CAM made for mill-turn and Swiss lathes

CAM software speeds up and simplifies the generation of toolpaths to make complex products on mill-turn and Swiss type automatic CNC lathes.

Delcam acquired the PartMaker range in June 2006, to offer systems for the programming of mill-turn equipment and Swiss-type automatic CNC lathes alongside its PowerMILL range for high-speed and 5-axis milling and its FeatureCAM programs for production machining.

Delcam said that the software was already established as the leading system for these demanding applications in the USA.

* Patented programming - the main reasons for PartMaker's success, said Delcam to manuacturingtalk.com, are two patented programming techniques.

1- 'Divide and Conquer' approach - speeds up and simplifies the generation of toolpaths to make complex products on complex machines.

Users can divide any complex part, with large number of turned and milled features, into a series of much simpler operations, which can be programmed individually.

2 - PartMaker's synchronisation - minimises cycle times on machines with multiple tool posts and spindles.

With this technique, users can automatically synchronise the operations undertaken on the various parts of the machine.

Various 'what if' scenarios can be performed to compare the cycle times achieved with different machining strategies.

PartMaker simulates individual operations and of the complete machining process.

This ensures that the program will run efficiently without collisions and so reduces set-up times by minimising the need for machining trials.

* Post processors - proven PartMaker post-processors are available for virtually every CNC Swiss-type lathe and mill-turn machine on the market, said Delcam.

This includes equipment from leading suppliers including Citizen, Gildermeister, Haas, Hardinge, Mazak, Mori Seiki, Nakamura-Tome, Okuma, Star and Tornos.

The newest version of PartMaker features a wide range of improvements, as follows.

* Enhancements to the system's unique synchronisation functionality.

* More advanced 3D simulation.

* Better handling of solid models.

* More efficient 3D milling.

In addition, a number of new options have been added including the Full Machine Simulation module, which allows users to view a photo-realistic 3D model of the machine for which they are programming, and the PartMaker Documentation Wizard, which allows the user to create, preview and print documents incorporating multiple views.

* Delcam at MACH 2008, NEC, Birmingham, UK, April 21-25, Hall 4, Stand 4010.

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