MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)

Version 9
Solids
Tutorial
Version 9 Solids Tutorial
(Metric version)
Mastercam Version 9 Solids

© 2002 CNC Software, Inc.
Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial (Metric version)
Date: March 15, 2002

Copyright © 2002 CNC Software, Inc. - All rights reserved.
First Printing: January 21, 2002
Software: Mastercam Solids Version 9
ISBN: 1-883310-30-X
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Table of Contents
1 Introduction to Mastercam Solids ..................................... 1
Using the sample parts ........................................................... 1
If you need more help ............................................................. 2
Additional resources ............................................................... 4
2 Designing a Chair Seat....................................................... 5

Exercise 1 – Starting Mastercam............................................ 5
Exercise 2 – Defining the seat’s basic shape ......................... 9
Exercise 3 – Creating indentations in the top of the seat ..... 13
Exercise 4 – Smoothing the seat’s center edge ................... 15
Exercise 5 – Smoothing the seat’s remaining edges............ 21
3 Designing a Plastic Cap ................................................... 31

Exercise 1 – Creating the base of the cap............................ 32
Exercise 2 – Creating a nozzle ............................................. 35
Exercise 3 –Trimming the top of the cap .............................. 38
Exercise 4 – Reducing the number of display curves........... 41
Exercise 5 – Smoothing the cap’s edges.............................. 43
Exercise 6 – Hollowing out the cap....................................... 47
Exercise 7 – Cutting a hole in the nozzle ............................. 49
Exercise 8 – Creating a tab on the sides of the cap ............. 52
Exercise 9 – Extending the tab ............................................. 55
Exercise 10 – Cutting attachment holes ............................... 59
Exercise 11 – Enlarging the attachment holes ..................... 61
Exercise 12 – Creating a snap edge..................................... 64
Exercise 13 – Smoothing the snap edge .............................. 67
Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial i

4 Designing a Connecting Rod ........................................... 71
Exercise 1 – Creating the connecting rod body .................... 71
Exercise 2 – Creating the ends of the connecting rod .......... 74
Exercise 3 – Creating connecting tabs ................................. 79
Exercise 4 – Cutting bolt holes in the tabs ........................... 83
Exercise 5 – Removing material from the body of the
connecting rod ................................................. 87
Exercise 6 – Creating beveled edges ................................... 90
Exercise 7 – Creating rounded edges .................................. 95
Exercise 8 – Defining the connecting rod’s weight ............. 107
5 Designing a Forging Die................................................. 111

Exercise 1 – Setting visible levels and display lines ........... 112
Exercise 2 – Creating the die stock .................................... 114
Exercise 3 – Removing the connecting rod from the
die stock ......................................................... 117
Exercise 4 – Reducing the connecting rod’s weight ........... 121
Exercise 5 – Scaling the forging die ................................... 122
6 Designing a Windshield for a Toy Race Car ................. 125

Exercise 1 – Defining the windshield’s shape .................... 125
Exercise 2 – Creating the windshield’s solid body.............. 131
Exercise 3 – Refining the windshield’s shape .................... 133
Exercise 4 – Making the windshield more aerodynamic..... 142
Exercise 5 – Hollowing out the windshield.......................... 144
Exercise 6 – Smoothing the outside edges and nose of
the windshield ................................................ 146
Exercise 7 – Smoothing the inside edges of the
windshield ...................................................... 151
Exercise 8 – Adding a screw plate to the back of the
windshield ...................................................... 152
Exercise 9 – Smoothing the back of the windshield ........... 160
Exercise 10 – Adding a snap closure to the windshield’s
nose ............................................................... 165
Exercise 11 – Smoothing the snap closure’s edges ........... 172
ii Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

7 Designing an Injection Mold for a Camera ................... 175
Exercise 1 – Importing the camera files.............................. 175
Exercise 2 – Checking the cavity and core for errors ......... 180
Exercise 3 – Creating an operation history for the camera
cavity .............................................................. 181
Exercise 4 – Modifying the spot faces ................................ 186
Exercise 5 – Creating curve geometry for a sprue hole
and a gate ...................................................... 188
Exercise 6 – Adding the sprue hole and the gate to the
mold ............................................................... 193
8 Designing an Injection Mold from a Surface File ......... 201

Exercise 1 – Importing a surface file................................... 202
Exercise 2 – Modifying the part design............................... 203
Exercise 3 – Creating the mold stock ................................. 211
Exercise 4 – Creating a parting surface.............................. 217
Exercise 5 – Splitting the mold stock into two pieces ......... 231
Exercise 6 – Creating a void between the mold core and
cavity .............................................................. 235
Exercise 7 – Creating a drawing layout for the mold core .. 238
9 Designing an Electrode .................................................. 251

Exercise 1 – Creating a sheet solid from the mold core ..... 251
Exercise 2 – Reducing the size of the Y-shaped cavity...... 253
Exercise 3 – Creating the electrode blank .......................... 257
Mastercam Shortcut Keys.................................................. 269
Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial iii

iv Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial
Introduction to Mastercam Solids
1 Introduction to Mastercam Solids
Welcome to Mastercam Solids Version 9. Mastercam Solids brings solid

modeling to NC programmers with tools designed to make the line
seamless between solids and machining. Mastercam Solids is an add-on to
Mastercam Design, Mill Levels 1-3, Lathe Level 1, Wire Level 1, Router,
and Router Pro. It is not included with any product.
To help you learn Mastercam Solids, this tutorial and extensive online
help accompany the product.
Use this tutorial as a self-training aid to orient yourself to the Solids
program and interface. After completing the tutorial, you will have a
good introduction to creating solid models in Mastercam. However,
the tutorial does not try to cover every Solids feature.
Use the online help as a reference for specific “How to…” or “What’s
this…” questions, like “How do I vary the fillet radius along a solid
edge,” or “What’s a Boolean operation?” This tutorial shows you how
to use online help.
Note: For information on creating toolpaths on solids, see the online help
and the Mill/Design Tutorial and Lathe Tutorial.
Using the sample parts

The sample parts for all of the exercises in this tutorial are located in the
C:\Mcam9\Tutorials\Solids Tutorial\Metric directory. The sample parts
are read-only, so you do not accidentally write over them. You should
create a separate working folder where you can save your own parts as
you complete the tutorial.
Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 1

Chapter 1
Note: The parts for the exercises in this tutorial were created using metric
units of measurement. When you open one of the tutorial parts, if you are
using a configuration file based on different units of measure, Mastercam
will automatically switch configuration files to match the units in the
current file. For example, if you are working with the metric configuration
file for Mastercam Mill (Mill9m.cfg) and you open an inch part, the
system switches to the inch configuration file (Mill9.cfg).
If you need more help

Online help
Online help contains the latest and most up-to-date information about
Mastercam. The following pictures show how to use the online help.
Choose the Help

toolbar button to
get information on
the current menu.
Click on the
question
mark then
Tip: You can also click on any
press [Alt + H] field for more
anywhere within information.
Mastercam to get
additional help.
Press the
Help button
to get
information
about the
dialog box.
2 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Introduction to Mastercam Solids
Dealers
If you have a question about Mastercam and have not been able to locate
the answer in this tutorial or the online help, contact your local Mastercam
dealer.
Technical support
If your dealer is unavailable, you can call CNC Software Support Services
Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., USA Eastern Standard
Time.
When calling CNC Software, Inc. for technical support, please follow
these guidelines:
Be sure you have already tried to contact your Mastercam dealer.
Be ready to describe the problem in detail. Write down what
happened, particularly if you cannot call immediately after the
problem occurs.
Be in front of your computer when you call.
If possible, try to duplicate the problem before calling. Our Support
Services technician may require you to duplicate the problem while
you are on the phone.
When you call, have ready a complete description of your hardware,
including your operating system (OS), central processing unit (CPU),
mouse, and memory.
You can also leave a message for CNC Support Services twenty-four
hours a day, seven days a week by way of e-mail or the web site. If
sending e-mail, please include the serial number of your SIM and a
telephone number where you can be reached. A member of our technical
support staff will return your e-mail or call you on the next business day.

Chapter 1
Keep the following information on hand in case you need to reach us:
Important Information
Address CNC Software, Inc.
671 Old Post Road
Tolland, Connecticut, 06084-2830
USA
Phone (860) 875-5006
Fax (860) 872-1565
BBS (860) 871-8050
TELNET and ftp.mastercam.com or
ftp:// 172.16.100.100
Internet http://www.mastercam.com
Address
E-mail support@mastercam.com
Additional resources
For information on training, contact your Mastercam dealer.
For an ongoing discussion of Mastercam-related topics, visit the
Mastercam online forum at http://www.emastercam.com.

Designing a Chair Seat
2 Designing a Chair Seat
In this chapter, you will use existing wireframe geometry consisting of

points, lines, and arcs to generate the following solid model of a chair seat.
You will learn how to perform the following skills:

Creating a base solid (Extrude)
Cutting material from a solid (Sweep)
Creating constant and variable radius fillets on solid edges
Propagating a fillet to tangent edges
Correcting fillet overflow conditions
Checking radius values along a filleted edge
Verifying solid selections
Viewing a solid operation history
Shading a solid
Exercise 1 – Starting Mastercam

1. Choose the Start button from the Windows® Taskbar.
2. Choose Programs, Mastercam 9, then select the program that
you added Solids onto (Design, Mill, Lathe, etc.). The main
Mastercam screen displays.

Chapter 2
The following picture shows you some of the main features of the
Mastercam workspace.
Toolbar
Each button is a shortcut to a common menu command.
Hold the cursor over a button to see what it does.
Main Menu
You will select
most of your
commands
here.
Menu buttons
Use these two
buttons to navi-
gate menus.
Secondary
Menu
Use these 10
buttons to
organize and
control drafting
operations
Prompt area Graphics window

Mastercam uses this space to Your part and toolpaths
tell you what information you appear here.
need to enter. Whatever you
type also appears here.
Learning about the HASP and NetHASP

Mastercam uses two types of licensing: single-user licensing and
network licensing. If you are using single-user licensing, you need to
have a special piece of hardware called a HASP (sometimes called a
dongle or SIM) attached to your parallel or USB port. If you get an
error message like the following:

this component is either missing or not configured properly. Refer to

your installation instructions (included in a separate document) or
contact your dealer for assistance.
If you have a network license (NetHASP), you must have at least one
Solids license programmed on the NetHASP. If you see either of the
following messages, you may need to update your NetHASP. See
your Mastercam dealer for more information.
Error checking out a Solids license. No
licenses have been purchased for this
product.
All available licenses are in use.
Controlling part display in the graphics window
Mastercam provides several different ways to control how jobs
display in the graphics window. In the toolbar, the buttons below let
you control the display scale of the part in the graphics window:
Repaint
Redraw the screen and remove remnants.
Fit to screen
Enlarge or reduce the display scale to fill the screen.
Unzoom by 0.8
Reduce the display scale by 0.8.
Unzoom
Return to the display scale before last zoom.
Zoom with window
Use the cursor to draw a box around the area to be enlarged.

Chapter 2
To the right of these buttons in the toolbar are green buttons that
control the graphics view (Gview), which is how you view the part in
the graphics window:
Side view
Front view
Top view
Isometric view
Dynamic rotation
Use the mouse to rotate the part in the window.
Note: The graphics view does not affect the plane in which the part
geometry exists. In Mastercam, this is called the “construction
plane” or “Cplane”. Please refer to Mastercam’s online Help for
more information on Cplanes and Gviews.
When you right-click in the graphics window, a menu appears that
lets you control the display in a similar way to the toolbar buttons and
also provides some additional controls:
Zoom control
Enlarge the display scale of the
windowed selection, or reduce it by
50%. Dynamic controls
Use the mouse to spin (rotate)
the displayed part, to move the
Draw control
view right, left, up, or down,
Enlarge or reduce the display scale to
(pan), or to zoom in or out.
fit the screen, or refresh the screen.
View control
Choose the top, front, side, or
isometric view.
AutoHighlight
Highlight any entity under the cursor.
AutoCursor
Snap to the nearest entity for selection.
You will use these controls throughout this tutorial.

Exercise 2 – Defining the seat’s basic shape
The first operation that you perform when creating a solid is referred to as
the base operation. There are many ways to perform a base operation,
which defines the initial solid. In this exercise, you will define the chair
seat's basic shape by extruding, or driving out, a chain of curves along a
linear path. The shape of the curves defines the shape of the resulting
solid.
Turning on the AutoCursor and AutoHighlight features
The AutoCursor feature aids the process of entering points in
Mastercam by automatically detecting entity positions, such as
midpoints and endpoints. AutoHighlight makes it easier to identify
entities by automatically highlighting an entity when the cursor is
over it. You will turn on both of these features before you create the
chair seat.
1. Right-click in the graphics window. Mastercam displays the
following menu.

