Cimatron E10 Tooling Tips!

T I P # 1- C at al o g L o ca t i o n

The version 10 control panel has a Catalog Location

utility. The path set here should be where your current
catalog parts reside. Cimatron parts will retain a link to the
catalog table they were created from. However, this link
may not work properly when opening an older job or a job
from another site. Rather than ask for a manual
reconnect, the E10 system will look for catalogs in the
folder specified in the Catalog Location utility. If the
catalogs are not found at this location either, a reconnect will be required.

T I P # 2- A xi s o f rot at i o n

Version 10 allows the center of a cylindrical face or the

direction of a coordinate system to be selected as an
implicit axis of rotation when using Move/Rotate or
Revolve. This saves the time and effort of defining most
datum axis as entities.

T I P # 3- A ct i v e p ar t an as s emb l y

When working on an assembly of parts, it is important to

recognize which part is currently active. To denote
the active part, the file name is shown in bold in the tree.

In addition, the non-active parts are presented in a dimmed

version of their original color on screen. If dimmed colors
are not desired, the version 10 Modeling Preferences offer
a new choice for highlighting the active part based on
Edge Display. Assuming that you have Edge Display
turned on, the edges of the active part can be shown in a
different color than the non-active parts. Nothing will be
dimmed out.

See the Preference Page Modeling / Colors / Active_Part_And _Preview to turn this option on
or to turn active part indication off altogether.
T I P # 4- G ri d i n t h e S k et c h er

Version 10 brings a grid that can be applied while

working in Sketcher. It can be used either as a visual
aid only or combined with a snap setting. The snap can
be either the same size as the grid pattern or at smaller
nominal increments. The snap point will not be a
constraint, so adding a dimension will still move the sketch
geometry to any value desired. See View/Grid & Snap for
turning this function on or adjusting its settings.

T I P # 5- Di m en si o n s i n t h e S k e t c he r

Dimensions in the Sketcher can now be dynamically

dragged to any value. Pick just the arrowhead of the
dimension as the drag handle, as any other spot will move
the entire dimension. Dragged dimensions will jump to
nominal values defined in the General Preference for
Increment. The increment value may have a different
value than the grid snap points.

T I P # 6- N ew N C p r o c ed u re

a new NC procedure that uses the same faces and contours as an

If you are creating
existing procedure, just open the existing procedure and exit back out again without
touching anything. Now go and create your new procedure; the faces and contours from the
procedure you were just in will be pre-selected for your new procedure.

T I P # 7 - B ac kg ro u n d ca l cu l at i o n
A great feature of E10 NC is background calculation, which
allows you to calculate tool paths in the background
while continuing to program at the same time. The tool
paths that are calculated in the background will display on
screen when they are complete, which could be a distraction
when programming. However, you will find inside the Execute
function dialog an option called Execute and hide that will allow
the tool paths to execute in the background, but not display
them as they complete. To choose this option, click the small
green check mark rather than the large green check mark in
lower right corner of the Execute window.
T I P # 8- S e t s c r ea t i o n

An easy way to create sets while NC programming is

to make the set during geometry selection. While the
surfaces are picked and highlighted in red, go to the Sets
tree and create a new set. As the geometry is already
picked, you only need to select one of the green
checkmarks to accept the set by selection.

T I P # 9- I n t e r med i a t e Cu r v e

A new function introduced in Cimatron E10 is

Intermediate Curve. This function provides a very easy
way to divide an angle or find a centerline for machining
purposes. Any number of intermediate curve divisions can
be created. If two points are selected, the result is an
intermediate point.

T I P # 1 0- S o l i d ro u n d s

Solid rounds are typically made to remove the sharp

edges of a part. However, Cimatron also has the function
Round-Edge-Face, which will bring a Round up to a
specific edge that you want to keep. This is often used
where a large round value is desired, one larger than the
height of the wall in that area.

T I P # 1 1- Ch a mf e rs i n n o n - so l i d g eo me t r y

Version 10 of Cimatron includes a new ability within the

Fillet function to make chamfers in non-solid
geometry. Select two groups of surfaces as usual, but
change the screen option from Round to Flat. The
preview arcs that fillet makes will change to straight lines.
These do a nice job of illustrating the size of the chamfer
you are making and how the new surfaces will look.
T I P # 1 2- R f l ag s

R flags are a common sight in the NC Process Manager

when you edit a procedure higher up in a toolpath. As
Cimatron tracks the remaining stock, the stock model
that was used when the procedure was originally
calculated has now changed. The R flag is the system
recommending that you 'recalculate' these procedures.
But version 10 now provides an option to remove the R
symbols from the tree, which is useful if you feel the
change to the stock is not significant enough to require
the recalculation. Just highlight the procedures in question, and right-click to access the
context menu. The Clear 'R" Symbol option is at the bottom of the list.

