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| EdgeCAM
is an industry leading CAM solution for all your production
machining needs. Applications include prismatic and
surface milling, complex multi-axis turning, mill/turn,
rotary and multi-plane milling and family of parts machining.
Innovative supporting solutions for a more productive
and profitable machine shop are supplied. These include
excellent toolpath simulation, a unique wizard approach
to post processing, a comprehensive tooling database,
intuitive and flexible machine tool communications and
a web-enabled job management system. |
Production
Milling
EdgeCAM provides the production
machine shop with a wide range of flexible milling cycles.
Machining efficiency is maximized on simple and complex
prismatic parts as well as those incorporating sculptured
surface geometry. With EdgeCAM you get prismatic machining
combined with powerful 3D solid and surface machining
strategies, all in one complete solution.
Intelligent Roughing Cycle
EdgeCAM's advanced roughing cycle for the machining
of both 2D and 3D areas can be applied to the complete
model, providing consistent performance on all types
of model. A laced or concentric strategy can be implemented
with bottom to top intermediate slicing between levels.
This intelligent cycle automatically applies the most
efficient approach move for each region of the model
and creates trochoidal moves to avoid full width cuts.
The ability to define 3D stock reduces machining time
by eliminating air cutting.
EdgeCAM's roughing cycle also
incorporates rest roughing, where stock is automatically
defined by the preceding roughing cycle, so the smaller
tool only creates a toolpath in the areas that the larger
tool could not access.
Profiling Cycle
EdgeCAM's profiling cycle
allows you to generate toolpaths on 2D geometry, 3D
surfaces and solids in one easy to use cycle. The main
advantage to the user is a consistent interface and
support for advanced features and functionalities in
both 2D and 3D environments. This intelligent cycle
offers cusp height and cut increment controls and excellent
surface finish for both steep and shallow regions. Using
integrated cutter radius compensation, the cutting side
is determined and compensation calls generated automatically
between multiple profiles and levels.
Highly effective controls can
be used to determine the start and end positions for
the profiling cycle. A full set of corner rounding strategies
allows you to choose the most appropriate method for
machining corners.
Prismatic Machining
EdgeCAM's prismatic machining
functionality offers a comprehensive range of 2D machining
cycles, helping you to maximize your productivity.
Facemill Cycle
This cycle optimizes the
use of facemill tooling and can be utilized on parts
with planar features such as walls, bosses and other
flat areas. The cycle allows you to define the area
to be machined by selecting a boundary. Nested boundaries
are supported, and resulting toolpaths are associative
to their respective feature boundaries.
Thread Milling
Internal, external, single
and multi-start threads are programmed to provide canned
cycle support.
Hole Cycles
Drilling, reaming, boring
and tapping cycles are all supported. EdgeCAM's ‘hole
optimization' calculates the shortest path for machining
a set of holes, reducing cycle times and machine travel
to offer maximum productivity.
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Adaptive roughing - intelligent leads
2D milling in EdgeCAM
EdgeCAM drilling
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Surface
Machining
Recent trends in component
design have resulted in an increased need to incorporate
complex shaped geometry in production machining. Previously,
such requirements were limited to short run, or one-off
machining environments such as the mold, die and prototyping
industries. EdgeCAM
offers a full range of surface machining functionality
that can be used by the production machinist equally
effectively to machine large quantity batches. Solid
models are machined using innovative, reliable and gouge
free cycles. Intelligent approach strategies provide
improved surface finish while optimizing machining times
and maximizing tool life. Adaptive leads and links ensure
collision free entry and exit on and off the job.
Parallel Lace Perhaps
the most popular finishing cycle, Parallel Lace can
be controlled by stepover, cusp height, cut increment
and minimum and maximum angle of cut. This intelligent
cycle takes parallel cuts along the part, and allows
for optimum, climb or conventional approaches. Used
in combination with profiling, a consistent surface
finish can be maintained by defining the cut angle.
This angle specifies where the strategies meet on sloping
shapes.
Constant Cusp Finishing
This
cycle generates a 3D toolpath that maintains a constant
surface stepover from one pass to the next. It produces
a toolpath that can be defined from a drive curve or boundary.
Projection Finishing
Projection machining is a
method of finish machining a part according to its design.
It applies the required surface finish and cut pattern
quickly and easily over the whole model or discreet features.
EdgeCAM's Projection Finishing
strategies allow
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A 2D toolpath to be projected
onto a 3D surface |
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A circular, radial, concentric or spiral pattern
to be projected for finishing bosses or pockets |
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A pair of flow curves to
drive a lace toolpath along or across a surface |
Pencil Milling and
Rest Finishing
Pencil Milling and Rest Finishing
cycles are used to clean up material remaining from a
previous finishing cycle with a larger tool. Pencil Finishing
executes this as a single pass along internal edges and
intersections, whilst Rest Finishing consists of a series
of passes and is typically used to machine internal radii.
Flat Land Finishing
This cycle automatically
detects the flat areas on the model and applies a lacing
or concentric clearance pattern on these areas. Combined
with the Parallel Lace cycle for the machining of steep
areas, it provides the most efficient strategy for the
machining of free-form components, by ensuring that
the most appropriate tooling is used for the machining
of different areas of the model.
EdgeCAM's Flat Land Finishing
cycle also incorporates rest machining that allows you
to finish areas that have been left by a larger tool in
a previous machining cycle. 