Chapter 2
2. If the AutoCursor and AutoHighlight options do not have check

marks next to them, choose each option to enable it. Mastercam
closes the menu after each choice, so right-click again if you need
to. If the option already has a check mark next to it, the feature is
already turned on, so click in the graphics window to close the
menu.
Chaining the geometry and setting the extrusion direction
1. Choose Main Menu, File, Get.
2. Navigate to your working folder: Mcam9\Tutorials\Solids
Tutorial\Metric.
3. Select chair-wireframe-mm.mc9 and choose Open.
4. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
5. Select the dark green geometry at the position shown in the
following picture. Mastercam highlights the selection.
6. Choose Done. The Extrusion Direction menu displays.

7. A direction arrow on the selected chain indicates the extrusion
direction. Check to be sure the arrow points up. If it does not,
choose Reverse It.
Note: The default extrusion direction is normal, or
perpendicular, to the plane that the chain lies in.
8. Choose Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.

Setting extrusion parameters

The base operation results in the creation of a solid. Therefore, the
only option available in the Extrusion Operation section of the dialog
box is Create Body. You will extrude the shape of the curves a
distance of 24 millimeters.
1. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any
necessary adjustments.
2. Choose OK to create the solid body. Your part should look like
the following picture.

Chapter 2
3. Press [Alt + S] to turn on full-time shading. Your part should look

like the following picture.
4. Choose Main Menu, File, Save.

5. Navigate to your working folder: Mcam9\Tutorials\Solids
Tutorial\Metric.
6. Type chair-solid-mm.mc9 for File name and choose Save.

Exercise 3 – Creating indentations in the top of the

seat
Once you have performed the base operation and defined the initial solid,
you can perform additional operations to customize the model further. In
this exercise, you will create indentations in the top of the chair seat to
make it comfortable and attractive. You will use the Sweep function to
remove material from the extruded solid.
Selecting the section chain and sweep path
The Sweep function requires you to define two sets of geometry. The
first set consists of one or more chains of curves. These chains are
called section chains because their cross-sections define the shape of
the resulting solid, cut, or boss. In this case, you will select one
section chain to use as a cut. The second set of geometry consists of a
single chain, which defines the path along which the section chain is
swept.
1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Sweep. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
3. Define the section chain by selecting the red geometry at the
position shown in the following picture.
4. The system prompts you that it has reached a branch point.

Choose End here, Done to complete the selection.

Chapter 2
Note: A branch point is the position where the endpoints of two

or more entities meet and where there are different paths that the
chain can take.
5. Define the sweep path by selecting the red geometry at the
position shown in the following picture. The Sweep Chain dialog
box opens.
Setting sweep parameters

Now that the file contains the extruded solid, you have the option to
perform another base operation (Create Body), in which case a
second solid would be created. You can also modify the extruded
solid by removing material from it (Cut Body) or adding material to it
(Add Boss). For this exercise, you will cut the extruded solid.
1. Choose Cut Body.

2. Choose OK. The system cuts the shape of the section chain from
the chair seat.
3. Turn on shading. Your part should look like the following picture.
Exercise 4 – Smoothing the seat’s center edge
In this exercise, you will further customize the chair seat by rounding its
center edge using fillets, or blends.
Selecting the center edge
1. Turn off shading.
2. Choose Fillet from the Solids menu. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
3. To limit your selection to solid edges, toggle Edges to Y and all
other Yes/No options to N, as shown in the following picture.

Chapter 2
4. Move your cursor over the geometry at the position shown in the
following picture.
5. The cursor symbol changes to show that an edge has been

detected. Click to select the edge.
6. Choose Done. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.
Setting fillet parameters
You have the option to fillet the selected edge using a constant or a
variable radius value. For this exercise, you will vary the fillet radius
at several positions along the edge.
1. Choose Variable Radius.
2. Choose Smooth. This option forces the fillet’s end condition at
non-tangent edges to be parallel with the original edge, as if
adjacent edges were tangent. The following pictures show the
difference in results between the Smooth and Linear options.

Smooth Linear

Defining the radius at the vertices

In this exercise, you will set the fillet radius to a different value at
each vertex, or endpoint, of the selected edge.
1. Click on the + sign next to EDGE 1. The Edge List area should
look like the following picture.
2. Click on the first VERTEX in the Edge List area. Mastercam

highlights the corresponding endpoint in the graphics window, as
shown in the following picture.
Note: Move the dialog box to see the highlighted vertex.

Chapter 2
3. Enter 72 for Radius.

4. Click on the second VERTEX in the Edge List area. Mastercam
highlights the corresponding endpoint in the graphics window, as

Dynamically editing the radius along the center edge
In this exercise, you will vary the fillet radius at two interior positions
along the seat’s center edge.
1. Choose the Edit button (located below the Edge List area).
Mastercam returns you to the graphics window and displays the
Fillet Edit menu.
2. Choose Insert dyn.
3. Select the center edge, as shown in the following picture. The
cursor changes to a dynamic arrow that slides along the edge.

4. Press [S] to turn on snap mode. The prompt area indicates that
snapping is on.
Note: When snapping is active, the cursor snaps to the point
entity closest to the cursor’s position when you left-click the
mouse.
5. Position the cursor crosshair over the point at the position shown
in the following picture, and click.
Note: The crosshair at the base of the dynamic arrow may or

may not be located at the same position. However, be sure that
the cursor crosshair is located over the point before you click to
select it.
6. In the prompt area, type 144 for the radius, then press [Enter].
7. Repeat steps 2 through 4.
8. Position the cursor crosshair over the point at the position shown
in the following picture, and click.

Chapter 2
9. In the prompt area, type 288 for the radius, then press [Enter].
10. Choose Done to return to the Fillet Parameters dialog box. The
Edge List area now shows four radius positions for EDGE 1.
Checking the radius values along the center edge

In this exercise, you will check the radius value at each position along
the center edge.
1. Click on the first VERTEX in the Edge List area. Mastercam
highlights the corresponding endpoint in the graphics window.
The Radius field changes to 72, the radius value at this position.
2. Use the down arrow key on your keyboard to cycle through the
radius value of each point for EDGE 1.
3. To check the radius values graphically, choose the Edit button.
Mastercam returns you to the graphics window and displays the
Fillet Edit menu.
4. Choose Cycle from the Fillet Edit menu. Mastercam highlights
the first vertex and displays its radius value in the prompt area
where you can edit it, if necessary. For this exercise, you will
accept the values you entered previously. Press [Enter] four times
until you have cycled through all of the radius values
(72,144,288,480).

5. Choose Done to return to the Fillet Parameters dialog box.

6. Choose OK to fillet the center edge.
Exercise 5 – Smoothing the seat’s remaining edges
In this exercise, you will fillet the remaining edges on the top of the seat
using a constant radius value. To save time and reduce the number of
edges that you have to select manually, you will select one edge to fillet,
and propagate the fillet to all tangent edges.
Smoothing the chair seat’s inside edge
2. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
3. Select the edge at the position shown in the following picture.

Chapter 2

5. Choose Constant Radius.
7. Select Propagate along tangencies.
9. Choose OK to fillet the edges.


In addition to the selected edge, Mastercam filleted the tangent edges

along the interior curve. However, the fillet stops at the non-tangent
edges along the front of the seat.
Smoothing the chair seat’s front edge
In this exercise, you will fillet the chair seat’s front edge. Once again,
you will use the propagate feature to minimize selection time.
However, you must select more than one edge to propagate because
the edges that define the complete path of the front of the chair are
not all tangent.
2. Choose the Screen-Zoom toolbar button.
3. Click at opposite corners of a rectangle around the front of the
chair seat, as shown in the following picture.
4. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.

Chapter 2
5. Select the horizontal edge at the position shown in the following

picture.
Tip: If you accidentally

select the wrong edge,
select it again to deselect
it then select the correct
edge.
6. The next edge is difficult to select because it is small and there are
several edges in this section of the geometry. To be sure that you
select the correct edge, toggle Verify to Y, as shown in the
following picture.
7. Click in the graphics window at the position shown in the

following picture.

8. The system detects multiple edges at this cursor position and

displays the Verify Solid Entity menu. Choose Next until the
small, horizontal edge is selected (highlighted in blue), then
choose Done.
Note: The edge width in the picture above has been thickened to
help you identify the correct edge.
9. Toggle Verify to N.
10. Select the horizontal edge at the position shown in the following
picture.

Chapter 2
11. Choose Done from the Pick Solid Entity menu. The Fillet
Parameters dialog box opens.
13. Set Overflow to Maintain Edges. This option prevents the fillet
operation from failing in cases where a fillet is large enough to
overflow onto faces beyond its two adjacent faces. The system
maintains the edges of the fillet's adjacent faces.

15. Choose OK. The system creates the fillets along the seat’s top
front edge.
16. Choose the Screen-Unzoom toolbar button to view the entire
chair seat. The Maintain Edges option prevents the fillet from
overflowing past the edge shown in the following picture and
causing the operation to fail.
Smoothing the chair seat’s outside edge

In this exercise, you will fillet the chair seat’s outer edge. Once again,
you will use the propagate fillet feature to minimize selection time.
1. Choose Fillet from the Solids menu.

Chapter 2

5. Set Overflow to Default. Mastercam determines how best to
resolve any overflow conditions for this operation.
7. Choose OK. The system fillets the seat’s top outer edge.

9. Choose Solids mgr from the Solids menu. The Solids Manager
opens.
10. Double-click on Solid to expand the list of six operations that you
performed to create the solid model of the chair seat.
Note: You will learn more about the Solids Manager in the next
chapter.
11. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager.
12. Save the file.
You have created your first solid model using Extrude, Sweep, and Fillet
operations. In the next chapter, you will create a solid model for a plastic
cap. To complete this model, you will learn new methods of creating and
modifying solids.

Chapter 2

Designing a Plastic Cap
3 Designing a Plastic Cap

lines and arcs to generate the following solid model of a plastic cap.
You will build on skills that you learned in the previous chapter and learn
new skills, such as:
Creating a base solid (Revolve)
Adding material (boss) with draft to a solid (Extrude)
Cutting material from a solid (Extrude)
Trimming extruded bosses and cuts to solid faces
Setting the solid display (hidden lines and radial display
curves)
Filleting solid edges using face selection
Hollowing out a solid with an entry hole
Editing operation parameters
Reordering operations
Changing a solid feature by modifying its underlying curve
geometry
Regenerating a solid
Creating a curve along a solid edge

Chapter 3
Exercise 1 – Creating the base of the cap
In this exercise, you will perform a base operation to define the round
shape of the plastic cap. To do so, you will create a revolved solid by
driving the shape of a chain of curves in a circular path around an axis.
Checking visible levels of geometry
Level 1 is the main level, on which geometry will be created in a later
exercise. Level 2 is the level on which some of the geometry
contained in this file is located. You will check to be sure that both of
these levels are visible.
1. Open cap-wireframe-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
2. Choose the Level button on the Secondary Menu.
Note: The number on the button indicates the main level, on
which geometry will be created (in this case, level 1).
3. Check to be sure levels 1 and 2 are visible, as shown in the
following picture.
Tip: To
make a level
visible or
invisible,
click in the
Visible
column next
to a level
number. The
red check
mark
indicates
that a level
is visible.
4. Choose OK to close the Level Manager.

Chaining the geometry

1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Revolve. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
2. Select the green geometry to revolve at the position shown in the
following picture.
3. Choose Done.
4. Select the rotation axis (line) at the position shown in the
following picture.

Chapter 3
5. The Revolve menu sets the rotation direction. To create the round
base of the cap, you will rotate the geometry a full 360 degrees.
Therefore, the rotation direction does not matter. Choose Done.
The Revolve Chain dialog box opens.
Setting revolve parameters
2. Choose OK to create the revolved solid.

3. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading. Your part should look like the
following picture.

4. Save the file as cap-solid-mm.mc9 in your working folder.
Exercise 2 – Creating a nozzle
In this exercise, you will create a nozzle on top of the cap's base. You will
use the Extrude function to add material, called a boss, to the revolved
solid.
Chaining the geometry and setting the extrusion direction
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude.
3. Select the yellow geometry at the position shown in the following
picture.

