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Mastercam 2018 for SOLIDWORKS delivers many new features to keep your shop running at peak performance. All of the Mastercam Mill and Lathe toolpath improvements are also included in Mastercam 2018 for SOLIDWORKS, as well as the following enhancements. In Mastercam 2018 for SOLIDWORKS, Face center points were introduced and were tied to Center points. Now, Face center points and Center points are independent of each other. You can use the Make Center Point option to create a single point in the middle of the Bounding Box and/or use the Make face center points option to create points at the center of each face. New Router Support Mastercam 2018 for SOLIDWORKS introduces support for Router, including Saw toolpaths, Block Drill toolpaths, and more. All specialized Router toolpaths are available through the menus once you activate a Router machine. Automatic Toolpathing (ATP) automates the process of assigning toolpaths to geometry for recurrent parts using a machining strategy. A machining strategy contains one or more level names that are associated or mapped to Mastercam operations. Create your operations library, read your part files, create your strategy, pick your cut list, and then begin cutting your toolpaths. Block Drill toolpaths take advantage of [...]

(Reprint from Cutting Tool Manufacturing magazine.) Those who track productivity and machining performance are likely familiar with the concept of price versus cost of use. Despite their familiarity, though, when they talk to a cutting tool vendor about price, their reaction often is “Yikes, that tool is expensive!” They react this way because they don’t understand how tool performance affects the true cost of machining a particular part. Many expensive cutting tools have been engineered for high efficiency. When programmed to follow optimal CAM toolpaths and matched to a machine tool’s capability, they may offer total-cost-and-performance results that are significantly better than lower-cost cutting tools. Unlike traditional, offset-based toolpaths, newer toolpath strategies and technology can help keep machining performance at an optimal level. All images courtesy of CNC Software. At our manufacturing lab, CNC Software Inc., Tolland, Conn., conducted tests comparing cutting tool prices and actual productivity costs. We wanted to discover if preconceived notions we hear about cutting tool costs were true. One notion is that productivity results for an expensive tool will be essentially the same as a cheaper tool. We selected four solid-carbide endmills, cutting a sample part made from a familiar yet challenging material. [...]