ME 548

NC MACHINING USING
MASTERCAM X
WORKSHOP ONE
(of three)

LEGEND:
Quotes refers to a selection.
An arrow:

->

refers to a sequence of selections.

FYI: For your information - topics that will be of general

assistance to the user.

James Baleshta
May 2006

Note: this is a pdf file of an AutoCAD dwg... Better visibility

can be obtained by zooming in or by printing this page.

MastercamX is found on
NEXUS:

Start -> All Programs ->

Engineering -> MastercamX ->
MastercamX MR1

This is the initial screen that appears when running Mastercam X. We will learn the
function of the icons, toolbars and features etc., as we progress through this workshop.

NOTE: SEVERAL MASTERCAM

DEFAULT COLOURS (SUCH AS
SCREEN BACKGROUND) HAVE
BEEN CHANGED TO IMPROVE THE
CLARITY OF THE WORKSHOP
GRAPHICS.

We will begin by creating our

geometry. The first step will be to
remove the Tool Operations
Manager to enlarge the graphics
area on the screen. FYI: Alt+O
will also toggle (on/off) the screen
visiblilty of this feature .

Next, in Settings->System Configuration

check that the Default startup
is Metric.

We will now begin to create the geometry. We will start by drawing the 250mm by 150mm
rectangle (which is the outside border of the finished part).
Select Create -> Rectangle to get the screen below...

3. Activate this
button to enter
Coordinates 0,0
here.
FYI: pressing the
spacebar will also allow
you to enter coordinates.

2. Enter the length

And the width of the
Rectangle.

1. Activate
Anchor to
center

FYI: The F9
function key will
display the origin.

The rectangle should appear on the screen as shown, if not use the zoom
buttons on the top menu bar. (Try zoom->fit to start.)
Zoom
Fit

Zoom Control
Buttons

The same procedure can be used to create the second rectangle required for the part...
FYI: An alternate means to create this rectangle would be X-form -> Offset and use the initial
rectange to create the other. Modify -> Trim is required to trim/extend lines following the offset.

Create an arc centered on a vertice of the innermost rectangle using: Create-> Arc>Create Arc Polar.

1. Enter
the arc
radius

2.Start angle
of the arc.

5. Finish
commands
by clicking
on this
Check-mark.

3. End angle of the

arc.
4. The arc center point can
be entered via the keyboard
(press spacebar first) or
simply by snapping to the
corner.

Finish the details of the inner corner by trimming and then adding fillets...
To start: Edit->Trim/Break->Trim Break

1. Select
trim one
entity.
2. Select the
part of the line
that you want
to keep.

3. Select the entity

that you want to trim

4. Repeat trim
for this line.

Add a 1/4 (6.35mm) hole: Create->Arc->Create circle center. (Note that we are
snapping to the center of the previous arc to locate the hole center.)

FYI: Analyze
can be used at
any time to
check
dimensional
accuracy.

1. When creating
an arc or circle,
the radius or
diameter is
entered here.

To locate the center of

the hole use the snap
button drop down and
select Arc Center.

Save your work: Main Menu->File->Save and browse to select a suitable location.

Use Create-> Fillet -> Fillet Entities to draw the 6.5mm radii between the arc and the
inner rectangle.

R 6.5

Enter radius
here.
FYI: The buttons on the
ribbon bar allow a variety of
settings

The created geometry will be mirrored to complete the other corners...

To begin select Xform->Mirror.

Select
3. Activate the
y-axis mirror
and rotate
about X= 0 pt.

4. Press to
finish

1. The geometry
to be mirrored
(3 arcs, one
circle) can be
selected with a
window by
holding the
control key
down, and
dragging a
selection
rectangle using
the left mouse

2. Click here
when you
have
finished your

Mirror the new and prior corner geometry about the x axis. Then trim the lines of the rectangle to
finish the inner contour. (Use Edit->Trim->Trim/Break.)

X-Axis mirror, about

Y=0.

This button will

clear the screen
colours of your
recent geometry
(and make it all
green.)

Trim the corners

To complete the required geometry, the oval shapes can be created using techniques
already covered in this workshop, i.e., Circle, and Trim. Lines are created from Create->
Line-> Create Line Endpoint.
However, this can be done more efficiently using Create-> Arc -> Polar. Also the
commands found in Xform: Mirror and Offset can be put to good use in this example. Try it!

The centerline oval line geometry can be changed to a centerline line-type (and the colour and
line-width changed as well) by following the sequence below:

4. The line: type, colour and width

can now be selected for the chosen
geometry in the attributes window

3. Click on this
button when
your selection is
finished.

2. The entire centerline

oval can be selected by
holding the shift key
while left-mouse
clicking on the oval.
1. Right click on
Attributes to
bring up the
change attributes
window.

To create the required text on our workpiece: Create->Create letters, and enter the
information as shown below...
Choose True
Type and Arial
Black Font.
15mm text
height

Enter text ME
548 here

Click when
finished entering
information.

You will likely have to reposition the text to a more centred location. Xform->Translate can
be used to move the text.

4. FYI: following
step 3, distances
can be entered to
fine-tune your
translation.

1. Use
ctrl+LT mouse to
drag a selection
window around
the text .

+1.

2. Click to
end selection
procedure.

+2.

3. Use these buttons

to set a translation
vector.
5. Dont forget the check box (below)
to finish the translation.

Create the remaining text (i.e., MECHANICAL ENGINEERING) using the previous procedures.
Use Arial font and a text height of 7mm.

IMPORTING GEOMETRY: To import geometry into MastercamX, the following sequence of

commands can be used...
Steps to importing and merging the maple leaf seen below:
Geometry can be created in a program such as Corel Draw or AutoCAD and saved as a DXF file.
(FYI: geometry must be vector based and not bitmaps.)
In Mastercam: First save the current file (in case you mess up).
Then...
File->File Merge Pattern
Files of Type: AutoCAD Files
File Name: MAPLE LEAF.DXF
This should bring in the leaf and merge the new geometry with our earlier work.
FYI: Following a merge, scaling and/or translating of the new geometry is often required for proper
sizing and alignment. Remember that you can select the leaf (especially if it is overlaid over other
geometery) with a Shift+ LT Mouse click, then translate (move) it.

The geometry is now all complete... Save your work and the next workshop will deal with toolpath
creation!