Chapter 3
4. Choose Done. The Extrusion Direction menu displays.

5. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points up. If it
doesn't, choose Reverse It.
You will define the operation as a 24 millimeter boss. In addition, you
will apply a 5-degree draft angle to the walls of the boss.
1. Choose Add Boss.
2. Select the Draft check box.
3. Clear the Outward check box to tilt the walls of the extruded
boss inward relative to the extrusion direction. The nozzle will be
smaller at its top than at its base.
4. Enter 5.0 for Angle.

6. Choose OK to create the nozzle on the cap base.


Chapter 3
Exercise 3 – Trimming the top of the cap
In this exercise, you will trim material from the nozzle to refine its shape.
You will do so by cutting the revolved solid with an extruded chain of
curves. The chain of curves is located in the middle of the nozzle, which
makes it difficult to know the distance to extrude the cut in either
direction. Therefore, you will extend the cut through the entire nozzle
(versus a specified distance) in both the extrusion direction and the
opposite direction.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Extrude.
3. Select the light blue geometry at the position shown in the
following picture.

4. Choose Done to end the chain selection.

5. Choose Done to accept the default extrusion direction, which is
normal to the selected chain.
Note: You will extrude the curves in both directions, so it does
not matter which direction the arrow points.
6. Choose Cut Body.
7. Clear the Draft check box.
8. Choose Extend through all.
9. Select the Both directions check box.

Chapter 3
11. Choose OK to trim the nozzle.


Exercise 4 – Reducing the number of display

curves
In this exercise, you will simplify the solid model display by turning off
the display of hidden lines and reducing the number of radial display lines,
which represent the surfaces of closed, circular solids (cones, cylinders,
spheres, tori).
Note: Be sure to turn off shading. You cannot change the display
of hidden lines when a solid model is shaded.
2. Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. The Solids
Display dialog box opens.
3. Choose Hidden. By selecting this option and not setting the Show
Hidden Lines option, you remove the edges that would not
otherwise be visible in the current view from the display.
4. Enter 180.0 for Radial Display Curve Angle for Circular Faces.
This option sets the angle between radial display lines. Increasing
this value reduces the number of display lines along a circular
face.

Chapter 3

6. Choose OK. The following pictures show what your part looks
like before and after the display changes.
Before After

Exercise 5 – Smoothing the cap’s edges
The clean lines of the display now make it easier to see the cap's sharp
edges. In this exercise, you will smooth the edges using the Fillet function
that you learned about in the previous chapter. In addition to selecting
individual edges, you will select entire solid faces to fillet. Face selection
saves time when all of the edges of a face will be filleted with the same
radius value.
Creating a fillet using edge selection
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu
displays.
2. Toggle the Edges option to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
3. Select the two edges shown in the following picture. The system
highlights the selected edges.
Note: Edge selection works as a toggle. If you select the wrong
edge, select it again to deselect it.

5. Enter Fillet Cap Edges for the operation name.

Chapter 3
Note: Assigning unique names to operations helps you identify

them in the Solids Manager. You will learn more about the Solids
Manager in Exercise 9.
8. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges. Your part should look like

Creating a fillet using face selection

1. To make it easier to select solid faces, turn on shading.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet.
3. To limit your selection to solid faces at the front of the model
(based on the current view), toggle the Faces option to Y and all
other Yes/No options to N.
4. Move your cursor over the top of the cap's base at the position
5. The cursor symbol changes to show that a face has been detected.
Click to select the face. The system highlights the face.
6. Select the face shown in the following picture (the top of the cap's
nozzle). The system highlights the face.

Chapter 3

8. Enter Fillet Cap Faces for the operation name.

Note: When a solid face is selected, its edges can only be filleted
with a constant radius. Therefore, the Variable Radius option is
not available. To vary the fillet radius along an edge, you must
select the edge separately.
11. Choose OK to fillet the edges of the selected faces. Your part
should look like the following picture.
Exercise 6 – Hollowing out the cap
In this exercise, you will use the Shell function to hollow out the cap.
There are two ways to shell a solid, depending on your selection. If you
select solid faces, the system hollows out the solid and opens the selected
faces to form entry holes into the solid. If you select the whole solid, the
system removes material from the interior of the solid to form the shell,
but the solid remains closed. In this exercise, you will shell the solid and
create one entry hole.
1. From the Solids menu, choose Shell.
2. Toggle the FromBack and Faces options to Y and all other
Yes/No options to N.

Chapter 3
Note: The FromBack option filters out the faces in front (based
on the current view) so you can select the cap’s bottom without
having to rotate the solid.
3. Select the cap’s bottom face at the position shown in the
following picture. The system highlights its edge. This face
defines the entry hole.
4. Choose Done. The Shell Solid dialog box opens.

5. Select Inward (Shell Direction).
6. Enter 1.44 for Inward (Shell Thickness). The system thickens the
inside shell walls by this amount.

8. Choose OK to hollow out the solid.

9. Choose the Gview-Dynamic toolbar button.
10. Click in the graphics window then move the mouse to rotate the
cap and view its underside. Click to set the cap's position. Your
part should look similar to the following picture.
Exercise 7 – Cutting a hole in the nozzle
In this exercise, you will cut a hole in the nozzle using extrusion
techniques that you learned in a previous exercise. The cut will extend in
one direction through the front of the nozzle.

Chapter 3
1. Choose the Gview-Isometric toolbar button to return to Isometric

view.
3. From the Solids menu, choose Extrude. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
4. Select the red circle at the position shown in the following picture.
5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points to the left
(toward the front, or outside, of the cap). If it doesn't, choose
Reverse It.
8. Clear the Both directions check box.

10. Choose OK to cut the nozzle hole.


Chapter 3
Exercise 8 – Creating a tab on the sides of the cap
In this exercise, you will make the cap easier to grasp by adding a tab to
the outside of the cap. You will do this by extruding a chain of curves as a
boss across the nozzle. You will trim the boss to an external face so that it
does not penetrate the hollowed interior of the cap, which would interfere
with the function of the nozzle.
2. The tab geometry is located on level 3. Use the Level Manager to
make level 2 invisible and levels 1 and 3 visible.
Tip: For information on making levels visible or invisible, see page 32.

4. Select the geometry at the position shown in the following picture.

5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points toward the
nozzle. If it doesn't, choose Reverse It.
8. Choose Add Boss.
9. Enter 18 for Distance.
10. Select the Trim to selected faces check box.
Note: To prevent complicating operations unnecessarily in your
own work, use this option only when you need to avoid disrupting
a solid by adding a boss or cut that would extend too far into the
target solid.

Chapter 3
12. Choose OK. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays.

13. Toggle the Faces option to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
14. Select the face to trim to at the position shown in the following
picture. The selected face is an external face. Therefore, the boss
will be created on the outside of the solid.

15. Choose Done to create the boss. Mastercam trims the boss to the
selected face and to all adjacent faces.
Exercise 9 – Extending the tab
The tab that you created in the previous exercise does not extend to the
other side of the cap, as it should. You will fix this problem by increasing
the extrusion distance. To do this, you will edit the operation parameters
using the Solids Manager.
Increasing the extrusion distance
1. From the Solids menu, choose Solids mgr. The Solids Manager
dialog box opens.
2. Expand the operation history by clicking on the + sign next to the
word 'Solid'.
3. Click on the + sign for the last Extrude Boss operation in the list
to expand its structure.

Chapter 3
4. Double-click on Parameters. The Extrude Chain dialog box

opens.
5. Enter 37.2 for Distance then choose OK. Mastercam marks the
operation with a red X.
Note: An operation marked with a red X is called 'dirty', which
indicates that the operation has been modified in some way.

6. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new distance into the solid
model. Mastercam trims the boss to the face that you selected in
the previous exercise and to all adjacent faces.
7. Choose OK to close the Solids Manager. Your part should look
8. Dynamically rotate the cap to view its interior. Your part should
look similar to the following picture. Notice that the tab does not
penetrate the cap's interior.
Reordering the operations

The Solids Manager lists operations in the order in which they are
created. The order of operations can sometimes be changed, which
has an impact on the final part. In this exercise, you will reorder the
operations to shell the tabs, as well as the rest of the cap.
opens.
2. Collapse the last Extrude Boss operation in the list.

Chapter 3
3. Click and drag the last Extrude Boss operation until it is

positioned over Fillet Cap Faces, then release it. The Extrude
Boss operation is now positioned between the Fillet Cap Faces
and Shell operations, as shown in the following picture.

like the following picture. Notice that the tabs are now hollowed
out.
5. Press [Alt+Y] to reopen the Solids Manager.

6. Drag the last Extrude Boss operation to its original position
(above the Stop operation).

Exercise 10 – Cutting attachment holes
In this exercise, you will use the Extrude Cut function to cut holes in the
tabs. These holes will be used to attach the cap to a base. You will do so
by extending a cut through the entire solid. The tab operation required you
to trim the boss to a face to prevent adding material to the interior of the
shelled solid. This step is not necessary for this operation because the cut
will not change the interior of the solid, which is already hollowed out.
1. Turn off shading and return to Isometric view.
2. The geometry for the tab holes is located on level 4. Use the Level
Manager to make level 3 invisible and level 4 visible.
3. Choose Extrude from the Solids menu. The Chaining Methods
menu displays.
4. Select the yellow circle at the position shown in the following
picture.
5. Choose Done to end the selection. The Extrusion Direction menu

displays.
6. Choose Done to accept the default extrusion direction, even if the
direction arrow points away from the cap. The Extrude Chain
dialog box opens.
Note: You will learn how to correct the extrusion direction in a
later step.
7. Enter Extrude Attach Hole for the operation name.
8. Choose Cut Body.
9. Choose Extend through all.

Chapter 3
10. Clear the Trim to selected faces check box.

12. Move the dialog box so you can see the direction arrow on the
geometry.
13. Look at the direction arrow to be sure that it points into the cap. If
it does not, select the Reverse direction check box.
Note: This option is the same as choosing Reverse It on the
Extrusion Direction menu.
14. Choose OK to cut the attachment holes.

16. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Side. Your part
should look like the following picture. Note that the cut goes
through the entire solid.
Exercise 11 – Enlarging the attachment holes
In this exercise, you will determine the current size of the attachment
holes by analyzing the radius of the circle that was used to create the cut.
You will then increase the size of the circle and rebuild the model to make
the attachment holes match the size of the circle.
Analyzing and editing the circle's radius
2. Choose Main Menu, Analyze.
3. To limit the entities that you can select to analyze, choose Only,
Arcs. Mastercam displays the Analyze Entity menu.
4. Select the circle at the position shown in the following picture.

Chapter 3
In the prompt area, Mastercam displays information about the

selected circle. For example, the radius of the circle is 2.25.
5. On the Analyze Entity menu, toggle Edit to Y. The information

now displays in the Analyze dialog box where some of the fields
are editable.
6. Enter 3 for Radius. Mastercam updates the related fields (e.g.
Diameter).

7. Choose OK to close the Analyze dialog box. Mastercam enlarges

the circle.
Regenerating the solid
1. Press [Alt + Y] to open the Solids Manager. The Extrude Attach
Hole operation is marked with a red X.
2. Choose Regen All to rebuild the model using the new radius
value.

Chapter 3
Exercise 12 – Creating a snap edge
In this exercise, you will create a snap edge, or lip, on the cap that allows
the cap to snap onto a can. To do so, you will use the Sweep function to
cut material from the inside of the cap.
Creating an edge curve
As you learned in Chapter 2, the Sweep function requires two sets of
chains, one to define a cross-section of the cut and one to define the
sweep path. In this exercise, you will define the section chain using
existing curve geometry on level 5. The sweep path will be the
interior edge of the shelled cap. There is currently no curve geometry
to define this path, so you will extract a curve based on the geometry
of the edge.
1. Dynamically rotate the cap to view its underside.
2. Use the Level Manager to make level 4 invisible and to set the
Main Level to number 5. This is the level on which the edge
curve will be created.
3. Choose the Color button on the Secondary Menu.

4. Set Current color to 12 (red).
Note: Creating the edge curve in a different color than the solid
will make it easier to select the curve in a later step.
5. Choose OK to close the Color dialog box.
6. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, One Edge, From solid.
7. Toggle Edges to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.

8. Select the inner edge of the cap at the position shown in the
following picture. Mastercam creates a curve along the edge.
9. Choose Done to exit the function.

