The Delcam user meeting included live machining demonstrations cutting metal replica footballs.
Delcam's Illinois office recently presented at its annual update meeting the latest developments in the company's PowerMILL CAM system for high-speed and 5-axis machining and its FeatureCAM feature-based programming software.
The meeting, which was held at Ingersoll Cutting Tools in Rockford, included live cutting demonstrations on Ingersoll's Mori Seiki MV-65 and Toyoda UX570 CAT 40 machines. Both demonstrations showed the machining of a metal replica football, one programmed with PowerMILL and one with FeatureCAM. Recognizing the divided loyalties of the region's Delcam customers, one was produced with a Chicago Bears theme while the other featured the Green Bay Packers.
The new release of PowerMILL includes improvements to the Vortex high-efficiency area-clearance strategy, expanded collision checking to also cover near misses, and more efficient raster finishing.
"Vortex produces safe toolpaths with a much deeper cut by using a controlled engagement angle that maintains the optimum cutting conditions for the whole tool path," said a company spokesperson. "As a result, higher feedrates and material removal rates are possible, making the cutting time shorter by as much as 70%. Enhancements in PowerMILL 2015 will give even greater reductions in machining time with Vortex compared to conventional roughing.
"Companies using 4- or 5-axis machines with trunnions or similar tilting tables will benefit from new options that are now available to distribute PowerMILL's toolpath points so that the machine's gimbal-lock position is avoided and a smoother motion results."
In addition to the developments in the Vortex strategy, the 2015 version of FeatureCAM incorporates a range of enhancements in 3-axis milling, 2-axis and 5-axis drilling, turning and turn-mill and wire EDM to make the software more powerful and easier to use.
For more information contact:
Delcam
877-335-2261
marketing@delcam.com
www.delcam.com