Get Started with SURFCAM Copyright © 2010 Surfware, Inc. All rights reserved. Information is subject to change without notice. No part of this manual may be reproduced, transmitted, translated in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from Surfware, Inc. The software described in this document may only be used or copied in accordance with the terms of the furnished license agreement and/or non-disclosure agreement. It is illegal to copy the software onto any medium except as specified in the license or non-disclosure agreement. All Surfware, Inc. software products contain integrated security programs and/or plug-in modules that are required for the software license to properly operate. It is a violation of the Surfware, Inc. copyrights and U.S. Copyright law to disable or attempt to disable or remove or otherwise operate the software without the security programs and/or modules installed. Any software not supplied by Surfware, Inc. which is intended to allow the operation of the software without the required plug-in security module and/or integrated security programs is a copyright violation. SURFCAM is a registered trademark of Surfware Inc. All brand or product names or proprietary file types mentioned in this document are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. Contact the appropriate companies for more information regarding trademarks and registration. Surfware, Inc. 100 Camino Ruiz Camarillo, California 93012 USA Phone (818) 991-1960 Fax (818) 991-1980 www.surfware.com Printed in the United States of America Contents Introduction to SURFCAM ............................................................................................1 System Requirements .................................................................................................. 2 Software Interface Module ........................................................................................... 2 Installing SURFCAM .................................................................................................... 2 Running SURFCAM ..................................................................................................... 3 Using the Get Started Project Files .............................................................................. 3 SURFCAM Help ........................................................................................................... 4 SURFCAM User Interface ............................................................................................ 5 Using SURFCAM ..........................................................................................................10 Creating part designs in SURFCAM ............................................................................11 Creating toolpaths ......................................................................................................13 Managing toolpaths ....................................................................................................16 Testing the accuracy of toolpaths ................................................................................17 Generating NC code ...................................................................................................18 Communicating with the NC machine .........................................................................18 Project 1 • Draw a 2D Part ...........................................................................................19 Creating and modifying geometry in SURFCAM ......................................................... 20 Before you begin ........................................................................................................ 23 Step 1: Draw the part profile ...................................................................................... 24 Step 2: Draw the closed pockets ................................................................................ 35 Step 3: Draw drilled holes ...........................................................................................47 Step 4: Draw the stock profile .................................................................................... 53 Step 5: Reposition the stock ...................................................................................... 55 Project 2 • Mill a Production Part ...............................................................................59 SURFCAM 2 Axis Milling ........................................................................................... 60 Before you begin ........................................................................................................ 64 Step 1: Face the material ........................................................................................... 65 Step 2: Mill the pockets and profile .............................................................................71 Step 3: Drill the holes ................................................................................................ 76 Step 4: Chamfer the edges ........................................................................................ 88 Step 5: Verify the tool path ......................................................................................... 92 Step 6: Create a setup sheet ...................................................................................... 97 Step 7: Generate the NC code ................................................................................... 99 Project 3 • Design a 3D Part ..................................................................................... 101 Creating and modifying surfaces in SURFCAM .........................................................102 Before you begin .......................................................................................................103 Step 1: Create the dial surfaces ................................................................................104 Step 2: Create the display area .................................................................................109 Step 3: Add the cover ............................................................................................... 112 Step 4: Trim the surfaces ..........................................................................................115 Step 5: Add the buttons ............................................................................................ 117 Project 4 • Mill a Complex 3D Part ...........................................................................125 SURFCAM 3 Axis Milling ..........................................................................................126 Before you begin .......................................................................................................127 Step 1: Rough Surfaces ............................................................................................128 Step 2: Finish the camera body .................................................................................133 Step 3: Finish the lens housing .................................................................................138 Step 4: Trace the blend fillets ....................................................................................142 Step 5: Verify the toolpath .........................................................................................145 Index ...........................................................................................................................149 Get Started with SURFCAM Introduction to SURFCAM Surfware Inc. incorporates continuous revolutionary innovation into its SURFCAM product line to solve today’s biggest design and manufacturing concerns. SURFCAM utilizes cutting edge technologies for NC programming of 2-, 3-, 4- and 5-axis mills and lathes. This powerful full featured CAM system is easy to learn and a perfect fit for any shop’s requirements to increase productivity and profitability. This Get Started manual is for the Full, Educational, and Demo versions of SURFCAM. All three versions have the same 2D and 3D wireframe and surface design features. To obtain the most value, it is important to keep SURFCAM open as you read your Get Started manual. Before you begin, you should have the following: • Experience with the Microsoft® Windows® operating system • Mechanical design experience • Machine programming experience Depending on which version of Windows you are running on your computer, you may notice a difference in the appearance of the menus and windows in this guide. These differences are merely visual and do not affect the projects you will complete in this guide. • Standard Version. The standard version of SURFCAM saves design files with a .scprt file extension. These files can be opened with all three versions of SURFCAM. • Educational and Demo/Student versions. These versions of SURFCAM save files with a .dem file extension. These files can only be read by educational and demo/student versions of the software. The Demo/Student version lets you create a temporary toolpath and display it on the screen, but you cannot save the toolpath. Important: Files with a .dem extension cannot be opened with the standard version of SURFCAM. System Requirements The following operating system components are required by SURFCAM: • Operating System: Windows® XP Service Pack 3. Microsoft .NET 2.0 framework • Microsoft® Internet Explorer version 5.0