Sweeping a cut along the edge curve
2. Dynamically rotate the cap so that you can see the rectangle at the
3. Zoom in on the rectangle.

4. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Sweep.
5. Define the section chain by selecting the light blue rectangle at the

Chapter 3
6. Choose Done.
7. Define the sweep path by selecting the red edge curve that you
just created, as shown in the following picture.
8. The Sweep dialog box opens. Choose Cut Body.

9. Choose OK to cut the snap edge.

10. Turn on shading.
11. Choose the Screen-Unzoom toolbar button. Your part should
look similar to the following picture.
Exercise 13 – Smoothing the snap edge
In this exercise, you will complete the model of the solid cap by
smoothing the cap edge. You will select one segment of the snap edge to
fillet and propagate the fillet to the remainder of the edge. You will
maintain the edges of the fillet's tangent faces to prevent the fillet from
overflowing onto a third set of faces. For more information on propagating
fillets and setting the overflow condition, see Exercise 5 in Chapter 2.

Chapter 3

2. Zoom in on the rectangle again.
Note: A portion of the edge in the picture is thickened to help you

select the correct edge.
7. Enter Fillet Snap Edge for the operation name.
8. Enter 1.2 for Radius.
9. Set Overflow to Maintain Edges.
10. Select the Propagate along tangencies check box.

12. Choose OK to fillet the edge.

13. Turn on shading.
14. Use the Level Manager to set Main Level to 1 and make level 5
invisible.
15. Unzoom. Your part should look like the following picture.
16. Return the cap to Isometric view.

17. Save the file.
In this chapter, you created a solid model for a plastic cap using Revolve,
Extrude, Fillet, and Shell operations. In the next chapter, you will build on
what you’ve learned and create a solid model of a connecting rod.

Chapter 3

Designing a Connecting Rod
4 Designing a Connecting Rod

lines and arcs to generate the following solid model of a connecting rod
for a lawnmower.
You will build on skills that you learned in previous chapters and learn
Splitting the draft angle at the center line of the part
Creating a 180-degree revolved boss
Combining operations involving multiple chains
Chamfering solid edges
Analyzing solid properties
Exercise 1 – Creating the connecting rod body
In this exercise, you will perform a base operation to define the body of
the connecting rod. To do so, you will extrude a chain of curves in both
the positive direction (indicated by the direction arrow) and the opposite,
or negative, direction. In the same operation, you will apply a 5-degree
draft angle inward in both directions from the mid-plane of the part
(defined by the chain of curves).

Chapter 4

1. Open rod-wireframe-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
2. Choose the Color button in the Secondary Menu.
3. Set Current color to 7 (light gray) then choose OK to close the
Color dialog box.
5. Select the red geometry at the position shown in the following
picture.
6. Choose Done to end the selection.

7. Choose Done to accept the default extrusion direction. The
Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
Note: The extrusion direction does not matter because you will
extrude the selected chain in both directions.
When you extrude a solid in both directions and apply draft to the
walls of the solid, you have the option to apply the draft in one
continuous direction or to split the draft at the defining curves. In this
example, you will split the draft angle inward from the defining
curves.
1. Enter Con Rod Body for the operation name.
3. Clear the Outward check box. The draft angle will be applied
inward along the extrusion direction.

5. In the Distance field, type 10.5 and press [Enter].

6. Select Both directions.
7. Select Split draft. The following pictures show the difference in
results with split draft turned on and off.
Split Draft On Split Draft Off

9. Choose OK to create the solid.

following picture.

Chapter 4
11. Save the file as rod-solid-mm.mc9 in your working folder.
Exercise 2 – Creating the ends of the connecting

rod
In this exercise, you will add material to the ends of the connecting rod.
You will do this by revolving chains of curves to form a boss at each end.
One boss will be a full circle; the other will be 180 degrees.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Revolve.
3. Select the magenta geometry to revolve at the position shown in

5. To define the rotation axis, select the dark gray dashed line shown
in the following picture.
6. Choose Done to accept the rotation direction. The Revolve Chain

dialog box opens.
Note: The rotation direction does not matter since you are
revolving the chain 360 degrees.
7. Enter Revolve Boss 360 for the operation name.
8. Choose Add Boss to Body.

Chapter 4
10. Choose OK to create the boss.



2. From the Solids menu, choose Revolve.
3. Select the magenta geometry to revolve at the position shown in

5. To define the rotation axis, select the bottom of the dark gray
dashed line shown in the following picture.
Note: Where you select the line affects the rotation direction.
6. The direction arrow indicates the sweep of the arc that the
revolved boss will make. It should point toward the body of the
connecting rod. If it does not, choose Reverse.

Chapter 4
Note: If the sweep arc does not intersect the body of the
connecting rod, the following error message displays. This
message indicates that you are attempting to create a separate
solid body, which is not allowed for an Add Boss operation.
7. Choose Done. The Revolve Chain dialog box opens.

8. Enter Revolve Boss 180 for the operation name.
9. Enter 180.0 for End angle.

11. Choose OK to create the boss.

Exercise 3 – Creating connecting tabs
When you perform a boss or cut operation (Extrude, Revolve, or Sweep)

on multiple chains of curves that are not nested within one another, you
have the option to define a separate operation for each chain of curves or
to combine the resulting operations into one. In general, you want to
combine operations for features that will be treated the same; for example,
a group of cuts that will always be the same depth. If the features may
require different parameters at some point during the design process, you
should leave them as separate operations.
Note: The selection of nested chains results in one operation, in which the
nested chain defines an island.
In this exercise, you will create connecting tabs at the ends of the 180-
degree boss. To do so, you will extrude two chains of curves as 24
millimeter bosses on the solid. The tabs will use the same parameters;
therefore, you will combine the resulting operations into one.
2. Zoom in on the 180-degree boss.

Chapter 4

4. Select the brown geometry at the two positions shown in the
following picture.
5. Choose Done.
6. Look at the direction arrow on each chain to be sure it points
toward the body of the connecting rod. If both arrows point in the
correct direction, continue with step 7. Otherwise, take one of the
following actions:
If both arrows point in the wrong direction, choose Reverse It.
If one arrow points in the wrong direction, choose Reverse
One, then select the chain whose direction arrow points in the
wrong direction.
7. When both direction arrows point in the correct direction, choose
Done. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
1. Enter Con Tabs for the operation name.
2. Select Add Boss.
3. Select Combine Ops.
4. Clear the Draft check box.
6. Clear the Both directions check box.


8. Choose OK to create the bosses.


Chapter 4
Checking the operation in the Solids Manager

dialog box opens.
2. Click on the + sign to expand the solid operation list. Notice that
there is only one Con Tabs operation in the list.
3. To display a menu of options, right-click anywhere in the

operation list.
4. Look at the Auto-Highlight option. If it does not have a check
mark next to it, click to select it and close the menu. If the option
is already selected, click outside the menu to close it.
5. Click on the Con Tabs operation. Mastercam highlights the
corresponding operation geometry in the graphics window. Notice
that both tabs are highlighted.

Exercise 4 – Cutting bolt holes in the tabs
In this exercise, you will cut bolt holes in the tabs at the 180-degree end of
the connecting rod. You will perform two extrude cut operations, one for
the bolt holes and one for the spot faces. The bolt holes are used to attach
the connecting rod to its mating half. The spot faces are the flat surfaces
where the nuts or bolts are tightened.
Chaining the geometry for the first set of cuts
1. Turn off shading
3. Select the two small green circles, as shown in the following
picture.

5. Make sure the extrude direction of both chains points into the tabs
(away from the body of the connecting rod). If the direction for
either chain points in the wrong direction, reverse it using the
method you learned on page 80.

Chapter 4
Setting extrusion parameters for the first set of cuts

1. Enter Bolt Holes for the operation name.
2. Select Cut Body.
3. Select Extend through all.
5. Choose OK to cut the bolt holes.


Chaining the geometry for the second set of cuts

2. Choose Extrude from the Solids menu.
3. Select the two large green circles, as shown in the following
picture.

5. Make sure the extrude direction of both chains points away from
the tabs and toward the body of the connecting rod. If the
direction for either chain points in the wrong direction, reverse it
using the method you learned on page 80.

Chapter 4
Setting extrusion parameters for the second set of cuts

1. Enter Spot Faces for the operation name.
3. Choose OK to cut the spot faces. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Exercise 5 – Removing material from the body of

the connecting rod
In this exercise, you will remove material from the connecting rod. You
will do so by extruding shallow cuts on the top and bottom of the rod’s
body.
1. Unzoom from the 180-degree boss.
2. Zoom in on the body of the connecting rod.
4. Select the light blue geometry at positions 1 and 2, as shown in

Chapter 4
5. Choose Done.
6. The direction arrow should point down into the body of the rod
for chain 1 and up into the body of the rod for chain 2. Correct the
arrow directions, as needed, then choose Done. The Extrude
Chain dialog box opens.
Setting extrusion parameters for the top cut
1. Enter Lightening Cuts for the operation name.
4. Choose Extend by specified distance.
5. Enter 3.6 for Distance.

7. Choose OK to cut the body of the connecting rod.

8. Your part should look like the following picture.
9. Unzoom the screen display.

10. Save the part.

Chapter 4
Exercise 6 – Creating beveled edges
In this exercise, you will bevel the rod’s edges to ease assembly and add
strength. You will do this by chamfering selected edges. Chamfering
replaces sharp edges with linear faces by adding material to internal edges
or removing material from external edges.
Setting the display of hidden lines
To make it easier to select the edges to chamfer, you will change the
solid display. You will increase the number of radial display curves
and change the display of hidden lines (those not normally visible in
the current view) to dashed, dimmed lines.
2. Select Hidden.
3. Select Show Hidden Lines.
4. Select Show dimmed and enter 80 for the dimming factor
(intensity).
5. Select Show dashed.
6. Enter 45.0 for Radial Display Curve Angle for Circular Faces.
Tip: For more information about this option, see Exercise 4, "Reducing the
number of display curves," in Chapter 3.


8. Choose OK to change the display.

Chamfering edges using one distance
In this exercise, you will chamfer the edges of the internal cylinder of
the 180-degree boss. You will chamfer the edges using one distance,
which refers to the length of the 45-degree chamfer. The chamfer will
be positioned an equal distance from the selected edge on the adjacent
faces.
Distance 1
Distance 1

Chapter 4

2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Chamfer. The Chamfer menu
displays.
3. Choose 1 Distance. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays.
5. Select the two edges in the interior of the cylinder at the positions
6. Choose Done. The Chamfer Parameters dialog box opens.

7. Enter Chamfer 1 Distance for the operation name.
10. Choose OK to chamfer the edges.

Chamfering edges using two distances

In this exercise, you will chamfer the edges of the internal cylinder of
the 360-degree boss. You will chamfer the edges using two
(rectangular) distances. These distances determine the length of the
chamfer along the adjacent faces. Distance 1 is calculated with
respect to a reference face. In this example, the reference face will be
the face that you select to chamfer. Distance 2 is calculated with
respect to the non-selected adjacent face.
Selected
(reference)
face Dist. 1
Distance 2

Chapter 4
2. Unzoom from the 180-degree boss, then zoom in on the 360-

degree boss.
3. Choose 2 Distances from the Chamfer menu. The Pick Solid
Entity menu displays.
4. Toggle Faces to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
5. Select the two faces that make up the interior of the cylinder at the
positions shown in the following picture.
6. Choose Done. The Chamfer Parameters dialog box opens.

7. Enter Chamfer 2 Distances for the operation name.
8. Enter 0.72 for Distance 1.
9. Enter 2.4 for Distance 2.

11. Choose OK to chamfer the edges of the selected faces.

13. Fit the geometry to the screen.

14. Save the file.
Exercise 7 – Creating rounded edges
In this exercise, you will smooth the edges of the connecting rod by
performing several fillet operations on selected edges and faces. You will
use a different radius value in each operation, which affects the size of the
rounded edges.

Chapter 4
Changing the display of hidden lines

To make the hidden lines easier to select, you will change their
display so that they are no longer dashed and dimmed. You will also
reduce the number of display curves on the bosses.
2. Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids to open the Solids
Display dialog box.
3. Clear the Show dimmed and Show dashed check boxes.
4. Enter 180.0 for Radial Display Curve Angle for Circular
Faces.
6. Choose OK to change the display.

Filleting edges using a 12-millimeter radius
In this exercise, you will fillet seven edges that define the connecting
rod's center line.
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Fillet.


