the Machine – Toolpath
Copy section, click the Edit button. This will open the Machine Definition
Manager window.

4. The Post-processor section has a drop-down menu which allows you to choose
from the available post-processor files. The Machine Configuration section
contains information about your specific mill. Expand each subsequent folder in
the Machine Base to reveal the assumed construction of the selected machine.

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 5. The Mill Spindle Group has information such as the Z axis and fifth or sixth axis.

6. The Tool Changer Group has information about the automatic tool changer.
Right-click on this and choose the Properties option. This window allows you to
change information such as the number of tool pockets the tool changer has.
Investigate information in this tool changer window, then click the green OK
button.

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 7. On the left side of the Machine Definition Manager window, there is a
Component File section. This area allows you to drag components from the
component bank and drop them into your machine configuration. This allows
you to set up the machine configuration to match the specific machine you will
use to create the parts.

8. At the top of the Machine Definition Manager window, click the Control
Definition button. This control definition is inside the machine group. This
control definition references to control type, post-processors, and more.

9. Inside the control topics column on the left, click on the Tolerance> Mill category.
The section lists the default tolerances for both inch and metric configurations.
These values can be modified if necessary.

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 10. Navigate to the Maximum deviation and calculated arc and points from
machine grid Metric value. Change the value to 0.002, then click the green OK
button. A dialog box will warn you that the data has possibly changed. Click the
Yes button to save the changes for this machine group. Also click the green OK
button in the Machine Definition Manager window. Then, click the green OK
button in the Machine Group Properties window.

11. Click the Control Definition button inside the Job Setup group. Navigate to the
Tolerances> Mill category and notice that the maximum deviation and calculated
arc and points value has not changed. Click the red Cancel button.

12. In the Toolpaths Manager, click the Files category. Click the Edit button in the
Machine Group Properties window, then click the Control Definition button at
the top of the next window. Navigate to the Tolerances> Mill section. Notice that
this value has changed according to the updates you made in step 10. Click the
red Cancel button in the three windows to return to the Mastercam screen. Save
the file continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 3-09: File Migration Wizard

Mastercam has a built-in function for updating Mastercam files to the current version. This
lesson will investigate the options for updating files using the Mastercam File Migration
Wizard.

1. Open the website www.mastercam.com and login to the site.

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 2. The Tech Exchange allows you to search for tool libraries, sample files, posts, as
well as plug-ins. Click Support> Tech Exchange, then navigate to the Posts tab. In
the Keyword field, type in “Haas”. Click the Search button.

3. Examine the results of the search, then select the Generic Haas 3X Mill option.
Click the button to download the available .zip file for this machine. Once the file
is downloaded, place it in the folder with Mastercam’s other posts. Notice,
however, that the downloaded file is version 2019 which means you’ll have to use
the File Migration Wizard to use this older version file. Navigate back to
Mastercam.

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 4. In the ribbon, click the File tab then select the Convert option from the left
column. Next, click the Migration Wizard button.

5. In the Migration Wizard window, the Basic option will automatically update all
the Mastercam 2019 files on your machine and turn them into Mastercam 2020
files. Click on the Advanced option if you want more control over the types of
files to migrate.

6. Activate the Migrate shared Mastercam files option and the Migrate my
Mastercam files option. The files inside of the selected source folders will be
converted and saved into the selected destination folder. If instead you only want
to migrate a single file, that can be chosen instead of an entire folder.

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 7. In the left side of the Migration Wizard window, choose the File Types section.
This section lets you control which types of files you want to create. Since the files
will not be backwards compatible after the conversion, a copy of the files will be
created for the migration.

8. The Versions section allows you to choose one or more previous versions of
Mastercam files to migrate to the current version of Mastercam. Click the cancel
button to close the Migration Wizard window. Continue to the next lesson.

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 L4-01 - Machine Selection

This lesson covers the process to select a machine for use with a given model.

1. Open the supplied file, “MCU3D_Setup.mcam” in Mastercam Design 2020.

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 2. On the left side, the Toolpath Manager is empty. This means no machine has
been selected for use with this model. Once the steps in this lesson are complete,
a machine group will appear here containing information about the selected tool.

3. Left click the View tab on the ribbon and left click Show Axis. This shows where
the part is in relation to the coordinate system. Note that hovering over the Show
Axis button displays a tooltip with a keyboard shortcut. In the case of the Show
Axis button, the axis can be enabled by pressing the [F9] key on the keyboard.

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 4. Left click the Display group’s Show Gnomons button to display the axis labels in
the coordinate system.

5. Left click Show Gnomons and Show Axis to turn both options off.

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 6. Left click the Machine tab and left click the Mill button to display the dropdown
menu. Left click the Generic Haas 3X MILL.mcam-mmd to select this tool to use
on the model. This creates a machine group in the Toolpath Manager and a
toolpath group. Later this will store information about any created toolpaths and
modified parameters in the machine group. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 4-01: Wireframe Basics

The file needs to be set up so that wireframe geometry for the fixture can be drawn in the
correct location.

1. Open the supplied file, “MCU_2DMill_Design_Wireframe_Basics”. This file contains

the chain guard part.

2. Navigate to the Planes Manager. Notice the WCS, C plane, and T plane are set to
the Fixture_Setup1 plane.

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 3. Navigate to the View tab and click the Show Axes button in the Display group.
This gives you a graphic representation of the X, Y, and Z zero coordinates.

4. Notice in the Home tab’s Attributes group, the construction plane is set to 2D.
this means that any geometry created will be 2D geometry on the XY plane at Z=0
coordinate.

5. If the Z value needs to be something other than zero, it can be changed inside
the Z depth field in the Organize group. Also notice the Levels field below the Z
depth field. This indicates that the created geometry will be on level 10.

6. Navigate to the Levels Manager and notice that level 101 is named Fixture Setup-
1 and has zero entities. Make level 101 active by clicking beside the 101; the
green checkmark will move to this location to indicate this level is the active level.

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 7. Right-click in an open section of the work area. In the Levels field, type the name
“106:Fixture Setup-1 Wire” to create a new level for the fixture’s wireframe
geometry. Press the [Enter] key. Level 106 is added to the Levels Manager. In the
bottom of the Levels Manager, enter “Toolpath Setup-1” into the Level set field;
this will add this level set description to level 106.

8. The current Z depth is Z=0. Because the fixture geometry does not need to be
created at the Z=0 coordinate, the Z depth needs to be set. Inside the Organize
group, right-click in the Z depth field. Choose the Z = Z coordinate of a point
option. This will allow you to select a point in the work area and the Z value of the
selection will populate the Z depth field.

9. In the work area, choose a point on the lowest face on the bottom of the part.
The Z value of this point is entered into the Z depth field inside the Organize
group. The construction plane is now at the bottom of the part and any
wireframe geometry created will be placed into that plane.

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 10. Now that all these variables are set, a fixture to hold the part can begin to be
designed. Navigate to the Wireframe tab. Familiarize yourself with all the
options in the Wireframe tab’s various groups. There are many options for
creating points, lines, arcs, splines, shapes, curves, as well as modifying these
entities.

11. Inside the Shapes group, click Rectangle> Rectangular Shapes. This will open
the Rectangular Shapes function panel. A square needs to be drawn inside the
work area to represent the fixture which will hold this part.

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 12. Inside the Rectangular Shapes function panel, make sure the Method option is
set to Base point and that the Origin selection is in the lower left corner of the
box.

13. In the Dimensions section, enter a Width value of 200 mm and a Height value of
200 mm. The lock icons next to the Width and Height fields allow you to lock
these values so you can create multiple rectangles with these dimensions. If a
radius or rotation angle needs to be added, there are fields for you to enter these
values.

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 14. Inside the work area, notice that a 200 mm square is following your cursor.
Mastercam is asking for you to choose the location for the square. Right-click in
an open section of the work area and choose the Top view. This will help you
accurately locate the square.

15. Position the square so that the part is completely inside the square, then left
click to place the square. Notice that the square is placed but Mastercam will
allow you to place additional squares. There is also a manipulator in the lower left
corner which allows you to rotate or move the square. After you place the first
square, click the green OK button inside the Rectangular Shapes function panel.

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 16. The first wireframe geometry is created and is located on the construction plane
which is at the lowest point of the part. Navigate to the Levels Manager and
noticed that level 106 now has four entities on it.

17. The Modify group has various options to modify wireframe geometry you just
drew. Inside the Modify group, click Offset> Chains.

18. The Wireframe Chaining function panel opens. In the mode section, make sure
the Wireframe option is selected. Click on one of the sides of the square you
drew and notice that all four sides are selected. Click the green OK button inside
the Wireframe Chaining function panel.

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 19. Go to the top view of the part. The geometry needs to be offset to the outside of
the square; click in the area outside of the square geometry. A preview of the
offset geometry is created.

20. Inside the Offset Chains function panel, change the Method from Copy to the
Move option. This will delete the original square and keep only the offset
geometry.

21. In the Instances section, change the Distance value to 1 mm.

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 22. Deselect the Modify Fillet Corners option so that fillets are not added to the
offset geometry. Click the green OK button inside the Offset Chains function
panel.

23. The original square has been offset by 1 mm and the original square is deleted.

24. Right-click in an open section of the work area and click the Clear Colors button
to deselect the offset geometry. Save the file continue to next module.

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 L4-02 - Using The Plane Manager

This module covers the process to create a new plane. The module briefly covers the Tool
Plane and the Construction Plane and sets these to be based on a custom defined plane.
Additionally, viewsheets and viewsheet bookmarks are introduced to allow quick changes
to the orientation and in the Tool Plane and Construction Plane settings.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Open the Levels Manager by left clicking the Levels button on the bottom left
side of the screen below the Tool Manager.

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 3. More information about levels will be covered later. To add a new level, select the
Number: field and enter 10. Then, press the [Enter] key on the keyboard. The
new level has a green checkmark signifying that it is active, but it has no name
after being created.

4. To name the level, double click the Name cell, type in “Bounding Box”, and press
[Enter].

5. Open the ribbon’s Wireframe tab and click the Bounding Box button.

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 6. Left click the solid. This should highlight the entire model. Once this is done, click
the End Selection button.

7. In the Bounding Box control panel, check the options for Lines and arcs and
Corner Points. Leave everything else unchecked and press the green OK button.

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 8. Click on the Planes Manager which should appear as a small tab at the bottom
left. If this does not appear, go to the View tab and make sure the Planes button
is enabled in the Managers group.

9. Enable viewsheets by going to the Viewsheets group in the View tab and
pressing the On/Off button. When this is on, there should be a Viewsheet 1 tab
visible on the bottom of the screen.

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 10. Enabling viewsheets may turn off the Bounding Box visibility. Go back to the
Levels Manager and make sure the Bounding Box level is visible. Then, return to
the Planes Manager.

11. In the Planes Manager, click the Create a new plane button which appears as a
green plus sign at the top of the manager. Then, select Dynamic... in the
dropdown menu.

12. In the New Plane Manager, change the Name field to “OP1”.

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 13. Open the Advanced tab in the New Plane Manager. Make sure that the options
for Create viewsheets and Save bookmark in the Viewsheet group are checked.
Enabling these options will create a new viewsheet and viewsheet bookmark with
the new plane.

14. Now the center of the coordinate system for the plane needs to be chosen. Move
the mouse over the workspace. A set of coordinate axis follows the mouse. Move
the mouse so that the axis snaps to the far top left corner of the bounding box
and click the left mouse button.

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 15. To rotate the coordinate system so that the Z axis points up, move the mouse
over the center segment of the green arc between the X and Z axis. Then rotate
the coordinates system 180° around the Y axis. Keeping the mouse inside the
yellow dotted circle makes the rotation snap to 5° increments. Additionally,
typing in a specific degree increment and pressing [Enter] twice rotates the
system by the entered amount.

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 16. The X axis should point along the long side of the bounding box. To rotate the
coordinate system again, click the center segment of the blue arc between the X
and Y axis to rotate the system 90° around the Z axis. The final orientation and
position should match the image below.

17. Press the green OK button in the New Plane Manager to create the new plane.

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 18. At this point the plane is created and shows in the Planes Manager. The Work
Coordinate System (WCS), Construction Plane and Tool Plane are all set to use
this plane.

19. At the bottom of the screen, a new bookmarked viewsheet is created for OP1.
This saves the view on the screen with the viewsheet. Go to the Levels Manager
and hide the Bounding Box; then, return to the Planes Manager. At the bottom of
the screen, right click the OP1 viewsheet tab and select Save Viewsheet
Bookmark.

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 20. Rotate the orientation to change the view. Double clicking the OP1 tab to return
the orientation to the position it was in when the bookmark was saved.
Additionally, level visibility is saved in the bookmark. To demonstrate this, go to
the Levels Manager and set the Bounding Box level to be visible. Now, double
click the OP1 tab and notice that the Bounding Box is automatically hidden again.

21. Additionally, the tool plane and construction plane settings are stored in the
bookmark. To demonstrate, go to the Planes Manager and change set the tool
plane and construction plane to use the Top plane by clicking the boxes in the C
and T columns in the Top row. Double click the OP1 tab to return the tool and
construction plane to the OP1 plane. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 4-02: Silhouette Boundary

In the previous module, a square was drawn to represent the fixture geometry. In this
module you will investigate different methods that allow you to create geometry while
maintaining more control.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. A new level needs to be created. Right-click in an open section of the work area
then type “107:Fixture Setup Wireframe2” into the Levels field. In the Levels
Manager, turn off the visibility for level 106.

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 3. In the Wireframe tab’s Shapes group, click the Silhouette Boundary button.
Select the chain guard part then click the End Selection button.

4. In the Silhouette Boundary function panel, investigate the various options then
click the green OK button to accept the default values.

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 5. In the Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for level 10. The projected silhouette
boundary from the chain guard part now visible. Go to a top view of the part.
Make level 10 visible and note how the wireframe geometry perfectly matches
the perimeter of the part.

6. Rotate the part to the bottom side and notice that some of the geometry details
that do not pass all the way through the solid part are not represented in the
silhouette boundary.

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 7. Return to a top view and turn off the visibility for level 10. Right-click in an open
section of the work area and click the Clear Colors button to deselect any
wireframe geometry.

8. There are alternate methods for creating the fixture geometry that you created
in the previous module. In the Wireframe tab’s Splines group, click the Line
Parallel button.

9. In the work area, select the small, straight line section between the two fastener
bosses.

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 10. Hover over each of the arcs next to the straight line until the center point of the
arc turns to a green plus icon. After both center points have turned to a green
plus icon, a red plus icon will appear halfway in between the two.

11. Click on the red plus icon to attach the parallel line to it.

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 12. A parallel line is now drawn and is coincident with a point halfway between the
midpoint of the two adjacent arcs.

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 13. Inside the Line Parallel function panel, change the method to the Tangent
option. In the work area, click on the small straight line between the two fastener
bosses. Choose one of the adjacent arcs to which the line should be tangent.
Notice that the newer line is slightly further away from the silhouette boundary
than the first line; this is because the second line is tangent to the bosses. The
first line was not tangent to the bosses but based off of the midpoint of the arcs.
If the line drawn in step 12 was used for drawing the fixture, it would not
completely encompass the chain guard part. Click the green OK button in the
Line Parallel function panel.

14. Select the inner line that was based off of the points, then press the [Delete] key.
The inner line is deleted.

15. Now that an edge that is tangent with the bosses is created, it needs to be
extended. In the Modify group, click the Modify Length button.

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 16. In the Modify Length function panel, change the Distance value to 50 mm. In the
work area, click on the line closer to the top of the line to indicate that top of the
line should be extended 50 mm. The original line is now extended 50 mm
towards the top and is one continuous line.

17. In the Modify Length function panel, activate the Break option. In the work area,
click on the line closer to the bottom of the line to indicate that the bottom of the
line should be extended 50 mm. The original line is now extended 50 mm
towards the bottom but comprises two individual line segments. Click the green
OK button and the Modify Length function panel. Select the bottom extended
line then press the [Delete] key.

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 18. In the Modify group, click the Trim to Entities button. In the Trim to Entities
function panel, change the type to the Break option. In the work area, select the
long straight line at the bottom of the silhouette boundary.

19. Next, select the parallel line you drew in step 13. Notice that the first line you
selected has been extended out to the second line you selected. Because the
Break option was selected, the new line segment is a separate entity.

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 20. In the Trim to Entities function panel, change the type back to the Trim option.
For the first line selection, choose the line segment you drew in step 13. For the
second line selection, choose the extended line from step 19. The original line is
now extended down towards the second reference line you chose. Because the
Break option was not selected, the line is one continuous line. Click the green OK
button in the Trim to Entities function panel.

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 21. In the Modify group, click the Join Entities button. Select the two vertical line
entities then click the End Selection button in the work area. Click the green OK
button inside the Join Entities function panel. The two distinct line entities are
now one entity.

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 22. The left side of the fixture’s wireframe geometry is mostly complete. Next, a
horizontal line needs to be drawn. There are a few lines in the silhouette
boundary that might be good horizontal references for a parallel line, but these
might not be truly horizontal. In the Lines group, click the Line Endpoints
button. Change the Type to the Horizontal option to ensure that you are
drawing horizontal lines. In the work area, draw a horizontal line above the
silhouette boundary, then click the green OK button inside the Line Endpoints
function panel.

23. In the Lines group, click the Line Parallel button. Make sure the Method is set to
the Tangent option. In the work area, first select the horizontal line you drew in
step 22, then select the part at the top fillet corner of the silhouette boundary. A
new line is drawn parallel to the first selection and tangent with the second
selection. Click the green OK button inside the Line Parallel function panel.

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 24. Select a horizontal line you drew in step 22, then press the [Delete] key. In the
Modify group, click the Trim to Entities button. Make sure the Type is set to the
Trim option. First select the vertical line, then select the horizontal line. The
vertical line is extended up until it meets the horizontal line.

25. To trim the extra length off of the top line, first select the horizontal line, then
select the vertical line. The horizontal line is trimmed to meet the vertical line.

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 26. The left side and top of the fixture wireframe geometry has been drawn, but the
right side and bottom need to be completed. Click the Modify Length button
inside the Modify group. Inside the Modify Length function panel, make sure
the Type is set to the Lengthen option, then enter a Distance value of 200 mm.
Select the bottom horizontal line to extend, then click the green OK button.

27. In the Lines group, click the Line Parallel button. Make sure the Method is still
set to the Tangent option. Select the vertical line describing the left side of the
fixture’s wireframe geometry, then select the top fillet corner to make the vertical
line tangent with that corner. Click the green OK button in the Line Parallel
function panel.

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 28. In the Modify group, click the Trim to Entities button. Use this tool to trim the
extra length off of the top and bottom horizontal lines. When using the Trim
Entities tool, make sure your first selection is on the side of the line that you
want to keep. A perfect bounding box that exactly matches the silhouette
boundary is now complete.

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 29. In the Modify group, click the Offset> Chains button. Select the square
perimeter, then click the green OK button inside the Wireframe Chaining
function panel. Click outside of the square to indicate that the geometry should
be offset 1 mm towards the outside of the square. Notice that the bottom of the
offset geometry is incomplete because the selected outer perimeter was not a
full chain. Click the red Cancel button inside the Offset Chains function panel.

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 30. In the Modify group, click the Offset> Chains button. Select the square
perimeter again. This time also select the entities on the bottom of the square
perimeter. Click the green OK button in the Wireframe Chaining function panel.
Click outside of the square to indicate that the geometry should be offset 1 mm
towards the outside of the square. Change the Method to the Copy option. Make
sure the Modify Fillet Corners option is unchecked. Click the green OK button in
the Offset Chains function panel. Right-click in an open section of the work area,
then click the Clear Colors button to deselect the geometry.

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 31. Notice that the offset geometry is comprised of several line segments. In the
Modify group, click the Join Entities button. Select all of the entities on the
bottom line of the offset geometry, click the End Selection button in the work
area, then click the green OK button in the Join Entities function panel. All of the
bottom line segments join into a single line. Zoom in to the lower right corner
and notice that the offset geometry does not meet. Use the Trim to Entities tool
to make the offset geometry meet in the corner. Save the file and continue to the
next module.

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 L4-03 - Level Creation For Organization

This module will cover the creation of levels and the organization of entities across these
levels. It will also introduce some functionality to help keep the levels organized using
level sets and the option to delete all empty levels. The concepts introduced in this module
should be used in compliance with any specific workplace standards or conventions for
level organization.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Open the Levels Manager. Remember that clicking a level number moves the
green checkmark signifying that the level is active. Clicking beside a level number
in the Visible column sets whether or not the bodies in that level are visible in the
workspace. Take a moment to refresh these options, then double click the OP1
viewsheet bookmark at the bottom of the screen to reset the level settings.

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 3. There are a few different ways to create levels. At the bottom of the Levels
Manager, select the Number: field and enter 100. This creates a new level.
Change the Name: field to “OP2” without the quotation marks.

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 4. Another method to create a new level is to right click in the workspace and select
the Levels field. To add a new level and name it, type the level number followed
by a colon followed by the level name. For this step enter “110:Op2 Wire” without
quotes in the box. Note that a new level can be created in the same way by
selecting the Levels button in the Organize group in the Home tab.

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 5. With level 110 selected, look at the bottom of the Levels Manager and select the
Level set: field. Then, type in the name “Op2”. Set level 100 as the active level
and repeat the same process to place it in the same level set. Putting multiple
levels in a level set helps keep the levels organized when working with
complicated files.

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 6. Objects can also be moved between levels. Create a new level with level number
11, and the name “Wireframe” to get started. Refer to steps 3 and 4 to create the
level.

7. In the Levels Manager, make sure level 11 is set as active and set level 10 to be
visible.

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 8. Select each of the dotted lines in the wireframe bounding box. This can be done
by clicking each line until it is highlighted. A much easier way to do this is to click
the Select all line entities quick mask button on the right side of the workspace.
Note that the contextual tab on the ribbon changes when the wireframes are
selected.

9. To move these lines to a different level, right click in the workspace and select the
Change Level button.

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 10. Set the Operation to Move and make sure Use Active Level is selected. Click the
green OK button.

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 11. At this point, all the wireframe lines should be in level 11, and all the points
should remain in level 10. Toggle the visibility of both these levels to demonstrate
that they are on different levels. The image below is what the model looks like
when level 11 is not visible.

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 12. Set level 1 as active and hide levels 10 and 11. Note that there are two levels
which do not contain any entities. To quickly remove these, right click level 100 in
the Levels Manager and move the mouse over Clear empty levels to expand the
menu. Then select All.

13. To give a brief overview of some other features available, at the top of the Levels
Manager, there are several buttons. They are in order from left to right, Add a
new level, Find level from geometry which quickly selects the level associated
with any selected geometry in the workspace, Turn all levels on, Turn all levels
off, Reset all levels, Hide level properties, Display option, and Help.

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 14. To finish this module, set all levels as visible and set level 1 to be the active layer.
At the bottom of the screen, right click the OP1 tab and select Save Viewsheet
Bookmark. The rotation of the screen, the visible layers, and the active layer can
all be restored to the current status by double clicking the OP1 tab. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-03: Bounding Box

Mastercam has many tools for creating and editing geometry. This module will investigate
an alternate way to create the wireframe geometry for the part fixture.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Navigate to the Levels Manager and create a new level. In the Number field at
the bottom of the Levels Manager, enter 108 then press the [Enter] key. In the
name field, type “Fixture Setup-1 Bounding Box”. Make sure level 108 is the
active level.

3. Navigate to the Wireframe tab. Inside the Shapes group, click the Bounding
Box button. In the work area, hold the [Shift] key and select the entities
describing the outside of the silhouette boundary until the full perimeter is
selected. In the work area, click the End Selection button.

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 4. Inside the Bounding Box function panel, investigate all the options. In the
Create Geometry section, activate the Corner points option. Click the green OK
button in the Bounding Box function panel. The new bounding box is created in
the work area on level 108.

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 5. In the Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for level 107 so that the geometry on
level 108 can be seen. Level 108 has 8 entities on it; there are four lines and four
corner points. The newly created geometry can be modified if desired. Select the
four corner points then press the [Delete] key. The corner points are deleted.

6. In the Modify group, click Offset> Chains. Select the bounding box geometry
then click the green OK button in the Wireframe Chaining function panel. Click
outside of the selected geometry to specify that the offset should be towards the
outside of the geometry. In the Method section, activate the Move option so that
the offset geometry is moved instead of copied. Deactivate the Modify Fillet
Corners option in the Offset Chains function panel, then click the green OK
button. This is an alternate method for creating the fixture’s wireframe
geometry. In some instances, this method will be more efficient. In other
instances, you might need to use the method described in the previous module.

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 7. For the purposes of this module, the best fixture geometry will be a 200 mm x
200 mm square. Select the four entities in the level 108 layer, then press the
[Delete] key. In level 107, select the two squares outside the silhouette boundary
then press the [Delete] key. The only remaining geometry on level 107 should be
the silhouette boundary, and level 108 should have no entities. Make sure level
108 is active.

8. Inside the Shapes group, click the Bounding Box button. Hold down the [Shift]
key, then select the entire outside perimeter of the silhouette boundary. Inside
the Bounding Box function panel, make sure the Corner points option is still
active. Click the End Selection button inside the work area, then click the green
OK button inside the Bounding Box function panel. The bounding box geometry
is created around the silhouette boundary.

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 9. Inside the Modify group, click the Offset button. Select one of the boundary
box’s vertical lines to offset, then click to the outside of line to indicate that the
line should be offset 1 mm to the outside of that line.

10. Inside the offset entity function panel, click the blue OK and Create New
Operation button.

11. Select the one of the boundary box’s horizontal lines, then click outside of the
line to indicate the direction to which it should offset. Click the green OK button.

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 12. In the Modify group, click the Trim to Entities button. Use this tool to make the
two offset lines meet at the corner.

13. In the Points group, click the Point Position button. Click the corner you created
using the Trim to Entities tool in step 12. Click the green OK button in the Point
Position function panel. A point is placed at the intersection of the two offset
lines.

14. Select all of the boundary box lines, points, and the offset lines you created
before step 13, then press the [Delete] key. The only remaining point should be
the one you created in step 13. This point will be used to anchor the 200 mm x
200 mm rectangle.

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 15. In the Shapes group, click the Rectangle> Rectangular Shapes button. Make
sure the width and height are still set to 200 mm in the Rectangular Shapes
function panel. In the work area, click on the corner point to anchor the 200 mm
square to the corner point. A square which is precisely 200 mm is now anchored
to the point which was offset from the bounding box by 1 mm to the left and 1
mm down.

16. In the Toolpaths Manager, hide the visibility for level 107. Go to a top view and
save the file. Continue to the next module.

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 L4-04 - Machine Group Setup

This module will cover the Toolpaths Manager and provide steps to represent the stock
used in machining the model. Representing the stock is important so the program can
avoid collisions with the stock and know the geometry of the piece that is being worked
with.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Open the Toolpaths Manager, expand Properties and left click on Stock setup.

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 3. In the shape group, make sure Rectangular is selected. Check the Display
option. Make sure Fit screen and Solid are selected. This displays the stock as a
solid red box.

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 4. To set the dimensions of the stock, click the Select corners... button. Then pick
two opposing corners of the bounding box. For example, in the image below,
pick the furthest corner on the top left of the screen and the closest corner on
the bottom right.

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 5. Once two points are selected, the stock dimensions should be displayed in the
Machine Group Properties window. Notice that the dimensions are highly specific
and not round numbers. This is undesirable since these dimensions need to
correspond with available machining stock. To begin fixing this, click the
Bounding box button. Select the solid body and press End Selection.

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 6. In the bottom of the Bounding Box Manager, in the Create Geometry group
select the Corner points option. Then, under size, change X: to 2.625, Y: to 5.0,
and Z: to 1.75. Click the green OK button. This creates a new bounding box that
has rounded up dimensions.

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 7. In the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab, click the Stock Display button to turn off
the stock display. Note that the new bounding box points remain visible.

8. Go to the Levels Manager. Note that since level 1 was active, the new bounding
box entities were created in level 1. Set levels 10 and 11 to be hidden and open
the Planes Manager.

9. Select the OP1 plane and at the bottom of the manager, press the Select a new
origin for the selected plane button.

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 10. Left click the uppermost corner to move the origin to the corner of the new
bounding box.

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 11. Further changes to the coordinate plane can be made by right clicking OP1 and
selecting Edit. Since no changes are necessary here, click the red Cancel button
to leave the settings as they are.

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 12. Bounding boxes can be moved to a different level. Start by creating a level for
them with level number 2 and name it “Stock Corner”.

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 13. The corner points need to be selected to move them. One way to select them is
to click the Select all points quick mask button on the top half of the plus icon,
but this may select points which are on a different level. To make sure only points
on this the visible levels are selected, click the Select only points button located
at the bottom half of the plus icon and drag a box around all the points on the
screen.

14. Once all the points are selected, right click in the workspace and select the
Change Level button.

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 15. Make sure the Move operation is selected and the Use Active Level option is
enabled. Then click the green OK button.

16. Clear the quick masks by clicking the bottom half of the quick mask button .

17. Double click on OP1. In the Levels Manager, hide all levels except level 1. After
that, right click OP1 and select Save Viewsheet Bookmark.

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 18. Go to the Mill Toolpaths tab and click the Stock Display button so that the stock
is visible on the screen. Note that the machine group corresponds to the physical
material used in the machining operation. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 4-04: Rounding Corners with Fillets

This module will focus on learning to use Mastercam’s fillets and chamfer functions.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. To create a new level, navigate to the bottom of the Levels Manager and type 109
into the Number field. Since this is only a temporary level, don’t bother giving it
a name or level set. In the work area, box select the fixture wireframe geometry.

3. Right-click in an open section of the work area, then click the Change Level
button.

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 4. In the Change Level window, change the Operation type to the Copy option.
Click the green OK button and the Change Levels window. Turn off the visibility
for 108 in the Levels Manager.

5. Navigate to the ribbon’s Wireframe tab. The Modify group has a Fillet Entities
button and a Chamfer Entities button. Either of these two buttons has some
options which will allow you to add a fillet or chamfer to a single entity or to a
chain of entities. Click the Fillet Entities button.

6. In the work area, select one of the horizontal lines in one of the vertical lines. A
preview of the fillet is visible.

