2D profile

[Rick Henrickson 65]

is there a quick way to create geometry for the outside contour of a solid.

 

I just want the outside profile without having to create lines and arcs by hand

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

A couple easy ways...

 

Silhouette boundary C-hook... Or if you have solids... SOLID, LAYOUT.

[Guest]

version pls...if X .....click on to contour.....3d icon needs to be clicked and you can determine id you want one ege ...all edges ..etc

[Rick Henrickson 65]

ok I tried the solid layout it created a drawing with the 4 standard windows on a paper size. I just want the geometry around the outside of the solid to machine the contour.

am I doing something wrong

[Rick Henrickson 65]

version x my bad

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

In the solid layout dialog you can select only the view(s) you want.

 

That gives you the outer contour and you could delete all the undesired geometry inside...

 

The Silhouette boundary has sometimes given me iffy results so I really depend upon solid layout if I need accurate geometry.

[Kannon]

in version 9.1 create-curve-one edge and select your solid. I believe that will give you your lines and arcs.

[Rick Henrickson 65]

jack are you talking about contour tool path?

[Rick Henrickson 65]

can i create curves all edges and squash all the wire frame to one z level?

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

Yeah but you better be ready with the find overlap c-hook ! Sounds like a mess.

 

You won't find squash anymore either. That's all built into Xform project.

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

Caution...

 

Depending upon the shape of your solid you may not get the outermost shape either...

[Justin Beebe at Folsom Tool]

In V9.1 create/curve/all edges/Solids/ then in the menu that says pick a solid entity make sure Faces=Y and Solids=No. Then select the face you want the contour to go around. Then hit done twice and do it. The face will then have the curve around it and you can use it to chain your contour. If other geometry comes up when you create your edge curve just delete it.

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

cascadeclimber would you like to share the part via e-mail or ftp ?

[Guest]

yes i was talking about contour toolpath....you have mail

[Kannon]

I guess I do it as cncjb2006 does,

I dont believe you have to squash it either, cause you can do toolpath-contour-chain-options then check the box that says ignore depths. Then chain your geometry, pick your tool, and in the contour parameters, down on the bottom left(version9.1) it says "contour type" switch that to 2d and you should be good to go.

 

[Rick Henrickson 65]

I posted it at the FTP site under MCX folder 2DCONT.mcx

[Rick Henrickson 65]

if you look at the file on the ftp site, I created a dark blue line on level 1000 2 line horiz 2 lines vert and then 4 fillets. I want a way to create that profile without having to do that or if you can do it with tool path like kannon

[Kannon]

if you save it as a version 9 file and email it to me unzipped... I will try to help

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

Since there is no draft on the part I'd say CREATE CURVE SLICE (at a z plane of about .1)and projecting it to whatever height would be easiest for this particular part.

 

You could probably create it manually in the same time though for this part.

[Rick Henrickson 65]

Yes this is a simple part but it was just for example

I just thought there might be a couple click method of doing this now with X

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

Silhouette boundary is only a couple clicks but gives splines instead of lines too often and I usually try to avoid cutting splines if I can.

[Rick Henrickson 65]

How do I use the c-hook never have before?

[Kannon]

mail on the way!

[Matt Berube at Ferron Mold]

While Mastercam X is open press ALT-C and select "silhouette boundary.dll" and click OPEN.

[Rick Henrickson 65]

ok i did the c-hook but it did a terrible job try it