4. Select the edges shown at positions 1 through 4 in the following
picture.
Note: In the picture, a segment of each edge has been thickened
to help you identify the correct edge to select.
2
5. Unzoom from the boss, and zoom in on the body of the rod.
6. Select the edges shown at positions 5 and 6 in the following
picture.
7. Unzoom from the body of the rod, and zoom in on the 360-degree
boss.
8. Select the edge shown at position 7 in the following picture.

Chapter 4
9. Unzoom and check your selections. When all seven edges are
selected, choose Done. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.
10. Enter Fillet 12-millimeter for the operation name.
13. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges.

Notice that the center line of the part is now rounded.

2. Zoom in on the intersection of the body of the rod and the 360-
degree boss.
4. Select the two edges shown in the following picture.
Tip: If you accidentally

select the wrong edge,
click it again to
deselect it then select
the correct edge.


Chapter 4

10. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges. Mastercam propagates the

fillets to tangent edges.
11. Unzoom and turn on shading. Your part should look like the
following picture.


degree boss.
4. Select the two edges at the positions shown in the following
picture.


Chapter 4

following picture.

2. Choose Fillet.
3. Toggle Edges and Verify to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
Tip: The edges in this section are difficult to select. With the Verify feature
turned on, the system will prompt you to check selections when multiple edges
are detected. For more information on this feature, see "Smoothing the chair
seat's front edge" in Chapter 2, Exercise 5.

4. Zoom in on the intersection of the 180-degree boss and the body

of the rod.
5. Select and verify (if prompted) the edges at positions 1 through 6,
as shown in the following picture.
4
5
6. Unzoom and zoom in on the intersection of the 360-degree boss

and the body of the rod.
7. Select and verify (if prompted) the edges at positions 7 through
12, as shown in the following picture.

Chapter 4
10
11
12
8. Unzoom and check your selections. When all twelve edges are
selected, choose Done. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.


Filleting edges using a 1.44-millimeter radius

In this exercise, you will fillet the edges of four selected faces.
degree boss.
3. Choose Fillet.
5. Select the faces shown at positions 1 and 2 in the following
picture.
1 2
4
3
6. Toggle FromBack to Y on the Pick Solid Entity menu.

Chapter 4
7. Select the faces shown at positions 3 and 4 in the previous picture.

8. Choose Done to end the selection. The Fillet Parameters dialog
box opens.
9. Enter Fillet 1.44-millimeter for the operation name.
12. Choose OK to fillet the edges of the selected faces.

following picture.
14. Save the file.

Exercise 8 – Defining the connecting rod’s weight
In this exercise, you will analyze the connecting rod's current weight and
edit the solid model so that its weight does not exceed 1,750,000 grams.
You will do this by cutting material from the body of the connecting rod.
Analyzing the connecting rod’s weight
You will calculate the rod's weight based on the density of steel in
grams per cubic millimeter (k/mm3).
1. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Area/volume, Solid props. The
Solid Properties dialog box opens.
2. Type 7.8 for Density and press [Enter]. Notice that at this density,
the rod's mass exceeds the 1,750,000 gram weight requirement.
3. Choose OK to close the dialog box.

Reducing the connecting rod's weight
You will remove material from the connecting rod by increasing the
distance of the extruded cuts on the body of the connecting rod from
3.6 millimeters to 4 millimeters.

Chapter 4
1. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager.

2. Expand the Lightening Cuts operation and double-click on
Parameters.
3. Enter 4 for Distance and choose OK.

4. Choose Regen All to incorporate the change into the model.
6. To verify the connecting rod’s new weight, choose Solid props
from the Analyze Area/Volume menu. Notice that the connecting
rod now meets the 1,750,000 gram weight requirement.

7. Choose OK to close the Solid Properties dialog box.

8. Turn off shading and save the file. You will use the saved file in
Chapter 5.
In this chapter, you created a solid model for a connecting rod. You built
upon techniques that you learned in previous chapters and learned how to
perform new operation types, such as Chamfer. In the next chapter, you
will create a solid model of a forging die based on the connecting rod that
you built in this chapter.

Chapter 4

Designing a Forging Die
5 Designing a Forging Die
In this chapter, you will build a solid model of a steel forging die. The
shape of the forging die will be defined by the connecting rod that you
created in Chapter 4.
Note: A backup file containing the connecting rod was provided with the
other tutorial parts in case you did not complete Chapter 4.
Creating multiple solids in the same file
Creating a primitive solid
Suppressing solid operations
Removing one solid volume from another
Scaling a solid body

Chapter 5
Exercise 1 – Setting visible levels and display lines

1. Open rod-solid-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
Note: If you did not complete Chapter 4, open rod-solid-backup-
mm.mc9.
2. Choose the Level button on the Secondary Menu.
3. Click in the Visible column for Level 3 to make it visible. This
level contains a reference point, which you will use in a later
exercise.
Note: Levels 1 and 2 should already be visible.

6. To turn off the display of hidden lines, select Hidden and clear
the Show Hidden Lines check box, as shown in the following
picture.

7. Choose OK. Your part should look like the following picture.
Notice the reference point located below the forging die.
Reference point
8. Save the file as forging die-mm.mc9 in your working folder.

Chapter 5
Exercise 2 – Creating the die stock
In this exercise, you will create a block-shaped solid to represent the die
stock for the forging die. You will use the Primitives function to create the
solid block. This function lets you quickly create solids in simple,
predefined shapes. Unlike the solids that you have created so far, a
primitive solid is not defined by curve geometry.
Creating a primitive block
Before creating the block, you will change the construction color to
distinguish the block from the connecting rod, which was constructed
using light gray.
1. Choose the Color button on the Secondary Menu.
2. Set Current color to 10 (light green) then choose OK to close the
Color dialog box.
3. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Primitives. The

Primitives menu displays.
4. Choose Block. Mastercam creates a green block at the end of the
rod with the 180-degree boss.
5. Choose the Cplane-3D toolbar button.
6. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading.
7. The center of the block’s bottom face is positioned at the system
origin. Press [F9] to view the coordinate axes. Your part should

Setting the block’s position

1. Press [Alt+S] to turn off shading and [F9] to clear coordinate
axes.
2. Choose Base Point from the Block menu.
3. Choose Point from the Point Entry menu.
4. Select the reference point located below the forging die. The
center of the block’s bottom face is now positioned at this point.

Chapter 5
Setting the block’s dimensions

The prompt area reports the block’s dimensions. The height, length,
and width are currently set to 20 (millimeters).
1. Choose Height.
2. In the prompt area, type 24 and press [Enter].
3. Choose Length.
5. Choose Width.
6. In the prompt area, type 250 and press [Enter]. The connecting
rod now fits within the block, as shown in the following picture.
7. Choose the Gview-Front toolbar button. The top face of the die
stock bisects the forging die.
8. Return to Isometric view.

9. Choose Done to complete the block and exit the Block menu.
10. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager. Notice that there are
now two solids contained in this file. The first one is the
connecting rod, which you created in Chapter 4. The second one
is the die stock.
Connecting Rod
Die Stock
Exercise 3 – Removing the connecting rod from the

die stock
Boolean operations combine multiple solids for the purpose of adding

them together, subtracting them from one another, or finding the common,
or overlapping, regions between them. In this exercise, you will perform a
Boolean Remove operation to cut the shape of the connecting rod from the
die stock to form the forging die.
Suppressing an operation
Before performing the Boolean operation, you will suppress the two
cut operations that define the bolt holes and spot faces because these
features represent voids, which cannot be forged.

Chapter 5
1. Right-click on the Bolt Holes operation listed under the first

solid.
2. Choose Suppress. The menu closes, and the operation symbol in
the Solids Manager turns gray.
3. Right-click on the Bolt Holes operation again. There is a check
mark next to the Suppress option, as shown in the following
picture.
4. Click outside the menu to close it.

5. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to suppress the Spot Faces operation.
like the following picture. Notice that the bolt holes and spot
faces no longer display in the model.

Performing a Boolean operation

When performing a Boolean Remove operation, you must define a
target body and one or more tool bodies. The target body is the solid
that remains after you perform the operation. The tool bodies are the
solids whose material is removed from the target body.
1. Turn on shading.
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Boolean, Remove. The Pick Solid
Entity menu displays.
3. Toggle Solids to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.
4. The prompt area instructs you to select the target body. Select the
green die stock.
5. The prompt area instructs you to select a tool body. Select the
gray connecting rod.
6. Choose Done to create the forging die.
7. Make Level 2, which contains the wireframe geometry, invisible.
Tip: Choose Level from the Secondary Menu, click in the Visible column for
Level 2 to remove the check mark, then choose OK.

Chapter 5
8. Choose the Screen-Repaint toolbar button to clean up the

display.
Your part should look like the following picture.

10. Expand the operation history. The list now contains one solid
defined by two operations. The Block (die stock) operation is the
target body and base operation. The Boolean Remove operation
contains the operation history of the tool body (connecting rod).

Exercise 4 – Reducing the connecting rod’s weight
In this exercise, you will reduce the connecting rod's weight. You will do
so by further deepening the lightening cuts, just as you did in Exercise 8
of Chapter 4. The rod is no longer a physical solid; it is a tool body whose
form is removed from the die stock. Therefore, the change that you make
to the connecting rod will be manifested in the forging die.
1. Expand the Lightening Cuts operation (if necessary) and double-
click on Parameters.
2. Enter 5 for Distance and choose OK.
3. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new distance into the model.

Chapter 5
This island now

stands taller.
Exercise 5 – Scaling the forging die
In this exercise, you will increase the size of the forging die to
accommodate for shrinkage of the steel. You will do so by scaling the
model by 2%.
1. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Scale.
2. Select the forging die.
3. Choose Done.
4. Choose Origin from the Point Entry menu to scale the solid about
the system origin (0,0,0). The Scale dialog box opens.
5. Enter 1.02 for Scale factor.

7. Choose OK to enlarge the forging die.

8. Choose the Screen-Clear Colors toolbar button to return the
solid to its construction color.
Note: You will learn about this function in Exercise 1 of the
following chapter.
10. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new distance into the model.
12. Save the file.
Note: If you receive a message stating that some solids need to be
regenerated, choose Yes to continue.
In this chapter, you created a solid model of a forging die for the
connecting rod that you created in Chapter 4. In the next chapter, you will
create a lofted solid for a windshield on a toy race car.

Chapter 5

Designing a Windshield for a Toy Race Car
6 Designing a Windshield for a Toy

Race Car
In this chapter, you will create a solid model of a windshield for a toy car.
You will build this model from existing wireframe geometry and from
circles that you create to define the windshield’s curved shape.
Creating a base solid (Loft)
Changing the light intensity on the shaded solid
Removing select defining curves from the solid
Exercise 1 – Defining the windshield’s shape
In this exercise, you will create circles along a spline at six pre-defined
points. The circles will form cross-sections of the windshield and define
the windshield’s basic shape. Before you create the circles, however, you
will set the construction plane (Cplane) and construction depth (Z).

Chapter 6
Up to this point in the tutorial, you have not been concerned with the
construction settings because Mastercam uses the plane and depth of the
underlying curve geometry when constructing solids. However,
Mastercam creates wireframe geometry (lines, arcs, splines) on the plane
and at the depth that you define.
Note: The current construction settings are reflected on the Cplane and Z
buttons on the Secondary Menu.
Setting the construction plane and depth
You will set the construction plane to (right) side view and set the
depth based on the midpoint of an existing line.
1. Open windshield-wireframe-mm.mc9 from your working folder.
2. Choose the Cplane button on the Secondary Menu.
3. Choose Side from the Construction Plane menu. Mastercam

changes the construction plane to side view.
4. Choose the Z (depth) button on the Secondary Menu. Mastercam
displays the Point Entry menu.
5. Position the cursor halfway along the line shown in the following
picture.
6. When the cursor changes to an open square and Mastercam

highlights the Midpoint option on the Point Entry menu, click to
select this position. Mastercam sets the depth to match that of the
midpoint of the selected line.

Note: For Mastercam to detect the point, the AutoCursor must be

turned on. For more information, see “Turning on the
AutoCursor and AutoHighlight features” in Exercise 2 of Chapter
2.
Creating a circle
You will create a circle by defining three unique edge points.
1. Choose Main Menu, Create, Arc, Circ 3 pts.
2. Choose Point from the Point Entry menu, and select the green
point at the position shown in the following picture.
3. Choose Endpoint from the Point Entry menu, and select the
brown line shown at position 1 in the following picture.