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 7. Inside the Fillet Entities function panel, hover over the options in the Method
section to see the tooltip describing the function of each option. Leave the option
set to the Normal option. Right-click inside the Radius field and notice how the
radius can be driven using other parameters inside the drop-down menu. Click
outside the drop-down menu to close it. It is possible to use a diameter to drive
the radius; enter a value of 25.4/2 into the Radius field so that a 25.4 mm
diameter is divided in half to create the radius. Press the [Enter] key and notice
that the radius changes to 12.7 mm. Inside the Fillet Entities function panel, click
the blue OK and Create New Operation button.

8. In the work area, select two more lines to which a fillet will be added. Click the
green OK button to accept the fillet.

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 9. In the Modify group, click the Chamfer Entities button. Inside the work area,
select two lines to which a chamfer will be added. A preview of the chamfer
appears. If the Method option is set to the 1 Distance option, then the chamfer
will be equal on both selected lines.

10. In the Method section, select the 2 Distances option. In the Distance 2 field,
enter a value of 10. The chamfer is no longer equal on the selected lines.

11. In the Method section, select the Distance and angle option. This option allows
you to dictate the distance on one of the lines then select the angle. Leave the
Distance 1 field set to 5 mm, then change the Angle field to 60°. The preview in
the work area will update with new information.

12. In the Method section, select the Width option. In the Width field, enter a value
of 10 mm.

13. In the Method section change the option back to the 1 Distance option. Enter
value of 10 mm in the Distance 1 field, then activate the Trim entities option.
Click the green OK button in the Chamfer Entities function panel.

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 14. In the Arcs group, click the Circle Center Point button. In the work area, hover
your cursor near the upper left corner of the fixture’s wireframe geometry then
press the [O] key on the keyboard. An icon will appear to indicate the location of
the origin and your circle can snap to this point. Draw a circle with its center point
at the origin.

15. Navigate to the View tab and click the Show Axes button inside the Display
group. The circle you drew in step 14 has snapped to the 0,0 location on the X
and Y axes. Click the Show Axes button to turn off the visibility of the axes.

16. The center point of an arc can also be used to anchor a circle. Draw a circle using
the center point of one of the corner fillets

17. An alternate way to easily select arc centers is to change the AutoCursor to the
Arc Center option. Activating this option allows you to click on the fillet to place
the center of the circle at the center of the fillet’s arc.

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 18. Inside the Circle Center Point function panel, add a value of 5 mm into the
Radius field. Click the lock icon next to the Radius field. This will ensure that all
the circles you draw have a 5 mm radius. Press the lock icon again to unlock the
values.

19. In the Method section, activate the Tangent option. This option allows you to
ensure that your circles have tangency with another entity of your choice. Click
the green OK button in the Circle Center Point function panel.

20. Since this was only an exercise to learn some of Mastercam’s tools, box select all
the entities on level 109, then press the [Delete] key. Make level 106 the active
level, then select level 109. Right-click it, then choose the Clear empty levels>
Selected option. Level 109 is now deleted. Turn off the visibility for level 108.

21. On level 106, select all the entities then delete them.

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 22. Make level 108 visible, then select all the entities on that level. Right-click in an
open section of the work area, then click the Change Level button. In the in the
Change Levels window, activate the Move option. Click the green OK button.
Now that level 108 is empty, clear this empty level using the process described in
step 20. Turn on the visibility for level 107. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 4-05: The Creation of a Solid Body

Solid geometry needs to be created to represent the fixture which will hold the chain
guard part. This module will begin creating that geometry.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Make sure that level 101 is the active level and is visible. This is the level on which
the solid geometry will be created. Navigate to the Solids tab, then click the
Extrude button inside the Create group. The Wireframe Chaining function
panel appears. Click on the square in the work area. Click the green OK button
inside the Wireframe Chaining function panel.

3. In the work area, notice that Mastercam has extruded the geometry upwards.
Select the blue Z axis arrow and drag it downwards so that the geometry is
extruded downwards. In the dimension field, enter a value of -25 so that the
extrusion is 25 mm tall. Investigate the options inside the Advanced tab inside
the Solid Extrude function panel, but don’t make any changes. Click the green
OK button and the Solid Extrude function panel.

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 4. Navigate to the Solids Manager. Expand the Solid category. Click on Extrude and
notice that the body in the work area is highlighted. The parametric history of
this solid’s features will be recorded in this location.

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 5. Right-click on Extrude and select Edit Parameters from the drop-down menu.
This will reopen the Solid Extrude function panel and allow you to change any of
the parameters. Make any changes necessary, then click the green OK button to
accept the changes.

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 6. Navigate back to Levels Manager and make level 106 the active level. Right-click
in an open section of the work area, then click the Clear Colors button to
deselect the solid geometry. The body will remain highlighted yellow. Navigate
back to the Solids Manager. The body is still highlighted because Extrude is still
selected in the Solids Manager. Click on the Solid category to select it, then
minimize the Solid category. The solid geometry is no longer highlighted.

7. Inside the Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for level 101. Go to a top view. A
position needs to be created for a probe to locate the G54 coordinate. Navigate
back to the Wireframe tab, then click the Circle Center Point button inside the
Arcs group. Hold down the [Shift] key, then click on the upper left point. Holding
the [Shift] key allows you to create geometry relative to the selection.

8. Click on the red X axis. In the distance field, enter a value of 25 mm. Press the
[Enter] key twice.

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 9. Click on the green Y axis. In the distance field, enter value of -25 mm. Press the
[Enter] key twice. Press the [Enter] key a third time to return to the circle tool.

10. Inside the Circle Center Point function panel, enter a value of 30 mm into the
Diameter field. Click the green OK button. A 30 mm circle is created 25 mm down
from the top line and 25 mm over from the left point. This will be the G54 location
when the chain guard part is being programmed.

11. Make level 101 visible and make it the active layer. Navigate back to the Solids
tab, then click the Extrude button in the Create group. Select the circle you drew
in step 10, then click the green OK button inside the Wireframe Chaining
function panel. Inside the Solid Extrude function panel, change the Type to the
Cut body option. In the Distance field, enter value of 12 mm. Click the green OK
button inside the Solid Extrude function panel. The geometry has cut a 12 mm
cylinder into the fixture.

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 12. Turn on the visibility for level 10. Some additional geometry needs to be added to
the fixture so that the part is properly located and supported. Go to a top view of
the part. Turn on the visibility for level 107 so the silhouette boundary geometry
can be used to create supporting geometry on the fixture. Make sure level 106 is
the active level. Navigate to the Wireframe tab, then click the Circle Center
Point button in the Arcs group. In the Diameter field, enter value of 16 mm then
click the lock icon beside the Diameter field.

13. Set the AutoCursor to the Arc Center option. Click the lock icon next to the
AutoCursor so that the Arc Center option is persistent.

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 14. Place one circle at both of the fastener bosses in the silhouette boundary
geometry.

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 15. Also place a circle at the arc center of the large arc in the chain guard silhouette
geometry.

16. Lastly, a circle needs to be placed inside the pocket of the chain guard’s upper
arm. Click the lock icon next to the AutoCursor inside the Selection Bar, then
reset the cursor to the AutoCursor option. Hold down the [Shift] key, then click
on the upper left corner of the fixture.

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 17. Click on the red X axis and enter a value of 110 mm into the Distance field, then
press the [Enter] key twice. Click on the green Y axis and enter a value of -55 mm,
then press the [Enter] key twice. Press the [Enter] key, then press the green OK
button inside the Circle Center Point function panel.

18. Turn off the visibility for level 107. The four 16 mm holes are visible on the top of
the part.

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 19. Navigate back to the Solids tab. Make sure level 101 is the active level. Click the
Extrude button, then select the circle you drew in step 15. Click the green OK
button inside the Wireframe Chaining function panel. Make sure the Type
option is set to the Cut body option. Pull the blue Z axis arrow downwards so
that the geometry is cut all the way through the part. In the Distance section,
select the Through all option. Click the green OK button in the Solid Extrude
function panel.

20. Navigate to an isometric view, then save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-06: Projecting Geometry

Locating features need to be added to the fixture so that the part does not chatter during
the machining process. This module will use the Project tool to make one of these
locating features.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. In the Levels Manager, make sure level 106 is active and visible. Turn off the
visibility for level 101 and turn on the visibility for level 10. Rotate the chain guard
part to the bottom and notice that the pocket on the chain guard’s bottom is not
represented in the silhouette boundary. A locating feature that interacts with this
pocket needs to be added to the fixture.

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 3. Navigate to the Wireframe tab, then click the Project button inside the Modify
group. In the work area, select the edges that describes the pocket. The fillets of
the pocket do not need to be selected. Click the End Selection button in the work
area. Click the green OK button in the Project function panel to accept the
default values.

4. Turn off the visibility for level 102 reveal the projected geometry. Click the Clear
Colors button or press the [Esc] key to deselect the projected geometry.

5. In the Modify group, click the Trim to Entities button. In the Trim to Entities
function panel, set the entity type to the Trim option. Use the Trim to Entities
tool to extend the lines so the profile is closed. Click the green OK button in the
Trim to Entities function panel.

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 6. In the Modify group, click the Fillet Entities button. Enter a value of 17 mm into
the Radius field, then add a 17 mm radius to the two corners you completed in
step 5. Click the green OK button inside the Fillet Entities function panel.

7. Navigate to the Home tab, then click the Analyze Entity button inside the
Analyze group. Go to a top view. In the work area, select the right arc on the new
geometry.

8. The Arc Properties function panel opens and indicates that the radius of the art
is 16 mm. This is the exact radius of the projected geometry. This radius needs to
be adjusted so that this locating boss is not a precise fit for the pocket into which
it will project. Click the green OK button inside the Arc Properties function panel.

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 9. Select the arc you just measured, then press the [Delete] key to delete it.
Navigate to the Wireframe tab, then click the Fillet Entities button inside the
Modify group. Select the two straight lines of the projected geometry to add a 17
mm radius. This radius will not reach all the way to the end of the pocket. This is
okay because there are three other faces on the new geometry that will contact
the pocket. Click the green OK button inside the Fillet Entities function panel.

10. In the Levels Manager, make level 101 visible and active. Navigate to the Solids
tab and click the Extrude button inside the Create group. Select the new
geometry then click the green OK button inside the Wireframe Chaining
function panel.

11. Inside the Solid Extrude function panel, change the type to the Add boss option.
Enter a value of 6 mm into the Distance field, then click the green OK button. The
new geometry is used to create an extruded feature.

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 12. In the Levels Manager, make level 10 visible and turn off the visibility for level
101. The projected geometry contacts three walls in the chain guard’s pocket.
The extrusion does not project up high enough to interfere with the fillet feature
inside the pocket. Turn off the visibility for level 10, then make level 101 visible
and make sure it is the active level. Go to an isometric view of the fixture. Save
the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-07: Creating Holding Features

More features need to be added to the fixture block to keep the chain guard part from
chattering during the machining process.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Additional geometry needs to be added to the fixture to help locate and support
the chain guard part. Make level 106 the active level, then navigate to the
Wireframe tab and click the Rectangle button inside the Shapes group. Inside
the Rectangle function panel, enter a value of 30 mm into the Width field and a
value of 100 mm into the Height field. Click the lock icon next to these fields so
that the rectangle will be forced to have these dimensions.

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 3. Select the point in the lower left corner of the fixture to anchor the 30 mm x 100
mm rectangle. Click the green OK button inside the Rectangle function panel.
The geometry needed to create the extrusion is now complete.

4. Make level 10 visible again. Navigate to the Solids tab and click the Extrude
button inside the Create group. Select the entire outside perimeter of the
rectangle you just drew, then click the green OK button inside the Wireframe
Chaining function panel.

5. The geometry is extruded upwards 15.5 mm, but it is uncertain whether this is
the correct height for this extrusion. Select the blue Z axis arrow and drag the
extrusion downward so there is a gap between the extrusion and the chain guard
part.

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 6. In the Solid Extrude function panel’s Distance section, click the AutoCursor
button.

7. Select a point on the bottom of the chain guard part up to which the geometry
should extrude. Click the green OK button inside the Solid Extrude function
panel. The extrusion is now guaranteed to be extruded up to the bottom of the
chain guard part

8. This extrusion was accidentally created on level 106, so it needs to be moved to

level 101. Activate level 101, then select the extrusion. Right-click in an open
section of the work area, then click the Change Level button. Change the
Operation type to the Move option. Make sure the Use Active Level option is
checked, then click the green OK button. The extrusion is moved to level 101 as
indicated by the two entities on this level.

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 9. In the Create group, click the Boolean button. First select the main fixture body
as the target body. Inside the Boolean function panel, click the Add Selection
button in the Tool Bodies area.

10. In the work area, select the new extrusion. Click the green OK button in the Solid
Selection function panel.

11. In the Boolean function panel, set the type to the Add option. Click the green OK
button. The two bodies have joined to become one body. Hide level 106 to verify
this.

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 12. Make level 106 visible again, then hide level 101. Click the Extrude button in the
Create group, then select the two holes that should pass through the new
extrusion. Click the green OK button in the Wireframe Chaining function panel.

13. Navigate back to the Levels Manager and make level 101 visible again. Navigate
back to the Solid Extrude function panel, change the type to the Cut body
option, then activate the Both directions option. Activate the Through all
option, then click the green OK button. The holes now pass through the entire
fixture.

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 14. Fillets need to be added to the corners of the new extrusion. In the Solids tab,
click the Constant Fillet button inside the Modify group. In the Solid Selection
function panel, make sure the Edge button is selected.

15. In the work area, select the three edges of the extrusion that do not line up with
the corner edge of the fixture block. Click the green OK button in the Solid
Selection function panel. Inside the Constant Radius Fillet function panel, enter
a value of 5 mm into the Radius field. Click the green OK button.

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 16. Make level 107 visible. Some of the geometry from the silhouette boundary will
be used to create a locating feature which will fit inside the cavity in one of the
arms. Make level 106 the active level. Hold the [Shift] key and select the
perimeter of the pocket inside the arm.

17. Right-click in an open section of the work area, then click the Change Level
button. In the change levels function panel, change the Operation type to the
Copy option. Click the green OK button. Turn off the visibility for level 107 and
notice that the geometry has been copied to level 106.

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 18. Click the Extrude button and select the new geometry. Click the green OK button
in the Wireframe Chaining function panel. In the Solid Extrude function panel,
change the type to the Add boss option. Enter a value of 14.5 mm into the
Distance field. Deactivate the Both directions option. Click the green OK button
in the Solid Extrude function panel.

19. Make level 106 the only visible layer. Click the Extrude button and select the circle
inside of the geometry for the new extrusion. Click the green OK button in the
Wireframe Chaining function panel.

20. Navigate back to the Levels Manager, then make level 101 visible again. Return to
the Solid Extrude function panel. Change the type to the Cut body option.
Activate the Through all option and the Both directions option. Click the green
OK button. The hole now passes through the entire fixture block. The current
extrusion has the exact same dimensions as the pocket in the chain guard part.
This is not ideal which means the extrusion needs to be modified. Go to an
isometric view, then save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-08: Direct Editing and History

Another feature needs to be added to the fixture to help locate the chain guard part. This
time, Model Prep tools will be used to create the feature.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. The current file has a history associated with it. Navigate to the Solids Manager
and notice all the parameters that can be retroactively changed. To edit a
parameter, select the desired parameter, right click it, then choose the Edit
Parameters option from the drop-down menu. Not every Mastercam file will
have this history; if a model is imported or if any of the Model Prep tools are
used, the history will be removed. To gain experience in this scenario, the history
for this fixture will be deleted.

3. Navigate to the Model Prep tab. In the Solids Manager, select the Solid then click
the Remove History button in the Modify group. Make sure the fixture body is
selected in the work area, then click the End Selection button. The history for the
solid is now missing.

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 4. Right-click on Solid and rename the body as “Guard Fixture”. Since no history
exists, any changes to the body will need to be made using the Model Prep tools.
Navigate back to the Levels Manager and make sure that level 101 is visible and
active. In the Modify group, click the Remove Fillets button.

5. Select one of the fillets on the fixture block’s rectangular extrusion. Click the
green OK button inside the Remove Solid Fillets function panel. The fillet is
removed, and the corner reverts back to a sharp configuration. Press [Ctrl+Z] to
undo this command.

6. In the Modify group, click the Modify Fillet button. Select one of the fillets on the
extrusion that will project into the chain guard’s pocket.

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 7. A dialog box will appear to warn you that the selected body has operations in the
history tree. Click the Remove history button so that you can modify the fillet.

8. Select the second fillet on the extrusion so that it also gets modified.

9. Inside the Modify Solid Fillets function panel, add a value of 17 mm to the
Radius field. Click the green OK button to accept this value.

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 10. In the Modify group, click the Remove Fillets button. In the work area, select all
the smaller faces on the other end of the extrusion.

11. A dialog box appears to warn you that Mastercam cannot calculate the result.
Click the OK button to accept this. The geometry of the extrusion has many small
faces because it was created using the silhouette boundary function.

12. In the Modify group, click the Remove Faces button. Select all the faces on that
end of the extrusion. Click the green OK button in the Solid Selection function
panel.

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 13. Inside the Remove Faces function panel, review the options in the Original solid
section. Any of these options will convert the fixture’s solid body into a surface
body. Click the red Cancel button.

14. In the Levels Manager, make level 106 visible and active, then hide level 101.
Navigate to a top view then go into the Wireframe tab. Click the Line Endpoints
button inside the Lines group. Draw a line through the extrusion geometry, then
click the green OK button inside the Line Endpoints function panel.

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 15. Use the Trim to Entities tool to make sure the line intersects the extrusion
geometry. The new line should begin on one line of the geometry and end on the
other line.

16. In the Modify group, click the Break Two Pieces button. First, select the line of
the extrusion geometry that you want to break. Next, select the point where the
new line intersects it. The original line is now split where the new line intersects
it. Repeat this process for the extrusion geometry’s other line. Press the [Esc] key
when you are finished.

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 17. Navigate back to the Solids tab, then click the Extrude button. Select all the line
segments describing the geometry that needs to be removed, then click the
green OK button inside the Wireframe Chaining function panel.

18. Notice that Mastercam is treating the selection as an open profile. Press the red
Cancel button inside the Solid Extrude function panel.

19. Select the geometry that does not need to be referenced for this operation, then
press the [Delete] key to delete it.

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 20. Click the Extrude button and reselect the full perimeter of the extrusion
geometry. Click the green OK button inside the Wireframe Chaining function
panel. Navigate back to the Levels Manager and make level 101 visible and active.
Return to the Solid Extrude function panel. Change the Operation type to the
Cut body option, then activate the Through all option. Click the green OK button
in the Solid Extrude function panel and noticed that the extra geometry on the
extrusion has been removed.

21. Click the Constant Fillet button inside the Modify group. In the Solid Selection
function panel, click the Edge button. Select the two sharp corners created by the
material removed in step 20. Click the green OK button inside the Solid Selection
function panel. In the Constant Radius Fillet function panel, at a value of 17 mm
into the Radius field. Click the green OK button.

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 22. Make level 10 visible so that you can see the interaction between the locating
feature and the chain guard part. The feature contacts the pocket on three
different faces. Turn off the visibility for level 106, go to an isometric view, save
the file, and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-09: Moving, Translating, and
Disassembling

The bodies inside the file can be moved, translated, or disassembled. This module will go
through the steps to practice these actions.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Make sure that level 10 and 101 are visible. Make level 101 the active level.
Navigate to the Model Prep tab, then click the Disassemble button inside the
Layout group. The current file doesn’t need to be disassembled because the
chain guard is only one piece, but it is useful to know how this tool works. In the
work area, select both the chain guard part and the fixture block. A preview of
some bounding boxes appears on the screen.

3. These bounding boxes are oriented based on the origin. In the Automatic
Placement section of the Disassemble function panel, change the Direction
field to the Y+ option. The bounding boxes will adjust to a new location.
Investigate the options inside the Disassemble function panel but leave the
default values. Click the green OK button.

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 4. Because the Move to Levels option was active and a value of 100 was entered
into the Base field, the bodies were copied and put onto new levels created in the
Levels Manager.

5. In the Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for levels 10 and 101. Make level
1000 the active level. Mastercam selects the largest face of each object to align
with the placement plane. This is not an ideal orientation which means the parts
need to be reoriented.

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 6. Inside the Layout group, click the Align to Face button. Inside the Align to Face
function panel, change the operation method to the Copy option. The first
selection needs to be a face on the solid that needs to be moved. Select the face
on the chain guard part.

7. The next selection needs to be the reference point of the destination. Select the
large face on the bottom of the fixture block.

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 8. The body has been copied and repositioned so that the two faces are coincident.
The gnomon can be used to move the body to the desired position. Practice
moving the part, then click the red Cancel button inside the Align to Face
function panel because the two parts are not in the correct orientation relative to
each other.

9. Navigate to the Transform tab. Investigate each of the options by hovering over
them and reading the tooltips. When you are finished, click the Dynamic button
inside the Position group. First, select the chain guard part in the work area, then
click the End Selection button. The gnomon will appear but only has two axes
because the construction mode is currently set to 2D. Chang the construction
mode to 3D by clicking the 2D button in the Status Bar at the bottom of the
screen. The gnomon will add a third axis.

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 10. Snap the center of the gnomon to the edge of the chain guard part by clicking on
the edge of the part. Notice that the gnomon is not quite aligned with the body.

11. To align the gnomon to the part geometry, click the icon next to the gnomon.
Next, click on the X axis arrow hat.

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 12. Once the gnomon is in a position you like, click the line to cement the position.
After you are finished aligning the gnomon, click on the icon. This will allow you
to move the body around rather than repositioning the coordinate system.

13. The part needs to be rotated 180°. Left click on the gnomon’s red arc section,
then rotate the part 180°. Hit the [Enter] key twice.

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 14. Click on the gnomon’s Y axis and drag the part off the fixture block. The chain
guard part is now closer to being in an appropriate position for being mounted
to the fixture block because the correct side is facing upwards. More can be done
to align these two parts together but click the green OK button inside the
Dynamic function panel to end the Dynamic operation.

15. In the Position group, click the Translate button. Select the chain guard part
then click the End Selection button in the work area. The gnomon appears on
the screen.

16. Click on the icon beside the gnomon to toggle between translation and rotation
modes.

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 17. Left click on the gray ball in the center of the gnomon and place the gnomon on
the bottom of the part.

18. Left click on the gnomon’s blue Z axis; this will allow you to adjust the height of
the part. Select the bottom edge of the fixture block. The gnomon will adjust to
the height of the bottom edge of the fixture block. Navigate to a front view and
notice that the two are perfectly aligned. Click the green OK button in the
Translate function panel. Press the [Esc] key to deselect the geometry.

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 19. Another useful feature is the mirror feature. In the Position group, click the
Mirror button. Select the chain guard part then click the End Selection button in
the work area. Inside the Mirror function panel, make sure the method is set to
the Copy option. Mastercam needs to know on which plane the part should be
mirrored. It can be mirrored along the X axis, the Y axis, a custom angle, or a
specified vector. In the Axis section, activate the Vector option. Click the mouse
cursor button next to the Vector option, then select two points on the chain
guard part in the work area.

20. The new body will mirror across the specified vector. Click the red Cancel button
inside the Mirror function panel because the second mirrored body is not
needed. The Transform tab has many tools available for manipulating your
geometry. These tools will not only work on solid bodies, they will also work on
wireframe entities.

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 21. Make level 10 and 101 visible. Turn off the visibility for a level 1000 and 1001.
Make level 101 the active level. Go to an isometric view, save the file, then
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 4-10: Process Planning

Adding color to specific features on your part can help you efficiently recognize the
sequence of operations and help you efficiently select geometry.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Inside Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for level 10. The faces of the
individual features can be color to indicate the sequence in which they will be
machined. Navigate to the Model Prep tab and click the Change Face button
inside the Color group.

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 3. Inside the Modify Solid Face Color function panel, click the Select Color button.

4. From the Colors window, select the orange color 176. Click the green OK button
inside the Colors window.

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 5. Choose the top face of the rectangular boss to which the color should be
applied, then click the green OK button inside the Modify Solid Face Color
function panel. This color will indicate a facing operation.

6. Inside the Color group, click the Change Face button. Inside the Modify Solid
Face Color function panel, click the Select Color button and choose the purple
color 178. Click the green OK button inside the Colors window. Select the large
face of the fixture, then click the green OK button inside the Modify Solid Face
Color function panel. This purple color will indicate a secondary operation. This
process can be repeated to color code the rest of the part. Features, faces, and
areas can all be color coded. Color coding your part does two things. First, it
allows you to visually identify the sequence that features are machined in and the
types of operations used to machine those features. Second, it allows you to use
masking options for selecting only specific types of geometry on complex parts.
Save the file continue to next lesson.

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 Lesson 5-01: Convert an Imported Surface to a
Solid

When importing models from other formats, artifacts can remain from the old format;
these artifacts may cause issues later. This module will walk through the steps to identify if
an imported model is a surface body and how to convert the surface body into a solid
body.

1. Open the supplied file “Chain Guard-Import.mcam”.

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 2. After the import, the model needs to be checked to determine if it is a surface or
a solid. To do this, click part of the model. If the model is a solid, the entire model
will be selected. Since this model is a surface, only a single face is selected.

3. An alternate way to check that the model is a surface is to click the model and
check the ribbon. If the model is a surface, the Surfaces Selection contextual
tools tab will be open.

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 4. To deselect the model, press the [Escape] key on the keyboard or right click in an
open area of the screen and select the Clear Colors button.

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 5. Since the model is a surface, it will need to be converted to a solid to avoid future
issues. To begin, mouse over the Solids tab and select the Create group’s From
Surfaces button. Left click and drag a box to select the entire model. Once the
entire model is highlighted, release the left mouse button then press the End
Selection button.

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 6. In the From Surfaces dialog box, select the Delete option and press the green
OK button. This will remove the old surfaces and replace them with a solid
representing the same model.

7. The model should now be a solid body. To confirm this, select the Solids Manager
tab. The body should appear in the Solids Manager and clicking the model will
select the entire body. Once selected, the Solids Selection contextual tab will
appear on the ribbon.

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 8. Deselect the model by pressing [Escape] or by right clicking and pressing the
Clear Colors button. Save the model as a .mcam file, then continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 5-01: Introduction to Wireframe Chaining

Understanding the Chaining Manager is a fundamental part of working efficiently in

Mastercam. This module will cover the basics of wireframe chaining.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Intro to Chaining.mcam”.

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 2. A chain is used for generating surfaces, solids, or toolpaths. It can also be used
for certain operations like transform or analyze. A chain will consist of one or
more entities linked together. The chaining dialogue is the main way of
interacting with and capturing the information. Navigate to the Levels Manager
and make level 10 visible. Go to the Solids tab, then create the Extrude button
inside the Create group. The Wireframe Chaining function panel will open.

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 3. Notice the Solid mode option is grayed out and not selectable. This is because
extrudes need to begin with planar wireframe geometry. Below the mode
options are the Cplane and 3D options. The Cplane option restricts the chains to
only those parallel to the current construction plane. These will be at the same Z
depth as the first entity selected. The 3D option will chain any entities that are
coplanar or non-planar in X, Y, and Z simultaneously.

4. The next section down is the Selection Method section. The first option in this
section is the Chain option. This allows you to create a chain by clicking on an
entity.

5. Select the Chain option then click on one side of the rectangular wireframe
geometry in the work area. Notice that all four sides are selected at the same
time. Click the Unselect button in the Selection section.

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 6. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Partial option. This
option allows you to create a partial chain with two mouse clicks. Select the
Partial option.

7. Click on one of the entities describing the slot-shaped wireframe geometry, then
click on a different entity. The first entity you clicked on is the beginning of the
chain as indicated by the green arrow. The second entity you clicked on is the end
of the chain as indicated by the red arrow. The line entities before the start and
after the finish will not be part of the partial chain. Click the Unselect button in
the Selection section.

8. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Window option. This
option allows you to select multiple chains simply by drawing a window around
them. Select the Window option.

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 9. In the work area, draw a window around all of the wireframe geometry by
clicking in one part of the work area and dragging to another part of the work
area. The wireframe geometry that falls inside the window selection will be
selected. Click the Unselect button in the Selection section.

10. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Polygon option. This
option is similar to the Window option except that the selection window is a an
irregular polygon instead of a rectangle. Select the Polygon option.

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 11. In the work area, begin drawing the polygon shape by clicking in multiple parts
of the work area. Draw the polygon so it selects one of the wireframe geometries
but not the other. Press the [Enter] key to end the polygon. The wireframe
geometry inside the polygon is selected. Click the Unselect button inside the
Selection section.

12. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Point option. This option
allows you to collect points that are chained entities. This is typically used for
things like plunging or moving to a point.

13. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Area option. With one
click, this option selects all chains within a closed boundary.

14. The next option the Selection Method section is the Single option. This option
allows you to create a chain from a single line, arc, or spline. Select the Single
option.

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 15. In the work area, click on one of the wireframe geometries’ line entities. A green
arrow appears to indicate the beginning of the chain and the red arrow indicates
the end of the chain. Click the Unselect button in the Selection section.

16. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Vector option. This allows
you to create a chain from entities that intersect a vector that you draw. Select
the Vector option.

17. In the work area, click to draw a line that intersects the wireframe geometry.
Press the [Enter] key. Any wireframe entities intersected by the vector will be
selected. Click the Unselect button in the Selection section.

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 18. The next item in the Selection Method section is a drop-down menu. These are
available with certain options like the Window option. The In option allows you
to grab anything inside of the window. The Out option allows you to grab
anything outside of the window you draw. The In + option allows you to grab any
geometry inside the window as well as any geometry intersecting the edge of the
window; the geometry does not need to be fully inside of the window to be
selected. The Out + option is similar to the In + option except it allows you to
grab any geometry outside the window as well as any geometry intersecting into
the window. The Intersect option allows you to grab any geometry that
intersects the selection window you draw.

19. The Selection section has useful options such as the Last option, the Chain
Similar option, and the End chain option.

20. Select the Partial option in the Selection Method section. Select two entities in
the work area to define the partial chain. The Branches section options inside the
Wireframe Chaining function panel become selectable. Click the Previous
button. This allows you to change the direction during the chaining process. A
new second entity can be selected so that the direction of the chain is reversed.
Click the Unselect button inside the Selection section if you selected any
geometry.