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Contoured wall machining
Parallel Lace cyle with angle control and smooth links
Flat Land Finishing
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Multi-Axis
and Multi-Plane Machining
EdgeCAM supports the machining
of holes, pockets and surfaces on different faces of
the part, reducing total setup time and taking advantage
of multi-axis machine capabilities. EdgeCAM offers full
support for multi-axis milling, including 4-axis rotary
machining, 3-axis machining plus 2-axis simultaneous
indexing and 5-axis machining for trimming, and de-flashing
of single surfaces.
When machining multi-faced parts,
or multiple parts mounted on a tombstone fixture, EdgeCAM
can easily position to any face to allow full use of
both prismatic and surface machining cycles. Machining
sequences and toolpaths can be merged into a single
sequence and rationalised by tool, index position or
datum to produce an optimal program. EdgeCAM Simulator
displays all the multi-axis and rotational multi-plane
moves for realistic process simulation and collision
checking.
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Multi-plane machining |
Production
Turning
EdgeCAM Turning
provides functionality for a wide range of machine tools,
including 2-axis lathes, multi-turret configurations,
sub-spindle turning centers and mill/turn machines.
On a mill/turn machine, C-, Y- and B-axis milling and
drilling take place within the same program as the turning
to provide a fully integrated and associative programming
solution. Ease of
use and an understanding that cycle times are critical,
especially on multi-configuration mill/turn machines,
underpin the development of EdgeCAM's turning functionality.
EdgeCAM produces advanced rough
and finish turning cycles, together with support for
facing, boring and drilling in either canned cycle or
longhand format. Toolpath calculation takes into consideration
the complete tooling insert and previously machined
material to avoid gouging and eliminate air cutting.
EdgeCAM offers support for Sandvik
Coromant Wiper inserts for turning tools, allowing these
productivity enhancing inserts to be used reliably in
all aspects of production machining.
Grooving Cycles
External, internal and
face grooving are all simple tasks with EdgeCAM. Side
grooving cycles enable the programmer to produce sophisticated
machining strategies that take advantage of advanced
tooling design.
Thread Turning
Taper, single and multi-start
threads are easily programmed to provide canned cycle
or longhand support.
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Wiper insert in EdgeCAM
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4-Axis
Turning
Using EdgeCAM, machines
with twin turrets are easily programmed and synchronised
for maximum efficiency. Balanced and mirror cutting
cycles exploit the metal removal capabilities of multi-turret
machines. Individual turret control and turret synchronisation
ensure maximum efficiency. Separate instruction lists
for each turret allow easy editing of synchronisation
points and machining instructions.
EdgeCAM Simulator provides
full 4-axis representation of the upper and lower turret,
providing sequence verification before the machining
process commences.
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Sub-Spindle
Turning
EdgeCAM includes an easy-to-use
multi-axis turning module for programming sub-spindle
lathes. As with
multi-turret machine configurations, cycle time and
the ability to turn a part completely in one operation
are of paramount importance when working with sub-spindle
lathes.
Integrated
commands to control activities associated with sub-spindle
lathes make programming easier. Main features
include:
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Integrated lathe setup
command guides you through machine and job setup. |
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Spindle selection
is made easy with a single mouse click and the instruction
browser indicates clearly which spindle each instruction
is for. |
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For twin turret
lathes the side-by-side view of the instruction
browser offers an ideal programming environment.
The turret synchronisations are lined up and, to
inhibit conflicting spindle codes being programmed,
turret priority is clearly indicated. Synchronisation
positions can be moved around to reduce machine
idle time and a time line view of the instructions
across spindles and turrets is useful for program
verification. |
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Sub-spindle pick off is simple to program using
a combination of Spindle Docking, Part Off and
Move Sub-spindle commands and is very flexible. |
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Within EdgeCAM Simulator,
activities taking place on the main and sub-spindle
can be simulated simultaneously. Batch simulation
of the machining job includes animation of the sub-spindle
pick off and bar feed for full program verification. |
B-Axis Machining
Single set-up machining
is the key to boosting metal cutting productivity when
milling and turning are done on the same machine tool.
EdgeCAM provides full support for B-axis machining on
a mill/turn machine tool, allowing EdgeCAM users to
benefit from the wide range of milling and drilling
cycles by applying them to the B-axis of multi-configuration
machine tools.
B & C-axis orientation
commands make rotary positioning easy. Having indexed
to a face the full power of EdgeCAM machining cycles
are now available to you. The Maintain Index function
on the toolchange command reduces command input when
multiple machining operations are carried out at the
same index position. Realistic simulation of the B-axis
in EdgeCAM Simulator offers full program verification.
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Using the EdgeCAM timeline in sub-spindle
turning
Side-by-side view of
sub-spindle turning
instructions
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C- and Y-Axis Mill/Turn
Machines
The complete range of EdgeCAM's
milling and hole machining cycles can be implemented
on mill/turn machines. EdgeCAM allows driven tooling
to be programmed for machining on the face or the diameter
of a component. Switching between Y- and C-axis modes
is a single click process.
As with other cycles, EdgeCAM
Simulator provides realistic graphical verification,
ensuring that programs are correct before being executed.
Both milling and turning activities can be verified,
showing rotary movement of the stock and chuck during
C-axis milling.
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B-axis simulation |
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