T I P # 1 3- Dr af t i n g t e mp l a t e s

As of CimatronE version10, drafting templates have

been expanded to store entire drawings, not just
single sheets. This means that you can apply one
template to a part or assembly, and get a multiple-
sheet drawing created with one click. The name of
the function that saves templates has also changed to
reflect this new ability. It is now named Save
Drawing As Template, and you can find it under the
Drafting Automation menu. Please be advised that if the template you are saving
will be used for electrode drawings, it should remain as a single sheet only.

T I P # 1 4- Ci m at ro n L i c en s e M an ag e r
Cimatron License Manager is an add-on that
comes with version 10 for those
that use floating Cimatron licenses. It replaces
the FlexLM used in earlier versions. Several new
features have been added to the Cimatron
License Manager since the original E10 DVD
came out, including the Group Manager
Utility. The utility provides a way to assign which
users are given access to each floating licensed
module. This prevents users from taking over functionality they do not need
and depriving that license from another user. To get the Group Manager
Utility, contact tech support for a download link.
 T I P # 1 5- S o l i d s T a p e r

The Solids/Taper function received several

enhancements in version 10. The original walls
are now denoted with a dashed line, so even the
effects of small tapers are clearly visible. A new
option for keeping the size at the bottom level
allows the taper to be applied from the lowest
point of each individual wall. Using this option,
drafts can be applied while maintaining the
original dimensions of every feature.

T I P # 1 6- E xt r a ct I n se rt b y Co n t o u r S o l i d s T ap er

A very useful new assembly function in E10 is

Extract Insert by Contour. Another way to think
of this function would be by the name “Divide as
new part”. The geometry inside of a contour
you select will be removed from one part and
added to a brand new part in the assembly.
Options exist for tapering the walls and clearing
the corners of the new part. This function lends
itself well for insert design in molds, as well as
for any situation in Assembly where parts need to be simplified into smaller
components.

T I P # 1 7- S h o w E xe cu t i o n L o g

In a version 10 NC file, you can right-

click over any calculated procedure and
Show Execution Log. The log is a text
file attached to your job that provides
detailed machining information including
calculation time, estimated machining
time, XY motion limits, and the highest Z
value found in feed motions.
T I P # 1 8- E xp o rt i n g Dr af t i n g F i l es

While there are many formats for exporting 3D

data to other systems, there are not many common
ways for exporting drafting files. Cimatron does
support export to DWF format files, which can be
imported into a free downloadable viewer product.
With version 10, you can now export drawings
directly to PDF format. Multiple drawings can be
exported in a single action even without displaying
them on the screen first, presenting considerable
time savings over the use of plotting to generate PDF files.

T I P # 1 9- Dr af t i n g T emp l at e s

As of CimatronE version10, drafting templates

have been expanded to store entire drawings, not
just single sheets. This means that you can apply
one template to a part or assembly, and get a
multiple-sheet drawing created with one click.
The name of the function that saves templates has
also changed to reflect this new ability. It is now
named Save Drawing As Template, and you can
find it under the Drafting Automation menu. Please be advised that if the template
you are saving will be used for electrode drawings, it should remain as a single sheet
only.

T I P # 2 0- UCS M an a g e r

A common need for any Cimatron user is the

management of User Coordinate Systems (UCS).
The UCS Manager allows mass selection of UCS,
presenting one simplified window where UCS can
be renamed or hidden. When used in an assembly,
The UCS Manager allows you to turn off all the
UCS from the various parts with a single click.

It is actually the only way to turn off all the UCS

in a single step. An assembly set cannot be made
for UCS entities, and the global datum filter would
also hide planes and axes.
T I P # 2 1- Re mo ve P o c ke t

A powerful tool for removing solid features in a

part is Remove & Extend. The same function
exists at the assembly level as Remove Pocket,
but with added intelligence for recognizing holes
made by cutting objects. It is typically used to
remove the cuts made by a component prior to
moving it with the Relocate function. You only
need to pick the component to remove its pocket,
which is faster than picking the individual
surfaces.Both Remove Pocket and Relocate are
found under the Quick Modification Tools menu. These tools do not edit the cut
features created when the component was originally placed. Instead, they fill in the
holes and make new cuts, avoiding long regeneration times in large assemblies (hence
the label Quick Modification Tools).
It is important to note that the features you create through the Remove and Relocate
functions supersede the features of the original Add of the parts. Therefore, once these
functions are used, the Add features should no longer be edited.

T I P # 2 2- E l e ct ro d e D e si g n U si n g S o l i d s

A recent tooling tips webinar discussed

electrode design using solids. However, to
define a new electrode, you must begin by
using the Extract function and selecting faces.
Rather than discarding these extracted faces
and cutting the electrode solid by the entire
cavity, I choose to use them. Stitch just the
extracted faces and cut the electrode
solid by this sheet. Besides providing a use for
the extracted faces, the resulting electrode will
be smaller in size and faster to work with, as
the solid cut feature does reference the entire cavity block.

T I P # 2 3- S w i t ch i n g S u rf a c es i n N C

procedure between Part and Check is easier

in E10. During geometry selection, right click
the mouse to find the new option for moving
surfaces from another group. Once checked,
any surface you pick will switch into the
current selection, even if it was already
assigned to some other group.