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 21. The Start/End section is at the bottom of the Wireframe Chaining function
panel. The options in this section allow you to do things like adjust the starting
and ending points of a chain. The Dynamic option allows you to move the start
and end points without resetting.

22. Make sure the Partial option is still selected. Select one of the straight lines of
the slot wireframe geometry, then select the other straight line.

23. Click the Dynamic option in the Start/End section. Hover your cursor over one of
the line segments and notice that certain points are selectable for adjusting the
start or end of the chain. This keeps you from having to break up the wire entity
to achieve the chain you want. Click the green OK button and the Wireframe
Chaining function panel. Press the red Cancel button in the Solid Extrude
function panel, then continue to the next module.

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 L5-02 - Simplify a Models Geometry

This module will cover ways to simplify a model including using the optimize tool which
can help make the model easier to machine.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Since this is an imported model, some aspects of the model may still have
redundant faces or other problems that make it difficult to work with. To start
fixing this, go to the Model Prep tab and click the Simplify Solid button. In the
dropdown menu, select the Simplify Solid option.

3. Ensure that the Solid Selection is set to Body, then click the model. This should
highlight the entire body. Once this is done, click the green OK button. In this
case, it creates a notification that the solid does not need to be simplified. Click
the green OK button to close the notification.

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 4. Click the Simplify Solid button again and this time select the Optimize option in
the menu. Select the entire body as before and click OK. This highlights several
faces and creates a notification that many optimizations were made. Click the OK
button to close the notification.

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 5. Click the Simplify Solid button again and select Repair Small Faces. Left click the
top surface of the model to select it.

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 6. In the results section of the Repair Small Faces Manager, it indicates that no
changes need to be made. Click the green OK button to close the manager.

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 7. To try one more way to fix potential issues with the file, click the ribbon’s File tab
to open the backstage view and click the Repair File button.

8. A dialog box opens giving the option to delete duplicate faces. In this case, click
Yes. This helps to remove unnecessary data from the file and reduces the
memory usage on the computer. In this case, it creates a notification that the file
did not need to be changed. However, this is a good option to use when opening
an old Mastercam file. Press OK, then click the back arrow on the top left of the
screen to close the backstage view.

9. For this file, there are some other issues that need to be addressed to make
machining easier. Currently, the file has different sized fillets. To check the fillet
sizes, open the Home tab and select Analyze Entity

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 10. First zoom in on the top part of the model, and select the arc going across one of
the fillets as shown in the picture below.

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 11. The radius for this part is 0.0787 as displayed below the Z coordinate in the
properties.

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 12. Zoom into a lower part of the model. Select the fillet in the picture as before. The
desired fillet is on the bottom of the image. This fillet has the same radius.

13. Next, select the fillet under the cursor on the lower right side of the image. Note
that the radius of this fillet is 0.0987 which is different from the others. Click the
red Cancel button in the Arc Edge Properties window.

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 14. In this model, the fillets are purely cosmetic and can be removed. To begin, go to
the Model Prep tab and select Remove Fillets. Click on the fillets to select them.
Note that holding [Shift] on the keyboard while clicking selects all adjacent fillets.
Select all the fillets shown in the image below.

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 15. Note that the fillets roll into the corners on both sides, and these corners need to
be selected as well. Select the corners as shown in the image. Make sure to also
selected the corners on the other side of the fillets. A total of four corners should
be selected at the end of this step.

16. Now that these fillets are selected, press the blue OK and Create New
Operation button. The selected fillets will disappear and leave square corners.
Since the model will be cut with a ball end mill, there will be a radius on the final
part. Removing these fillets makes the model simpler to work with.

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 17. Several fillets can be selected at once by holding [Ctrl] on the keyboard. This
selects all fillets of the same radius. Hold [Ctrl] and click the fillet shown in the
image below.

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 18. Note that some of the exterior’s corners are filleted. These do not need to be
removed. Be sure to deselect the outer edges. A total of two edges need to be
deselected.

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 19. Click the OK button to remove all the selected fillets. Note that a few fillets were
missed. Click Remove Fillets again and use [Shift] to select the fillets show
below. Then press OK.

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 20. Notice that the top fillet on the top part of the model remains. This fillet is going
to be removed manually. To begin, open the Planes Manager and make sure that
in the work coordinate system the Z axis points up.

21. Either in the Home tab or in the right click context menu, change the
construction mode to 2D.

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 22. The Z depth needs to be set to match the lower portion of the top fillet. Go to the
Home tab and click the Set Z Depth field in the Organize Group. In the
dropdown menu, select the Z = Z coordinate of a point option.

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 23. Click the corner of the fillet as shown below.

24. Right click in the workspace and press the Top (WCS) button to go to the top
view.

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 25. Open the Wireframe tab and click the Curve One Edge button.

26. Zoom in and click the edge shown below.

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 27. Also select the edge shown below.

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 28. The second line selected does not appear to be selected at first because the
wireframe created is buried in the model. Rotating the camera to the side makes
the line visible. Click the green OK button to close the Curve On One Edge control
panel.

29. Click the Line Endpoints button in the Lines Group in the Wireframe tab.

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 30. Click on the ends of the two blue lines that were created previously to connect
them.

31. Pan over to the other side of the lines and connect them as well. The click the
green OK button.

32. Go to the Solids tab and press the Extrude button in the Create Group.

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 33. Left click the wireframe that was created. Then, press the OK button.

34. In the Solid Extrude Manager make sure the Type: option is set to Cut body. Click
the Distance field and select the L = Length of an entity option and select the
edge shown in the image below.

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 35. To clean up the model, select the wireframe chain and press the [Delete] key on
the keyboard and click Delete all selected entities.

36. Since the wireframe is a referenced entity it creates a warning in the Solids
Manager. This warning can be removed by going to the Model Prep tab and
pressing the Remove History button. Make sure the entire solid is selected and
press End Selection. Once this is done, the warning disappears. Save the file and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 5-02: Introduction to Solid Chaining

This module covers the Chaining Manager. This time, the solids mode in the Chaining
Manager will be described in detail.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the Levels Manager, turn off the visibility for level 10. Navigate back to the
Toolpaths Manager. Go to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab, then click the
Contour button in the 2D group. The Solid Chaining function panel will appear.
The Solids option is automatically selected in the Mode section. The Face mode
will allow you to select loops on a solid model. The 3D option allows you to select
loops on a solid model, but these loops do not need to be planar. Set the mode to
the 3D option.

3. The first option in the Selection Method section is the Edges option. This option
will allow you to create edge chains. If you hold down the [Shift] key while
selecting edges, it will allow you to select tangent solid edges. Select the Edges
option and make sure the other options in the Selection Method section are
deselected.

4. Select one of the straight edges on the extruded slot geometry in the work area.
Similar to the wireframe chaining, the green arrow indicates the beginning of the
chain and the red arrow indicates the end of the chain. The blue arrow, however,
indicates a branch direction. Click the blue arrow to change the chain direction.

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 5. Continue to select the geometry on the side of the extruded slot. Use the blue
arrow to change the branch direction as necessary. When you are done, click the
Unselect button in the Selection section.

6. Holding the [Shift] key allows you to select tangent edges. Select the same
beginning edge as before except this time hold the [Shift] key while you select it
The edge loop on top of the extrusion is fully selected with one click. The branch
points are skipped because they do not have tangency with the other geometry.
There are no potential branch changes so the blue arrow is not visible. Click the
Unselect button in the Selection section.

7. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Loop option. This option
will always try to grab an entire loop. Select the Loop option.

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 8. In the work area, select the edge of the rectangular extrusion and notice the
entire loop is selected even though the edges are not tangent with one another.

9. If this was not the edge you intended select, click the Other face button in the
Pick Reference Face window. This will cycle through the other available faces.
When the face you want to select is highlighted, click the green OK button. When
you are done, click the Unselect button in the section.

10. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Face option. This option
will generate a loop based on the face you select. Select the Face option.

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 11. In the work area, select the recessed square face on the corner of the part. Notice
the full perimeter of the face is selected. Select the large top face of the part.
Notice that not only the perimeter is selected, but the edges around the interior
features are also selected. Click the Unselect button twice to remove both
selections.

12. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Partial loop option. This
option allows you to create open chains from loops using two mouse clicks.
Activate the Partial loop option and deselect the Face option.

13. In the work area, select one of the straight edges on the slot extrusion, then
select the other straight edge. Only the line entities in between the start and the
end are selected. Click the Unselect button.

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 14. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Open Edges option. This
allows you to perform chains from open edges in the outer loop of selected face.

15. The next option in the Selection Method section is the Outer edges option. This
option will create a single loop chain from the external edges of a solid face.
Deselect any other options, then select the Outer edges option.

16. In the work area, click on the top main face of the part. Notice that the
perimeters of the internal features are not represented in the loop. This is the
main difference from the Face option. Click the Unselect button.

17. The next option is the Cavities option. This option will select all the cavities
present on a face and the loop will be counterclockwise by default. Select the
Cavities option.

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 18. In the work area, click on the main face of the part. Notice that only the enclosed
cavity is selected, and the direction of the loop is counterclockwise. Click the
Unselect button.

19. The last option is the Bosses option. This option will select the loops around all
the bosses on a face. The direction of the loops will be clockwise. Select the
Bosses option.

20. Select the main face of the part and notice that the loops around the bosses are
selected. The direction of the loops is clockwise. Press the Unselect button. Click
the red Cancel button inside the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 21. When asked if you want to keep the current operation, click the No button.

22. In the 2D group, click the Dynamic Mill button. Notice that the chaining options
look slightly different. Click on the mouse cursor button in the Machining
regions section. This action opens the Solid Chaining function panel described
earlier in this module.

23. In the Selection Method section, click the Face option. Select the main face of
the part, then click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.
This creates the machining region. The Chain Options function panel also has
options for specifying Avoidance regions, Air regions, Containment regions,
and Entry chains.

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 24. In the Chain Options function panel, click the Preview chains button. Notice
that none of the bosses or cavities are included in the chain.

25. To add the bosses or cavities to the chain, click the Avoidance regions button
inside the Chain Options function panel. In the Selection Method section, click
the Bosses option. Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function
panel.

26. Back inside the Chain Options function panel, click the Preview chains button.
The preview now avoids the bosses. Click the green OK button in the Chain
Options function panel.

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 27. The 2D High Speed Toolpath window will open and the Chain Geometry
function panel appears in the right side of the window. Click the Select
machining chains button in the Machining regions section. This will open the
Chain Manager function panel.

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 28. Inside the Chain Manager function panel, click on the Solid Chain 1 and select
the Edit option. This will open the Solid Chaining function panel. Click the green
OK button and the Solid Chaining function panel, then click the green OK button
in the Chain Manager function panel. Click the red Cancel button to close the 2D
High Speed Toolpath window. When a dialog box appears and asks if you want
to keep the operation, click the No button.

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 29. The information in the chaining managers is contextual; not all the options will
always be visible. Even if the chaining managers look slightly different than you
are used to, much of the functionality is still built in. It is a good idea to play with
the function of the wireframe and solids chaining using this simple file because
the chaining managers will be used throughout the rest of this course.
Understanding the function and knowing the location of the tools will help you
become an efficient user of Mastercam.

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 L5-03 - Use Solids and Model Prep Features

This module will cover some preparation tools such as the use of surfaces on the model to
restrict the rough machining tool from entering open pockets. Additionally, it will cover
different methods to alter a model’s geometry.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In order to add fillets, go to the Solids tab and select Constant Fillet. Change the
selection type so that only Edge is selected.

3. Select the edge shown below. and click the green OK button.

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 4. In the Constant Radius Fillet Manger, selecting Propagate along tangencies
makes the fillet extend along all the tangent edges around the selected edge. On
this model, fillets are not desired. Click the red Cancel button to cancel the
process of adding fillets.

5. One desired change for this model, is to remove the horizontally cutout portion
on the right side of the model. This can be done using the extrude feature that
was mentioned in the last module. For this module, go to the ribbon’s Model
Prep tab and select the Push-Pull tool.

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 6. Select the face highlighted in the image below.

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 7. Click the red arrow and drag to move the face up or down. Placing the mouse
over the ruler snaps the face to specific increments. Additionally, a specific value
can be typed on the keyboard to determine how far the face is pushed or pulled.
Extend the face by 0.75, so the gap is removed. Then press the green OK button.

8. Next, this step covers the process to add surfaces to a level. To begin, open the
Levels Manager. Rename level 1 to “Chain Guard” without quotes and rename
level 20 to “Surfaces” again without quotes. Once this is done, set level 20 as the
active level and make it visible. Hide level 1.

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 9. Currently only one entity is shown in the workspace. Select the line and press the
[Delete] key on the keyboard.

10. Notice that while nothing appears on screen, the Levels Manager still shows that
263 entities exist on level 20. Go to the Home tab and click Blank. Select Unblank
in the dropdown menu.

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 11. All the blanked objects in the file should appear in the workspace. Box select
everything and press End Selection.

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 12. All the blanked geometry should now be visible as shown in the image below.
Box select everything on the workspace and delete it.

13. In the Planes Manager, make level 1 visible. Leave level 20 as the active level. The
solid should be visible in the workspace.

14. To prepare this model for machining, the holes should be blocked so the
roughing tool does not dip into them. To begin, go to the ribbon’s Surfaces tab
and select the Fill Holes tool.

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 15. Left click the surface of the model as shown below.

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 16. Left click over one of the holes surrounded by the selected surface to create a
surface covering it.

17. Repeat steps 15 and 16 to cover the other hole.

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 18. Select the face shown in the image below.

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 19. Using the same process as before, create surfaces covering the holes on the left
side enclosed by the highlighted surface. Click the green OK button in the Fill
Holes Manager.

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 20. While the fill holes tool is useful for covering holes surrounded by a single
surface, the center hole of the model requires some additional steps to cover.
Open the Home tab, make sure the construction mode is set to 2D. Now click Set
Z Depth and enter “z” to select the z coordinate of a point. Click on the point
shown in the image below.

21. Open the Wireframe tab and select Curve One Edge.

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 22. Select each of the edges highlighted in blue below. Then click the green OK
button.

23. Click the Line Endpoints button in the Wireframe tab.

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 24. Click the opposite corners to create a line as shown in the image below. Then,
click OK.

25. Go to the Surfaces tab and click Flat Boundary.

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 26. Click one of the chain entities created in the previous steps and click OK to create
a surface enclosed by the wireframe. Click OK again to close the Flat Boundary
Surface Manager.

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 27. Set the Z height to the point under the cursor in the image below.

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 28. Select the Curve One Edge tool again and select the edges around the bottom
part of the hole. Note that there is a small portion of the edge that is easy to
miss. A total of two edge segments should be selected.

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 29. Use the Line Endpoints tool to close the shape as shown below. Then click the
green OK button.

30. Use the Flat Boundary tool in the Surfaces tab as before to create a surface
enclosed in the wireframe. Click OK to close the tool.

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 31. The center part of the hole still needs to be covered. Go to the Surfaces tab and
select the From Solid tool.

32. Left click the two surfaces of the solid shown in the image below. Then click End
Selection. This creates a separate surface entity on both surfaces of the solid
entity. Then click OK.

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 33. Open the Levels Manager and hide level 1. Only the surface entities and
wireframe entities should be visible. Change the construction mode to 3D. Go to
the Wireframe tab and select the Curve One Edge button. Click the surface on
the right. This changes the cursor to have an up arrow following it.

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 34. Left click inside the hole next to the surface. This creates a new wireframe line
along the edge of the surface.

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 35. Repeat the last two steps to create a wireframe along the other surface. Then
click the green OK button.

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 36. Now that the hole is completely surrounded by wireframe entities, there are a
couple different methods that can be used to fill in the hole. To begin the first
one, go to the Surfaces tab and select the Loft tool. In the Wireframe Chaining
options change the Selection Method to Single.

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 37. Select the two edges along the curved surfaces on the sides of the hole. Then,
click the green OK button. If done correctly the center will be filled by a new
surface. This method works since the top and bottom lines edges of the desired
surface are straight.

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 38. Click the red Cancel button to close the tool, then press [Ctrl + z] on the
keyboard to undo the creation of the surface.

39. To create the surface an alternate way, go to the ribbon’s Surfaces tab and click
the Net button.

40. Once again, in the Wireframe Chaining Options, change the Selection Method to
Single. Then, select each of the four edges around the hole. Then click the OK
button. Click the OK button again to close the Surface Net Manager.

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 41. Select and delete the two surfaces to the side of the new one.

42. Select each of the blue wireframe entities and delete them as well.

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 43. Zoom back out and set level 1 to be visible in the Levels Manager. Note that there
is still one hole that is uncovered. This hole would be complicated to cover and
will be left undone for this module.

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 44. Hide level 20 in the Levels Manager and set level 1 as active. Save the file and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 5-03: Linking Parameters

Every time a tool passes created in Mastercam, the Linking Parameters need to be
specified. This module will cover the basic concepts behind the Linking Parameters.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. In the 2D group, click the Contour button. Select the main top face of the part,
then click the green OK button and the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 3. Inside the 2D Toolpaths - Contour window, navigate to the Linking Parameters
section.

4. Linking Parameters will define how Mastercam calculates clearance height and
other vertical positions of the tools. These various values can be set as three
different options: absolute, incremental, or associative. Understanding the
difference between these three choices is important.

5. Absolute values are measured from the origin. If you happen to translate your
geometry, the Absolute position will remain based off of the origin rather than
the geometry.

6. Next is the Incremental option. These values will remain relative to parameters
or chain geometry. The Clearance, Retract, and Feed plane values are relative
to the Top of stock. The Depth value, however, will be relative to chain
geometry. The behavior of some of these parameters will change based on the
types of toolpaths being used.

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 7. Last is the Associative option. The Associative values are measured relative to a
selected point. Set the Depth to the Associative option, then click the Select
point button. Normally you would use this feature to select a point in the work
area to set the associative depth. When the warning dialog box opens and asks if
you want to switch to 3D construction mode, click the No button.

8. Clearance can be turned on or off by clicking the checkbox next to the Clearance
button. This section also has an option that will allow you to use Clearance only
at the start and end of an operation. For instance, tool will sometimes need to
jump from one area to another. If desired, you could restrict its movement to the
clearance plane.

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 9. With the current settings, the Clearance plane is 2 inches above the part while
the Retract plane is only 0.25 inches above the part. Moving the tool up to the
Retract plane instead of the Clearance plane can save a lot of time during the
span of an operation but could also create costly errors if the tool strikes the
stock.

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 10. The Retract plane dictates how high the tool will rise before the next toolpath
begins. This option can also be turned on or off using the checkbox next to the
Retract button. If the Clearance option is not used, Mastercam will default to the
Retract height between operations.

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 11. The next option is Feed plane. This is the height to which the tool will rapid
before changing to the plunge rate. If Clearance or Retract are not activated,
this will be the height to which Mastercam will default between operations.

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 12. The next option is Top of stock. This should be set to the height of the material
in the Z axis. Other parameters such as Clearance, Retract, and Feed plane are
measured from this position in Incremental mode.

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 13. The Last option is the Depth option. This is the lowest position the tool will cut
into the stock. By default, this value is the first selected chain. When using the
Incremental option, this value is set relative to chain geometry. These various
options will be used every time a toolpath is created in Mastercam; familiarize
yourself with the different areas and options in each. Click the red Cancel button
and continue to the next module.

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 L5-04 - Color Code Faces for Geometry Selection

This module will cover the tools to color specific faces and using quick masks to filter
entity selection.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Coloring different parts of a model can be very useful for maintaining

organization within a file. To begin coloring a part, open the Model Prep tab and
click the Change Face button in the Color Group.

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 3. Click the bottom face of the pocket highlighted in the image below.

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 4. In the Modify Solid Face Color Manager, click the Color Selection button to select
the specific color.

5. Select the yellow color shown under the cursor below. It should display the color
number as 14. Then click the green OK button to close the color select. Click OK
again the close the manager. Notice that the face is colored yellow now even
when it is not selected.

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 6. Part of the use of coloring a face is that the quick mask tools can be used to
select only entities or faces of a specific color. Note that each of the quick mask
buttons is divided in half. The top half selects all entities of a specific type in the
file. The bottom half filters selections made on screen to select only entities of a
specific type. To demonstrate this functionality, open the Levels Manager and
make level 20 visible. Then, click the Select all surfaces entities quick mask
button under the cursor in the image below. All surfaces should now be selected.

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 7. Deselect the surfaces and click to enable the Select only surface entities quick
mask which is the bottom half of the button clicked in the first step. While this is
enabled, drag a selection box around the entire model. Notice that only the
surface entities are selected.

8. Deselect the surfaces and set level 20 to be hidden. Clear the quick masks.

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 9. It is also possible to select entities based on their color. To begin press the Select
only entities by color button.

10. Check the Color option and press the green OK button.

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 11. Click the Select all by color button and click the green OK button. Since no color
was selected, the entire model should be selected.

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 12. Use the Change Face tool and change the Current color: to 13 which is the
magenta color next to the yellow that was selected. Click OK.

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 13. Select the counterbores inside the two pockets to the right of the model and click
OK.

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 14. Click the Select all by color button. Enable the Color checkbox and enable the
Show All checkbox. Then scroll through the colors and enable the checkbox for
13. Click OK.

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 15. Click the Clear All button in the Color Group of the Model Prep tab. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 5-04: Creating a 2D Contour

This module will go through some of the basic options for creating the 2D Contour.

1. Navigate to the location of the saved Mastercam data set and upload the file
“MCU_2DMill_Fixture.mcam”. A dialog box will appear to mention that the units
will be swapped from inch to metric. Click the green OK button in the dialog box.
This part will be machined using inch tools so this module will describe the
process of converting this file from metric back to inch. This process will need to
be done from time to time, so this is good practice. However, if you want to
program your part using metric tools, a tool library with the metric tools is
supplied and the tool numbers are the same as the inch tools. Use the option
that is best for you.

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 2. In the ribbon, click on the File tab. Select the Configuration option from the left
column.

3. In the left column of the System Configuration window, click on the Analyze
section. At the bottom of the Analyze section, change the current units to the
inch setting.

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 4. A dialog box will appear and warn you that only geometry can be scaled. Click
the OK button to accept this. Notice in the System Configuration window that
the units changes to inches and the precision value changes. Click the green OK
button in the System Configuration window.

5. A dialog box will ask you if you want to scale your current part to inch
measurements. Click the Yes button to accept this. The file is currently 200 mm x
200 mm. If you click the No button, the file will be 200” x 200”. Clicking the Yes
button will scale the part down to 7.84” x 7.84”.

6. Right-click in an open section of the work area, then click the Clear Colors
button. This will deselect any select geometry.

7. In the Home tab’s Analyze group, click the Analyze Entity button.

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 8. In the work area, click on the back edge of the part.

9. The Linear Edge Properties window opens. Inside this window, the line is
described as 7.874” long. Click the green OK button in the Linear Edge
Properties window. The part has been appropriately scaled for an inch unit
system.

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 10. Navigate to the Levels Manager. Temporarily toggle the visibility for levels 20,
105, and 106 to investigate the entities on each of those levels. All these entities
have scaled with the part. Turn off the visibility for these layers when you are
finished.

11. Navigate to the Planes Manager. A Fixture Plate Plane is included in the list. In
the work area, zoom out and note the location of the Fixture Plate Plane. This
location is no longer correct because it is very far away from the part. The WCS
and T plane are set to the Fixture Plate Plane, while the C plane is set to the top
plane.

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 12. Double-click on the Viewsheet 1 tab. The C plane reverts back to the Fixture Plate
Plane, but the view of the part is not correct.

13. Right-click in an open section of the work area choose the Fit option. This will fit
the part to the screen.

14. Navigate back to the Toolpaths Manager, then go to the ribbon’s Machine tab. In
the Machine Type group, click Mill> Manage List.

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 15. In the Machine Definition Menu Management window, select both the mill
files, then click the Add button to push them over into the Machine Definition
Menu Items list. Click the green OK button.

16. In the Machine Type group, click the drop-down area to expand the options for
the Mill button. Notice the two mill files from step 15 are now included in the
drop-down menu. Select the MILL DEFAULT.MCAM-MMD option.

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 17. The machine group and toolpath group are automatically populated inside the
Toolpaths Manager.

18. In the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab, click the Tool Manager button inside the
Utilities group. Click the folder icon button to open the Select tool library
window. Choose the MCU_Fixture_Tools_inch file, then click the Open button. As
mentioned before, the metric version of this file is also included. If you prefer to
work with the metric file, choose this metric file. All the tool numbers are the
same as the inch file which will make it easy to follow along.

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 19. Several tools are loaded into the tool database at the bottom of the Tool
Manager window. Examine these tools. Select the first tool in the tool database
by clicking on it, then hold the [Shift] key and select the last tool. This will select
all the tools in the tool database. Click the up arrow button to push all of these
tools up into the machine group. Click the green OK button in the Tool Manager
window.

20. In the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen, click the 2D button to toggle
construction mode to 3D.

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 21. In the Toolpaths Manager, click on Stock setup to open the Machine Group
Properties window.

22. Inside the Machine Group Properties window, navigate to the Stock setup tab.
Click the Bounding Box button at the bottom of the window. In the work area,
select the part then click the End Selection button. A preview of the bounding
box appears on the screen.

23. In the Bounding Box function panel, activate the Lines and arcs option and the
Corner points option. Click the green OK button in the Bounding Box function
panel.

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 24. Investigate the options in the Machine Group Properties window, then click the
green OK button to accept all the default values.

25. In the work area, the bounding box is represented by blue lines with a red
dashed line on top of them. In the Stock group, click the Stock Display button to
turn off the red dashed lines.

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 26. Some of the existing geometry needs to be pushed from their current level to
level 106. Navigate to the Levels Manager. In the Quick Masks area, click the
Select all point entities button. All of the points are selected.

27. Right-click in an open section of the work area and click the Change Level
button. In the Change Levels window, deactivate the Use Active Level option.
Click the Select button to choose the level to which the points should move.
Choose level 106 then click the green OK button in the Select Level window. Click
the green OK button in the Change Levels window. All the points of been moved
to level 106.

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 28. In the Quick Masks area, click the Select only line entities button.

29. Go to a top view of the part and draw selection windows to select only the lines
around the perimeter of the part; avoid selecting the text inside the part.

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 30. Right-click in an open section of the work area and click the Change Level
button. Since the Change Levels window is still set to level 106, click the green
OK button send all the selected geometry to that level. All the boundary box
entities are on level 106 instead of the level with the fixture solid.

31. Navigate to the Planes Manager and select the Fixture Plate Plane. At the bottom
of the Planes Manager, click the Select a new origin for the selected plane
button.

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 32. Attach the origin to the top left corner of the fixture’s bounding box. This side of
the fixture will be butted up against the fixed jaw of the vise. Turn off the visibility
for level 106, then go to an isometric view of the part.

33. Right-click on the Viewsheet 1 tab, then choose the Save Viewsheet Bookmark
option from the drop-down menu.

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 34. Navigate back to the Toolpaths Manager. Go to the ribbon’s Mill Toolpaths
contextual tab, then choose the Contour toolpath from the 2D group. In the
Wireframe Chaining function panel, make sure the mode is set to the Solids
option. In the Selection Method section, activate the Face option and the Loop
option. Select one edge on the bottom of the fixture and notice the entire loop is
selected.

35. Click the green OK button inside the Pick Reference Face window to accept the
selection. Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel. The
chain geometry is selected.

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 36. In the 2D Toolpaths - Contour window, navigate to the Tool section. The tools
from the Tool Manager are shown in this window. Select tool 10 from the list,
then add a comment of “Contour Outside”.

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 37. Continue to the Cut Parameters section of the 2D Toolpaths - Contour window.
Investigate the options inside this section. These options will be described in
more detail later.

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 38. Continue to the Lead In/Out section. Make sure that the Lead In/Out option is
checked in the upper left corner of the window.

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 39. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Activate the Clearance option by
clicking the checkbox next to the Clearance button. Reduce the Clearance value
to 0.5 Absolute. Click the green OK button to accept the rest of the default
values.

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 40. The toolpath preview appears in the work area, but the toolpath appears to be
inside of the part instead of outside the part. This is a common problem
especially when chaining geometry.

41. Inside the Toolpaths Manager, click on the Toolpath Group-1’s Geometry
section. The Chain Manager function panel will open, and a preview of the chain
will appear in the work area. Notice that the large green arrow points along the
chain and the small green arrow points towards the inside of the chain. The small
green arrow indicates on which side of the chain the operation will take place
and needs to point to the outside of the chain to fix the toolpath issue.

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 42. In the Chain Manager function panel, expand Solid Chain 1, then right-click on
Loop. Select the Reverse option from the drop-down menu. Click the green OK
button in the Chain Manager function panel.

43. Notice the red X over the toolpath in the Toolpaths Manager. This means that the
toolpath is marked as dirty and needs to be regenerated. Click the Regenerate
all dirty operations button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager.

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 44. The preview of the toolpath updates in the work area. THIS version looks more
appropriate.

45. An alternate way to fix the toolpath issue would be to go into the toolpath’s
parameters.

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 46. Navigate to the Cut Parameters section and click the drop-down menu for the
Compensation direction option. The direction can be changed from left to right
to make sure the toolpath is on the correct side of the selected chain. Caution
needs to be used to make sure that you understand which direction the tool is
feeding and whether you are aiming for a climb or a conventional cut. Click the
green OK button to close the window without making any changes. Return to an
isometric view, save the file, then continue to the next module.

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 L5-05 - Creating Containment Regions

This module will cover the creation of wireframe entities which can serve as containment
regions to restrict the movement of the tool during the machining process.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Open the Levels Manager and create a new level 10 named “Wireframe”.

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 3. Open the Home tab and change the construction mode to 2D.

4. On the Home tab, set the Z depth to 0.

5. Open the Wireframe tab and select Bounding Box.

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 6. Select the model and press End Selection. Notice that the bounding box created
is in two dimensions. Click OK to close the Bounding Box Manager.

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 7. Right click in the workspace and click Top (WCS) to change the orientation to the
top view.

8. It is possible to move or offset the wireframe entities created in the bounding

box. To begin, go to the ribbon’s Wireframe tab and click Offset in the Modify
Group. Select Chains in the dropdown menu.