Chapter 6
4. Choose Endpoint again, and select the brown line shown at

position 2 in the previous picture. Mastercam fits a circle to these
three points at a depth of –41.870 millimeters.
5. Press [Esc] to exit the function.
Copying the circle
You will now copy the circle to a second point along the windshield
geometry. Before you do so, you will change the construction plane
to 3D, which lets you create geometry in unrestricted 3D space. The
circle will be copied to the depth of the translation point that you
enter and will remain parallel to the plane defined by the original
circle (side view).
1. Choose the blue Cplane-3D toolbar button.
2. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Translate.
3. Select the circle you just created then choose Done.
4. Choose Between pts from the Translate Direction menu.
5. Define the “from” translation point by selecting the point entity at
position 1, as shown in the following picture.
Note: When the cursor detects the point entity, the system
highlights the Point option on the Point Entry menu.

6. Define the “to” translation point by selecting the point entity at

position 2, as shown in the previous picture. The Translate dialog
box opens.
7. Select Copy as the operation type. Check your settings against the
following picture.
8. Choose OK to copy the circle to position 2. Your part should look

Copying the circle to the remaining points

When you perform an Xform (transform) operation, the entities that
you select to transform turn red, indicating they are a group. The new
entities turn purple, indicating they are the result of the operation.
These temporary color/group designations allow you to select
geometry quickly when performing multiple transform operations on
the same geometry.

Chapter 6
1. From the Translate menu, choose Result. Mastercam selects the

second circle, which resulted from the previous operation.
4. Define the “from” translation point by selecting the point entity at
position 1, as shown in the following picture.
5. Define the “to” translation point by selecting the point entity at

position 2, as shown in the previous picture. The Translate dialog
box opens.
6. Choose OK to copy the circle. There are now three circles along
the windshield geometry.
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 three more times, selecting the three
remaining points in order until you have created a total of six
circles.
8. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look like the
following picture.

9. After you have created the six circles, press [Esc] to exit the
function.
10. Choose the Screen-Clear Colors toolbar button to remove the
group/result colors from the last two circles.
Exercise 2 –Creating the windshield’s solid body
In this exercise, you will use the Loft function to create a solid based on
the circles that you defined in the previous exercise. The system creates a
lofted solid by transitioning between two or more selected closed chains
of curves, which define the cross-sections of the solid.
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Loft.
2. Select the circle at position 1 in the following picture. Note the
direction of the arrow that displays on the chain. It is important
that the chaining direction be the same for all the chains that you
select.
Note: The chaining direction determines how the system
transitions between chains when building the lofted solid. It does
not matter which direction the arrows point, just that they point in
the same direction.

Chapter 6
3. Select the remaining circles in order from positions 2 through 6,

as shown in the previous picture. If necessary, choose Reverse to
correct the chaining direction before selecting the next chain.
4. After you have selected all six chains, choose Done. The Loft
Chain dialog box opens.
5. Enter Windshield Body for the operation name.
6. Check your settings against the following picture, then choose
OK to create the solid.

following picture.
8. Choose Main Menu, File, Save and save the file as windshield-
solid-mm.mc9 in your working folder.
Exercise 3 – Refining the windshield’s shape
In this exercise, you will trim the front and bottom of the windshield to
make it more aerodynamic.
Preparing the part (setting levels, hidden lines, etc.)
1. Choose the Level button on the Secondary Menu. The Level
Manager opens.
2. Make level 4 visible by clicking in the Visible column for this
level. Level 4 contains two rectangles, which you will use to trim
the windshield’s shape.

Chapter 6

5. Press [Alt+F1] to fit the geometry to the screen.
7. Turn on hidden lines by selecting Hidden and Show Hidden
Lines.
8. Check your settings against the following picture, and choose OK
to close the Solids Display dialog box.

Trimming the front of the windshield

You will remove material from the windshield by extruding two
chains, one nested within the other, as a cut in both directions.

Chapter 6

2. Choose Chain, Options. The Chaining Options dialog box opens.
3. Select Color mask and choose OK. When this option is turned
on, you can select only geometry that is the same color as the first
entity that you select.
4. Choose the Screen-Clear Colors toolbar button.
5. Select the brown geometry at positions 1 and 2, as shown in the
following picture. The chains lie in the same plane, and chain 1 is
nested within the boundary of chain 2.
Note: Chain 1 contains a branch point where the brown and red
entities intersect. Because the color mask was turned on and the
first entity that you selected was brown, the system ignored the
red entities and followed the brown line at the branch point. If
you had not used the color mask, the system would have stopped
the chain at the branch point and prompted you to select the next
entity manually.

7. Choose Done to set the extrusion direction. The Extrude Chain

dialog box opens.
Note: The extrusion direction does not matter since you will
extrude the chains in both directions.
8. Enter Trim Front for the operation name.
9. Select Cut Body.
13. Choose OK to create the cut.

Chapter 6
Changing the shading settings

You will view the results in top view. First, however, you will change
the shading settings to reduce the glare from the light that shines
directly on the part in this view.
1. Choose the Screen-Surf Disp-Shading toolbar button. The
Shading Settings dialog box opens.
2. Choose the Lights button at the bottom of the dialog box. The
Lighting dialog box opens.
3. Choose the middle bulb. The Lighting Options dialog box opens.

4. Enter 0.5 for Light intensity.
5. Choose OK three times to close the dialog boxes and return to the
graphics window.
6. Set the graphics view to Top. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Normally, when you create an extruded solid using nested chains,

material is created between the two boundaries and the inner
boundary defines a hole, or cut, in the material. For cut operations,
the opposite occurs. In this case, material was removed between the
outer and inner boundaries, and the inner boundary defined an island
where material remained.

Chapter 6
7. Repeat steps 1 through 6 to return the center bulb to full intensity

(1.0).
Trimming the bottom of the windshield
You will extrude a single chain of curves in both directions to cut the
bottom of the windshield and make it flat.
2. Select the blue line at the position shown in the following picture.

4. Choose Done to accept the default extrusion direction. The
Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
5. Enter Trim Bottom for the operation name.

7. Choose OK to create the cut. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Chapter 6
Exercise 4 – Making the windshield more

aerodynamic
In this exercise, you will make the windshield more aerodynamic by

increasing the slope of the front of the windshield. To do so, you will
delete two of the circles that define the body (cross-sections) of the
windshield.
opens.
2. Expand the solid operation history and the Windshield Body
operation.
Tip: Double-click the item you want to expand or click on the + sign to the left of
the item.
3. Double-click the Geometry icon for the Windshield Body

operation. The Solid Chain Manager lists the six chains used to
define the lofted solid in the order in which they were selected.
4. Select Chain 2 and Chain 3 from the list. The system highlights
the corresponding chains in the graphics window.
Tip: To select multiple items in the list, hold down the [Ctrl] key on your
keyboard and click on the items to select.
Chain 3
Chain 2

5. With your cursor positioned over the selected chains in the list,
right-click to open the following menu.
6. Choose Delete Chain. Mastercam deletes Chains 2 and 3 from

the list and renumbers the remaining chains.
7. Choose OK to close the Solid Chain Manager.
8. Choose Regen All to rebuild the solid using four defining chains.
9. Suppress the Trim Front and Trim Bottom operations. Your part
Tip: To suppress an operation, right-click on it, then choose Suppress. The
operation icon will turn gray.
The lofted solid now transitions from the first circle to the fourth
circle, which creates a steeper slope.
10. Unsuppress the Trim Front and Trim Bottom operations.
Tip: To unsuppress an operation, right-click on it, then choose Suppress. The
operation icon will no longer be gray.

Chapter 6
Exercise 5 – Hollowing out the windshield

In this exercise, you will hollow out the windshield. To do so, you
will use the Shell function, which you learned about in Exercise 6 of
Chapter 3. To make it easier to select the correct face to leave open,
you will use the Hide function to remove all geometry from the
screen except for the solid.
Hiding the curve geometry
When using the Hide function, you select the geometry that you want
to keep visible on the screen. Mastercam hides all unselected entities.
1. Press [Alt + E] to access the Hide function. A selection menu
displays.
2. Choose All, Solids, Done. Only the solid remains visible in the
graphics window.

Shelling the solid

1. From the Solids menu, choose Shell.
2. Toggle Faces and From Back to Y and all other Yes/No options
to N.
3. Select the bottom face at the position shown in the following
picture. Mastercam highlights the edges of the selected face.
Note: The selected face will be removed to form an entry hole

into the solid shell.
4. Choose Done to end the selection. The Shell Solid dialog box
opens.
5. Select Inward for Shell Direction.
6. Enter 1.32 for Shell Thickness.

Chapter 6
8. Choose OK to hollow out the windshield.

9. Dynamically rotate the windshield to view its underside. Your
part should look similar to the following picture.
Exercise 6 – Smoothing the outside edges and nose

of the windshield
In this exercise, you will fillet the outside edges and nose of the
windshield. You will use a constant radius for the outside edges and a
variable radius for the nose.

Filleting the windshield’s outside edges

4. Return the solid to wireframe display.
Tip: Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. On the Solids Display
dialog box, select Wireframe, and choose OK.

7. Select the two outside edges at the positions shown in the
following picture.
Note: In the picture, a section of each line has been thickened to

make it easier to identify the correct edges to select.
9. Enter Fillet Sides for the operation name.

Chapter 6
12. Choose OK to close the Fillet Parameters dialog box. Your part
Filleting the windshield’s nose

1. Set the graphics view to Side.
3. Change to hidden line display but do not show the hidden lines.
Tip: Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. On the Solids Display
dialog box, select Hidden, clear Show Hidden Lines, then choose OK.

5. Select the edges at positions 1, 2, and 3, as shown in the following

picture.
2
1 3

7. Enter Fillet Nose for the operation name.
8. Select Variable Radius and Smooth.
Note: For more information about the Smooth option, see
“Setting fillet parameters” in Exercise 4 of Chapter 2.
10. Expand the three edges in the edge list section of the dialog box.
There are two vertices, or endpoints, listed for each edge.

Chapter 6
11. Click on each vertex in the list. The system highlights the
corresponding vertex in the graphics window.
12. Set the radius of each vertex using the values shown in the
following picture.
Tip: Click a vertex in the list, see which vertex is highlighted in the graphics
window, then use the picture above and type the correct value in the Radius
field.
13. Choose OK to fillet the selected edges. Your part should look like

Exercise 7 – Smoothing the inside edges of the

windshield
In Exercise 5, you shelled the part with a constant wall thickness of 1.32
millimeters. However, when you filleted the outside edges and nose, the
wall thickness decreased in the filleted areas. In this exercise, you will
reorder the solid operations in order to smooth the inside edges and restore
a uniform wall thickness of 1.32 millimeters.
1. Turn on shading.
2. Dynamically rotate the part to view the underside of the
windshield. Your part should look similar to the following
picture.

4. Drag and drop the Fillet Sides operation to the position
immediately above the Shell operation. The system rebuilds the
model using the new operation order.

Chapter 6

similar to the following picture.
By moving the Fillet Sides operation above the Shell operation, the
shell operation is also applied to the fillets. When the fillets get
shelled, the system creates a smooth inside edge and maintains a
constant wall thickness of 1.32 millimeters.
Exercise 8 – Adding a screw plate to the back of the

windshield
In this exercise, you will add a screw plate to the back of the windshield.
The screw plate will contain two through-holes, which will be used to
attach the windshield to the body of the toy car.
Preparing the part
1. Switch to Isometric view.
3. Return to wireframe display lines.
Tip: Choose Screen, Surf disp, Solids. Select Wireframe, then choose OK.
4. Press [Alt + E] to turn off the Hide function that you turned on in
Exercise 5. Mastercam un-hides the curve geometry.
following picture.

6. Zoom in on the end of the windshield that contains the light-blue

circles. These circles represent the through-holes. Your part
should look similar to the following picture.
Copying the curve geometry for the screw plate

The curve geometry that you will use to define the screw plate is
positioned at the parting line of the windshield. You will copy this
geometry to the bottom of the windshield using the Xform
(transform), Translate function that you learned about in Exercise 1.
1. Set the construction plane to 3D.
2. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Translate, Chain.

Chapter 6
3. The asterisk next to "Options" on the menu indicates that a

selection mask is currently set. Choose Options to open the
Chaining Options dialog box.
4. Clear Color mask, and choose OK to close the dialog box. The
asterisk no longer displays on the menu.
5. Select the red arc at position 1, as shown in the following picture.
2
1
6. To close the chain, select the brown line at position 2, as shown in

the previous picture.
7. Choose End here to end the chain.
8. Choose Done twice to end the selection.
10. Define the “from” translation point by selecting the endpoint of
the brown line, as shown by position 1 in the following picture.

