CNC receives funding for new equipment

The College of New Caledonia will receive more than $900,000 for new equipment for the millwright, power engineering and welding programs at the Prince George campus.
The capital funding is part of an $8.75-million allocation for trades training equipment announced this week by the Ministry of Advanced Education.
Minister Murray Coell said B.C.'s surging economy has led to a huge demand for tradespeople across the province and the funding will help post-secondary institutions provide training on modern equipment.
John Rustad, MLA for Prince George-Omineca, said the issue of outdated equipment at CNC was raised by a number of industry leaders in the area.
"They told us having all the new training seats is good, but they wanted to see students trained on modern equipment."
When the three local MLAs approached Coell with their concerns, they learned other trades training colleges in the province were also requesting updated equipment, Rustad said.
Steve Raper, CNC manager of marketing and enrolment services, said the $905,375 provides opportunities to update equipment to a higher level to better prepare students and allow more regional training on state-of-the-art equipment.
Purchases for the trades program will include an engine lathe, milling machines, computer controlled milling machine, hybrid lathe and portable ventilation in the millwright section; power plant simulator, a steam turbine-generator, water treatment facility and water tube boiler in the power engineering program; and welding machines, feeders, welding tent, forklift and ironworker cutters in the welding program.
Other northern colleges receiving funds include Northern Lights In Fort St. John, receiving $890,000 for the industrial mechanic program and equipment for the Oil and Gas Centre of Excellence, and Northwest Community College, receiving $124,265 for upgrades of welding equipment in Terrace and Prince Rupert programs.
The 15 B.C. institutions that offer trades training provided more than 25,000 trades training spaces, this year, an increase of 8,500 spaces since 2001, Coell said.

http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20080401125260/local/news/

DIY CNC machine milling polycarbonate

CNC machinery and tools

A CNC machine tool is a powered mechanical device used to fabricate metal components of machines by the selective removal of metal. The term machine tool is usually reserved for tools that used a power source other than human movement, but they can be powered by people if appropriately set up. Many historians of technology consider that the true machine tools were born when direct human involvement was removed from the shaping or stamping process of the different kinds of tools. For instance, they consider that lathe machine tools were invented around 1751 by Jacques de Vaucanson because he was the first to mount the cutting instrument on a mechanically adjustable head, taking it out of the hands of the operator.
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CAM intended for skilled artisans

CAD/CAM provider will demonstrate its artistic software designed for skilled artisans such as jewellery machinists at MACH 2008 and will include 'entry level' products

At the UK's MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition, Delcam will demonstrate its ArtCAM family of artistic CADCAM software alongside its range of more conventional manufacturing systems. The ArtCAM range comprises four key products, as follows. 1 - ArtCAM Express. 2 - ArtCAM Insignia. 3 - ArtCAM Pro.

4 - ArtCAM JewelSmith.

The whole ArtCAM software family is aimed at skilled artisans rather than engineers and requires little knowledge of engineering or computing.

* ArtCAM Express - an entry-level version of ArtCAM is believed to be the easiest to learn and fastest to use engraving and routing software currently available.

It offers basic 2D drawing, and 2D and 3D machining functions, and so provides an ideal introduction to computer-based manufacturing for companies in the signmaking, woodworking and engraving industries.

Designs can be imported in DXF, DWG, AI and EPS 2D formats, while the 3D formats supported include STL files from any CAD system, plus designs from Alias Wavefront, 3D Studio and other members of the ArtCAM family.

The software includes a range of drawing tools for creating both geometric and free-form shapes, and also for editing and repairing imported 2D files.

The options for text creation support a wide range of fonts and also give complete control over spacing, kerning, and line and paragraph formatting.

Once the design has been finalised, the software offers a variety of strategies for CNC machining.

2D strategies supported include area clearance, profiling, engraving, vector-based machining and drilling, plus V-bit carving on a number of fonts.