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 9. Select the four wireframe entities that form the bounding box. Click OK and click
in the workspace outside the bounding box.

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 10. In the Offset Chains Manager, change the Method: option to Move, deselect
Modify Fillet Corners, and make sure Distance: is set to 0.5. Click OK to
continue.

11. Create a new level with number 11 and name it “Silhouette”. Then, hide level 10.

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 12. In the Wireframe tab select the Silhouette Boundary option in the Shapes
Group. Select the model then press End Selection. Then click OK. This creates a
2D wireframe around the outside of the model and around all the locations in the
model that are cut all the way through.

13. It is possible to make changes to the Silhouette Wireframe. Change the

orientation to the top view and set level 11 to be the only visible layer. Select the
wireframe segment as shown below to bring up the appropriate contextual tool
tab.

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 14. Click on Trim to Entities and select Trim to Entities in the dropdown menu.

15. In the Trim to Entities Manager, leave the Type: set to Trim and for Method:
make sure Auto is selected. In the workspace, click the same line segment that
was selected in step 13 and then click on the segment shown below.

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 16. Edges can also be removed. Select the edge highlighted in step 15. Then select
the edge highlighted in the image below. This saves the closed region partially
bounded by the two selected edges.

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 17. Return the orientation to an isometric position. In the Levels Manager, set level 1
as visible and active. Set all other levels to be hidden. Save and continue to the
next module.

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 Lesson 5-05: Copy and Edit Operations

An efficient way to create similar toolpaths is to copy one toolpath and make small
modifications to it. This module will look into some of the options of copying and editing
operations.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Operations can be copied and edited. Select the 2D Contour inside Toolpath
Group-1. Right-click the 1 - Contour (2D) toolpath and hold down the mouse
button. Drag the toolpath down to the red insertion arrow and release the mouse
button.

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 3. When prompted to select where the operation should be copied, select the Copy
after option. The operation is copied after the original operation.

4. To move the insertion point to the end of the operations, click the Move insert
arrow down one item button near the top of the Toolpaths Manager. New
operations will always be added where the red insertion point is; if you forget to
move the insertion point then subsequent operations might not appear in the
order you want.

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 5. Click on the new toolpath’s Parameters section. Navigate to the Depth Cuts
section, then activate the Depth cuts option. In the # Finish cuts field, enter a
value of 1 so that a finish pass is added to the operation. Activate the Keep tool
down option.

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 6. Continue to the Multi Passes section and activate the Multi Passes option. In the
Rough section’s Number field, enter a value of 3. In the Finish section’s
Number field, enter a value of 1. In the Finish passes section, activate the Final
depth option and the Keep tool down option. Click to green OK button to accept
all of the values.

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 7. In the Toolpaths Manager, click the regenerate button. A preview of the toolpath
will appear in the work area. By copying the original operation and changing only
a few parameters, an entirely new operation is created.

8. Click on the new 2D Contour’s Parameters section. Navigate to the Depth Cuts
section and change the Max rough step value to 0.5. Click the blue Apply button
in the lower right corner of the window to apply the settings. Click the Preview
toolpath button in the top of the window to preview the toolpath. The toolpath
preview is visible in the work area.

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 9. Navigate to the Multi Passes section. In the Rough section, enter a value of 2
into the Number field. Click the blue Apply button, then click the Preview
toolpath button. When you are happy with all the settings, click the green OK
button to close the window. Because the toolpaths were previewed inside the
toolpath function panel, the toolpath does not need to be regenerated.

10. Sometimes an operation will be copied but the toolpath needs to affect different
geometry. Click on the new toolpath’s Parameters, then navigate to the
Toolpath Type section. In the Chain geometry section, click the Remove
selected chains button.

11. Click the Select chains button to select a new chain for the operation.

12. Select the perimeter loop of the rectangular extrusion’s top face. Click the green
OK button in the Pick Reference Face window to accept the selection. Click the
green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel. In the toolpath function
panel, click the Apply button, then click the Preview toolpath button.

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 13. The preview in the work area shows the toolpath is not correct.

14. In the Chain geometry section, click the Select chains button. In the Chain
Manager function panel, expand Solid Chain 2 then select Loop. Right-click Loop
and choose the Reverse option. Click the green OK button in the Chain Manager
function panel, then click the green OK button in the toolpath function panel.
Regenerate the dirty operation. The resulting toolpaths look appropriate for the
operation. However, notice that the operation is not down at the intended depth.
A chain at the intended depth cannot be selected because the rectangular
extrusion does not have that geometry on two of its sides.

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 15. Go back into the new toolpath’s Parameters and navigate to the Linking
Parameters section. Click the Depth button. In the work area, select the point at
the depth the operation needs to run. Click the green OK button in the toolpath
function panel.

16. Regenerate the dirty operation and investigate the new toolpaths. The operation
is now at the proper depth and is successfully created even though there is not a
full chain to select at the proper depth. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 L5-06 - Insert a Fixture

This module will cover the process of adding merging model files to add a fixture. This will
include the process of managing levels imported from the new file and cleaning unneeded
entities from the merged file.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Click on the File tab to open the backstage view, then click Merge.

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 3. Select the “Chain Guard-Inch-2020-Start.mcam” file and click Open.

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 4. On the left, the Merge Pattern Manager should be open. This has several options
for how to handle levels merged from the other file. Set this to Offset by: and
change the adjacent number field to 100. This will change the level number by
100 for each imported level. For example, level 1 in the other file gets imported as
level 101. Click ok.

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 5. Open the Levels Manager. Notice that several new levels have been created, but
some of the original levels have had new entities added to them. To check
alignment of the fixture with the part, set levels 1 and 186 to be visible and hide
all other levels. Rotate the orientation so that the bottom side of the model is
visible. Notice that the pockets and other such features are aligned between the
two parts, and no realignment is needed. This is because the lesson’s files were
prepared to fit together in the same coordinate system. In other cases, it may be
necessary to move some of the entities for proper alignment.

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 6. Set level 120 to be visible and hide all other levels. Notice that the surfaces
representing the original model have been imported into the file. Select them
and delete them. They are redundant with the solid body contained in level 1.
Once this is done, level 120 should contain zero entities.

7. Set levels 89 and 90 to be visible and hide all other levels. There should be some
hardware visible on screen and a wireframe entity. Select the wireframe and
delete it.

8. Set level 87 to be visible. Notice that nothing appears on screen and in the Levels
Manager level 87 has no entities. Hide level 87 and make level 61 visible. Notice
that level 61 has four entities. Select the surface that is visible on screen and
delete it.

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 9. While the surface has been deleted, level 61 still has 2 entities. Open the Home
tab and click Blank and Unblank in the dropdown menu. Since there are no
blanked entities, press [Escape] on the keyboard to cancel the operation.

10. In the Home tab, select Hide/Unhide and select Hide/Unhide from the
dropdown menu. A message appears saying that there are no hidden entities on
screen. Click OK.

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 11. Right click on level 61 in the Levels Manager and press Select all entities in the
menu. Press the [Delete] key.

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 12. Set level 60 to be the only visible level and delete every entity in the level. Then
set level 30 to be the only visible level and delete everything in that level as well.
Since the Silhouette on level 11 isn’t needed, delete everything on level 11.

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 13. Set level 10 to be the only visible level. The bounding box that was created on this
level in a previous module is still needed but several other wireframe entities
have been imported into this level. Open the Home tab and press Blank and
select Blank from the dropdown menu. Shift click one of the wireframes
highlighted in the image below to select the entire bounding box. Then, click End
Selection.

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 14. Since the wireframes that need to be saved are blanked, drag a box to select
everything on screen and press the [Delete] key.

15. In the Home tab, select Blank then Unblank. Select the four wireframe entities
and click End Selection. Once this is done, only the four wireframe entities
should be visible in this level.

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 16. At this point, there are several levels that do not contain anything. In the Levels
Manager, right click on one of the levels. Go to Clear empty levels and select All.

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 17. Now it would be helpful to renumber some of the levels. Set level 185 as the
active level. In the bottom of the Levels Manager, try to change the Number:
field to 50. Note that this creates a new level instead of changing the level
number. Make sure that the active level is not level 50. Right click on level 50 and
clear empty levels as before.

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 18. To change the level number of a preexisting level, double click the level number
cell in the top part of the manager. Change the Vise level from 185 to 50.

19. Select the Stock level which is currently level 199 and change the level number to
40. Change the Op2 Fixtures level and Op2 bolts level to have level numbers 100
and 101. Change Op2 – step1 to level 109. Change Op2 – Step2 to level 110.

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 20. Change the orientation back to an isometric view. Hide all levels except level 1
and level 50 so that only the Chain Guard and Vise are visible. To finish this
module, take a quick look at the Planes Manager. Note that the Graphics plane is
set to Isometric, but the Work Coordinate System, Construction Plane, and Tool
Plane are still set to Top. The Solids Manager contains several solids that were
added from the other file, but the Toolpaths Manager is still empty. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 5-06: Open Vs Closed Pockets

This module will focus on some of the basic parameters you can change in order to create
an open or a closed pocket toolpath.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the 2D group, expand the gallery then select the Pocket option.

3. When the Solid Chaining function panel opens, make sure the mode is set to the
Solids option and 3D. In the Selection Method section, activate the Face option
and the Loop option.

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 4. In the work area, select the lower edge of the recessed circle extrusion. Click the
green OK button in the Pick Reference Face window to accept the selection.
Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.

5. In the toolpath parameters, navigate to the Tool section. Leave tool 10 selected
as the tool to use, then enter a comment of “Closed Pocket” in the Comment
field.

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 6. Notice in the Tool section there is an RCTF section. RCTF is an acronym for Radial
Chip Thinning Factor. This is an option that can be used to reduce wear on a tool.
This feature will be explained in more detail when dynamic toolpaths are
discussed.

7. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Notice the Pocket type section and the
upper right corner. The drop-down menu has several options available; leave it
set to the Standard option for now.

8. In the Machining direction section, change the cut type to the Conventional
option.

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 9. Enter a value of 0 into the Stock to leave on walls field as well as the Stock to
leave on floors field.

10. Continue to the Roughing section. Examine all the options in the section but
don’t make any changes. There are many useful features in the section. They will
be covered in more detail later.

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 11. Continue to the Entry Motion section. Examine the many options in the section.
Again, there are many useful options in this section that will be covered in detail
at this time.

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 12. Continue to the Finishing section and make sure the Finish option is checked.
Activate the Keep tool down option and the Machine finish passes only at Final
depth option.

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 13. Continue to the Lead In/Out section. In the Line section’s Length field, reduce
the value to 50. In the Arc section’s Radius field, reduce the value to 50. Enter a
value of 30 into the Sweep field. After the changes have been made on the entry
side of the window, click the right arrow button in the middle of the window to
push the changes over to the exit side of the window.

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 14. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Activate the Clearance option by
clicking the checkmark next to the Clearance button. Reduce the value in the
clearance field to 0.5”. Click the Top of stock button to select a new Top of stock
value. In the work area, select the point on top of the part as the Top of stock
value. Click the green OK button in the toolpath parameters function panel to
accept the settings.

15. The toolpath is displayed in the work area. The yellow portions of the toolpath
represent rapid movements and the blue lines are feed movements. The closed
pocket operation is complete

16. To create the open pocket operation, the closed pocket operation can be copied.
Select the closed pocket operation, then click on it with the right mouse button
and hold down the mouse button. Drag the operation down to the red insertion
arrow then release the mouse button. Select the Copy after option from the
drop-down menu. The closed pocket operation is now duplicated inside Toolpath
Group-1.

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 17. Click the Move insert arrow down one item button to move the red insertion
arrow to the bottom of the toolpath group.

18. Go into the new operations Parameters, then navigate to the Toolpath Type
section. Click the Remove selected chains button to clear the current chain
selection. Click the Select chains button to select new chains.

19. In the Solid Chaining function panel, make sure the Partial loop option is the
only option selected in the Selection Method section. For the open pocket on the
right side of the part, select the top straight line first, then click the green OK
button in the Pick Reference Face window. Next, select the bottom straight line.
Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 20. In the toolpath parameters function panel, click the blue Apply button, then click
the Preview toolpath button. A warning dialog box will appear to tell you that
you need to select open pockets or close chains. Click the OK button to accept
this. This dialog box appears because the toolpath is currently set up for a
standard pocket, but an open pocket was selected instead.

21. In the toolpath parameters function panel, navigate to the Cut Parameters
section. Change the Pocket type to the Open option. The current chain selection
will work for an open pocket.

22. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button. The toolpath is
previewed inside the work area. This toolpath looks appropriate for the intended
operation.

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 23. A second contour can be added to the same operation Return to the Toolpath
Type section and click the Select chains button. In the Chain Manager function
panel, right click on the red insertion arrow and choose the Add option from the
drop-down menu.

24. The first open pocket had a counterclockwise direction for its chain. To keep this
direction consistent for the second open pocket, first select the bottom straight
line of the open pocket, then click the green OK button in the Pick Reference
Face window. Next, select the upper radiused edge. Notice that the chain is not
correct.

25. In the Solid Chaining function panel’s Start section, click the Reverse button.
The direction of the chain is reversed but the selections are still incorrect.

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 26. Click the Unselect button in the Selection section. Select the same first line you
selected in step 24 but select the line by clicking close to the open side of the
pocket. Click the green OK button in the Pick Reference Face window. The green
directional arrow should automatically point in the counterclockwise direction.
For the second line selection, select the radiused edge. Again, click close to the
open side of the pocket. The edge you are selecting is important, but the location
of your click on that edge is also important. Click the green OK button inside the
Solid Chaining function panel. Click the green OK button in the Chain Manager
function panel.

27. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button. The yellow lines
indicate that there are several instances when the tool rapids from one pocket to
the other. This is an inefficient toolpath and could be cleaned up for efficiency.

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 28. Navigate back to the Cut Parameters section. In the Stock to leave on walls
field, enter value of 0.05. Click the blue Apply button than the Preview toolpath
button. Leaving a little extra stock on the walls removed one of the rapid
movements because the tool cannot fit inside the small section of the second
pocket. The operation could still be more efficient. The tool needs to be kept
down without repeatedly jumping between the two contours.

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 29. Navigate to the Finishing section. Deselect the Machine finish passes after
roughing all pockets option. This will keep the tool from jumping between the
two contours. Click the blue Apply button then the Preview toolpath button.
There is now only one rapid movement between the two contours. Click the
green OK button in the toolpath parameters function panel.

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 30. Go to an isometric view and notice that the camera is zoomed out. Zoom in to the
part, then right-click on the Viewsheet 1 tab and select the Save Viewsheet
Bookmark option. This will save the updated camera view to the Viewsheet 1
bookmark. Save the file continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 5-07: Using Area Mill for Rest Machining

This module will walk through the basic process of setting up an Area Mill operation,
copying it, then modifying the copy to take advantage of rest machining.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and select the Area Mill option.

3. The Chain Options function panel looks the same as it would inside the toolpath
parameters function panel. In the Machining regions section, click the Select
machining chains button.

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 4. In the Solid Chaining function panel, make sure the Partial Loop option is the
only option selected in the Selection Method section.

5. In the open pocket on the right side of the part, select the top straight line first,
then click the green OK button in the Pick Reference Face window. Next, select
the bottom straight line as the end segment of the partial loop. Click the green
OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 6. In the Chain Options function panel, click the Preview chains button. Notice
that the operation is treating the area like a closed pocket. This is because the
Machining region strategy section has the Stay inside option selected instead
of the From outside option.

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 7. Change the Machining regions strategy to the From outside option, then click
the Preview chains button. Click the green OK button in the Chain Options
function panel.

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 8. Navigate to the Tool section. Leave tool 10 selected as the tool to use for this
operation, then enter a comment of “Area Mill” in the Comment field.

9. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. In the Stock to leave on floors field,
enter a value of 0. Notice that the graphic updates to illustrate the stock left on
the part.

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 10. Continue to the Depth Cuts section and activate the Depth cuts option. In the
Max rough step field, enter a value of 0.25.

11. The Depth cut order option determines how the operation will cut the selected
contours. The By region option will cut an entire pocket until it is finished. The By
depth option will jump between pockets and machine at one Z depth before
progressing to the next Z depth. The selection in this instance doesn’t matter
because only one pocket is currently selected, but this might be a useful feature
for future operations where multiple contours are selected.

12. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Activate the Clearance option and
enter value of 0.5 into the Clearance field. Change the Retract setting to the
Incremental option.

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 13. Click the Top of stock button. In the work area, select a point at the top of the
pocket this operation will create. Click the green OK button in the toolpath
parameters function panel.

14. Investigate the new toolpath.

15. In the Toolpaths Manager, click on the Area Mill’s Geometry section. Inside the
Chain Options function panel, click the Select machining chains button in the
Machining regions section. Right click the red insertion arrow in the Chain
Manager function panel, then select the Add option.

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 16. Using the other open pocket, select the partial loop chain. Click OK in the Solid
Chaining function panel and in the Chain Manager function panel.

17. Inside the Chain Options function panel, click the Preview chains button. The
preview looks appropriate, so click the OK button in the Chain Options function
panel.

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 18. In the Toolpaths Manager, regenerate the dirty operations. The operation only
has one rapid movement between the two contours, so it is fairly efficient.

19. Copy the Area Mill operation by right clicking it, dragging it, and dropping it onto
the red insertion arrow. Select the Copy after option from the drop-down menu.
Move the red insertion arrow to the bottom of Toolpath Group-1.

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 20. Edit the toolpath parameters of the new toolpath. Navigate to the Tool section.
Select tool 9 has the tool to use by clicking on it in the list. Enter a comment of
“Area Mill Finish Rest” in the Comment field.

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 21. Continue to the Stock section and activate the Rest material option. Activate the
One other operation option, then select toolpath 5 from the window on the
right side of the function panel. This allows Mastercam to calculate the material
left behind by the selected operation so that the new operation is not attempting
to machine open air.

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 22. Click the blue Apply button then click the Preview toolpath button. Click the
green OK button in the toolpath parameters function panel. Regenerate the dirty
operations. The toolpath doesn’t look correct because it is not machining the
stock left on the walls by the previous operation.

23. Go in to the toolpath parameters and navigate to the Cut Parameters section.
The current operation was copied from a previous operation and the Stock to
leave on walls value was not adjusted for the new operation. Reduce the value
to 0 then click the green OK button.

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 24. Regenerate the dirty operations and note the difference in the new toolpath. The
stock left on the walls from the previous operation is now being machined off by
the new operation. Go to an isometric view, save the file, and continue to the
next module.

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 Lesson 5-08: Blend Mill Between Chain Geometry

Blend Mill is a useful operation for automatically creating toolpaths between two selected
chains. This module will go over the basics of creating and modifying a Blend Mill
operation.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and choose the Blend Mill option.

3. For Blend Mill, two separate chains need to be selected. The operation will blend
between these two separate chains by creating a toolpath that goes from one to
the other. In the Solid Chaining function panel, make sure that the Edges option
is the only option selected in the Selection Method section.

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 4. As the first selection, select the straight edge on the locating fixture at the top of
the part. Make sure the directional arrows match the image below. Click the
green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.

5. In the Chain geometry section of the parameter’s Toolpath Type section, click
the Select machining chains button. This will allow you to select the second
chain for the Blend Mill operation.

6. In the Chain Manager function panel, click the red insertion arrow and choose
the Add option from the drop-down menu.

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 7. Select the long straight edge of the rectangular extrusion as the second
selection. Again, make sure the direction arrows match the image below. Click
the green OK button.

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 8. Continue to the Tool section. Choose tool 10 as a tool to use for this operation,
then enter a comment of “Blend Mill” in the Comment field. These comments
entered in the Comment field will be visible in the toolpath group as well as the
G code and can carry useful information about the operation.

9. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0 in the Stock to leave
on walls field as well as the Stock to leave on floors field. Alternately, this
information can be entered in the Finish passes section.

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 10. Notice in the Cut Parameters section there are options for changing the cutting
method, the compensation direction, and the tip compensation. These will be
useful features to keep in mind for future operations.

11. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Activate the Clearance option,
then enter a value of 0.5 into the Clearance field. Change Retract to the
Incremental option. Click the Top of stock button, then select a point on the top
of the main face of the part.

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 12. Click the green OK button in the toolpath parameters function panel.

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 13. The toolpath is previewed on the screen. Notice how the toolpath blends from
the first selection to the second selection using the zigzag method chosen in the
Cut Parameters. Notice the first chain selection is not quite right because the
toolpath starts inside of the locating boss on the part.

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 14. In the Toolpaths Manager, click on the Blend Mill’s Geometry section. Inside the
Chain Manager function panel, expand Solid Chain 1 then right-click on its Single
edge selection. Choose the Reverse option from the drop-down menu.

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 15. The direction of the first chain is reversed, but this is not correct because it will
induce a twist into the toolpath geometry. Reverse the direction of the first chain
again so that it is in the original configuration.

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 16. Navigate to the Cut Parameters section. Change the Comp direction to the
Inside option. Press the blue Apply button then the Preview toolpath button.
The preview appears to be correct. Now is a good time to investigate the other
Comp direction options and the effect they have on the toolpath. When you are
finished, return the Comp direction to the Inside option.

17. Activate the Across option, then preview its effects on the toolpath.

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 18. Change back to the Along option then click the green OK button to accept all the
values.

19. In the top of the Toolpaths Manager, click the Backplot selected operations
button.

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 20. Click the play button at the top of the work area to begin animating the
operation.

21. Click the green OK button in the Backplot function panel to end the animation.
Go to an isometric view, save the file, then continue to the next lesson.

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 Lesson 5 – 8: External Threading

• Create and modify a Groove operation as well as a Thread operation.

1. Open the file MCU_Lathe_Shaft. This file has a

Machine Group set up as well as several
operations.

2. Hide level 10. In the Toolpath Manager, hide

the stock model. Click Turning> General>
Groove. Select the 2 Points option then click
OK.

3. Select the two points to describe the square

groove. Hit enter.

4. Choose the OD GROOVE CENTER tool and add

a comment of Groove. If this tool library did
not already have this tool you would have to
modify an existing tool to have a width less
than the groove width of 0.0625 inches.

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 5. Continue to the Groove shape parameters
and examine the options without making any
changes. Continue to Groove rough
parameters and reduce the Stock to leave in
X and Z to 0 so that this operation produces
the final shape. Continue to the Groove finish
parameters and examine the options without
making any changes. Click OK.

6. Examine the resulting grooving toolpath.

7. Click Turning> General> Thread. Choose the

ID THREAD RIGHT tool and add a comment of
Thread 9/16 then continue to the Thread
shape parameters tab. In the Thread Form
section, choose Select from table then choose
the 9/16-18 UNRF thread. Click OK to return
to the Lathe Thread control panel.

8. Click the End Position button and select the

intended end point on the shaft. Continue to
the Thread cut parameters and add a value of
0.03 to the Overcut field. Click OK.

9. Examine the resulting threading toolpath.

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 10. Select everything inside Toolpath Group-1
and click Verify. Turn off Stop Conditions by
clicking on the Stop Conditions button. Click
the play button to watch all the operations.
The facing operation happens first, then the
roughing and finishing operations. Next, the
groove is machined. Finally, the threads are
cut.

11. Hide the stock model, return to the Levels

Manager, and show the Part Solid. Save the
file.

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 L6-01 - Facing the Top of Stock

This lesson covers the use of stock models to represent the state of the stock after a given
step in the machining process.

1. Open the supplied file “Chain Guard Setup1.mcam”.

2. To begin, there are a few things that should be checked when loading in a file for
the first time. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, click the Stock Display button to make
sure that the file already has stock defined in it. Once this has been confirmed,
click the button again to hide the stock.

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 3. Open the Planes Manager and ensure that there is an appropriate plane that
contains a WCS, C, and T plane.

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 4. Open the Toolpaths Manager. Expand Machine Group-1 by left clicking on the
adjacent plus icon. Left click on the plus icon beside Properties. Then, left click on
Files. This opens the Machine Group-1 Properties. Note that the toolpath is
using the “GENERIC HAAS 3X MILL” machine. Click OK to close the window.

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 5. Click on the Tool Manager button in the Mill Toolpaths tab. In the bottom part
of the Tool Manager, double click on the ½ inch Chatterfree mill. This opens a
warning that a similar tool is already in the machine group. Select No and click
OK.

6. To identify the properties of the tool, right click on it in the bottom window and
select Edit tool... in the dropdown menu. This opens the Tool Editor. In the
Finalize Properties tab, notice that the General information includes the
manufacturer name and the tool code. The tool code can be entered into the
manufacture’s website to get more detailed information about the tool. Click
Finish, then click OK and Yes to close the Edit Tool Window and Tool Manager.

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 7. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, click the down arrow in the 2D group to open the
Toolpath Gallery. Select the Face toolpath.

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 8. Open the Levels Manager and set the Stock level to be visible. Select the top face
of the stock and click OK.

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 9. In the 2D Toolpaths – Facing Window, open the Tool tab and select the “½ Bull
Nosed” Mill. In the text box below Comment type in “Dynamic Face” to signify
that the dynamic option will be used. Notice that the properties on the right are
filled in based on the selected tool.

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 10. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Change the Style to Dynamic. Note that some of
the settings need to match the tool that is selected. In this case the Max.
stepover is set to 75% which is too much. Leave this setting for now. Change the
Stock to leave on floors to 0. Then, click on the Linking Parameters tab. Note
that a warning is generated stating that the stepover value is too high. Click OK.

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 11. Go back to the Cut Parameters tab. Note that the Max. stepover is
automatically changed to 72.2%. This is still a little too high, so change the value
to 70%.

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 12. Open the Linking Parameters tab and click Depth... to set the amount of stock
to remove in this toolpath.

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 13. In the Levels Manager, set the Stock level to be hidden. Then, click one of the top
corners of the solid model.

14. Notice that the Depth... value is now -0.07874. This is the depth to which the tool
will cut.

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 15. Open the Planes tab and make sure the toolpath references the Op1 plane. Open
the Coolant tab. Make sure all the coolant types are set to Off. Click the green
OK button to create the toolpath.

16. The toolpath should now be traced over the top of the model. To get a better
idea of what the tool is doing, click on Backplot selected operations.

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 17. Press the Play button to start the animation and move the slider all the way to
the right to make the tool move faster. Once the tool reaches the center, click the
green OK button to close the backplot.

18. To represent the new state of the stock, click the Stock Model button in the Mill
Toolpaths tab. Enter “Faced Stock” for the Name. Then, click the Stock Plane
button.

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 19. Select the Top plane and click OK. The top plane is used for consistency because
the original stock was based on the top plane.

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 20. Press the Stock Setup button. This changes some of the stock setting to be
based on the stock information in the file.

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 21. In the Stock model window, open the Source Operations tab. In the Compute
stock model from: box select Facing – Dynamic Face.

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 22. Open the Stock Compare tab. This allows comparisons between the state of the
stock model and the part. This will be used later. For now, click OK. Note that a
new stock model is created. Click on Stock Display and zoom in on the stock
model from the side. Note that the top part of the stock that was removed in the
toolpath is absent from the stock model.

23. Double click on the Op1 bookmark to return to an isometric view. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-01: Dynamic Mill

This lesson will begin the process of creating operations to machine this part from raw
stock. Specifically, this module will focus on creating and modifying a Dynamic Mill
operation.

1. Open the supplied file MCU_2DMill_Fixture_Program. Since this is the same file as
the file from the previous lesson, You can continue using the file from the
previous lesson if you want.

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 2. The previous modules describe the basic sequence for creating simple
operations. These toolpaths were created just for practice. Now it is time to begin
creating operations that could be used to machine the current part. This means
the current Toolpath Group-1 needs to have all its old operations deleted. Select
the first operation in Toolpath Group-1, then hold the [Shift] key and select the
last operation. This will select all the operations in Toolpath Group-1. Right-click
the selected operations and choose the Delete option. When asked if you want to
proceed with deleting the operations, click the Yes button.

3. The machine group, the stock, levels, coordinate system, and the toolpath group
are still intact, but all the operations in Toolpath Group-1 have been deleted.

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 4. In the 2D group, click the Dynamic Mill option. A dynamic operation considers
the size of the chip created by the tool in order to keep the load on the tool
consistent. The motion of the tool, the feeds, or the speeds can be altered to vary
the load on the tool. Because of this, the tool life is extended, the cycle times are
shorter, and the machine sees less wear.

5. If no selections are made in the Chain Options function panel, the Dynamic Mill
operation will select the entire part. Click the Preview chains button without
making any chain selections. The preview shows that the operation is focusing on
all the area inside the stock boundary.

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 6. In the Chain Options function panel, change the machining region strategy to
the From outside option. Click the Preview chains button. Now the machining
boundary is extending outside of the part.

7. The entire inside of the region cannot be machined. The bosses need to be
avoided. Click the Select avoidance chains button in the Chain Options function
panel.

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 8. In the Solid Chaining function panel, set the mode to the Solids option and the
3D option. Make sure the Loop option is the only option selected in the Selection
Method section.

9. Select the top loop of the rectangular extrusion then click the green OK button in
the Pick Reference Face window.

10. Next, select the top loop of the locating feature then click the green OK button in
the Pick Reference Face window.

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 11. Select the top loop of the third extrusion. Click the green OK button in the Pick
Reference Face window and the Solid Chaining function panel.

12. Click the Preview chains button. The preview shows that the three bosses will be
avoided by the operation. Click the green OK button in the Chain Options
function panel.

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 13. In the toolpath parameters function panel, go to the Tool section. Choose tool 10
as the tool to use for this operation, then enter a comment of “Dynamic Mill
Rough” in the Comment field. This will be a roughing operation because some
material will intentionally be left on the walls. A finishing pass will come behind
on a subsequent operation and cut the remaining material while leaving a fine
finish.

14. Activate the RCTF option. RCTF is an acronym for Radial Chip Thinning Factor.
This is a calculation based on radial engagement. This calculation is driven by the
feed per tooth (FPT) and the surface of the per minute (SFM) values. The other
values are calculated and adjusted based on these two values.

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 15. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0 for the Stock to
leave on floors option. In the Gap size section, reduce the % of tool diameter
option to 100.

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 16. Because a lot of material is being removed, the Depth Cuts need to be turned on.
Continue to the Depth Cuts section and activate the Depth cuts option. Enter a
value of 0.35 into the Max rough step field. These values are a bit conservative
considering a ½” tool will be used to machine this part.