11. Define the “to” translation point by selecting the bottom outside
corner (endpoint) of the solid, as shown by position 2 in the
previous picture. The Translate dialog box opens.
12. Check your settings against the following picture.
13. Choose OK to copy the screw plate geometry.

14. Clear the group/result colors. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Chapter 6
Note: If you do not get the correct results, press [Alt+U] to undo
the translation, press [F3] to repaint the screen, then repeat the
steps, making sure that Cplane is set to 3D.
Adding the screw plate to the solid model
You will use the transformed screw plate curves to extrude a boss
onto the windshield. You will set the extrusion distance to match the
wall thickness of the shelled solid (1.32 millimeters).
2. Select the red arc at the position shown in the following picture.

4. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points up. If it does not,
choose Reverse It.


6. Enter Screw Plate for the operation name.
7. Select Add Boss.
9. Clear Both directions.
11. Choose OK to create the screw plate. Your part should look like

Chapter 6
Cutting through-holes in the screw plate

You will extrude two light blue circles as cuts in the screw plate. The
circles, which represent the through-holes, are the same size.
Therefore, you will combine the two cuts into one operation.
2. Select the two light blue circles at the positions shown in the
following picture.
3. Choose Done.
down into the screw plate. If both of the arrows point in the
correct direction, continue with step 5. Otherwise, take one of the
following actions.


wrong direction.
6. Enter Through-Holes for the operation name.
7. Select Cut Body and Combine Ops.
Note: For more information on combining operations, see
Exercise 3 in Chapter 4.

Chapter 6
10. Choose OK to cut the through-holes. Your part should look like
11. Turn on shading and rotate the part to the back of the windshield.
Your part should look similar to the following picture.
Exercise 9 – Smoothing the back of the windshield
In this exercise, you will fillet the inside and outside of the top edge that
runs along the back of the windshield. You will also fillet the top face of
the screw plate.
Filleting the back outside edge
1. Hide all geometry except for the solid windshield.
Tip: Press [Alt+E], and choose All, Solids, Done. Only the solid remains in the
graphics window.


3. Select the top outside edge at the position shown in the following
picture.

5. Enter Fillet Back Outside Edge for the operation name.
6. Select Constant Radius.
10. Choose OK to fillet the top outside edge of the back of the
windshield.

Chapter 6
Filleting the top of the screw plate

3. Select the top of the screw plate at the position shown in the
following picture.

5. Enter Fillet Screw Plate for the operation name.
8. Choose OK to fillet the top of the screw plate. Your part should

Filleting the back inside edge

You will fillet the back inside edge with a 1.68 millimeter radius. The
material that is added to this internal edge will compensate for the
material that was removed from the external edge when you filleted
the back outside edge with a 3 millimeter radius (3-1.32 = 1.68).
1. Dynamically rotate the windshield to bring the back inside edge
into view.
5. Select the inside edge at the position shown in the following
picture.

7. Enter Fillet Back Inside Edge for the operation name.

Chapter 6

10. Choose OK to fillet the edge. Your part should look similar to the
following picture.

Exercise 10 – Adding a snap closure to the

windshield’s nose
In this exercise, you will create a nose attachment that will allow the front
of the windshield to snap onto the toy car. You will then create a snap
closure on the nose attachment to lock the windshield into place.
Preparing the part
4. Turn on Hidden display lines, but don’t show them.
Tip: Choose Screen, Surf disp, Solids. Select Hidden, clear Show Hidden
Lines, then choose OK.
5. Choose the Screen-Clear Colors toolbar button.

6. Make level 11 visible. This level contains a red rectangle that you
will use to create the nose attachment. Your part should look like
Geometry for
the nose
attachment
Creating the nose attachment

You will extrude the red rectangle in both directions as a boss on the
windshield. You will then trim the nose attachment to the inside of
the windshield so that it fits within the concavity of the nose without
protruding through the top of the windshield.
2. Select the red rectangle.

Chapter 6
3. Choose Done twice to end the selection and accept the default
extrusion direction. The Extrude Chain dialog box opens.
4. Enter Nose Attach for the operation name.
5. Select Add Boss.
6. Clear Combine Ops.
8. Select Trim to selected faces.

12. Toggle Faces and From Back to Y and all other Yes/No options
to N.

13. Select the windshield's top inside face at the position shown in the
following picture.
14. Choose Done to create the nose attachment.

16. Rotate the part to view the inside of the windshield. Your part
Notice the nose attachment has been trimmed to the inside face.

Chapter 6
Extracting an edge curve

You will extract a curve from the bottom outer edge of the nose
attachment. You will use this curve at a later time to define a boss for
the snap closure.
2. Set the construction color to dark purple (number 5).
3. Zoom in on the nose attachment.
4. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, One edge, From solid.
Mastercam creates a curve (line) based on the geometry of the
edge.
7. Choose Done to exit the function.

Translating the edge curve
You will use the Xform-Translate function to copy the edge curve to
the middle of the outer face of the nose attachment. You will create
join lines to connect the endpoints of the edge curve with the copy.
The result will be a rectangle, which you will use to define a boss for
the snap closure.

1. Set the construction plane to Top.

2. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Translate.
3. Select the line you just created (the extracted edge curve), then
choose Done.
4. Choose Rectang from the Translate Direction menu. This option
lets you define a translation distance using rectangular, or XYZ,
coordinates.
5. In the prompt area, type z2.4 for the translation vector, then press
[Enter].
6. Choose Join on the Translate dialog box.
7. Choose OK to translate a copy of the extracted edge curve and

create join lines.
8. Clear the group/result colors. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Chapter 6
Join line
Copy of line
Extracted edge
Join line curve (line)
Note: In the picture, the resulting lines have been thickened to

help you identify them.
Adding the snap closure to the nose attachment
You will extrude a chain composed of the edge curve, copy, and join
lines to create a boss for the snap closure on the nose attachment.
2. Select the line at the position shown in the following picture.
Mastercam closes the chain by selecting the join lines and the
extracted edge curve.
3. Choose Done.
4. Make sure the extrusion direction points to the right (away from
the nose attachment). If it does not, choose Reverse It.
5. Choose Done.
6. Enter Snap Closure for the operation name.

8. Clear Trim to selected faces and Both directions.

10. Choose OK.

11. Turn on shading and fit the geometry to the screen. Your part

Chapter 6
Exercise 11 – Smoothing the snap closure’s edges
In this exercise, you will fillet the sharp edges on the snap closure.
Because you will fillet all of the edges using the same radius value, you
will save time by using face selection.
1. Zoom in on the snap closure.
2. From the Solids menu, choose Fillet.
4. Select faces 1 through 4, as shown in the following picture.
4
5. Toggle the From Back to Y.
6. Select the side and back faces, as shown in the following picture.
Side
Back

8. Enter Fillet Snap Edges for the operation name.

11. Choose OK to fillet the snap closure. Your part should look like
following picture.

Chapter 6
13. Save the file.
In this chapter, you created a lofted solid for a windshield on a toy race
car. In the next chapter, you will import and modify a solid model of a
two-piece injection mold for a camera.

Designing an Injection Mold for a Camera
7 Designing an Injection Mold for a

Camera
In this chapter, you will create a two-piece plastic injection mold for a
camera. You will create this mold by adapting an imported solid model of
the camera's cavity and core.
Importing Parasolid® files
Checking solids for error conditions
Using translucent shading
Creating an operation history for an imported solid
Renaming operations in the Solids Manager
Exercise 1 – Importing the camera files
In this exercise, you will import two solids, one that represents the camera
cavity and the other that represents the camera core. Each solid is
contained in a separate Parasolid® file. You will merge both solids into
one Mastercam file (MC9).
Importing the camera cavity
1. Choose Main Menu, File, New and choose Yes at the prompt to
initialize the geometry and operations.

Chapter 7
2. Set the construction color to light blue (number 11).

Tip: Choose Color from the Secondary Menu, enter 11 for Current color, and
choose OK.
3. Switch to wireframe display, if necessary.

Tip: Choose Main Menu, Screen, Surf disp, Solids. Select Wireframe and
choose OK.
4. Choose Main Menu, File, Converters, Parasld, Read file. The

Specify File Name to Read dialog box opens.
5. Open camera-cavity-mm.x_t from your working folder. The
Parasolid Read parameters dialog box opens.
6. Clear the Edge curves check box. When selected, this option
creates curves along all edges on the imported solid.
7. Clear the Override file name check box.
9. Choose OK to import the file. If prompted to delete the current

part, choose No.

10. Switch to Isometric view and fit the camera cavity to the screen.
following picture.
Importing the camera core

1. Set the construction color to light gray (number 7).
2. Choose Read file from the Parasolid menu. The Specify File
Name to Read dialog box opens.
3. Open camera-core-mm.x_t from your working folder. The
Parasolid read parameters dialog opens.
4. You will use the same settings that you used when importing the
camera cavity. Choose OK to read the file into Mastercam.

Chapter 7
5. The system asks you if you want to delete the current part. Choose
No to merge the core into the same file with the cavity. Both
halves of the mold now display in the graphics window. Each half
is a separate solid.
following picture.
7. To get a better view of the camera core, you will temporarily

blank the camera cavity. Choose Main Menu, Screen, Blank.
8. Select the camera cavity (light blue solid).
9. Turn off shading. The graphics window now contains only the
camera core, as shown in the following picture.

10. Turn on shading and dynamically rotate the graphics view so that
you can see the underside of the camera core. Your part should
look similar to the following picture.
Viewing the two halves of the mold together

In order to see the void between the two halves of the shaded mold,
you will turn on translucency.
2. The Blank function is still active. Choose Unblank from the
Blank menu. The system displays the blanked camera cavity.
3. Select the light blue solid to unblank it, and choose Backup.
5. Select Translucent at the bottom of the dialog box, and choose
OK to close the dialog box. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Chapter 7
6. Save the file as camera-mm.mc9 in your working folder.
Exercise 2 – Checking the cavity and core for errors
In this exercise, you will use the Check Solid function to analyze the solid
cavity and core for error conditions that may require repair or
reconstruction. This tool is particularly useful for checking the integrity of
imported solids. If Mastercam detects errors, such as self-intersecting
bodies, wireframe edges intersecting faces at locations other than at
vertices, etc., it describes them and highlights their location in the model.
1. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Surfaces, Check solid. The
Check Solid dialog box opens.
2. Choose Perform Check. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays.
4. Select the camera cavity (light blue solid). Mastercam reopens the
Check Solid dialog box and reports the number of errors that it
detected. In this case, no errors were detected.

5. Choose OK to clear the message, then choose Perform Check

again.
6. Select the camera core (light gray solid). Again, Mastercam
reports that no errors were detected.
7. Choose OK twice to clear the message and close the dialog box.
Exercise 3 – Creating an operation history for the

camera cavity
Imported solids are referred to as bricks because they contain no record of

how they were constructed. However, you can use the Find Features
function to create an operation history for an imported solid. You can
locate holes and fillets in a model and either remove the detected features
or create operations based on them. In this exercise, you will create an
operation history for the camera cavity.
Renaming the base operations
Before you work with the camera cavity, you will rename the import
operations to better organize the models.
1. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager then expand each solid.
There are two solids listed for this file, one for the camera cavity
and one for the core. Under each solid, there is a base operation
titled “Body.” You cannot delete or edit this operation.

Chapter 7
2. Click on Body for the first solid in the list. Mastercam highlights
the camera cavity in the graphics window.
3. With Body selected, right-click to display a menu, and choose
Rename. The name field becomes editable.
4. Type Cavity, and press [Enter].
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 to name the second “Body” operation
using the name Core. The Solids Manager should look like the
following picture.

Finding holes on the camera cavity
In this exercise, you will locate holes on the camera cavity and will
create operations based on these holes. Mastercam defines the new
operations as extruded cuts and creates the associated geometry
(circles) required to define the holes. You will set a unique
construction color and level for this geometry, which better organizes
the model and makes it easy to locate the geometry for editing
purposes later.

1. Blank the camera core by pressing [Alt+F7] and selecting the

light gray solid.
3. Right-click in the solid list area and choose Solids, Find features.
The Find Features dialog box opens.
Note: Mastercam will look for features on the camera cavity
because it is currently the only visible solid. If the camera core
had also been visible, you would have been prompted to select the
solid on which to find features.
4. In the Feature section of the dialog box, select Holes and in the
Function section of the dialog box, select Create operations.
5. Enter 50 for Maximum Radius.

