Tip of the Week

#16 - Toolpath Fillets

HSMWorks provides a toolpath filleting function, which is useful for avoiding sharp corners in 3D finishing toolpaths. With fillets applied, sharp turns in the toolpath can be reduced so that the CNC control can maintain a higher feed rate and/or prevent overshooting. Read more.

#15 - Machining Different Component Configurations in Assemblies

A very flexible way to machine different configurations of a part is to insert the part in an assembly in multiple configurations. Read more.

#14 - Using Custom Shaped Form Mill Tools

Custom shaped milling tools in HSMWorks are collectively know as Form Mill tools, and can be created from a sketch or revolved solid saved in a separate SolidWorks part file. Read more.

#13 - Protect Operations

HSMWorks allows you protect individual operations from getting invalidated when changing the model. This is useful if, for example, you have operations that have already been run on the machine, and want to do rest machining from these operations, while accommodating changes to the model. Read more.

#12 - Pocket Clearing Core Roughing

Choosing "None" as the machining boundary puts the Pocket Clearing strategy in Core Roughing mode, where it starts from outside of the Job Stock instead of ramping down. the conical face. Read more.

#11 - 2D Slot Entry Positions

The 2D Slot strategy allows selecting one or more entry positions, which lets you specify which end of the slot to plunge into. This is useful if you have pre-drilled holes in your slots. Read more.

#10 - Automatic Drill Depth for Conical Faces

HSMWorks provides a unique way to drill conical faces such as countersinks. When you select a conical face, the drill depth is automatically adjusted so that the tool tip touches the end of the conical face. Read more.

#9 - Using Assemblies for Production Work

If you do many similar parts from time to time, re-using an existing assembly with a set of toolpaths can save you a lot of time. In this tip, we will look at using a "Machining Assembly" as a template. Read more.

#8 - 2D Finishing vs. Roughing Passes

In the 2D Contour strategy, there are several options for controlling the number and behavior of the passes. In this tip, we will look at the "Multiple finishing passes" and "Roughing passes" options. Read more.

#7 - Facing Options

The latest version of HSMWorks introduce a new option on the Facing strategy: From other side. Together, the Direction and From other side options give you full control over how the facing tool path should be laid out, and in which corner of stock the tool path should start. Read more.

#6 - Using Multiple Job Work Offsets

HSMWorks supports duplication of entire jobs using the multiple work offset feature. This feature is generally used when the individual position of each instance is not known precisely. Read more.

#5 - Using Stock to Leave

Stock to Leave is the amount of material that is to be left after the operation has finished. Axial Stock to Leave is the amount to leave along the tool axis, ie. on the floors of the part. Read more.

#4 - Derived Operations

Using the "Create Derived Operation" users can create a new operation based on an existing operation. E.g. a parallel followed by a contour, but with same settings (stock to leave, tolerance, stepover, boundaries...). Read more.

#3 - Corner rounding for 3D contour

HSMWorks 2011 introduces a new feature for rounding inner corners for the 3D contour strategy. This feature is used to avoid sharp corners and allows machining with higher feeds. Read more.

#2 - Expanding HSMWorks Tab Flyouts

This weeks version of HSMWorks 2011 improves the tab flyouts introduced in 2011 R1 by adding options for expanding often used groups of strategies. Read more.

#1 - Selecting Features for 2D Geometry

HSMWorks 2011 R1.23058 introduces the ability to select features from the feature tree as 2D geometry and boundaries. This is useful when for example machining a fill pattern. Read more.