17. Continue to the Entry Motion section. Investigate the entry methods available in
the drop-down box but leave the option set to Helix only. It is highly
recommended that you investigate the different Entry method options.

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 18. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Activate the Clearance option then
enter value of 0.5 into the Clearance field. Change Retract to the Incremental
option.

19. Click the Depth button then select a point on the part down to which the tool
should machine. Click the green OK button.

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 20. While the results of the toolpath are being calculated, the icon for the operation
changes. This new icon indicates that the multithreading manager is offloading
the processing into multiple cores which will allow the toolpaths to be generated
quicker.

21. Investigate the results of the operation in the work area. There appear to be two
layers of toolpaths because of the Max rough step down value. The tool is
avoiding the raised bosses and is not sinking down into the pockets because of
the depth set in the Linking Parameters.

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 22. One issue of note is that the tool rapids through the rectangular boss. If this
program is run in a machine, the tool will strike that boss at the rapid feed rate.
This could be catastrophic.

23. To fix this, go into the operation’s parameters. In the Cut Parameters section,
change Retract to the Absolute option. Click the blue Apply button then click the
Preview toolpath button. The preview looks good, so click the green OK button.
Go to an isometric view, save the file, then continue to the next module.

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 L6-02 - Rough and Finish Internal Pockets

In this module, steps will be given to mill out an internal pocket. Note that as the toolpaths
are created to machine the sample model, the order of operations in the tutorial focuses
on specific areas to explore the use of different tool and does not match the order of
operations that would normally be used.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Notice the stock model is displayed in the workspace. To hide the stock model,
press the Toggle display on selected operations button in the Toolpaths
Manager.

3. This can work for other displayed toolpath information. Select the 1 – Facing –
Dynamic Face operation in the Toolpaths Manager and press the Toggle display
on selected operations. Note that this hides the blue toolpath displayed on the
model.

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 4. To display the stock model and the toolpath, select Setup 1. Clicking the Toggle
display on selected operations button will show or hide both the stock model
and toolpath. Make sure that both are hidden and the insertion point, indicated
by a red arrow, is at the end of Setup 1 below the stock model.

5. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, select the Pocket tool in the 3D tool gallery.

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 6. Select the bottom face of the pocket highlighted in the image below and press
End Selection.

7. In the Toolpath/surface selection window, click the Select button shown as a

button with a cursor in the Containment group. Select the edges shown in the
image below then click OK, click OK, and click OK again. Once this is done, the
Surface Rough Pocket Window should be open.

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 8. Select the ½ Bull Nosed Mill and type “3D Pocket” in the Comment area.

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 9. Open the Surface parameters tab. Set the Retract... value to .1 and leave the
other settings as they are. Note that the Tool containment is set to Compensate
to: Center. This will be revisited later.

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 10. Open the Rough parameters tab. Under Entry options leave Entry – Helix
selected. Leave the other parameters as they are.

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 11. Open the Pocket parameters. For the Cutting method select High Speed.
Uncheck the box for Thin wall... and click on the High Speed button.

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 12. Enable the Trochoidal cuts option. Notice that there is a Loop radius: and a
Loop spacing: parameter. These options need to be based on the tools radius.
Change both settings to 0.2. Note that Loop radius: has to be set before Loop
spacing since they are related. Click OK.

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 13. Go back to the Rough parameters tab and click Cut depths... to bring up some
extra related options. Click OK. Click on Gap settings... and Advanced settings...
and briefly look at the options available. For each, click OK when done. Then click
OK to close the Surface Rough Pocket window.

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 14. Note that a toolpath has been created and is represented over the pocket area.
In the Mill Toolpaths tab, click on the Stock Model button. This will help to
clarify the result of this toolpath.

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 15. In the Stock Definition tab, enter “First Pocket” in the Name field. Change the
Initial stock shape to Stock model and select Faced Stock as the base.

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 16. Open the Source Operations tab and under Compute stock model from: select
the 3 – Surface Rough Pocket – 3D Pocket operation.

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 17. Open the Stock Compare tab. Enable the Stock Compare option and press the
Select button.

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 18. Select the part model and press End Selection. Then press OK.

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 19. Notice that the stock model is created, but the placement is offset and incorrect.
This means some of the parameters of the stock model need to be corrected. In
the Toolpaths Manager, select Parameters – Triangles = 5764 – 208.2K under the
new stock model.

20. Open the Stock Definition tab. The stock plane is currently set to Op1. Click the
Plane Selection button and select the Top plane from the list. Then click OK.

21. With the stock model selected in the Toolpath Manager, click the Regenerate all
selected operations button which appears as a tool icon next to green triangle.
Once this is done, the stock model should be in the correct location.

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 22. Open the Levels Manager and hide all the levels. Notice that the stock model is
still visible and that the pocket created by the toolpath is much larger than
intended. Set level 1 to be visible again.

23. In order to make the pocket the correct size, a setting in the toolpath parameters
needs to be changed. Go back to the Toolpath Manager and select Properties
under the 3 – Surface Rough Pocket – 3D Pocket operation. Go to the Surface
Parameters tab and change the Tool containment to Inside and click OK.

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 24. Select the 3 – Surface Rough Pocket – 3D Pocket toolpath and click Regenerate
Toolpath. Select 4 - Stock model – First Pocket and click Regenerate Toolpath
again. Once this is done, hide all the levels again in the Levels Manager. The
pocket should be the correct size.

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 25. Set level 1 to be visible again. Use the Toggle display on selected operations
button to hide the stock model and double click on the Op1 bookmark. Save and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-02: Dynamic Mill Pockets

The Dynamic Mill operation can also be used to clear open and closed pockets. This
module will walk through the process of creating and modifying the operations needed to
create the pockets on this part.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. The material inside of the G54 location and the two open pockets needs to be
cleared out. In the 2D group, click the Dynamic Mill option.

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 3. In the Chain Options function panel, change the Machining region strategy to
the Stay inside option. Click the Select machining chains button. Choose the
edge on the bottom floor of the circular recess, then click the green OK button in
the Pick Reference Face window. Click the green OK button in the Solid
Chaining function panel.

4. In the Chain Options function panel, click the Preview chains button and make
sure the selection is inside the intended area. Click the green OK button.

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 5. In the toolpath parameters function panel, go to the Tool section. Tool 10 will be
the tool used for this operation. Enter a comment of “G54 Pocket” in the
Comment field.

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 6. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0.05 in the Stock to
leave on walls field.

7. Since the pocket is shallow, the Depth Cuts can be turned off. Continue to the
Depth Cuts section and deactivate the Depth cuts option. The entire depth will
be cut in one motion.

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 8. Continue to the Entry Motion section. Make sure the Entry method is set to the
Helix only option. Preview the toolpath to make sure the helical entry appears to
be calculated as intended. Notice that the feed motions are starting well above
the geometry. This isn’t bad for the part or the machine, but it is a waste of time
and an efficient.

9. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Click the Depth button. In the work
area, select the bottom edge of the G54 pocket as the depth selection.

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 10. Click the Top of stock button. Select a point on the top of the part as the Top of
stock selection. The previous operation reduced the height of the material in this
area. For the purposes of this operation the top of the part is the Top of stock.

11. Preview the toolpath to see if the toolpath feed starts at a more reasonable
height. The toolpath looks appropriate so click the green OK button.

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 12. In the Toolpaths Manager, select operation 1 and 2. The combined toolpaths for
both operations are displayed in the work area. It is an important practice to
check to make sure the tool is not colliding with geometry in between operations.

13. The two open pockets on the part need to be cut. Copy operation 2 by selecting
it, holding the right mouse button, then dragging it down to the red insertion
arrow. Select the Copy after option from the drop-down menu, then move the
red insertion arrow to the bottom of Toolpath Group-1.

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 14. Open the parameters for operation 3. In the Linking Parameters section, click
the Depth button. Select the point on part down to which the operation should
cut.

15. Navigate to the Toolpath Type section. In the Chain geometry section, click the
Remove selected machining chains button to remove the G54 pocket selection.
Click the Select machining chains button to select new chains. In the Solid
Chaining function panel, activate the Partial loop option.

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 16. Select the partial loop so that the direction of the chain is counterclockwise. Click
the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel.

17. In the toolpath parameters function panel, click the Select machining chains
button to add another chain to the operation. In the Chain Manager function
panel, right click on the red insertion arrow and choose the Add option.

18. Select the second pocket so that the direction of the chain is also
counterclockwise. Click the green OK button in the Chain Manager function
panel.

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 19. In the Machining region strategy area, activate the From outside option so
that the pocket is correctly treated as an open pocket. Click the Preview chains
button to see a preview of the chains. The preview looks correct.

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 20. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Because the depth of the operation
is based on the selected chain, enter a value of 0 in the Depth field. Go through
the other sections in the toolpath parameters and verify that the settings are
correct for machining this geometry. Click the green OK button when you are
finished.

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 21. Regenerate the dirty operation, then verify that the new toolpath is appropriately
created. The narrow section on one of the pockets is too narrow for the ½” tool
to enter. This material will have to be removed in the next operation.

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 22. Copy operation 3 by dragging it down to the red insertion arrow. Move the red
insertion arrow to the bottom of Toolpath Group-1.

23. Edit the operation parameters for operation 4. In the Cut Parameters section,
reduce the Stock to leave on walls to 0.

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 24. Continue to the Tool section and select tool 9 as the tool for this operation. Enter
a comment of “Finish open pockets” in the Comment field.

25. Continue to the Stock section. Activate the Rest material option so that the
material removed by previous operations is taken into consideration when
calculating the new toolpaths. Activate the One other operation option then
select operation 3 from the window on the right side of the function panel. Click
the green OK button.

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 26. Regenerate the dirty operation then examine the new toolpath. The pocket on
the right of the part has a simple finishing pass to remove the small amount of
material left on walls by the previous operation. Then the tool rises, rapids over
to the next pocket, then uses a dynamic motion to clear the material in the
narrow section. After this, the finishing pass removes the small amount of
material remaining on the walls of this pocket.

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 27. Looking at the Toolpaths Manager, the comment for operation 3 was not
updated after the operation was copied. Open the parameters for operation 3.
Go to the Tool section and change the comment to “Open Pocket Rough”. Click
the green OK button. Go to an isometric view, save the file, and continue to the
next module.

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 L6-03 - Drilling and Boring Holes

This lesson will cover the steps to bore the holes and the counterbores in the model using
the 2D Drill and Circle toolpaths.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Note that the holes in the model still have stock above them at this stage. To
begin, expand the 2D group’s gallery in the Mill Toolpaths tab and select the
Drill operation.

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 3. Select the bottom edge of both holes. Make sure that the point that appears with
the selection is in the center of the hole as shown in the image below. Click OK
when both holes are selected.

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 4. Select the Tool tab and select the 5/8 Drill. Type “Deep Drilling” in the Comment
box.

5. Open the Stock tab. Select the Use Stock option and in the Define stock from:
field select Stock Model. Open the adjacent dropdown menu and select the First
Pocket stock model. Periodically adding these stock models through the process
helps Mastercam know where stock still exists to avoid collisions.

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 6. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Open the Cycle dropdown menu. There are
options for Chip Break and Peck Drill. Both options drill a little way into the
material and then retract the drill. The peck drill cycle withdraws the drill all the
way out of the material whereas the chip break cycle does not. For this tutorial,
select the Chip Break cycle from the menu. Leave Peck at 0.1.

7. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Click the Calculator button under the
Depth... field. This brings up a small dialog box to set the depth based on the
tool parameters. Leave the default values and click the OK button.

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 8. Open the Tip Comp tab. Enable the Tip Comp checkbox leaving the default
values for everything else. Once this is done, click the OK button.

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 9. The toolpath for the drill operation should now appear as blue lines traveling
through the holes in the model. To see how far the tool goes, click the Backplot
button at the top of the Toolpath Manager and drag the marker over the purple
progress bar for the animation until the drill emerges at the bottom of the hole.
Notice that the major diameter of the tool extends all the way through the hole.
Click OK to close the backplot.

10. It would be possible to change the depth of the operation by opening the
properties in the Toolpath Manager. Another way to do this is to click on
Geometry – (2) Entities under the chip break operation. Once this is done, left
click on Solid Arc 1 and click the Change Parameters at a Point button.

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 11. There are a number of different parameters here that can be changed such as
the jump height which can be used to help the tool avoid various features of the
model when the tool is moving over the part. For now, click the checkbox for
Depth. Right click on the Value cell for depth and select Z = Z Coordinate of a
point and click on one of the arcs at the bottom of the hole. Note that tip
compensation still applies to any values entered here.

12. It is also possible to do arithmetic in the Value fields. Select the cell, erase the old
value, and type “.125+0.05” in the cell. Note that once the value is entered,
Mastercam replaces the expression with the evaluated sum. Since no change to
the depth needs to be made, deselect the Depth checkbox, click the white x at
the top and click the red Cancel button.

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 13. Double click the Op1 bookmark to return to an isometric view. At this point, the
toolpath to drill the holes has been created, but another toolpath is needed to
create the counter bores. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, open the 2D Gallery and
scroll down to the Hole Making section. Select the Circle Mill toolpath.

14. Select the outer radius inside both counterbores. Then, click OK.

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 15. Open the Tool tab. Currently, there is no tool in the machine group that fits the
requirements of this operation, and a new tool needs to be added. To do this,
click Select library tool... to view the tools current loaded into Mastercam.

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 16. The needed tool is still not here. Click the New Library button which appears as a
folder icon at the top and select the “mill_inch” tool library.

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 17. Click the Filter... button on the right. Click Reset all at the bottom. Under Tool
Types click None to clear all selected tool type filters. After that, click the Square
End Mill icon on the top left of the available tools and click OK.

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 18. From the list of filtered tools, select tool number 287 which is a 3/8 FLAT END
MILL. Click OK.

19. Type “CounterBore” in the Comment field.

20. Open the Stock tab. Make sure Use Stock is selected. Make sure that Stock
Model is select and select First Pocket in the adjacent dropdown menu.

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 21. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Make sure that Stock to leave on walls and
Stock to leave on floors are both set to 0.

22. Open the Roughing tab. Make sure Roughing and Helical Entry are both
selected.

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 23. Open the Finishing tab. Select the Finishing checkbox. Leave the Number of
finishing passes set to 1 and Spacing set to 0.05. Enable the Keep tool down
check box and change Finish passes to Final depth.

24. Open the Depth Cuts tab. Since this operation is affects a location that still has
stock over it, enable the Depth cuts checkbox and set Max rough step: to 0.125.
Once this is done, click OK to finish adding the toolpath.

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 25. At this point, it would be helpful to create a new stock model to represent the
current state of the stock. Click on the Stock Model button in the Mill Toolpaths
tab. Enter “Drilled Holes” in the Name field. Make sure the Stock Plane is set to
Top and for the Initial stock shape, select the Stock Model option and choose
the First Pocket stock model.

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 26. Open the Source Operations tab. Hold down the [Ctrl] key on the keyboard and
click the 5 – Chip Break – Deep Drilling toolpath and the 6 – Circle Mill –
CounterBore toolpath to select both of them.

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 27. Open the Stock Compare tab. Disable the Stock Compare checkbox and click
OK. Once this is done, the stock model should be created representing the holes
and counterbores. Double click on the Op1 bookmark. Save and continue to the
next module.

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 Lesson 6-03: Dynamic Contour

The open pockets on the part have already been finished using dynamic rest milling; this
module will use dynamic contour as an alternate way to finish the pockets.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Inside the 2D group, click the Contour option.

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 3. In the Selection Method section of the Solid Chaining function panel, activate
the Loop option.

4. In the work area, select the bottom edge of the circular recess then click the
green OK button in the Pick Reference Face window. Click the green OK button
in the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 5. In the toolpath parameters, go to the Tool section. Select tool 9 as the tool for
this operation. Enter a comment of “G54 Finish” in the Comment field. Notice the
previous operation used tool 9. It is good practice to clump operations together
that use the same tools. This will create a more efficient program because the
tool changer will not have to unnecessarily change tools. The current operation
could be machined using tool 10 but tool 9 will be used so that a tool change is
not forced.

6. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Investigate the various contour types
available in the drop-down menu but leave it set to the 2D option.

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 7. Continue to the Lead In/Out section. Make sure is the Gouge check option is
selected. The Entry values are all on the left side of the window and the Exit
values are on the right side. For the Entry’s Line area, enter value of 25 into the
Length field. In the Arc area, enter value of 25 in the Radius field and 30 in the
Sweep field. Use the right arrow in the middle of the window to push the values
to the Exit side of the window.

8. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Enter value of 0.1 into the Feed
plane field. Click the Top of stock button then select a point on the top main face
of the part as the Top of stock selection.

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 9. Click the green OK button to accept the current parameters.

10. Investigate toolpath. The feed starts at the top of the plane, eases into the
cutting diameter, cleans the material off the walls, then rapids out of the pocket.

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 11. In the Toolpaths Manager, select operations 4 and 5. Verify that the rapid
movements between the operations do not collide with part geometry.

12. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and select the Dynamic Contour option.

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 13. Notice that many of the options in the Chain Options function panel are not
selectable. Click the Select machining chains button. In the Solid Chaining
function panel, change the selection method to the Partial loop option.

14. Select the partial loop chain of the open pocket so that the direction of the chain
is counterclockwise. Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function
panel and in the Chain Options function panel.

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 15. Continue to the Tool section and choose tool 9 as the tool for this operation.
Enter a comment of “Dynamic Contour” in the Comment field.

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 16. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0 in the Stock to leave
on walls and Stock to leave on floors fields.

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 17. Continue to the Contour Wall section. These values will drive how the tool enters
and exits the corners. Click in each of the fields and notice the graphic updates to
illustrate the function of each field. Accept the default values.

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 18. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Click the Top of stock button, then
select a point on the top main face of the part in the work area.

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 19. Click the green OK button to accept all the current parameters.

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 20. The current state of the operation looks just like a typical contour operation.

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 21. Go back into the toolpath parameters for operation 6 and go to the Contour
Wall section. Enter a value of 0.25 in the Radius of tool that shaped the stock
field. Enter value of 0.25 in the Min toolpath radius that shaped the stock field.
Enter a value of 0.05 into the Stock thickness field.

22. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button to see the effects
of this toolpath in the work area. The toolpath now looks different from a
standard contour.

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 23. Continue to the Finishing section. Activate the Finish pass option. Preview this
toolpath in the work area. After the dynamic motion is completed, a finishing
pass removes the remaining material from the walls. Click the green OK button
to accept all of the toolpath parameters. Double-click on the Viewsheet 1 tab to
return the part to an isometric view. Save the file continue to the next module.

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 L6-04 - OptiRough

This module will cover the use of the OptiRough toolpath to remove excess stock material
in preparation for a finer toolpath to finish the final shape. This module will also cover the
use of avoidance geometry to specify regions for the tool to avoid.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the Toolpaths Manager, select the 7 – Stock model – Drilled Holes toolpath
and click the Toggle display on selected operations button to hide the stock
model.

3. In the Mill Toolpaths tab’s, 3D gallery, click the OptiRough toolpath.

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 4. Click the Select entities button under Machining Geometry.

5. Triple click a surface of the solid body to select the entire body. Then, press End
Selection.

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 6. In order to specify regions for the tool to avoid, click the Select entities button
under Avoidance Geometry.

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 7. Open the Levels Manager and set the Surfaces level to be visible. This should
make the surfaces that were created in a previous module appear over the
pockets and holes in the model. To easily select all the surfaces, click the Select
all entities by color button on the right side of the workspace. Select the
checkbox for color 136 and click OK. Then click End Selection. Setting the
surfaces as avoidance regions prevents the tool from dipping into these features.

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 8. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Containment Boundaries button

9. In the Levels Manager, enable the Wireframe level. Under Mode, select the
Wireframe option. Once this is done, select the four wireframe entities that
compose the stock boundary and click OK.

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 10. Since the boundary fits closely with shape of the part, leave the Strategy: set to
From outside. Leave the Compensate to: option set to Center.

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 11. Open the Tool tab. Select the 1/2 Bull Nosed Drill. Since this is an Iscar tool, it
has the Iscar HEM (High Efficiency Machining) option. Check this option. Once
the option is selected, a slider bar appears below. Drag the slider until the HEM
Factor: is set to 1.25. Lastly, enter “Dynamic OptiRough” into the Comment field.

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 12. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Change Optimize stepups to Next closest. This
helps keep the tool down over curved areas of the part. Change Stepover to 10%
and Stepdown to 150. This reduces the number of tool passes needed. Enable
the Stepup option and set the value to 10. This option allows the tool to stay
closer to the part when moving along an upward curve on the part. Make sure
Mill vertical walls is enabled.

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 13. Open the Transitions tab. Note that the Entry method is set to Helix only. Leave
all the options on this tab at default.

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 14. Open the Steep/Shallow tab. Enable the Maximum depth option and type in “z”
in the Maximum depth field and hit Enter or right click and select Z = Z
coordinate of a point.

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 15. Click on a point along the top of the vice as shown in the image below.

16. Change the Maximum depth field to -2.50. This keeps the tool away from the
vice.

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 17. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Change the Clearance plane to 0. This can
be done since the top of the stock has already been removed, so the extra space
can be used as the clearance plane. Change the top right dropdown menu from
Full Vertical Retract to Minimum Distance. This option helps keep the tool
closer to the part. Once this is done, click OK to create the toolpath.

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 18. Hide the Surfaces and Wireframe levels in the Levels Manager and wait for the
toolpath to calculate. Once it is done, the path should be shown over the part in
blue. Zoom in and examine the toolpath from different angles. Note that the path
does not extend into the vise because of the maximum depth that was set.

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 19. Double click the Op1 bookmark and click the Toggle display on selected
operations button to hide the toolpath. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 6-04: Dynamic Mill for Facing Bosses

The height of the bosses on the part need to be reduced to the intended height; this
module will create a Dynamic Mill operation to reduce the boss height.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. The current operation will use tool 10, the ½” flat end mill. Operations 4 and 5
both use the tool 9. In an effort to reduce the number of tool changes, the new
operation will need to be grouped with the other operations that use tool 10.
Move the red insertion arrow up between operation 3 and operation 4.

3. In the 2D group, click the Dynamic Mill option.

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 4. In the Chain Options function panel, click the Select machining chains button.
And the Solid Chaining function panel, change the selection method to the Loop
option.

5. Select the loops on the top faces of both rounded bosses. Make sure the
direction of both loops is clockwise. Click the green OK button in the Solid
Chaining function panel.

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 6. If one of the loops does not have a clockwise direction, click the Select
machining chains button to go in to the Chain Manager function panel. Right-
click on the offending loops and reverse the direction.

7. Both loops should now have a clockwise direction and the small arrow should
point towards the outside of the loops.

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 8. Click the Preview chains button in the Chain Options function panel. Click the
green OK button.

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 9. In the toolpath parameters, go to the Tool section. Select tool 10 as the tool for
this operation, then enter a comment of “Dynamic Finish Bosses” in the
Comment field.

10. Continue to the Stock section and turn off the Rest material option because it is
not needed for this operation. The tops of the bosses are being faced down to
the appropriate height so rest machining is not an issue for this operation.

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 11. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Make sure that the Stock to leave on
walls and Stock to leave on floors options are both set to 0.

12. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Keep the same values used in the
previous operation, then click the green OK button.

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 13. Investigate the toolpath in the work area. Notice the depth of each facing
operation changes based on the selected chains. In the Linking Parameters, the
depth was set to incremental 0. When the toolpath is calculated, the incremental
0 is applied to each of the chains selected. Go to an isometric view, save the file,
then continue to ask module.

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 L6-05 - OptiRest

This module will cover rest machining which allows a toolpath to calculate what material
has already been removed to avoid redundant machining.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. In the Mill Toolpaths tab’s 3D gallery, select the OptiRough toolpath.

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 3. Select the Machining Geometry using the Select entities button. Triple click on
a face to of the model to select the whole solid. Then, click End Selection. After
that, assign the value 0.01 to the Wall Stock and Floor Stock fields.

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 4. Click the Select entities button under Avoidance Geometry. In the Levels
Manager, set the Surfaces level to be visible. Select the surfaces that cover the
pocket and the two bolt holes that were machined in a previous module. Press
End Selection.

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 5. Open the Toolpath Control tab. Click the Containment Boundaries button.
Once this is done, set the Wireframe level to be visible in the Levels Manager.
Change the selection Mode to Wireframe and select the four wireframe entities
around the model. Then, click the green OK button. Leave the From outside and
Center options selected.

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 6. Open the Tool tab. Keep using the 1/2 Bull Nosed Mill and enter “OptiRest” in
the Comment field. Leave the HEM Factor: set to 1.25 to help keep a higher feed
rate.

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 7. Open the Stock tab and enable the Rest material option. Leave All previous
operations selected and change the dropdown option from All groups to
Toolpath group only. This calculates the amount of stock remaining after all the
previous toolpaths in the toolpath group, so this toolpath does not attempt to
remove stock that has already been machined away.

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 8. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Change the Stepup value to 5 and Stepdown to
100.

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 9. Leave the settings in the Transitions and Steep/Shallow tabs as they were in the
last module. Note that since this is another OptiRough toolpath, Mastercam will
use the same settings it was given last time by default. Open the Linking
Parameters tab. Change the Minimum Distance option to Minimum Vertical
Retract. Once this is done, click OK to create the toolpath.

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 10. The toolpath can take a moment to calculate. While it is working, hide all levels
except the Chain Guard and Vise. Open the Toolpaths Manager. The new
operation has the Multi-Threading Manager icon. Open the View tab and click
Multi-Threading to open the Multi-Threading Manager.

11. The Multi-Threading Manager shows the status of ongoing operations. In this
case, it shows the system is working on the new toolpath and gives a percent
completion. Click OK to close the manager.

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 12. Once the toolpath is done, it should display in blue over the model. Note that the
toolpath is not trying removing stock that was removed in previous operations.
Also note that it is respecting the avoidance regions around the bolt holes and
the pocket, but it is dipping into the pockets and holes where an avoidance
region was not set. Double click the Op1 bookmark. Save the file and continue to
the next module.

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 Lesson 6-05: Contour for Facing a Boss

The top of the rectangular boss needs to be machined down to the proper height. This
module will audition to different operations for this procedure.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Now that two of the bosses have been reduced to the proper height, the
rectangular boss with the two fastener holes needs to be reduced to the proper
height. In the 2D group, click the Face option.

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 3. With the Loop option selected in the Solid Chaining function panel, select the
loop on the top face of the rectangular boss. Click the green OK button in the
Solid Chaining function panel.

4. Continue to the Tool section and select tool 10 as a tool for this operation. Add a
comment of “Face” in the Comment field.

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 5. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Since this is a facing operation to bring
the height of the boss down to the appropriate level, reduce the Stock to leave
on floors value to 0.

6. Change the style to the Dynamic option and notice that the graphic changes for
each of the options in the drop-down menu. These illustrations will help you
select the of appropriate option for your operation.

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 7. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Reduce the Feed plane value to 0.1
so that the tool does not come up as high during the feed motion. Click the green
OK button.

8. Investigate the results of the toolpath calculation.

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 9. In the Toolpaths Manager, click the Backplot selected operations button. Press
the play button at the top of the work area and watch the animation as the tool
performs the Dynamic Face operation. Click the green OK button in the Backplot
function panel when you are finished.

10. Other operations could also be used to machine this geometry. In the 2D group,
click the Contour option.

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 11. In the Solid Chaining function panel, set the selection method to the Edges
option.

12. Select the single edge on the outside of the part then click the green OK button
in the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 13. In the toolpath parameters window’s Toolpath Type section, click the Select
machining chains button. The small green arrow points towards the outside of
the part and needs to be reversed. Use the Chain Manager function panel to
reverse the direction of the chain. The direction of the chain is reversed. More
importantly, the small arrow points towards the inside of the part.

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 14. Continue to the Tool section and select tool 10 as the tool for this operation.
Enter a comment of “Contour Face” in the Comment field.

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 15. Continue to the Lead In/Out section. Leave the Lead In/Out option selected but
deactivate the Entry and Exit options. Activate the Adjust start of contour
option. Enter a value of 100 into the Length field, then activate the Extend
option. Also activate the Adjust end of contour option and enter a value of 100
into the Length field. Activate the Extend option in this area also. These values
will extend the contour by ½” in either direction.

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 16. Continue to the Multi Passes section and activate the Multi Passes option.
Answer a value of 5 into the Number field, then enter a value of 0.25 into the
Spacing field. Click the green OK button.

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 17. Investigate the toolpath in the work area. There are five passes as specified in the
Multi Passes section and each pass begins and ends ½” past the selected
geometry as specified in the Lead In/Out section. This new tool looks much
different than the Dynamic Facing operation but achieves the same goal. Go to
an isometric view of the part. Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 L6-06 - Create a Spiral Toolpath

This lesson covers the use of the spiral toolpath to finish a few of the curved surfaces on
the model.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Click the Hide selected operations button to hide the toolpath that was created
last module and make sure the insertion point is below the last toolpath. In the
Mill Toolpaths tab, expand the 3D Gallery and select the Spiral toolpath.

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 3. Under Machining Geometry, set the Wall Stock and Floor Stock to 0 and click
the Select Entities button. This time, instead of selecting the whole solid, select
only the three radiused faces in the middle of the part as shown in the image
below. Then press End Selection.

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 4. Click Select Entities under Avoidance Geometry and select the bottom face
around the two bolt holes. Then click End Selection.

5. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Containment Boundaries selection
button.

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 6. Select the right edge of the right surface that was selected for machining and
click OK. Note that a downward green arrow should appear over the selection.

7. Select the right edge of the middle surface and click OK. Note that the arrow that
appears is pointed up and is counter clockwise with respect to the chain.

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 8. Click the Reverse button to change the direction of the arrow.

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 9. Select the right edge of the left surface and click OK. Click OK to finalize the
selection.

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 10. Change the Contain: option to Tool contact point since the operation is being
performed on a sloped surface.

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 11. Open the Tool tab. Select the 3/8 Ball Mill. Enter “Spiral Finish” in the Comment
field.

12. Open the Cut Parameters tab and change the Stepover value to 0.035. This
helps the toolpath calculate quickly. After that, select the Center point by clicking
the crossed arrow button below.