The software is supplied with a tooling database, which can be edited or added to by the user, plus drivers for many of the leading CNC engraving and routing machines.

* ArtCAM Insignia - while ArtCAM Express is aimed at producing one-off items, ArtCAM Insignia has a much greater emphasis on mass production applications.

It includes vector-based design, extensive 2D machining and basic 3D machining functionality.

It also allows users to import, scale, position and machine 2D and 3D decorations and textures onto their designs, and so to manufacture more distinctive and more attractive products.

All the import formats available with ArtCAM Express are supported with ArtCAM Insignia.

Alongside the increased machining functionality, the main addition to the latest release is a highly-automated method for the manufacture of designs imported as layered DXF or pdf files from other CAD systems.

Machining templates allow any combination of machining strategy, cutting tool and machining parameters to be assigned to each layer within the design.

The toolpaths are calculated for each layer, using the cut depth extracted from the DXF or pdf data.

The calculated toolpaths can be simulated within ArtCAM Insignia, if required, before being output to the machine.

More than 180 machine tool control options are supported, including those featuring multiple drilling heads and automatic tool changing.

* ArtCAM Pro - ArtCAM Pro incorporates a special file type called the 3D Project.

This allows the user to create multiple models within a single project, using the wide range of 3D modelling tools within the software.

The individual models can then be arranged to create larger assemblies.

For example, the sides of a cabinet could be designed as individual components and then assembled into a 3D model of the complete piece.

3D Projects also allow the simultaneous visualisation of objects that will be created from different materials and the subsequent division of the components into separate files for manufacturing in the various materials.

Items can be cut and pasted between different files, so allowing libraries of components to be built up for use in a variety of designs.

The main enhancement in ArtCAM Pro's machining is a new 3D offset strategy that gives a much better surface finish with harder materials.

This will be especially useful when machining production tooling from ArtCAM designs, such as dies for greeting cards, and when engraving decorations created in ArtCAM into moulds for plastics.

* ArtCAM JewelSmith - ArtCAM JewelSmith is the special version of ArtCAM Pro for the jewellery industry, with additional tools for designing rings of all types, and for creating and rendering gems.

Like ArtCAM Pro, ArtCAM JewelSmith has ability to create and edit designs as a series of layers, rather than always having to work with the complete model.

This makes it quicker and easier to create designs made up of different types of relief, for example a combination of a 3D shape, a texture and some lettering.

Recent machining enhancements include two new wizards.

1 - The first covers index machining and allows machining at a series of fixed angles on rotary equipment.

2 - The second can be used to develop mould designs automatically from product designs, generating the parting line and the two mould sections from a user-specified block of material.

* Delcam at MACH 2008, NEC, Birmingham, UK, April 21-25, Hall 4, Stand 4010.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/dea/dea708.html

SolidWorks donates 3D CAD software

The nearly 400 college students who compete in this year's American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition will have access to free SolidWorks Student Edition software. The 100 recipients of this year's Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching (PAEMST) will each get a free license of SolidWorks Education Edition. And up to 1,000 teachers from middle school through college will also be given free copies of SolidWorks Student Edition through the SolidWorks - STEM Educators grant.
All of these gifts are part of SolidWorks Corporation's (www.solidworks.com) commitment to support the fusion of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in education. "STEM education is absolutely critical for the U.S. to lead the world in high technology innovation," said Dr. Krishna Vedula, executive chairman of the Massachusetts STEM Collaborative and former dean of engineering at the University of Massachusetts - Lowell. "STEM integrates pure math and science with the disciplines to which they are applied, and CAD software can play an integral role in this endeavor."
"Teachers trained on SolidWorks software will be better equipped to teach math and science concepts," said Marie Planchard, SolidWorks Corporation's director of education marketing. "For example, CAD software is adept at conveying 2D and 3D geometry concepts to younger students and illustrating algebra and physics principles in later years. Teachers can apply these topics in engineering projects such as designing a CO2 car and simulating the effects of airflow with respect to changes in geometry."
In the ASABE tractor design competition students have one year to design a tractor about the size of a riding lawn mower that a panel will judge based on written design report, team presentation, individual design judging, maneuverability and a performance competition. "We've seen a dramatic improvement in student creativity in the past couple of years since students began using SolidWorks for the competition," said Matt Darr, professor of food, agriculture, and biological engineering at Ohio State University. SolidWorks lets students make their ideas a 3D reality and enhances their ability to work with suppliers to create a production-grade prototype"
"The number of math and science related degrees, including engineering, has been dropping in the past decade in the United States," said Planchard. "As corporate citizens in this field, it's our duty to support frontline teachers. We are giving the best teachers in the country a powerful tool to demonstrate what students can achieve with a solid math and science education. Hopefully this will encourage more students to pursue STEM careers."

