Next High Efficiency Milling Course
Our High-Efficiency Milling course is becoming very popular and we will be running the next course at Cimquest HQ in Branchburg, NJ on June 16-18, 2020. All social distancing precautions will be taken. If you are looking for more ways to stay competitive in today’s rapidly changing manufacturing environment it is imperative that you stay on top of new and emerging technologies. This new Manufacturing Training series will take you to the next level and improve your machining production. These training courses will teach you how to implement, evaluate and select components for high-efficiency milling to get shorter cycle times, reduce tool wear and extend machine life. You will learn guidelines to selecting key components with hands-on interactions to build your ability in identifying and creating an efficient milling process. For more information and to register for this course, please click the button below. More details and registration
Mastercam Cartesian Coordinates
In this article, we will discuss Cartesian coordinates along with X,Y,Z orientation in Mastercam’s Planes Manager. When working with Mastercam, it is helpful to remember that we are working in a Cartesian coordinate system with regard to an X,Y,Z origin. The Mastercam X,Y,Z coordinates system also follows right-hand rule whereas X positive moves from the left to the right of the origin. This is also represented by the motion in common vertical CNC milling machines. The X positive direction would typically go to the operator’s right and the Y positive direction would be away from the operator or toward the back of the machine. We must also consider this behavior when creating tool and construction planes in Mastercam. When working with parts that may have more than one operation based on the side of the part we are working on, the tool / construction planes need to be oriented based on how the part is being positioned in the machine. When adjusting the X,Y,Z positioning remember that their orientations are fixed to each other. This will always result in 2 of the axes rotating around the third. In this sample, the part is being setup to work with 4 operations using the Top, [...]
Mastercam 2021 Is Now Available
Make Better Parts Faster with Mastercam 2021 Mastercam 2021 increases machining productivity and reduces overall production costs with faster and more flexible multiaxis improvements, enhancements in turning and turning-related applications, advances in speed, safety, and much more. These advancements have been made in direct response to the needs of the global manufacturing community. Some of the new features and areas of improvement you will find in Mastercam 2021 include: Expanded Multiaxis Pocketing combines efficient pocket cutting with a focus on finishing with Accelerated Finish tools, automatically maintaining the correct tool contact within defined parameters. Enhanced Accelerated Finishing™. Improved Dynamic Motion™. Expanded multiaxis flowline milling toolpaths. New 3+2 Automatic Roughing toolpath automatically makes multiplane 3-axis roughing toolpaths by evaluating the model and stock, creating a cut, calculating what remains, and repeating the process until roughing is complete. Support for modeling chucks and chuck jaws. Streamlined and expanded Mill-Turn Simulation. Swiss machining solutions combine Mill and Lathe with specialized post processors. New Advanced Drill toolpath. New Chamfer Drill toolpath chamfers holes after calculating the correct depth based on the desired width or depth. Wrap option when creating bounding boxes. Check Tool Reach function lets you check your tool and holder against the selected model geometry [...]
Desktop Metal Shop System Overview
The Desktop Metal Shop System is the world’s first metal binder jetting machine and it’s designed with the modern machine shop in mind. The Shop System offers superior surface finish and resolution on metal parts and it does this without the labor-intensive support removal required with traditional metal systems. To begin the printing process, the printer spreads metal powder across the build bed. Next, it precisely jets a binding agent to bond loose powder and define part geometry. Once the layer is complete, the build bed lowers and a new layer of powder is spread. The process repeats until the build volume is packed with bound parts. The surrounding loose powder serves as the support material throughout the build. Once a build is complete, the build box is removed and placed in a drying oven, followed by powder station for bulk and fine depowdering. Loose powder is recovered through a built-in recycling system. In the final step, parts are placed in a shop-safe furnace for batch sintering. After cooling, the parts are hand removed from sintering setters. This hand removal eliminates Hours of machining off supports typical to laser-based systems. Final parts are fully dense and near-net shape right out of the furnace. [...]
Cimquest Responds to the Pandemic
Cimquest’s business is to help people. So, at a time of global emergency, it comes as no surprise that Cimquest and its staff were quick to lend their resources to the fight against COVID-19. “Our headquarters are in New Jersey, and that has been one of the areas hardest hit by the Coronavirus. Luckily, everyone is chipping in. A lot of our customers are changing what they’re doing to help out,” shared Shawn Crews, president of Cimquest. While most of Cimquest’s 60 employees are working safely from home, a select few are running the 3D printers in their New Jersey lab to produce PPE for medical personnel. Cimquest Founder and CEO Rob Hassold made sure that this skeleton crew is practicing social distancing and taking extra sanitary measures as they work in the printing labs. The projects these employees are working on were brought to them by Jimmy Barrera, engineering services manager. Various requests from hospitals had come in to produce headbands for face shields. Barrera assessed each individual need and then consulted Crews and Hassold as to what Cimquest could do to help. In most cases, Cimquest 3D printed the headbands at no charge as a donation. The end customer then assembled [...]
Nexa3D Launches New High-Performance Polymer Material xCE-Black
Fast single cure polymer for heavy-duty parts and injection molding tools High flexural strength comparable only to dual-cure cyanate ester resins Isotropic properties for automotive, electronics and industrial components Nexa3D, the maker of ultra-fast stereolithography production 3D printers, recently announced the immediate availability of its latest additive manufacturing material xCE-Black, a high performance polymer for producing end-use plastic parts and injection molding tools in minutes. Nexa3D’s new material is a single cure polymer that delivers higher flexural strength compared to those typically achieved only in dual cure cyanate ester resins. xCE-Black has excellent isotropic properties and exhibits long-term environmental stability making it well suited for a variety of automotive parts, electronics and many industrial components as well as the production of injection molding tools. “Our rapid materials portfolio and reseller network expansion are consistent with our post-Covid-19 plan to deliver greater supply chain resiliency to our customers,” said Izhar Medalsy, COO, Nexa3D. “With every addition of new materials and market coverage, we are taking decisive steps to deliver a substantial speed and productivity upgrade to our customers through our fast industrial printers and high-performance polymers at an attractive cost of ownership.” The company tested xCE-Black extensively in a variety of end uses and [...]