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 13. Click the dropdown menu where it says AutoCursor and select Arc Center.

14. Select the arc at the base of the middle, curved section. Once this is done, click
OK to create the toolpath.

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 15. Notice the toolpath is not displayed on the screen. This means one of the
parameters needs to be changed. Click on Parameters in the latest toolpath in
the Toolpaths Manager. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the
Containment Boundaries selection button. Check that all the are pointed in the
same direction. In the Chain Manager, right click Solid Chain 1 and select
Change side so that the small arrows all point inward. Click OK.

16. Click OK to finish altering the toolpath and click the Regenerate Toolpath button
in the Toolpaths Manager.

17. The toolpath is still not shown properly, so click on Parameters again. Open the
Cut Parameters tab. Reselect the Center point by clicking the crossed arrow
button below. This time select the middle point of the arc. Click OK and click
Regenerate Toolpath.

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 18. The toolpath should be created this time, but it is arcing around the point that
was selected last step. To make the toolpath more uniform, click on Properties
again. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Reselect the Center point. This time leave
AutoCursor selected and select the entire arc. Click OK and click Regenerate
Toolpath.

19. The toolpath should appear normally, but there are a lot of yellow rapid
movement lines. In this case, the tool is lifting up way above the region where it
is working.

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 20. Open Parameters again and go to the Linking Parameters tab. Change the
Clearance plane to 0.05 and change Full Vertical Retract to Minimum Vertical
Retract. Once this is done, click OK and recalculate the toolpath as before.

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 21. The toolpath should be a lot tighter now. Double click on the Op1 bookmark.
Save and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-06: Contour to Finish a Boss

The previous operations used to machine this part left some material on the walls of the
bosses. This module will walk through the steps to create operations to finish these walls.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. In the 2D group, click the Contour option.

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 3. In the Solid Chaining function panel, choose the Loop option as the selection
method.

4. In the work area, select the entire loop around the top face of the rectangular
boss. Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function panel when you
are done.

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 5. In the Toolpath Type section, click the Select machining chains button. In the
work area, notice that the small green arrow is pointing towards the inside of the
loop; this needs to be reversed. In the Chain Manager function panel, reverse
the direction of the chain so the small arrow is pointing towards the outside of
the loop. You might have to reverse the chain twice to achieve this. Click the
green OK button when you are finished.

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 6. Go to the Tool section and specify tool 10 as the tool for this operation. Enter a
comment of “Finish Contour Large Boss”.

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 7. Continue to the Cut Parameters section and notice that the compensation
direction option is set to the Right option. Click the blue Apply button then the
Preview toolpath button. Verify that the tool compensation direction is correct.

8. Continue to the Multi Passes section and turn off the Multi Passes option.
Because this is a finishing pass, multiple passes are not needed to remove the
small amount of material. This option was originally active because the options in
the toolpath parameters are persistent. The previous operation used this option,
so it was active when this new operation was created.

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 9. Continue to the Lead In/Out section. These contours do not need to be
extended. Those settings are still active from the previous operation. Uncheck
the Adjust start of contour and Adjust end of contour options. Activate the
Entry and Exit options.

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 10. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Change the Retract to the
Absolute option. Click the Depth button and select a point on the part down to
which the operation should machine.

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 11. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button. If the toolpath
looks appropriate, click the green OK button.

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 12. Now that the rectangular boss has the remaining material machined off the
walls, the other two bosses need to be finished. In the 2D group, click the
Contour option. Using the Loop selection method, select the lower edges of the
other two bosses. Click the green OK button in the Solid Chaining function
panel.

13. In the toolpath parameters window, click the Select machining chains button to
note the direction of the small green arrows in the work area. If the small green
arrows are pointing towards the inside of the loops, they need to be reversed.

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 14. Reverse the arrows if necessary; the small arrows need to point towards the
outside of the loops so the finishing toolpaths will be correctly calculated.

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 15. In the Tool section, select tool 10 as the tool to use for this finishing operation.
Enter a comment of “Finish Bosses” in the Comment field.

16. Continue to the Cut Parameters section and enter a value of -0.002 in the Stock
to leave on walls field. Notice the graphic preview now has red walls to indicate
the current parameters are removing more than the required amount of
material. Extra material is intentionally being removed because the bosses were
originally created to the exact size and shape of the corresponding geometry on
the chain guard part. If the bosses were the exact same size as the
corresponding pockets on the chain guard, this would create a press fit situation
which would make mounting or removing the chain guard part very difficult.

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 17. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Click the Depth button then select
a point in the work area down to which the current operation should machine.
Click the green OK button when you are done.

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 18. Investigate the new toolpath in the work area to verify that the operation
appears to be correct. Go to an isometric view of the part. Save the file and
continue to the next module

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 L6-07 - Create a Contour Toolpath with a bull end
mill

This module covers the use of the Contour Toolpath to finalize the upper right hand
pocket and the steps inside the pocket.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Click the Toggle display on selected operations button to hide the toolpath.

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 3. Focus in on the top hole in the model as shown below.

4. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, in the 2D Group, select the Contour toolpath.

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 5. Select the bottom edge of the opening and click OK. Click OK again.

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 6. Leave Toolpath Type set to Contour and open the Tool tab. Select the 1/2 Bull
Nosed Mill. Enter “Contour Upper Pocket” in the Comment field.

7. Open the Lead In/Out tab. In the Line group, set 0.05 as the Length.

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 8. In the Arc group, set 20% as the Radius.

9. Click the top button which appears as a double arrow to set the Exit parameters
based on the Entry parameters.

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 10. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Set the value -0.08 in the Depth... field. This
pushes the milling operation a little past the depth of the hole in the part. Once
this is done, click OK.

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 11. The toolpath is not in the right location because the compensation is not set
correctly. Click on Geometry – (1) chain(s) in the Toolpaths Manager for the
latest toolpath. Right click on Solid Chain 1 and select Change side to change the
small arrow to point inward. Click OK and click the Regenerate Toolpath button.
Once this is done, the toolpath should be in the correct location. Note that the
Compensation Type can also be changed from the toolpath Parameters in the
Cut Parameters tab.

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 12. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, select the 2D Contour toolpath. Select the upper edge
of the lower step at the top of the hole and click OK.

13. Notice that it selected all the edges around that surface. Click the Clear
Selection button.

14. Change the Selection Method so that only the Edges option is selected.

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 15. Select the left edge of the surface as shown below.

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 16. Click the Reverse button to flip the red arrow so it faces inward.

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 17. Click the edge segments or the red arrow until the entire arc is selected as shown
below.

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 18. Now select the left edge of the upper step. Reverse the red arrow so it faces
inward and select the line segments until the entire arc is selected. Once this is
done, click OK to finalize the selection.

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 19. Open the Tool tab and leave the 1/2 Bull Nosed Mill selected. Type “Contour
Steps” in the Comment field.

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 20. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Leave the Stock to leave on walls and Stock to
leave on floors options set to 0.

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 21. Open the Lead In/Out tab. Leave the Tangent option selected under Line.
Enable the Adjust start of contour option. Change the Length percent field to
25. Enable the Extend option. Once that is done, click the bottom right facing
double arrow to set the Exit options.

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 22. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Change the Depth... field to 0 and click OK to
create the toolpath.

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 23. Click the Backplot selected operations button at the top of the Toolpaths
Manager. Click and drag the marker across the bar at the top of the screen to
quickly see how the tool moves through the toolpath. Once this is done, click OK.

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 24. At this point, it would be beneficial to create a stock model to see how the last
several toolpaths have affected the progress of the part. Click the Stock Model
button in the Mill Toolpaths tab. Enter “Upper Pocket” in the Name field. Set the
Stock Plane to Top. Base the Initial stock shape on the Drilled Holes stock
model.

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 25. Open the Source Operations tab. All the toolpaths since the last stock model
need to be selected. The Toolpaths Manager shows that the last stock model is
the 7 – Stock model – Drilled Holes. Hold [Ctrl] on the keyboard and select the 8
– Surface High Speed (Dynamic OptiRough) – Dynamic OptiRough toolpath
and every toolpath after it. Then, click OK to create the stock model.

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 26. The stock model may take some time to create. Note that while it works, the
multithreading icon is displayed by the stock model in the Toolpaths Manager.
Opening the MultiThreading Manager through the View tab displays the
progress of the operation. Once this stock model appears, take a moment to look
at the results. Notice that the steps have fillets due to the shape of the mill that
was used. Additionally, the upper pocket’s hole is drilled below the bottom of the
part.

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 27. Right click in the workspace. Select the Isometric (WCS) orientation. Save and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-07: Chamfer Toolpath

The machining process sometimes leaves sharp burrs on the edges of the machined
geometry. This module will describe the process of using a tool to deburr the edges on
one of the bosses.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Because deburring is one of the last operations that should happen, move the
red insertion arrow to the bottom of Toolpath Group-1.

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 3. Using the Loop selection method, select the top edge of the rectangular boss.

4. In the Tool section, choose tool 2 as the tool for this operation. This tool is an
engraving tool, but it will work well to add a very small chamfer around the edge
of the boss. This chamfer will remove the burrs. Enter a comment of “Chamfer”
in the Comment field.

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 5. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Change the contour type to the 2D
chamfer option.

6. In the Chamfer width field, enter value of 0.02. Enter value of 0.05 in the Bottom
offset field. Click the green OK button.

7. Investigate the toolpath in the work area.

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 8. In the top of the Toolpaths Manager, click the Backplot selected operations
button. Click the play button at the top of the work area to animate the toolpath.
Pause the animation in the middle of the operation and zoom in to the part.
Notice how little material is being removed by the tool. Click the green OK button
in the Backplot function panel to end the animation. Go to an isometric view of
the part. Save the file continue to module.

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 L6-08 - Create a Chamfer Toolpath

This module will cover the use of the Chamfer Toolpath to smooth the corners of some of
the pockets in the model. It will also briefly cover the Deburr toolpath for those who have
access to multiaxis toolpaths.

1. To start this lesson, open the provided “Chain Guard-Setup1 – Chamfer.mcam”

file. This file is similar to the last file that was used, but there are several
additional contour toolpaths provided to clean of the geometry of the part.

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 2. In the Mill Toolpaths tab expand the 2D Gallery and select the Model Chamfer
toolpath. Click the Chain geometry selection button and change the Selection
Method to Loop.

3. Select the upper edge of the upper pocket and click OK.

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 4. Select the upper edge of the left pocket on the top of the model and click OK.
Then click OK to finalize the selection.

5. Open the Tool tab and select the 1/4 Chamfer End Mill. Type “Chamfer” in the
Comment field.

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 6. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Change the Chamfer width to 0.01 and leave the
Bottom offset set to 0.05.

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 7. Open the Lead In/Out tab. Make sure the Adjust start of contour and Adjust
end of contour are turned off.

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 8. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Note that the options present are a bit
different from some of the other tools such as the 2D contour toolpath. Leave the
settings as they are on this tab and click OK to create the toolpath.

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 9. Notice that the toolpath was created for the left pocket but not the right one. This
is due to a problem with the chaining selection. Click on Geometry – (1) chain(s)
under the latest toolpath in the Toolpath Manager. Notice that each loop has two
sets of arrows. The small arrow needs to point inside the loop. Click on the plus
icon beside Solid Chain 1. Select the loop so that the right arrow is highlighted.
Right click the loop and select Change side.

10. Selecting Change side affects both sets of arrows and does not fix the problem.
Right click Solid Chain 1 and select Rechain all. Select the right edge of the right
loop. Note the direction of the arrow and click OK.

11. Select the right side of the left loop and click OK. If the direction of this arrow
does not match the other, click the Reverse button. Once they point the same
direction, click OK.

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 12. Now each loop should have two sets of arrows. If the small arrows are pointing
outward, right click on Solid Chain 2 and select Change side. Once this is done,
both small arrows should point inward as shown in the image below. Click OK to
finish editing the chain selection.

13. Click the Regenerate Toolpath button in the Toolpath Manager. The toolpath
should appear above both pockets.

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 14. To check the result of this operation, click on Simulator Options at the top of the
Toolpaths Manager.

15. Make sure the Stock model option is selection and select Upper Pocket in the
adjacent dropdown menu. Then click OK.

16. Click the Verify selected operations button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager.
This opens a new window showing a stock model of the part.

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 17. Click the Play button at the bottom of the screen. Note that the tool removes a
small amount of material shown in yellow on the stock model. This is the
intended behavior of the tool. Click the Exit button at the top right corner of the
window.

18. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, click on Model Chamfer in the 2D Gallery again. Click
the Chain geometry selection button. Change the Selection Method to Edges.

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 19. Select the edge shown below on the left side of the model between the middle
and left most sloped sections.

20. Click the red arrow on the left of the edge to extend the selection all the way to
the start of the down slope. Then, click OK to finish selecting the Chain
geometry.

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 21. Leave the Side clearance set to 0 and click OK to create the toolpath.

22. Click the Backplot selected operations button at the top of the Toolpaths
Manager.

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 23. Move the progress slider at the top until the tool engages with the part. Notice
that the tool is way too close to the side of the part. Click OK.

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 24. Click on Parameters under the 21 – Model Chamfer toolpath and change the
Side clearance to 0.02 to give the tool a little extra space. Then click OK and
regenerate the toolpath using the Regenerate Toolpath button.

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 25. Redisplay the Backplot and lower the tool to the part. Notice that the tool is
further away from the side of the part now.

26. The next few steps cover the use of the Deburr toolpath to deburr the middle
hole of the part. Note that you must have access to the multiaxis toolpaths to do
this part of the lesson. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, click on the Deburr toolpath in
the Multiaxis Gallery.

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 27. In the Tool tab, select the 3/8 Ball Mill. In the Tool Axis Control tab, set
Machining type to 3 axis. Then, open the Cut Pattern tab. Change Edge
definition to User defined. Click the selection button for User Defined Edges.

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 28. Select the top middle edge of the loop.

29. Click the Next button on the right of the Branches group to select the next edge
along the red arrow. The Adjust button in the middle can be used to change the
direction of the red arrow.

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 30. Use the Next and Adjust buttons to select the entire chain around the hole.
Then, click OK.

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 31. Click the Part surfaces selection button and triple click a surface on the model to
select the whole part. Click End Selection and click OK to finish creating the
toolpath.

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 32. Click on Backplot selected operation and observe how the toolpath handles the
3D geometry of the part. Then, click OK. Note that a 2D Contour toolpath would
not be able to traverse the slope of the part. In the Toolpaths Manager, select the
22 – Deburr toolpath and click the [Delete] key on the keyboard. Click Yes. Then
double click the Op1 bookmark. Save and continue to the next file.

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 Lesson 6-08: Multi-Axis Deburr for 3 Axis
Machining

This module will investigate an alternate method for creating a deburr operation. This
operation will use a 3 axis toolpath; if you do not have access to multiaxis toolpaths, you
will not be able to complete this module.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the Multiaxis group, expand the gallery and choose the Deburr option.

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 3. The parameters for this toolpath look slightly different from the 2D parameters.
Go to the Tool section and select tool 11 as the tool for this operation. This tool is
a 3/8” ball endmill. Enter a comment of “Deburr” in the Comment field.

4. Continue to the Cut Pattern section. In the Geometry input area, click the
selection button to choose the part surfaces.

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 5. In the work area, draw window around the entire part to select all the surfaces.
Make sure the entire part is inside the window. Click the End Selection button
when you are finished.

6. Use the drop-down menu next to the Edge definition to select the User defined
option. In the User defined edges area, click the selection button.

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 7. In the Solid Chaining function panel, set the selection method to the Loop
option. Select the top loop on each of the rounded bosses.

8. In the toolpath parameter window, click the selection arrow in the User defined
edges area to verify the direction of the chains. Both chains need to be going in
the same direction. If the chains are going in different directions, reverse the
direction of one of the chains so that they are the same.

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 9. Continue to the Tool Axis Control section. Make sure the drop-down menu in the
Machining type area is set to the 3 axis option. Use the drop-down menu in the
Direction area to select the Line option.

10. Continue to the Linking section. This looks a bit different than the usual Linking
Parameters section for 2D toolpaths. Investigate the options in this section, then
click the green OK button.

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 11. Investigate the toolpaths in the work area. The tool begins outside the part,
rapids into the part, then deburrs one of the bosses. Next, the tool rapids outside
the part, moves over, then moves in and machines the next boss.

12. At the top of the Toolpaths Manager, click the Backplot selected operations
button. Press the play button at the top of the work area to begin animation.
Similar to the previous module, the tool is only removing a very small amount of
material around the edge of each boss. When you are done watching animation,
click the green OK button in the Backplot function panel. This toolpath will not
be part of the final program to machine this part. In the Toolpaths Manager,
right click on this operation and select the Delete option. Go to an isometric view,
save the file, then continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-09: Contour for Engraving

The fixture has text that is intended to be engraved. This module will describe the process
for creating an operation to engrave this text.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Go to a top view of the part so the text on the fixture is easier to see. In the 2D
group, click the Contour option.

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 3. In the Solid Chaining function panel, change the mode to the Wireframe option.
The Solid Chaining function panel will close and the Wireframe Chaining function
panel will open. In the Wireframe Chaining function panel, change the selection
method to the Window option.

4. In the work area, draw a window around the text to select all the wireframe
entities. Click the green OK button in the Wireframe Chaining function panel.

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 5. In the toolpath parameters window, continue to the Tool section. Select tool 2 as
the tool for this operation, then enter a comment of “Text Engrave” in the
Comment field.

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 6. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0 in the Stock to leave
on walls field. For the Stock to leave on floors, enter a value of -0.01. Use the
Contour type drop-down menu to select the 2D option. For the compensation
type, select the Off option. Turning off the tool compensation will make sure the
tool stays centered on the text.

7. Continue to the Lead In/Out section and deactivate the Lead In/Out option.

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 8. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Make sure the settings are correct,
then press the green OK button.

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 9. The toolpath is calculated and the results are in the work area. Notice how much
feed there is between the start of the feed and when it contacts the part. The
speed portions are excessively long and need to be adjusted because this will
add too much time to the program.

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 10. To reduce the amount of feed, go into the toolpath parameters window for
operation 13 and go to the Linking Parameters section. Click the Top of stock
button and select a point on the top main face of the part.

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 11. In the Feed plane field, enter a value of 0.05. Click the green OK button.

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 12. Investigate the results in the work area. The feed portions of the toolpath are
significantly shorter. The rapid movements are longer than they need to be. This
should be minimized as much as possible so the operation is more efficient.

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 13. Edit the toolpath parameters for operation 13 again. In the Linking Parameters
section, change the Retract value to 0.06 and set it to the Incremental option.
Click the green OK button.

14. Regenerate the dirty operation and review the results in a work area. This
operation looks much more efficient than the previous iterations.

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 15. In the Toolpaths Manager, select operation 12 so the toolpaths for both
operations are visible in the work area. Notice the rapid movement from the end
of operation 12 to the beginning of operation 13 has the tool colliding with the
boss.

16. Open the toolpath parameters for operation 13 again. In the Linking
Parameters section, activate the Clearance option. Enter a value of 0 into the
Clearance field and set it to the Absolute option. Activate the Use clearance
only at the start and end of operation option, then click the green OK button.

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 17. Regenerate the dirty operation then review the results in the work area. The tool
begins the clearance height at the beginning of the operation, machines all the
text at a lower level, then finishes the operation returning to the clearance
height. The transition between operation 12 in operation 13 does not have the
tool striking the boss.

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 18. Deselect operation 12, then press the Backplot selected operations button to
watch operation 13 animate. Return to an isometric view, save the file, and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 6-10: Dynamic Peel Mill for Open and
Closed Pockets

This module will create two different types of Peel Mill operations to investigate the
capabilities and limitations of the operation type.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Peel_Mill”. The Peel Mill toolpath does not
apply to the fixture from the other modules but Peel Mill is a useful operation to
understand.

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 2. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and choose the Peel Mill option. Peel Mill
can be used with a single chain entity or with two chain entities.

3. In the Solid Chaining function panel, set the selection method to the Edges
option.

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 4. Select one of the edges inside the open pocket, then click the green OK button in
the Solid Chaining function panel.

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 5. In the toolpath parameters window, go to the Tool section. Select tool 10 as the
tool for this operation, then enter a comment of “Dynamic Peel” in the Comment
field.

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 6. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. In the Single chain only area, activate
the Right option. Enter a value of 0 in the Stock to leave on walls and Stock to
leave on floors fields. Activate the Extend Entry option and the Extend Exit
option. Enter a value of 1.0 for both these fields. Notice the graphic in the window
updates to illustrate the effect of the option.

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 7. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button. The toolpath is a
2” wide slot that that has dynamic tool motion in the corners.

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 8. In the Cut Parameters section, change the Cutting style drop-down menu to
the Peel option. In the Min toolpath radius field, enter a value of 30. For a Peel
Mill operation, the Min toolpath radius must be larger than the Stepover value.
Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button to see the effects
of these changes. Most of the toolpath looks the same as before, but now the
corners are not defined by dynamic tool motion.

9. In the Cut Parameters section, revert the Cutting style drop-down menu back
to the Dynamic peel option.

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 10. Go to the Toolpath Type section and click the Select machining chains button.

11. In the Chain Manager function panel, right click the red insertion arrow and
choose the Add option to add a second chain to the Peel Mill operation.

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 12. In the work area, select the other edge of the open pocket. Click the green OK
button in the Solid Chaining function panel and in the Chain Manager function
panel.

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 13. Go to the Cut Parameters section. Uncheck the Extend Entry option and the
Extend Exit option.

14. Click the blue Apply button and the Preview toolpath button. The operation
now uses both chains to guide the toolpath. The toolpath no longer extends well
past the exit of the open pocket.

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 15. Activate the Extend Exit option in the Cut Parameters section. Since the Apply
button is grayed out and not selectable, click the green OK button then
regenerate the dirty operation. Examine the changes to the toolpath in the work
area. The exit is now extended past the end of the open pocket.

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 16. Dynamic peel is not an operation to be used for closed chaining. Copy the current
operation by clicking the right mouse button, dragging the operation to the red
insertion arrow, then releasing the mouse. Select the Copy after option from the
drop-down menu. Click on the new operations Geometry section.

17. In the Chain Manager function panel, delete both the solid chains by selecting
them, right clicking them, then choosing the Delete option from the drop-down
menu. Right-click the red arrow, then choose the Add option to select a new
chain.

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 18. In the Solid Chaining function panel, change the selection method to the Loop
option. Select the edge loop on the floor of the closed pocket, then click the
green OK button in the Pick Reference Face window, the Solid Chaining
function panel, and the Chain Manager function panel.

19. Regenerate the dirty toolpath. A warning will appear to tell you that closed chains
are not supported. Click the OK button. Peel Mill can be used on pockets, but
open chains need to be selected. Usually, other operations like Area Mill are
better options for machining pockets. Continue to investigate the options for
Peel Mill. When you are done, save the file and continue to the next lesson.

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 L7-01 - Waterline Finish

This module will cover the use of the Waterline Finish Toolpath to machine the sloped
surfaces of the part. This module also covers a number of different options for controlling
the containment of the toolpath to a particular region.

1. Open the supplied file “Chain Guard-Setup2.mcam.”

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 2. In the Mill Toolpaths tab, open the 3D Gallery and select the Waterline toolpath.

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 3. Under Machining Geometry, set the Wall Stock and Floor Stock values to 0.
Then click the Select Entities button and select the four sloped faces as shown in
the image below. Then, click End Selection.

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 4. Click the Select Entities button under Avoidance Geometry. Triple click each of
the bolts and select both upper and lower surfaces joined by the curved section.
Click End Selection.

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 5. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Containment Boundaries selection
button. Open the Levels Manager and set level 120 to be visible. Make sure the
selection mode is set to Wireframe and select the entire wireframe silhouette of
the region. Then, click OK.

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 6. Set the Contain: setting to Tool contact point and leave Compensate to: set to
Center.

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 7. Open the Tool tab and select the 3/8 Ball Mill. Enter “Waterline” in the Comment
field.

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 8. Open the Cut Parameters tab and change the Stepdown to 0.075 to reduce the
time it takes to calculate the toolpath. This makes it easier to tweak the options
to get the correct toolpath settings. Once those settings have been found, this
parameter can be set to a smaller value to provide a more accurate result.

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 9. Open the Transitions tab. Leave the Tangential ramp option selected. Then
open the Steep / Shallow tab. Enable the Maximum depth option and enter “z”
for Maximum depth and select the edge at the bottom of the slope.

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 10. Open the Linking Parameters tab. Click the Clearance plane selection button
and select a point at the top of one of the bolts. Click OK to create the toolpath.

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 11. In the Levels Manager, hide level 120 and open the Toolpaths Manager. Select
the latest toolpath and examine the path on the screen. Notice that the toolpath
is extending into the pockets next to the sloped regions. The toolpath can be
more strictly controlled by changing the containment boundary. Click on
Parameters in the Toolpaths Manager.

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 12. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Boundary chains: selection button.
Right click Chain 1 and select Rechain all. Change the Mode to Solids and the
Selection Method to Edges.

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 13. Select the edges as shown in the image below. Remember that the Next button
selects the next edge segment along the red arrow and the Adjust button
changes the direction of the arrow. Click OK to finish the chain selection and click
OK again to close the Chain Manager.

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 14. Click OK to finish editing the toolpath and use the Regenerate Toolpath button
to recalculate the toolpath based on the new boundary. Notice that the change
has stopped the toolpath from wrapping around the outside of the slopes, but it
is still straying into the pockets.

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 15. Open Properties again and click the Remove Selected Containment
Boundaries button and then the Containment Boundary select button. Leave
the Mode and Selection Method to the same settings as before a select the
edge shown in the image below.

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 16. Select around the slopes leaving out the pockets and the arced edge at the top of
the slopes.

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 17. Continue to select the edges around the bottom of the slope and up the right
side of the slope wrapping around to the first selected edge. Then click OK and
click OK to finish editing the toolpath.

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 18. Regenerate the toolpath again. The toolpath is staying out of the pockets
although it is still traveling in a little bit during the transitions. There are a few
other parameters that could be changed. Open the Parameters again and in the
Toolpath Control, change the Compensate to: option to Outside.

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 19. Open the Linking Parameters tab and change Full Vertical Retract to
Minimum Vertical Retract. Then click OK and regenerate the toolpath. This
results in the toolpath extending into the pockets again. As this module has
demonstrated, several parameters can be changed to affect how tightly the tool
is confined to a given area.

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 20. Use the Backplot selected operations button to check the movement of the tool
through the toolpath. Note that during the rapid movements, the holder may
collide with the stock. This will be addressed in a future module about detecting
collisions. Click the OK button to close the Backplot. Double click the Op2
bookmark. Save the file and proceed to the next module.

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 Lesson 7-01: Spot Drilling Holes

Mastercam has several tools to help you create holes. This module will create an operation
for spot drilling the holes in the current part in preparation for drilling.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Fixture_Program_Holes” or continue with the

file from lesson 6–09. These files should be identical.

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 2. The part has several holes that need to be drilled. Before the holes can be drilled,
they need to be spot drilled. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and select the
Drill option.

3. The Toolpath Hole Definition function panel opens in the manager area. All the
points intended to be drilled need to be selected. In the work area, select the
center point of the holes to be drilled. If needed, set the AutoCursor to the Arc
Center option to help expedite the selection process.

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 4. In the Toolpath Hole Definition function panel, continue to the Advanced tab.
Note the operations in this tab, then navigate back to the Selection tab. Click the
green OK button.

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 5. The familiar parameters window will open. Go to the Tool section and specify tool
6 as the tool to use for this operation. This tool is a spot drill. Enter a comment of
“Spot” in the Comment field.

6. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Look at the options available in the
Cycle drop-down menu, but leave it set to the Drill/Counterbore option.

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 7. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. This looks slightly different than
the usual layout for the other 2D operations. Click the calculator icon in the Depth
area.

8. The Depth Calculator window will open. Examine the options in this window,
then click the green OK button. The spot drill will drill 0.125” deep. This value will
be added to the Depth field in the Linking Parameters section. Click the green
OK button in the toolpath parameters function panel.

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 9. Investigate the results of the toolpath calculation in the work area. The toolpaths
look appropriate for the operation.

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 10. Click the Backplot selected operations button in the Toolpaths Manager. Drag
the play head along the timeline to watch the animation. Click the green OK
button in the Backplot function panel when you are finished watching.

11. The time the tool spends above the part can be reduced. Go into the toolpath
parameters window and navigate to the Linking Parameters section. In the
Retract field, reduce the value to 0.1. Click the green OK button.

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 12. Regenerate the dirty operation and review the results in the work area. The tool
is not retracting as high so the operation will not take as long to complete.

13. The operation can be even more tightly controlled if needed. Click on operation
14’s Geometry section in the Toolpaths Manager. In the Features section, select
one of the points in the list, then click the Change Parameters at Point button.

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 14. This allows you to adjust the parameters at each individual point if needed.
Investigate the options, then click the X button in the Change Parameters at
Point window to cancel out of it. Go to an isometric view of the part, save the file,
then continue to the next module.

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 L7-02 - Hybrid Finish

This module explores the use of the hybrid toolpath which is a combination of waterline
and scallop. This toolpath is appropriate for regions which vary from slopes to curved
surfaces to flat surfaces.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. One way to create a hybrid toolpath would be to select it from the 3D Gallery. In
this case, however, right click and drag the 33 – Surface High Speed (Waterline)
– Waterline toolpath to the insertion point and select the Copy after option.

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 3. Click the orange down arrow to move the insertion point below the new toolpath.

4. Click on Parameters in the new toolpath. Open the Toolpath Type tab and
change the type to Hybrid.

5. Leave the options in the Model Geometry tab, and Toolpath Control tab to the
same values and settings as the waterline toolpath to allow easy comparison
between the two toolpath types. Open the Tool tab and type “Hybrid” in the
Comment field.

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 6. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Notice that there are a number of different
options available that are not available for waterline toolpaths. Notice that the
options in the Transitions and Steep/Shallow tabs are still set to the same
parameters as the waterline toolpath. Click OK to finish editing the toolpath.