http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/News/Article/False/18168/

CAD/CAM and nesting programs CNC punching

CAD/CAM and nesting software programs all CNC punching and profiling machines and has been optimised to to further improve the cutting path in complex nests

Jetcam International has announced its latest version V16 of its Expert CAD/CAM and nesting software for all CNC punching and profiling machines. Offering twice the power of the earlier V8 system, the latest version V16 includes features aimed at providing enhanced functionality for interactive tasked and further automation for users looking for semi or completely unmanned systems.

Jetcam will also be increasing the number of end user releases in 2008, ensuring that users can immediately take advantage of each new feature as soon as it is available.

JETCAM Expert V16's sequencing routines have been optimised to further improve the cutting path, which can considerably reduce the overall cutting time of complex nests.

A new reporting engine has also been included to provide comprehensive and customisable reports.

A report designer is included, where users can simply 'drag and drop' the required fields or tables of information onto the page.

Single component or complete nest images can also be added.
Reports of any size or format can be generated, including labels for single label printers.

* CNC punching - further development specific to punching machines has also been announced.

Automatic tooling placement logic has been further optimised, providing users of punching machines with the same level of automation as profiling machines.

Tools are automatically placed on the component based on highly configurable parameters.

This information is then carried through to all related nests - if the component is updated then this is automatically reflected on the nest.

'Tool teach mode' further enhances the automatic tooling facilities by allowing JETCAM to 'learn' a user's preferred method of tooling a particular contour.

* Nesting - JETCAM's free form high performance nesting module (FFHPN) for V16 has also undergone further development, with the latest release offering even greater efficiencies.

With metal prices increasing even a 1% material saving can quickly mount up to a considerable amount, said Jetcam to manufacturingtalk.com.

Jetcam is also offering prospective customers a free 'nesting benchmark comparison' whereby they will compare a user's existing nests with one created through FFHPN.

Commented Mike Weber, managing director Jetcam International: 'These features in Release V16, when combined allow a JETCAM Expert system to rapidly become self-sufficient.

It intelligently and accurately applies logic so that the whole CAM process can become truly hands-off, especially when JETCAM's Remote Control Processing (RCP) system is employed' He continued: 'With our knowledge of the complexities of today's powerful CNC machines this frees the operator for other tasks, maximises machine runtime and reduces material waste.

For any size of organisation this level of automation has to be their goal to remain competitive in today's climate of cost reductions.

Companies employing manufacturing efficiency methodologies such as 'Six Sigma' will benefit from a system that provides a data-driven approaches to problem solving with a focus on customer impact.

Any business purchase has to be justified by return on investment, and JETCAM continues to deliver this in three key areas: material utilisation, machine cycle time and programming time'.

V16 will be available for download from the JETCAM.com web site in February 2008.

Existing customers under maintenance will be able to download the software immediately at no cost.

Customers out of maintenance need only to purchase a maintenance contract to gain access to the latest features - there is no additional upgrade price to pay.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/jea/jea176.html

Breton CNC Machine