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 7. Click the Regenerate Toolpath button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager.
Zoom in on the part and switch between viewing the waterline and the hybrid
toolpath using the Toolpaths Manager. Note that there are some differences
particularly near the flat region of the model where the hybrid toolpath makes
fewer passes over the part. Double click the Op2 bookmark, save the file, and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 7-02: Peck Drilling Holes

The previous module created the spot drilling operation to prepare for drilling the holes.
This module will create and modify the operation to finish drilling the holes using a Peck
Drill cycle.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Because the points for the holes have already been selected in the spot drill
operation, copy that operation in the Toolpaths Manager. Go into the new
operation’s toolpath parameters. Go to the Tool section and select tool 7 for
drilling the holes. This is a 17/32” drill bit. Change the comment to “Peck Drill”.

3. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. For the Cycle drop-down menu, change
to the Peck Drill option.

4. After the Peck Drill cycle is selected, the Peck field can be edited. This is the
distance that each peck will travel during each plunge of the cycle. Enter a value
of 0.2 in the Peck field.

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 5. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Click the Depth button, then select
a point on the bottom of the part since all the holes pass completely through the
part.

6. In the Linking Parameters’ Depth area, click the calculator icon. This will add an
amount to make sure the tip of the drill bit extends down through the part. Click
the green OK button in the Depth Calculator window. Notice the value in the
depth field change to a slightly larger number. Click the green OK button in the
toolpath parameters function panel.

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 7. Regenerate the dirty operation and investigate the results in the work area. The
drilling operations look appropriate and the toolpaths extend all the way through
the part. However, the hole that started at the lowest point has the toolpath
plunging too far past the bottom of the part.

8. Click operation 15’s Geometry section. In the Features section of the Toolpath
Hole Definition function panel, select Solid Arc 4 from the list. Click the Change
Parameters at Point button.

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 9. In the Settings window, activate the Depth option. In the Value field, right-click
then select the Z = Z coordinate of a point option.

10. On the part, select a point on the bottom of the hole. A value of -1.59449 is
entered into the Value field.

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 11. Manually add a small amount to the depth in the Value field. This will ensure that
the drill bit breaks through the bottom of the part. Click the checkmark button in
the Change Parameters at Point window, then click the green OK button in the
Toolpath Hole Definition function panel.

12. Regenerate the dirty operation and investigate the results and work area. The
toolpath that was excessively long is now much shorter. However, it might now
be too short.

13. Repeat steps 8 through 11 and adjust the depth value to -1.875”.

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 14. Regenerate the dirty operation and notice that the toolpath now approximately
matches the length of the others.

15. Click the Backplot selected operations button in the Toolpaths Manager. Press
the play button at the top of the work area to watch the animated operation.
After each peck in the cycle, the drill bit comes all the way out of the hole before
plunging again. This allows coolant to flood the hole. Click the green OK button
in the Backplot function panel when you are done watching the animation. Go to
an isometric view, save the file, and continue to the next module.

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 L7-03 - Equal Scallop Finish

This module covers the equal scallop toolpath and compares it to the hybrid toolpath and
the waterline toolpath over the same region.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. To create the new toolpath, right click and drag the 34 – Surface High Speed
(Hybrid) – Hybrid toolpath to the insertion point at the bottom and select Copy
after. Once this is done, move the insertion point to the bottom of the Toolpaths
Manager below the new toolpath.

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 3. Click on Parameters in the new toolpath and in the Toolpath Type tab, select
Equal Scallop.

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 4. Leave the setting in the Model Geometry tab as they were for the previous two
toolpaths. Take a moment to explore through the different tabs. Leave all the
settings as they are but note that there are some different options available
based on the tool type. In the Tool tab’s Comment field, type “Equal Scallop.
Then, click OK to finish altering the toolpath.

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 5. Click the Regenerate Toolpath button and compare the new toolpath to the last
two toolpaths. Use the backplot feature to get an idea for how the toolpath
moves.

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 6. This is a good opportunity to play with the different toolpath settings. Save the
file and click Properties to open the toolpath properties. Open the Toolpath
Control tab and change the Compensate to: setting to Center. Then, click OK
and regenerate the toolpath. Note that the tool does not wrap into the open
pockets as much. To finish, double click the Op2 bookmark, save the file, and
continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 7-03: Tapping Toolpaths

Now that the holes are drilled through the part, they can be tapped. This module will walk
through the process of creating and modifying a tapping operation.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. The tapping operation will use many of the parameters from the previous
operation. Move the red insertion arrow down to the bottom of Toolpath Group-
1. Make a copy of operation 15. After operation 16 is created, move the red
insertion arrow down to the bottom of Toolpath Group-1 again. Open the
toolpath parameters for operation 16.

3. Go to the Tool section and select tool 8 as the tool for this operation. This tool is a
5/8”-11 tap. Enter a comment of “Tap” in the Comment field.

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 4. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. In the Cycle drop-down menu, choose
the Tap option. The rotation speed of the tool and the feed rate are linked.
Setting the cycle type to the Tap option will ensure that the correct feed rate and
speed are calculated using the values set in the tool parameters.

5. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. All the current values are copied
from the previous operation. Even the point settings changed in the previous
module will be persistent. Click the green OK button.

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 6. Regenerate the dirty operation. The current toolpath does not appear any
different from the previous operation’s toolpath.

7. Click the Backplot selected operations button in the Toolpaths Manager. Press
the play button and watch the animation. This toolpath is different because it is a
tap cycle instead of a peck cycle. The tap will rotate down into the hole then
reverse directions and back out of the hole. Return to an isometric view of the
part. Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 L7-04 Raster Toolpath

This module covers the use of the raster toolpath to cut sloped surfaces and filleted edges.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module. Note that the results of this
module are not intended to be saved. Do not overwrite the save from the end of
L7-03 with the changes made during this module.

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 2. The raster toolpath is not going to be over the exact same region as the last
three toolpaths and has slightly different settings. As such, it should be created
from scratch. Go to the Mill Toolpaths tab and select Raster from the 3D Gallery.

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 3. In the Model Geometry tab, change the Wall Stock and Floor Stock to 0 and
click the Select Entities button for Machining Geometry. Select the single face
as shown in the image below and click End Selection.

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 4. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Containment Boundaries selection
button. Select the same face that was selected in the last step and click OK.
Change the Contain: parameter to Tool contact point. Leave the Compensate
to: setting on Center.

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 5. In the Tool tab, select the 3/8 Ball Mill. Type “Raster” in the Comment field.

6. Open the Cut Parameters tab. Change the Stepover value to 0.095. Again, this is
to allow the toolpath to be calculated faster which makes it easier to tweak the
settings as needed. Note that once the Stepover is changed, the Scallop height
should change as well.

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 7. Open the Steep / Shallow tab and enable the Maximum depth option. Right
click the Maximum depth field and select Z = Z coordinate of a point. Select the
edge along the base of the sloped region. Then click OK to finish the toolpath.

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 8. Once the toolpath is finished, zoom in on the toolpath to examine it. Note that
you may have to click the Toggle display on selected operations button if it
does not appear. Change to a top view and zoom in on the region. Note that the
pattern of the toolpath is in line with the x axis.

9. To adjust the angle of the pattern to make it line up with the geometry better,
click on Parameters for the latest toolpath and open the Cut Parameters tab.
Change the Machining angle to 45. Then, click Apply which is the blue, plus icon
on the bottom right and click OK. Click the Regenerate Toolpath button.

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 10. The raster toolpath can also be used on filleted edges. To demonstrate this, open
the Solids tab and click the Constant Fillet button. Select the edge segment
shown in the image below and click OK.

11. Change the Radius to .25 and leave Propagate along tangencies selected. Then,
click the green OK button. This causes a problem with several of the preexisting
toolpaths, but this is okay since these changes are not going to be saved.

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 12. Click on Parameters to change the raster toolpath for the new geometry. Go to
the Model Geometry tab and click the Select Entities button. Select the filleted
surfaces along the selected slope and click End Selection.

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 13. Open the Toolpath Control tab and click the Containment Boundary selection
button. Selected the same surfaces as in the last step and click OK.

14. Go to the Cut Parameters tab and select the Perpendicular fill option. Click OK
to finish altering the toolpath and regenerate the raster toolpath making sure
not to regenerate any of the others.

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 15. Zoom in on the new toolpath. Note that the toolpath pattern is perpendicular
over the curved region. To finish, do not save the file over the save from the
previous module. If you would like to save this file, go into the File tab, select
Save As and save the file with a different name. Continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 7-04: Circle Mill and Helix Bore

Even though the fixture part is fully programmed, some additional operations can be
explored. This module will walk through the process of creating and modifying a Circle Mill
and a Helix Bore operation.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. In the 2D group, expand the gallery. Select the Circle Mill option.

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 3. In the work area, select the bottom edge of the circular recess. Click the green
OK button in the Toolpath Hole Definition function panel.

4. Continue to the Tool section. Select tool 10 as the tool for this operation. Enter a
comment of “Circle Mill” into the Comment field.

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 5. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Since this is just a practice operation,
enter a value of 0 into the Stock to leave on walls and Stock to leave on floors
fields.

6. Continue to the Roughing section then activate the Roughing option.

Investigate the other options but leave them at the default settings.

7. Continue to the Finishing section and activate the Finishing option. Activate the
Keep tool down option. Again, investigate the other options in this section but
leave them at their default settings.

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 8. Continue to the Transitions section and activate the Lead In/Out option.

9. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Check to make sure the

parameters make sense, then click the green OK button.

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 10. Investigate the toolpath in the work area. The rapid movements appear to start
too low and the helical entry is not fully represented.

11. To adjust this, go into operation 17’s parameters, then go to the Linking
Parameters section. Change the Top of stock option to Absolute, then click the
Top of stock button. In the work area, choose a point on the top main face of the
part. Inside the toolpath parameters, click the green OK button.

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 12. Regenerate the dirty operation. This toolpath looks much more appropriate for
the operation. This is another instance where the persistent values from a
previous operation were not appropriate for the current operation. It is always a
good idea to double check the Linking Parameters to make sure they are
appropriate for the current operation.

13. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and select the Helix Bore option.

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 14. Select the lower edge of the circular recess, then click the green OK button in the
Toolpath Hole Definition function panel.

15. Go to the Tool section and select the tool 10 as the tool for this operation. Enter
comment of “Helix Bore” in the Comment field.

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 16. Continue to the Cut Parameters section. Enter a value of 0 for the Stock to
leave on walls and Stock to leave on floors fields.

17. Continue to the Rough/Finish section. Activate the Finish option. Notice the
graphic preview shows that the finish cut will do a helical cut downwards for the
entire finish pass. The Circle Mill operation used previously did not do a helical
cut for the finish pass; it simply traced the chain geometry on a 2D plane to
create the finish pass.

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 18. Continue to the Linking Parameters. Change the Top of stock to the Absolute
option, then click the Top of stock button. Select a point on the top main face of
the part.

19. Make sure all the other values in the Linking Parameters are appropriate, then
click the green OK button.

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 20. This toolpath is different in that it performs a helical cut all the way down to the
bottom. The Circle Mill operation performed a helical cut down to the bottom in
the center of the geometry, then worked its way out in the XY plane to create the
finish passes on the walls. The correct choice between these two operations
depends on geometry and the desired result for the finish on the walls of the
geometry. Continue to explore these two toolpaths and note in which instances
each of them would be useful. Since these two operations are practice
operations, delete them from the Toolpaths Manager. Return to an isometric
view. Save the file and continue to the next lesson.

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 L7-05 - Transform a toolpath

This module covers the steps to transform a toolpath into a new position. The toolpath is a
copy of the original with offset or rotated coordinates.

1. Continue with the file saved from the end of L7-03.

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 2. Open the Levels Manager and set the Wireframe level to be visible. Note that the
wireframe was at the top of the stock during operation one.

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 3. Right click in the workspace and select Top (WCS) to change the orientation to a
top view. The orientation is now zoomed way out. At the bottom left of the
screen, there is a point. Select that point and delete it. Then, right click and select
Fit to zoom in on the part.

4. In the Transform tab, select the Dynamic option.

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 5. Select the four wireframe entities and click End Selection. Then, click the top left
corner to snap the gnomon to that position and rotate the screen to match the
view in the image below.

6. Left click and drag the tooltip window so that all the text is visible on the screen.

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 7. Notice that the gnomon only has an X and Y axis. This is because Mastercam is in
2D construction mode. Click on 2D at the bottom towards the right of the screen
to change the construction mode to 3D. This makes a Z axis appear.

8. Change the Method: option to Copy. Left click the X axis which appears in red
and drag the gnomon to the right 18 inches. Remember that moving the mouse
over the ruler allows the gnomon to snap to specific increments and a specific
value can be typed on the keyboard. After typing in 18, press the [Enter] key
twice.

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 9. Click the green OK button to finish the transform and return to the Levels
Manager. Notice that the new wireframe entities are created in the Wireframe
level instead of the current active level. This is because copying an entity with a
transform operation places it into the same level as the original.

10. Create a new level at number 200 and name it “Transform OP” to contain the
copied wireframes. Remember that this can be done either by entering a new
level number into the bottom of the Levels Manager, or by right clicking and
typing “200:Transform OP” without quotes in the Levels field.

11. To move the new wireframe entities, right click and click the Clear Colors button
to remove any existing selections. Select the four new wireframes, right click and
select the Change Levels button shown under the cursor in the image below.
Then click OK.

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 12. To transform a toolpath, open the Mill Toolpaths tab and click the Toolpath
Transform button.

13. Under Source Operations, scroll down and select the 35 – Surface High Speed
(Equal Scallop) – Equal Scallop toolpath. Change Source to NCI.

14. Open the Translate tab and under Method select Between points. Click the
Select point button in From Point parameters and click the top left corner of the
original wireframe.

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 15. Click the Select point button in To Point parameters and click the top left corner
of the copied wireframe.

16. Click OK to finish setting up the transformed toolpath. Once this is done, the
transformed toolpath appears within the new wireframe. This demonstrates the
transformation function which can be useful under a variety of circumstances
such as transforming a toolpath to drill holes around a specific point. Continue to
the next module.

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 L8-01 - Finish a 3D shape with flowline

This lesson will briefly revisit the raster and equal scallop toolpaths over more complicated
geometry than before. It will also introduce the flowline toolpath and examine the role of
the cutting method in reducing the number of rapid movements of the tool.

1. Open the “MCU3D_Steering Wheel.mcam” file supplied with the lesson.

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 2. There is a raster toolpath already provided with the file. In the Toolpath Manager,
select the 2 – Surface High Speed (Raster) toolpath and click the Toggle display
on selected operation button. This is a good example of the perpendicular fill
option that was mentioned in a previous module being used to machine curved
geometry.

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 3. Select the 3 – Surface High Speed (Equal Scallop) toolpath and zoom in on the
toolpath. Notice that the toolpath is able to change directions multiple times to
efficiently cut the inside corner of the geometry.

4. To add a flowline toolpath, open the Mill Toolpaths tab, expand the 3D Gallery
and select the Flowline option.

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 5. Select the three faces as shown in the image below and press End Selection.

6. Click the Flow button.

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 7. Click the Cut direction button and notice how the toolpath changes over the
model. For now, click Cut direction again to revert it back to its original state and
click OK. Then click OK again.

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 8. Select tool 9 in the Toolpath parameters tab and type “Flowline” in the
Comment field.

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 9. Open the Surface parameters tab, click the Direction... checkbox and click
Direction... to open the associated options. The plunge direction and retract
direction can be altered from here. Note that they are currently defined relative
to the tool plane X axis and the tool plane is based on the Z coordinate system.
Leave the settings as they are and click the red Cancel button.

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 10. Open the Finish flowline parameters tab. There are several different settings
that can be changed here including the Cutting method which will be revisited
later during this module. Click OK to finish creating the toolpath.

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 11. Right click and select Top (WCS) to change to the top view and zoom in on the
toolpath. Notice how the toolpath zigzags a little close to the corners. Click the
Backplot selected operations button and click the Play button to watch how the
tool moves over the part. Click OK when finished.

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 12. To experiment with different cutting methods, click on Parameters in the
Toolpaths Manager under the flowline toolpath and change the Cutting method
to Spiral. Click OK and click Regenerate Toolpath button. This option behaves
somewhat differently at the ends and, for this model, results in many more rapid
movements.

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 13. Go back into the parameters and change the Cutting method to One way. Click
OK and regenerate the toolpath.

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 14. Since the rapid movements should be minimized, go back into the parameters
and change Cutting method back to Zigzag. Click OK and regenerate the
toolpath. Right click and select Isometric (WCS) and then right click and select
Fit. Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 8-01: FBM Mill

Using Feature Based Machining (FBM) toolpaths, Mastercam can auto populate operations
for machining a part. This module will briefly describe the process of creating an FBM Mill
operation, then analyze the results.

1. Open supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Fixture_Feature_Based” or continue with the file

from the previous module. These files should be the same.

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 2. In the Toolpaths Manager, right-click Machine Group-1. From the drop-down
menu select Groups> New Toolpath Group. Toolpath Group-2 will be added to
the Toolpaths Manager.

3. Make sure the red insertion arrow is inside Toolpath Group-2, then minimize
Toolpath Group-1 to allow more room to see the operations inside Toolpath
Group-2.

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 4. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and select the FBM Mill option.

5. In the upper left corner of the toolpath parameters function panel, click the
Detect button. This will tell Mastercam to look at the part and automatically
detect the various zones.

6. The zones are created according to their Z height. Click on each of the zones in
the toolpath parameters function panel and notice which features on the part are
highlighted in the work area.

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 7. In the toolpath parameters function panel, go to the Setup section. Activate the
Automatic initial feature detection option and the Recognize tapered
features option.

8. In the Search plane drop-down menu, investigate the available options but leave
it set to the Fixture Plate Plane option.

9. In the Group by drop-down menu, choose the Minimize tool change option. In
the Outside of part area, there are options for roughing or finishing the outside
of the part. Neither of these are needed because the stock for the fixture is
already assumed to be cut to the correct size. In the Comment field, enter
comment of “FBM”.

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 10. Go to the Feature detection section. Activate the Additional break through
option and enter a value of 0.125 in the field. Investigate the other options
available in this section.

11. Continue to the Roughing tools section. Inside the Preferred tool list window,
right-click and choose the Select tool from library option. In the tool selection
window, choose tool 10 then click the green OK button. Tool 10 is added to the
Preferred tool list window.

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 12. Continue to the Restmill tools section. Right-click in the Preferred tool list
window, then choose the Select tool from library option. Again, choose tool 10
from the list then click the green OK button. Repeat this process to also add tool
9 to the Preferred tool list.

13. Continue to the Finish tools section. Right-click in the Preferred tool list
window, then choose the Select tool from library option. Add tools 9 and 10 to
the Preferred tool list window.

14. Continue to the Facing section. Deactivate the Enable Facing option because we
don’t want the entire part to be faced in this program.

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 15. Continue to the Roughing section and investigate all the options available but
don’t make any changes. Also, look into the options in the Restmill, Floor finish,
Wall finish, Hole milling, Circle Mill, and Helix Bore sections. None of these will
need to be adjusted for this operation, but it is good to know what options are
available and where those options are located.

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 16. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Reduce the value in the Retract
field to 0.1”. Reduce the value in the Feed plane field to 0.05”. Continue to the
Additional settings, Coolant, Axis Combination, and Misc Values sections.
Again, no information needs to be changed in these sections, but it is good to
know the options they hold.

17. Continue to the Features section. The Detect button in the upper left corner of
the function panel has a red X over it. Click the Detect button and notice that the
red X disappears. This will detect all the features of the part using the parameters
you have specified. Click the green OK button.

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 18. Mastercam calculates the features needed to complete the program and adds
the operations to Toolpath Group-2 as they are created. 11 operations are
created after the calculations are finished. It is a good exercise to step through
each of the operations to see how Mastercam decided to machine the part. Click
on each of the operations and note what geometry is being machined in each. In
general, the program begins at the top of the part and machines each area
before coming back with a separate operation to finish the individual features.
Then Mastercam goes down to the next level and continues the process. This is
different from the way you have been programming the part because you have
been focusing more on specific features rather than general areas of the part.
Notice that several of the operations have custom tools created for the
operation. If any of the operations appear to be inefficient, the operation can be
modified using the same methods you would use for any standard operations.
Notice the FBM Mill did not add a tap operation for the holes. This would need to
be added to complete the program. Anytime FBM Mill is used, it is good practice
to review the results and make sure they are appropriate and complete.
Thoroughly investigate the results of the FBM Mill and determine in what
instances this would be a useful tool for you to use in your industry. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 L8-02 - Pencil Toolpath

This module covers the use of the pencil toolpath to clean filleted geometry.

1. Open the “MCU3D_GasPedal.mcam” file provided with the lesson.

2. Make sure the Setup-1 viewsheet is selected.

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 3. The file has several stock models visible. In the Toolpaths Manager, select 6 –
Stock model – Stock Model Setup-1 3, and zoom in on the turquoise filleted
region in the center of the model. Notice that there is still material on the fillets
that is not part of the final piece.

4. The insertion point is currently between stock models 6 and 7. In the Mill
Toolpaths tab, open the 3D Gallery and select the Pencil toolpath.

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 5. Change the Wall Stock and Floor Stock values to 0 and click the Select Entities
button.

6. To easily select the desired faces, click the Select all by color button on the right.
Check the option for color 3 and click OK. Then, click End Selection.

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 7. Leave the settings in Toolpath Control as default and open the Tool tab. Select
tool 9 which is a ¼ inch ball end mill. Type “Pencil” in the Comment field.

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 8. Open the Cut Parameters tab and change the Reference tool diameter to 0.25,
so it matches the diameter of the selected mill. Note that there is a Bitangency
angle setting. This option determines how much of the tool can contact the part
and will be revisited in a later step.

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 9. Click the Backplot selected operations button and observe how the tool
interacts with the model. Notice that there is a collision between the tool and the
part. Click OK.

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 10. Click on Parameters to edit the pencil toolpath and open the Model Geometry
tab. This toolpath does not allow avoidance geometry. Instead click Select
Entities under Machining Geometry. Click Clear Selection and triple click the
model to select the entire solid. Then, click End Selection.

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 11. Click OK to finish altering the toolpath and click the Regenerate Toolpath
button. Since the pencil toolpath only acts on the intersection of surfaces, it is not
machining the rest of the model, and it better able to avoid the other parts of the
geometry.

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 12. Notice the toolpath is traveling over the top of the purple features. Open the
toolpath parameters again and open the Steep / Shallow tab. Enable the
Minimum depth option and type “z” into the adjacent field. Select the edge
shown in the image below, click OK and regenerate the toolpath.

13. The toolpath is still jumping over the surface a little. Reopen the toolpath
parameters. Change the Minimum depth field to -0.875, click OK and regenerate
the toolpath.

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 14. The toolpath is still not entirely well behaved. Open the parameters again. Enter
“z” in the Minimum depth field, and select the point shown in the image below.
Click OK and regenerate the toolpath.

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 15. The toolpath is a bit better behaved now. Open the Backplot to check how the
tool moves. Notice that it is much better than before, but it is still trying to hit
unwanted geometry. Click OK to close the Backplot.

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 16. Open the toolpath parameters and go to the Cut Parameters tab. Change the
Bitangency angle to 100. This allows about half the tool to be in contact with the
model. Click OK and regenerate the toolpath. Backplot the toolpath again. Note
that this time, the tool moves smoothly around the filleted edges without
straying. Click OK, save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 8-02: FBM Drill

This module will explore the process of creating a Feature Based Machining (FBM) Drill
operation.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Make sure the red insertion arrow is inside Toolpath Group-2, then minimize the
FBM Mill operation.

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 3. The process of setting up an FBM Drill operation is very similar to setting up an
FBM mill operation. In the 2D group, expand the gallery and choose the FBM
Drill operation.

4. In the top left corner of the function panel, click the Detect button.

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 5. Mastercam will detect the four holes on the part and display the parameters for
each hole inside the Features section. The hole diameters are not a convenient
number because this file was converted from metric to inch.

6. Go into the Setup section and activate the Automatic initial hole detection
option. In the Create additional geometry area, activate the Points at top of
hole option. This will allow Mastercam to automatically create points at the top of
each hole. In the level field, enter a value of 1005 so that the created geometry
will be put onto level 1005.

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 7. Continue to the Hole Detection section. Deactivate the Include blind holes
option and the Include chamfers option. In the Limit search to plane drop-
down menu, choose the Fixture Plate Plane option. Activate the Set normals
toward tool plane on detect option.

8. Continue to the Spot Drilling section and activate the Use this tool for all spot
drill operations option. Click the Select tool button. From the Tool Selection
window, choose tool 6 then click the green OK button.

9. Continue to the Pre-drilling section. Deactivate the Pre-drilling option because

the holes do not need to be predrilled.

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 10. Continue to the Tool section. Turn off the Create as needed option so
Mastercam will use the tool library. This might be an issue because of the odd
diameter of the holes in the part. Because the irregular hole diameters might be
an issue, activate the Use both inch and metric tools option. In the Hole
bottom geometry drop-down menu, look at the options but leave it set to the =
geometry angle option.

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 11. Continue to the Linking Parameters section. Explore the options in this section,
but don’t make any changes.

12. Explore the options in the Additional settings, Coolant, Axis Combination, and
Misc Values sections but don’t make any changes. It is good to know the options
available in each of these sections. Go to the Features section then click the
Detect button in the upper left corner. The information for each hole is displayed
inside the window.

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 13. Click the blue Apply button. An FBM Warnings dialog box opens and warns that
there are features with conflicts that are not machined. This appears because
Mastercam cannot find the correct size drill bit for the odd diameter holes. Click
the red Cancel button in the FBM Warnings dialog box. Click the red Cancel
button in the function panel to close it. This part is not well-suited for an FBM
Drill operation.

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 14. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_FBM_Dilling.mcam”. This file already
contains one facing operation and three drilling operations. Examine these
operations.

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 15. Navigate to the Levels Manager. Turn off the visibility for levels 10 and 200.
Rotate the part and notice there are four holes, four counterbores, and three
pins.

16. Double-click the Setup-1 Viewsheet bookmark, then navigate to the Toolpaths
Manager and make sure the red insertion arrow is inside Setup-2.

17. Navigate to the Planes Manager and make sure that the WCS, C plane, and T
plane are set to the Setup-1 plane.

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 18. Navigate back to the Toolpaths Manager. In the 2D group, expand the gallery
and choose the FBM Drill operation.

19. In the toolpath parameter function panel, click the Detect button in the upper
left corner. A dialog box will warn you that no features were detected. Click the
OK button.

20. In the Setup section, activate the Automatic initial hole detection option.

21. Go to the Hole Detection section. For the Limit search to plane drop-down
menu, choose the Setup-1 option.

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 22. Click the Detect button in the upper left corner. This time, nine holes with
standard diameters are discovered. The icon beside each of these holes is a
green flag instead of the yellow caution triangle seen when the holes were
detected on the previous part. Check the settings in each of the sections to make
sure they make sense for the current operation. Click the green OK button when
you are finished.

23. A warning dialog box will warn you that drilling point data from a solid is not
editable. Click the OK button until the dialog box disappears. This warning dialog
box appears because one of the options is trying to allow Mastercam to delete
geometry if needed. However, the geometry it is trying to delete is not available.

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 24. The drilling operations are previewed in the work area.

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 25. In the Toolpaths Manager, step through each of the operations created by the
FBM Drill. The blind holes and the through holes are all drilled. If any of these
operations need to be tweaked, the toolpaths can be modified using the same
process you would for a standard operation. Notice that none of the operations
are tapping any of the holes. If tapping operations are needed, these would have
to be added after the FBM Drill calculations are finished. Sometimes FBM Drill is a
very efficient way to create operations for machining geometry. The first part this
module explored was not a good candidate for the process because the holes
were not a regular diameter. The second part was designed using inch
measurements and regular hole sizes, so it is a better candidate for the FBM Drill
process. Continue to explore the FBM Drill operation. Save the file and continue
to the next module when you are ready.

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 L9-01 - Verify

This module will cover the verify feature in Mastercam 2020 which allows shows a
simulation of the toolpaths and their effect on the stock.

1. Open the “MCU3D_GasPedal Verify.mcam” file provided with the lesson.

2. Open the Machine tab. Notice that there is a Backplot and a Verify option.
Backplot runs in Mastercam 2020 and is what has been used in previous modules
to preview a toolpaths behavior. Verify opens the Mastercam Simulator.

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 3. In the Toolpaths Manager, in the Haas VF 5x machine group, there is a Setup-2
toolpath group. To verify the toolpaths in this group, click the Simulator Options
button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager.

4. Leave the Stock model option selected and in the adjacent dropdown menu,
select Stock Model Setup-1 5. This starts the simulation using the specified stock
model instead of starting with the complete stock.

5. At the bottom, there is an option to enable Fixtures. Leave this option checked.
Additionally, there is a list of all the levels in the file and an option to enable each
one. Levels 201 and 205 should be checked for inclusion in the simulation. Click
the green OK button.

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 6. Open the Levels Manager and show levels 205 and 201 to see the vice setup in
the file.

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 7. Select the Setup-2 toolpath group and click the Verify selected operations
button at the top of the Toolpaths Manager. This opens the Mastercam Simulator
in a different window.

8. At the top left, the Mode can be switched between Backplot, Verify, and
Simulation. Leave Verify selected.

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 9. It is also possible to set stop conditions to pause the simulation for different
triggers. Click on the dropdown arrow on Stop Conditions and select Tool
Change. This will pause the simulation whenever the tool changes. Make sure
the Stop Conditions button is highlighted otherwise it won’t function. The
Create Bookmark button allows the simulation to be saved at different points in
the timeline.

10. The Tool Components dropdown allows for different parts of the tool, such as
the holder, to be hidden. The options to the right of this can be changed between
being checked to be fully visible, partially hidden and transparent, or invisible.
Play with the settings, but make sure the options match the default settings
shown in the image below.

11. In the Toolpath group, enable the Trace option.

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 12. Click the play button at the bottom of the screen. Notice that as the tool moves
along its path, the effect on the stock is simulated on the screen. As the tool
works, the machined areas are colored yellow. Pause the simulation once the
entire top of the stock has been removed.

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 13. At the bottom of the screen is a yellow progress bar. This bar shows the
simulation’s progress. The vertical lines represent where tool changes occur.

14. Open the View tab. There are different options available for changing the focus
of the camera. Additionally, the screen can be split into multiple viewports if
desired.

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 15. On the right side of the screen, there are tabs for the Collision Report and the
Move List. The visibility of these features can be toggled in the View tab.

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 16. Open the Verify tab to explore the features there. Click on ZX Clipping Plane
and select the Clip Back option. This allows a crosssectional view of the part from
certain angles. Click on ZX Clipping Plane and select Off.

17. The Analyze section has a couple options for how to handle chips. The Compare
option allows the model to be compared to an external STL file.

18. In the Quality section, there is a Turbo Mode option. This makes the simulation
coarser to allow it to be computed faster.

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 19. On the bottom right, there is a slider to control the speed of the playback. The
slider on the left can shift between making the simulation more accurate or
making it run faster. Notice that moving the performance slider requires the
simulation to be reset to the beginning.

20. On the top left in the Verify tab, there is a Color Loop option. Enabling this can
allow the alterations to be highlight in a different color based on the toolpath or
the tool depending on the variant of the option that is selected. Note that when
the option is selected, the progress bar on the bottom changes colors to reflect
which parts are using a particular tool or toolpath.

21. Change the speed slider to be fast and hit Play. After the simulation runs for a
while, try pausing it and clicking the Next Operation button which is the middle
button in the image below. Notice that the jump is not instant since it still has to
calculate the effect of the toolpath. However, the change to the stock is not
instantly displayed on the screen while in this mode.

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 22. Try pausing the simulation and moving the left slider all the way towards
Performance. Then click the Next Operation button. Click Play once it reaches
the end of its toolpath. Because the simulation is set to Performance, the state
of the model appears very grainy.

23. Once the toolpath finishes, Mastercam enhances the model to make it look
smoother. The progress of this operation is shown on the bottom right.

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 24. Go ahead and play through the remaining toolpaths. Note that the Play button is
grayed out after the toolpaths have run. To finish, click the Close button on the
top right of the window. Hide the displayed toolpaths and double click the Setup-
2 bookmark. Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 9-01: Toolpath Transform

Geometry and toolpaths can be copied using the Transform feature. This module will
explore the process for creating copies of the geometry and the toolpaths using the
Transform feature.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Fixture_Transform.mcam”

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 2. Before beginning the Transform function, it is a good idea to create a new
toolpaths group. In the Toolpaths Manager, right-click on Machine Group-1 then
select Groups> New Toolpath group. Toolpath Group-2 is created at the bottom
of the Toolpaths Manager. The red insertion arrow is inside Toolpath Group-2.

3. Navigate to the Levels Manager. Turn on the visibility for level 106 and turn off
the visibility for level 1.

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 4. Return to the Toolpaths Manager. Click on Toolpath Group-1 to select all the
operations inside of it, then click the Toggle display on selected operations
button. The toolpaths in the work area disappear.

5. Go to the ribbon’s Transform tab. In the Position group, select the Dynamic
option.

6. Draw a window around everything in the work area, then click the End Selection
button.

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 7. Place the gnomon in the upper left corner of the bounding box. This is the 0, 0, 0
coordinate position.

8. Click on the red X axis and slide the gnomon to the right. A copy of the body will
move with the gnomon. Enter a value of 12” in the value field to specify that the
copy should move a distance of precisely 12”. At the [Enter] key twice. Click the
green OK button in the Dynamic function panel.

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 9. Right-click in an open section of the work area and click the Clear Colors button.
The solid geometry, wireframe geometry, stock, and corner points have been
copied. Notice that the copy does not have any of the toolpath information
associated with it.

10. The toolpaths can also be copied. Click on the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab and
click the Toolpath Transform button in the Utilities group.

11. In the Type area, leave it set to the Translate option but notice you can select
Rotate or Mirror.

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 12. In the Source operations area, click on Toolpath Group-1 to select all the
operations inside of it. In the source area, activate the NCI option.

13. Continue to the Translate tab. Activate the Between points option. This allows
you to select two points in the work area to specify a begin and end point for the
translation. Click the Select point button in the From point area. Select the top
left point of the bounding box on the original model.

14. In the To point area, click the Select point button. Select the same point as
before except on the copy of the model. Click the green OK button to accept the
parameters.

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 15. The toolpaths are copied to the copy of the solid geometry. All the toolpaths are
combined into one operation and inserted into Toolpath Group-2.

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 16. In the Toolpaths Manager, select the new operation. Click the Backplot selected
operations button. Press the play button and watch the animation. Click the
green OK button in the Backplot function panel when you are finished watching
animation.

17. Go into the Planes Manager and click the green plus icon button at the top of the
manager. Select the Dynamic option from the drop-down menu.

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 18. Place the gnomon at the upper left corner of the copied solid geometry. In the
New Plane function panel, enter “Transform Plane” into the Name field. In the
Work Offset area, enter a value of 1 into the Manual field. Entering a value of 1
will create a new Work Offset with the value of G55. If additional instances need
to be added, they would be incremented by one each time; the third instance
would be G56 and the fourth instance would be G57. Click the green OK button.
Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 L9-02 - Machine Simulation

This module gives a brief overview of the features contained in the Machine Simulation
tool. It includes features such as gouge detection and allows a more accurate
representation of the toolpath’s interaction with the stock.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. Click the Simulate button in the Machine tab.

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 3. When using Simulate, the setup shown on screen includes the entire machine
setup based on the configured machine. Click the Play button and watch how the
machine behaves. Notice that it replicates how an actual machine would move.

4. Open the View tab. Notice that the same options exist here as when using the
verify feature.

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 5. Notice that the Sync view option is enabled. This syncs the movement in the
simulation with the movement in Mastercam. Try moving the orientation and
click the Close button at the top right of the window. Notice that the orientation
has moved in Mastercam as well.

6. In the Machine tab, there are a few options in the Machine Simulation group.
The Run option requires an actual machining setup and will not be explored
here. Click the Verify button in the Machine Simulation group. This opens the
Machine Simulation in a separate window.

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 7. In the SIMULATION tab, click the Fit button to zoom in on the tool and part. Click
the Run button to start the toolpath. While there are some differences in how the
stock and tool are displayed in the Machine Simulation as opposed to Mastercam
Verify which was explored last module, the tool still moves the same way and
removes stock material.

8. There are a few different options in the Visibility group which can be explored.
Click the Stock dropdown and select Transparent. This makes the stock
transparent so that the actual part can be seen inside the stock.

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 9. Clicking the Toolpath button displays the toolpath. Turn this option on and off
again. Note that displaying some toolpaths can clutter too much of the screen
such as in the image below.

10. There are a few options in the Control group which can be used such as the Fast
Forward option.

11. In the Simulation group, click the Material Removal dropdown arrow. From
here, Backplot can be selected to change into backplot mode. Leave this alone
for now; this option will be explored in the next model. The NC Mode can be
changed to Time or Length. This option affects the information displayed on the
top right of the viewspace. The Machine option can be set to Workpiece / Stock
or Tool. This determines whether the stock moves or the tool moves.

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 12. Click the Workpiece dropdown arrow in the Visibility group and select the Hide
option. Click the Stock dropdown arrow and select Show. This hides the model
and shows the current state of the stock. Once this is done, zoom in on the stock.
Note that the accuracy in the Machine Simulation is higher than when using
Verify in the Mastercam Simulator.

13. Open the VERIFICATION tab and select Gouge&Excess Report. Then click Apply
Refine.

14. Once the change is applied, click the Show Gouges and Show Excess buttons.
Once this is done, markers are displayed on screen for locations where the result
of the toolpath deviates from the intended part.

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 15. Turn off the Show Gouges and Show Excess options and open the Simulation
tab. Click the Workpiece button to show the workpiece again. Note that the cross
pattern on top the stock is not a part of the model. This was added using a
toolpath.

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 16. Click the Material Removal dropdown and change the option to Backplot. Turn
off the Toolpath display and click Play. In this mode, the tool movement is
shown, but it does not show the removal of stock material. Notice that during
one of the later toolpaths, notifications appear on screen warning of collisions
between the tool and the part. This is happening because of the gouges which
are not reflected in the model. Click No to stop the simulation and click Stop.

17. Open the View tab. Notice that there are options to capture video in addition to
several options to open secondary docked displays to give more information. For
example, clicking the Analysis (Toolpath) button opens the Analysis view. The
dropdown menu at the top can be used to display different information within
this view. Note that when multiple of these options are selected, they can be
switched using tabs on the bottom right side of the screen.

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 18. Click the Close button on the top right of the window. Save the file and continue
to the next module.

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 L9-03 - Backplot

This lesson will cover the Backplot feature and the different locations from which it can be
used.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. While Setup-2 is selected in the Toolpaths Manager, click on Backplot selected

operations at the top of the Toolpaths Manager. Notice that unlike when using
Verify, the Backplot can be displayed directly in Mastercam.

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 3. The progress bar can be dragged at the top to show different parts of the
toolpath as was done in previous modules. At the top right are the Set
conditional stops button and the Help button. Notice that the progress bar at
the top is color coded by the toolpath that it represents. Left of the progress bar
is a slider to control the speed of the playback. Left of that are the Run mode and
Trace mode buttons. In run mode the toolpath line appears behind the tool as it
runs. In trace mode, the full toolpath appears on the screen, and the tool follows
along the path.

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 4. In the Backplot dialog box, click the Expand or contract this dialog to expand
the dialog box. Open the Information tab at the bottom of the dialog box. Click
and drag the right side of the dialog box to expand it to the right until the text is
visible. At the top, there are some visibility options such as the Display holder,
Display rapid movements, and Display endpoints buttons.

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 5. The Display endpoints option places a point on the screen every time the tool
changes direction. Select this option and click the Play button at the top of the
screen. Notice that since the toolpath has a lot of direction changes, this option
clutters the screen. Click the Stop button and turn off the Display endpoints
option. Click OK to close the Backplot dialog box.

6. Try clicking Backplot in the Simulator group in the Machine tab. Notice that it
still opens the Backplot in Mastercam. Click OK to close the Backplot.

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 7. Now click the Verify button in the same location. As in previous modules, this
opens the Mastercam Simulator in a new window. Open the Home tab and click
the Backplot button. As before, the Backplot does not show the removal of
material, but in the Mastercam Simulator, the toolpath is shown in the context of
the fixture and vise.

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 8. As explored before, there are several different visibility options. Set the
Workpiece to be fully visible. Selecting Segment in the Operations group hides
the toolpath and cleans up the display.

9. Notice that the Collision Report can be opened on the bottom right to display any
collision that happen. In the Backplot tab at the top of the screen, select the
Quick Verify option and press Play at the bottom of the screen. This option
shows a shaded representation of the tool’s path.

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 10. Click the Close button on the top right of the screen to close the Mastercam
Simulator. As a final point, clicking Backplot in the Machine Simulation group
opens Backplot in the Machine Simulator. Go ahead and click Backplot and Play
the simulation for a bit. Then, close the Mastercam Simulator. Double click on the
Setup-2 bookmark. Save the file and continue to the next module.

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 L10-01 - Generate G Code

This module will cover generating machine readable code from the toolpaths using a post
processor. It will also introduce the Mastercam 2020 Code Expert for viewing G code.

1. Open the “MCU3D_Post Process.mcam” file supplied with the lesson.

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 2. The code posted to the machine is based on the parameters within the toolpath.
To get an idea of how this works, expand the 1 – Surface High Speed (Dynamic
OptiRough) – OptiRough toolpath and click on Parameters.

3. Go through the tabs and then open the Tool tab. The text in the Comment field
will be posted as a comment in the code. This helps anyone reading the code to
understand the intent behind each segment of the code.

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 4. Open the Planes tab. It is important to make sure that the toolpath references
the correct planes. For example, this toolpath references the Setup-1 plane since
it is in Setup-1.

5. Open the Coolant tab. Remember that the information within is taken from the
tool parameters but can be overridden from this tab. This information is
important for the machine code.

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 6. Open the Misc Values tab. Note that these values can affect the G code as well.
Click the red Cancel button to close the parameters without applying any
changes.

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 7. Click the left edge of the Toolpaths Manager and expand it to the right. Select
Setup-1 and right click on it. Click Display options... from the dropdown menu
and check the Tool plane (name) option if it is not already enabled to display
which tool plane each toolpath uses in the Toolpaths Manager. Click OK. It is now
easy to see that each toolpath uses the correct toolpath.

8. Right click Setup-1 and mouse over Edit selected operations. Select Change NC
file name... from the dropdown menu. Enter “GasPedal-Setup1” in the dialog
box and click OK.

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 9. Right click on Setup-1, go to Edit selected operations and select Change
program number... from the dropdown menu. Leave the value at 10000 and
click OK. Just note that the program number can be changed from here.

10. To generate the code, make sure Setup-1 is selected and click the Post selected
operations button which appears as a G1 icon at the top of the Toolpaths
manager or in the Machine tab.

11. At this point, the Post processing dialog box opens and warns that the active
post processing file is an invalid file name. Note that post processors are specific
to a particular version of Mastercam, and old files do not work here. Click the
Select Post button and click Yes. Select the “Generic Haas 4X Mill” file and click
Open.

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 12. Under NC file there is an option for Ask or Overwrite. Leave this option set to
Ask. This tells Mastercam to prompt the user for a new name if the operation
tries to overwrite a preexisting NC file. Click OK at the bottom of the Post
processing dialog box.

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 13. Click the Save button. At this point, Mastercam starts generating the code. Note
that it could take a little while to finish.

14. Once the code is finished generating, the Mastercam 2020 Code Expert opens
with the generated code. The bottom part of the UI is the Find Extents Manager
which displays the maximum and minimum position along each axis to which the
tool travels. Rotation is displayed under the cartesian coordinates.

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 15. The program number is displayed at the top of the code. Notice that the code is
color coded. The comments are displayed in green and X, Y, and Z coordinates all
have different colors. The tool is displayed in purple. Also note that multiple NC
files can be tabbed along the top of the Code Expert to allow multiple files to be
opened at the same time. Code Expert can also be used to open machine
definition files. Press the Close button. Save the file and continue to the next
module.

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 Lesson 10-01: Backplot a Toolpath

Backplot is a useful feature inside Mastercam. This module will explore Backplot in depth
to see what functionality it can add to your workflow.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Simulate”.

2. In the Toolpaths Manager, click on operation 1. Select the Backplot selected

operations button. At the top of the work area, the slider can be adjusted to
customize the speed of the animation during playback. The play head can be
dragged to a new location on the orange timeline as a way to manually scrub
through the animation.

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 3. The buttons to the left of the speed slider are the Trace mode and Run mode
buttons. These buttons toggle how the toolpaths are displayed during the
animation. Click on each of the buttons during the animation and note the
results. Trace mode displays the full toolpath for the duration of the operation.
Run mode will reveal portions of the toolpath as they are completed.

4. Inside the Backplot function panel, click the Display Holder button. This will turn
on the visibility for the toolholder during the animation. The Display rapid
movements button will toggle the visibility for the rapid feed portions of the
toolpath.

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 5. Click the Display endpoints button. This will toggle the display for the endpoints
that are created anytime the tool changes directions. With dynamic motion, many
endpoints are created.

6. Click the Quick verify button. This will trace the toolpath using a stroke that is
the width of the tool. This can help you better visualize the material being
removed.

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 7. Click the Options button. This will open the Backplot Options window which
allows you to customize many aspects of the Backplot function. For instance, if
some of the colors do not work well for your screen, they can be adjusted inside
this window. Investigate all the options inside this window then click the green
OK button when you are finished.

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 8. The next two buttons in the Backplot function panel are the Restrict drawing
and Turn off restricted drawing buttons. Toggle these options during the
animation, observe their effects, and note in which instances they might be
useful.

9. The Display with color codes button allows the animation to use the color codes
associated with the toolpath segments. The yellow segments are rapid
movements and the blue segments are the feed movements. If these colors need
to be adjusted, they can be modified inside the Backplot Options function panel.
Click the green OK button in the Backplot function panel when you are finished.

10. Navigate to the ribbon’s Machine tab. In the Simulator group, click the Backplot
button. This is the exact same tool that has been discussed throughout this
module; this is just a different location to access the tool.

11. At the top right of the work area, click the Set conditional stops button.

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 12. The Conditional Stops function panel will open. This has many options for
specifying at which points the animation should pause. Investigate the options
then click the green OK button when you are finished.

13. In the Toolpaths Manager, select operations 8 and 9 because they use two
different tools. Click the Backplot selected operations button. Click the Set
conditional stops button, then activate the Stop at Toolchange option. Click the
green OK button. In the work area, click the play button and watch the
animation.

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 14. The timeline now has multiple colors to indicate different segments of the
animation. A tool change occurs at the dividing line between the two color
segments. The animation will stop when it hits this tool change. To resume the
animation, click the play button. Notice the traces on the screen match the color
of the timeline segment to which it belongs. Click the green OK button in the
Backplot function panel when you are finished watching animation. Save the file
and continue to the next module.

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 L10-02 - Create a Setup Sheet

This module will cover the steps to create a setup sheet which displays a summary of the
different toolpaths and tools used within a selected tool group or machine group.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. To begin Make sure Setup-1 is selected and press the Toggle display on
selected operations button to disable the toolpath display. Right click on Setup-
1 and click Setup sheet... in the dropdown menu.

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 3. In the General Information group, there are a series of information fields that
can be filled in. Enter “MCU” for Project, “Mastercam” for Customer, your initials
for Programmer, 1001 for Drawing, 1.1 for Revision, “Note” for Note 1, “Note
2” for Note, and finally, “Note 3” for Note 3.

4. Below the information fields, there are several options for how images should be
displayed in the report. The image format can be changed. Note that the
operation takes a screenshot of the model when the report is generated. This is
why it is important to make sure that all the toolpaths or any clutter on the
screen is hidden when making a report.

5. At the bottom is the report template. Select the template and press [F2] on the
keyboard to change the template. Select the setup sheet (mill2) and click OK.

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 6. At the bottom is the Add image button which appears as a camera. Double click
the Setup-1 bookmark and in the Planes Manager, select the Setup-1 plane.
Then, click the Capture button which has the same camera icon and click OK.
Click OK to close the Capture Images dialog box.

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 7. Click OK the close the Setup Sheet dialog box. This generates and opens the tool
report. It contains several points of information. There is a screenshot of the
workspace view at the top of the report. Below that is a list of the different
operations in which tool is used. At the bottom is a tool list which displays
information about the tools used.

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 8. Click the Close button at the top right of the window and return to Mastercam
Design. Right click on Setup-1 and click Setup sheet... again. This time change
the Report Templates to setup sheet (mill) and click OK.

9. Click the Add image button and click the Capture button. Click the List images
button below.

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 10. Press [F2] on the keyboard to add a caption and type “WCS is upper corner” in
the field. Click OK. Click OK to finish capturing images and click OK to close the
Setup Sheet dialog box.

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 11. As the setup sheet is created, notice that several of the toolpaths display on the
screen and a longer report is generated. The report contains an image of the
stock along with its dimensions. Below that, there is a screenshot for each
operation in the toolpath group along with information about the tool path and
tool. The end of the report shows the captured images. Close the report, save the
file and continue to the next module.

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 Lesson 10-02: Verify a Toolpath

In addition to the Backplot function discussed in the previous module, Mastercam has
additional ways to verify operations. This module will use the Mastercam Simulator to
perform Backplot and Verify functions.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

2. In the Toolpaths Manager, select Toolpath Group-1 so that all the operations
inside of it are selected. Click the Verify selected operations button at the top of
the Toolpaths Manager. Alternately, click the Verify button inside the Simulator
group of the Machine tab. Clicking either of these two buttons will bring you to
the same place.

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 3. The Mastercam Simulator opens in a separate window. Notice in the Mode group
there is a Backplot button. This Backplot function is similar to the one described
in the previous module, but it has a few extra visibility options. The Stop
Conditions button allows you to customize the instances which will cause the
animation to pause.

4. Inside the Playback group, there is a Create Bookmark button. This allows you
to create a position that will store the state of the simulation in the timeline.

5. The Visibility group has many options for customizing the elements you can see
during the animation. Toggle each of these options and note the benefits they
provide.

6. The Operations group has options for you to customize how much information
is visible during the animation. Again, explore these options and note their
benefits.

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 7. The Toolpath group has three options to customize how the toolpath is
displayed. The Follow option will reveal only the segments of the toolpath that
have been machined up to the current point in the animation. The Trace option
will reveal only the segments of the toolpath that have yet to be machined. The
Both option will display the full toolpath for the entire duration of the operation.

8. The Demonstration Tools group allows you to do things like record and save the
animation. This can be useful when sharing information with other team
members.

9. Navigate to the ribbon’s View tab. In the Focus group, click the Tool button. This
will shift the focus of the animation to the tool so that the tool stays centered
while the part moves in relation to it. Click the Workpiece button and notice the
animation reverts back to the tool moving in relation to the part.

10. The Viewports group has several options for customizing the layout of the
screen. Activate the various options to reconfigure the screen and note the
different instances in which these multiple Viewports would be beneficial. Revert
back to the Single View when you are finished.

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 11. The Show group allows you to customize the information visible in the right
column of the screen. The activated features will appear as tabs at the bottom of
the right column.

12. Continue to the ribbon’s Backplot tab. Some of the options here are similar to
the options discussed in the previous module. The Interpolate Mode button
allows you to specify the tool moving a certain distance along the toolpath during
the animation. This will restrict the tool from jumping around which is helpful as
the speed of the animation increases.

13. The Geometry group allows you to save the tool or toolpath if needed.

14. Go to the ribbon’s Home tab. Click the Verify button inside the Mode Group.
Unlike Backplot, the Verify function will simulate the removal of the material
from the stock. Press the play button and watch the animation.

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 15. The options in the Home tab are very similar to the options that Backplot had.
Continue to the View tab and note that these options are also similar. Continue
to the Verify tab. The information in this tab looks a little different than it did for
the Backplot function. Activate the Color Loop option inside the Playback group.
The timeline at the bottom of the screen changes and the individual operations
are color-coded.

16. In column on the right side of the screen, click on the Toolpath Analysis tab. In
the drop-down menu at the top of the Toolpath Analysis tab, choose the
Operation option. Each of the timeline’s color segments are described here.

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 17. As each operation machines new geometry, the faces are color-coded according
to the segment to which they belong.

18. The Clipping group has options for creating section views. These can be useful
for revealing part geometry inside the stock that has not yet been machined.

19. The Analyze group has options for analyzing different aspects of the program.
For instance, large chunks of material can be left behind by the machining
process. These chunks can be dangerous if they are flung off the part because
they can strike the machine or people. The Keep Chips button will tell Mastercam
Simulator to keep these cut sections so you can decide whether they will be a
problem.

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 20. The play controls bar at the bottom of the screen has several buttons. The play
button will begin the animation. There are Step Forward and Step Backward
buttons to move forwards or backwards a single step. There are also Next
Operation and Previous Operation buttons for jumping between operations.
There are also buttons that will allow you to jump to the beginning or end of the
program.

21. A Create Bookmark button is also included in the play controls at the bottom of
the screen. Next to this button is a Loop button which will continuously replay
the animation until you click the stop button.

22. Near the end of the play controls bar is a Capture/Replay button. This button
allows you to set a range within the timeline which will allow the animation to
remove and apply material from the stock model.

23. The slider in the lower left corner of the screen allows you to magnify or shrink
the timeline. Some operations in the timeline are very short which means you will
have to zoom in to them to interact with them. Explore the options that the
Mastercam Simulator has four the Backplot and Verify functions. Save the file
and continue to the next module when you are finished.

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 L10-03 - Generate a Tool List

This module will cover the steps to create a tool list which briefly lists all the tools needed
for a tool group. This can be useful as a reference when preparing the machining
environment.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module.

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 2. Select Setup-1 in the Toolpaths Manager. Right click on it and select Tool list...
from the dropdown menu. This generates a list of all the tools used. Click the
Close button and return to Mastercam 2020 Design.

3. Note that the tool list created only displays tools used in the select operation. In
the Toolpaths Manager, select the Haas VF 5x machine group. Right click and
select Tool list... from the dropdown menu. Note that there is one extra tool that
was not displayed when only Setup-1 was selected. Close the report and save the
file.

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 Lesson 10-03: Simulate a Toolpath

In addition to Backplot and Verify, the Mastercam Simulator has the Simulation function.
This module will investigate the benefits of this function and describe some of the ways
you can customize its.

1. Continue with the file from the previous module. If you do not currently have the
Mastercam Simulator open, select Toolpath Group-1 so that all the operations
inside of it are selected. Then click the Verify button inside the Simulator group
of the Machine tab.

2. In the Mode group, click the Simulation button.

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 3. Rotate the view so the correct side is facing upwards. Press the play button and
watch the animation. The tool stays stationary while the machine moves the part.
The machine is only moving the part in the X and Y axes, but notice the machine
has a fourth and fifth axis to simulate more complex operations. When you are
finished watching the animation, click the X button in the upper right corner to
close file.

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 4. Inside Mastercam, go to an isometric view of the part. In the Levels Manager,
turn on the visibility for level 105 to make the vise visible. Go to the Toolpaths
Manager and move the red insertion point to the bottom of operation 1 inside
Toolpath Group-1.

5. Navigate to the Mill Toolpaths contextual tab. In the Stock group, click the Stock
Model button. This allows you to create stock definition based on other
operations. Inside the Stock Model function panel, go to the Stock Definition
section. In the Name field, enter “Stock Model 1”.

6. To choose a plane other than the Fixture Plate Plane, click the button next to the
Stock plane area.

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 7. In the Plane Selection function panel, choose the Top option and click the green
OK button.

8. Click the Stock Setup button to automatically populate the stock information.

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 9. Continue to the Source Operations section. Select operation 1 from the list. This
allows Mastercam to calculate all the material removed by this operation then
create a solid body based off of the results. Look at the options inside the Stock
Compare section but don’t make any changes. This allows you to compare a
machined part to the original model to ensure that all the features are
appropriately machined. Click the green OK button.

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 10. Navigate to the Levels Manager and hide level 10. The Stock Model is visible in
the work area. This is what the raw stock would look like after operation 1 is
complete. Make level 10 visible again.

11. Navigate to the toolpaths manager and click the Simulator Options button.

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 12. Inside the Simulator Options function panel, activate the Stock model option.
Activate the Fixtures option and choose level 105 from the list. Click the green
OK button.

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 13. In the Toolpaths Manager, select operation 2 then press the [Shift] key and select
operation 17. This will select operations 2 through 17. Navigate to the ribbon’s
Machine tab. In the Simulator group, click the Verify button. The Mastercam
Simulator will open in a separate window.

14. Press the play button and watch the animation. This animation looks similar to
the animation before except the beginning of the animation shows the stock as it
would appear after operation 1 is finished.

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 15. In the Mode group, click the Simulation button. The Stock Model is shown in the
vise and the vise is attached to the fifth axis on the machine. Press the play
button and watch the animation.

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 16. During the animation, notice the current configuration of the vise jaw is not ideal
for the drilling operations. The drill bit will break through the bottom of the part
and strike the vise if the current configuration is not adjusted.

17. In the column on the right side of the screen, click the Collision Report tab.
There are no collisions reported inside this tab. Mastercam Simulator is currently
only looking for collisions between the tool and the fixture.

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 18. Navigate to the ribbon’s Simulation tab. The available options here are the same
as the options for the Verify function. Close the Mastercam Simulator window
when you are finished exploring the options.

19. Click the Backplot selected operations button in the Toolpaths Manager. This is
a relatively quick verification of the toolpaths. Some options are available but are
limited compared to the choices in the Mastercam Simulator. Continue exploring
the Backplot, Verify, and Simulate functions. Save the file and continue to the
next lesson when you are finished.

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 Lesson 11-01: Generate G Code

The operations created inside Mastercam need to be converted to G code so a machine

can read it. This module will walk through the process of converting the program to G
code.

1. Open the supplied file “MCU_2DMill_Generate_NC.mcam” or continue with the

file from the previous module.

2. In the Toolpaths Manager, select Toolpath Group-1. At the top of the Toolpaths
Manager, click the Post selected operations button. Alternately, go to the
ribbon’s Machine tab and click the Generate button inside the Post group.
Either of these will take you to the same place.

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 3. The Post processing function panel will open to reveal several options. Note the
available options but keep the default settings. Click the green OK button.
Choose a file name and save location for the program then click the Save button
inside the Save as window.

4. Mastercam will take a few moments to calculate the conversion, then open the
results in the default Mastercam Code Expert program. If you prefer to use a
different code editor program, this can be specified inside Mastercam.

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 5. Notice the information in the file is color-coded. Comments are all depicted in
green. Useful information like the date, filename, file location, material, and
required tools are in the top section of the G code. The comments entered in the
toolpath parameters for each operation are included in the G code. These
comments act as visual separators between operations. Directly below the tool
comment, the tool for the operation is listed. For instance, underneath the
Dynamic Mill Rough comment, the G code shows that T10 is used for this
operation. The information at the top of the file shows that T10 is a ½” Flat
Endmill.

6. Other information is also color-coded. The Z coordinates are red. The X

coordinates are blue and the Y coordinates are brown. The G values are a lighter
green color than the green used for the comments. The order of the operations
inside the NC file is the same order you see in the Toolpath Manager in
Mastercam. The order of the operations can be manually changed inside Code
Expert. Reordering the operations inside Mastercam’s Toolpaths Manager is a
better work practice.

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 7. In the lower left corner of the screen, there is a Find Extents button. Click this
button to reveal the minimum and maximum travel for the X, Y, and Z axes
during the entire program. For instance, during this program, the Z axis will
travel a maximum of 1.7963” downwards below the top of the stock and 0.5”
upwards. There are fields for A, B, and C in case the selected machine has fourth,
fifth, and sixth axes. Click the Find Extents button to minimize the information.

8. Navigate to the ribbon’s Home tab. The Editing group has the functions you
would expect to see in normal text editors.

9. The Utilities group has several useful functions such as the Multi-Stream
function. This allows you to open multiple views; one NC file can be open on the
left while a different NC file is open on the right.

10. The NC Configuration button will open an editor which will allow you to
configure how the NC file is created and displayed.

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 11. The ribbon’s View tab has options for customizing the view inside Code Expert.

12. Continue to the ribbon’s NC Functions tab. This tab has many useful options to
help you navigate and edit the NC file. Explore the options in this tab and note in
which instances they will be useful tools for you.

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