Chapter 7
7. Choose New Geometry Attributes. The New Geometry

Attributes dialog box opens. Here you will customize the curve
geometry that Mastercam will create to define the holes.
8. Enter 0 for Offset. This value determines the distance the circles,
which define the holes, will be created from the solid.
9. Enter 5 (dark purple) for Color.
10. Enter 2 for Level.
12. Choose OK twice to close the New Geometry Attributes and Find
Features dialog boxes. Mastercam processes the search, creates
the operations, and opens the Solid Feature Detection dialog box.
13. Choose OK in the Solid Feature Detection dialog box. This
reopens the Solids Manager dialog box.

Mastercam found eight holes and created five operations. Four holes
represent the spot faces. These are blind holes, in which the cuts do
not penetrate the entire solid. Mastercam creates a separate operation
for blind holes. The other four holes represent the bolt holes. These
are through-holes, which cut through the entire cavity. Mastercam
grouped these cuts together in one operation because the “Combine
operations” option was selected on the Find Features dialog box. This
option applies only to through-holes.
Renaming the cut operations
You will rename the Extrude Cut operations to better organize the
model in the Solids Manager.
1. Click on each Extrude Cut operation in the list. Mastercam
highlights the corresponding holes in the model. The first four
Extrude Cut operations correspond to the spot faces. The last
Extrude Cut operation corresponds to the four bolt holes.
2. Rename the first Extrude Cut operation as Spot Face 1.
Tip: Right-click on the operation, choose Rename, type the new name, and
press [Enter].
3. Rename the three remaining spot face operations in order.

4. Rename the last Extrude Cut operation as Bolt Holes. The Solids
Manager should look like the following picture.

Chapter 7
Exercise 4 – Modifying the spot faces
Now that you have created an operation history for the camera cavity, you
can edit the operations. In this exercise, you will modify the parameters
and geometry that define the cut operations that correspond to the camera
cavity’s spot faces.
Shortening the cut distance for the spot faces
In order to change the cut distance for the spot faces, you will edit the
parameters of the Spot Face operations.
1. Expand Spot Face 1.
2. Double-click on Parameters. The Extrude Chain dialog box
opens.
3. Enter 12 for Distance, and choose OK. Mastercam returns to the
Solids Manager and marks the operation dirty.
4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 for the three remaining spot faces.
5. Choose Regen All to incorporate the change in the model.
Increasing the size of the spot faces
In order to change the size of the spot faces, you will edit the
associated geometry (circles), which define the spot face cuts.
2. Choose Main Menu, Analyze, Only, Arcs.
3. Select the dark purple circle at position 1, as shown in the
following picture.

4. In the prompt area, Mastercam displays data for the circle. On the
Analyze Entity menu, toggle Edit to Y. The data now displays in
the Analyze dialog box where some of the data is editable.
5. Enter 24 for Diameter, and choose OK to close the dialog box.
6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for the three remaining spot face circles,
as shown at positions 2, 3, and 4 in the following picture.
4
3
2
7. Press [Alt+Y] to open the Solids Manager. All four Spot Face
operations are marked dirty.
8. Choose Regen All. Mastercam increases the size of the spot face
holes.
9. Close the Solids Manager and save the file.

Chapter 7
Exercise 5 – Creating curve geometry for a sprue

hole and a gate
In this exercise, you will create curve geometry to represent a sprue hole
and a gate. A gate allows molten plastic to be injected into the mold, and a
sprue hole allows air to escape from the mold as the plastic fills the void
between the mold halves. In a later exercise, you will use the curve
geometry to cut the sprue hole and the gate in the solid model.
Managing geometry levels
In this exercise, you will name the levels on which you have created
part geometry in previous exercises.
1. Choose Level from the Secondary Menu. The Level Manager
opens.
2. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 1 for Number
and Camera core/cavity for Name.
3. Enter 2 for Number and Cavity hole geometry for Name.
4. Enter 3 for Number and Sprue hole/gate geometry for Name.
5. Make level 2 invisible by clearing the red check mark in the
Visible column for this number.
Extracting an edge curve
When you imported the camera files into Mastercam, you had the
option to create curves along all edges of the solids. You did not
select this option, however, because it would have resulted in the
creation of a lot of unnecessary geometry. You will now extract a
single edge curve, which you will use to create the sprue hole and
gate.
1. Unblank the camera core.
Tip: Choose Main Menu, Screen, Blank, Unblank. Select the camera core
and choose Backup.
2. Set the construction color to light green (number 10).

3. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, One edge, From solid.


5. Select the center edge at the position shown in the following
picture.
6. Mastercam creates a curve (line) to match the geometry along this

edge. Choose Done to exit the function.
Offsetting the edge curve
You will offset the edge curve in order to create a line parallel to it.
Later, you will use this line to position the sprue hole and gate. You
will offset the edge curve in the Top plane at a zero depth, which is
the plane where the mold halves meet.
1. Choose Cplane, Top.
2. Choose Main Menu, Create, Line, Parallel, Side/dist.
3. Select the green edge curve to offset.
4. Set the offset direction by clicking to the left of the edge curve
(toward the void in the camera model).
5. In the prompt area, type 48 for the parallel line distance, and press
[Enter]. This value determines how far the new line will be
created from the original line. Your part should look like the
following picture.

Chapter 7
Parallel
line
Extracted
edge curve
Creating a circle for the sprue hole

You will create a 4.5-millimeter diameter circle at the midpoint of the
parallel line. In a later exercise, you will use this circle to cut the
sprue hole.
1. Choose Main Menu, Create, Arc, Circ pt+dia.
2. In the prompt area, type 4.5 and press [Enter].
3. Choose Midpoint from the Point Entry menu.
4. Select the parallel line. Mastercam creates a circle that defines the
sprue hole.
5. Choose Backup to exit the function.
6. Zoom in on the section of the mold that contains the newly
created circle. Your part should look like the following picture.

Sprue hole circle
Creating a circle for the gate

You will create a 2-millimeter diameter circle at the midpoint of the
parallel line. This circle will be created in the Side construction plane;
therefore, it will be perpendicular to the sprue hole circle, which was
created in the Top construction plane. In a later exercise, you will use
the 2-millimeter circle to cut the gate.
1. Choose the Cplane-Side toolbar button.
2. Set the construction depth to 77 millimeters.
Tip: Choose Z from the Secondary Menu, type 77, and press [Enter]. As you
type, the value displays in the prompt area.
3. Choose Circ pt+dia from the Arc menu.

5. Choose Midpoint from the Point Entry menu.
6. Select the parallel line. Mastercam creates a circle that defines the
gate.
7. Press Backup to exit the function.
8. Choose the Screen-Repaint toolbar button to clean up the
display. Your part should look like the following picture.

Chapter 7
Gate circle
Deleting the reference geometry

You no longer need the extracted edge curve or the parallel line, so
you will delete them.
1. Choose Main Menu, Delete, Only, Lines.
2. Select the extracted edge curve and the parallel line at the
positions shown in the following picture.

Note: A section of each line has been thickened to help you

identify the correct lines to select. Mastercam deletes each line as
you select it.
3. Choose Backup to exit the function.
Exercise 6 – Adding the sprue hole and the gate to

the mold
In this exercise, you will extrude the circles that you just created as cuts on
the mold to form the sprue hole and the gate. You will cut the sprue hole
in two operations. The first cut will extend through the entire core. The
second cut will extend part way through the cavity.
Cutting the sprue hole in the core
1. Zoom in closely on the sprue hole and gate circles.
3. Select the 4.5-millimeter diameter circle, as shown in the
following picture.
4. Choose Done.
5. Make sure that the extrusion direction arrow points up. If it does
not, choose Reverse It.
7. Enter Sprue Hole Core for the operation name.
8. Select Cut Body.

Chapter 7
11. Choose OK. Since this file contains more than one solid,
Mastercam prompts you to select the one you want to cut, called
the target body.
13. Select the top of the camera core (light gray solid) at the position

Mastercam cuts the sprue hole in the core. Your part should look like
Sprue hole
Cutting the sprue hole in the cavity

1. Zoom in closely on the two green circles again.
3. Select the 4.5-millimeter diameter circle again, and choose Done.
4. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points down. If it does
6. Enter Sprue Hole Cavity for the operation name.

Chapter 7
7. Select Extend by specified distance.

10. Choose OK. Mastercam prompts you for a target body.

12. Select the camera cavity at the position shown in the following
picture.

Mastercam cuts the sprue hole in the (light blue) cavity. Your part
Cutting the gate

1. Zoom in closely on the two green circles again.
3. Select the 2-millimeter diameter circle, as shown in the following
picture.

Chapter 7
4. Choose Done.
5. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points to the left. If it
does not, choose Reverse It.
7. Enter Gate for the operation name.

10. Choose OK. Mastercam prompts you for a target body.

12. Select the cavity at the position shown in the following picture.
Mastercam cuts the gate in the cavity. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Gate
13. Save the file.

In this chapter, you imported and modified a two-piece plastic injection
mold for a camera. In the next chapter, you will create a two-piece
injection mold from an imported surface file.

Chapter 7

Designing an Injection Mold from a Surface File
8 Designing an Injection Mold from a

Surface File
In Chapter 7, you imported a solid model for a two-piece injection mold.
You then modified the model to complete the design. In this chapter, you
will create a two-piece solid injection mold from an imported surface
model of a container. You will organize your work using construction
colors and levels.
Importing a surface model
Solidifying a surface model
Adding draft to solid faces
Extracting surfaces from a solid
Extracting edge curves from a surface
Creating a ruled surface
Trimming a surface to curves
Creating a sheet solid by stitching surfaces
Trimming a solid to a sheet solid
Creating a solid drawing layout

Chapter 8
Exercise 1 – Importing a surface file
In this exercise, you will read an IGES file into Mastercam. The IGES file
contains multiple surfaces that represent a container for which you will
create a two-piece plastic injection mold.
1. Choose Main Menu, File, Converters, IGES, Read file.
2. Open container-mm.igs from your working folder. The IGES
Read parameters dialog box opens.
4. Choose OK to convert the file. If prompted, choose Yes to delete

the current file and fit to screen if necessary.
5. Choose the green Gview-Isometric toolbar button. Your part

6. Choose the Screen-Statistics toolbar button. The prompt area

reports the number of surfaces contained in the file. This file
contains 27 untrimmed surfaces and 16 trimmed surfaces.
7. Choose Main Menu, File, Save.
8. Enter container-mm.mc9 for the file name and choose Save.
Exercise 2 – Modifying the part design
In this exercise, you will make several changes to the container to give it
its final form. You will add fillets and draft to the Y-shaped standoff in the
middle of the part to make it moldable. Once the part design is complete,
you will create an injection mold for it.
Solidifying the imported surfaces
Before you make changes to the model, you will solidify it by
stitching the imported surfaces into a single solid. In solid form, the
part will be easier to modify.
1. Choose Color from the Secondary Menu. The Color dialog box
opens.
2. Set Current color to 7 (light gray) and choose OK to close the
dialog box.
3. Choose Level from the Secondary Menu. The Level Manager
opens.

Chapter 8
and Solidified part for Name.

6. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, From surfaces. The
Stitch Surfaces into Solids dialog box opens.
7. In the Original Surface section of the dialog box, choose Delete.
Once you have a solidified version of the part, you will no longer
need the imported surfaces.

9. Choose OK to stitch the surfaces into a solid.

Note: It will take several seconds to process this command. The
prompt area reports the progress.
10. When the process is complete, check the screen statistics. The
system reports that there is now one solid in the graphics window.
Note: The gaps between surface edges were smaller than the
edge tolerance value (0.075). Therefore, the resulting solid is a
closed body, as opposed to a sheet body. You will learn about
sheet solids in Exercise 4.
Creating an operation history for the solidified part
The solidified part is a brick with no operation history. In order to
modify the part design, you will use the Find Features function to
locate fillets on the model and create an operation based on these
features.
1. Choose Find features from the Solids menu (second page). The
Find Features dialog box opens.
2. Enter 50.0 for Maximum Radius and check your settings against
the following picture. Make any necessary adjustments.

Chapter 8
3. Choose OK to find fillets on the solid. The system reports the

progress in the prompt area.
4. When the process is complete, Mastercam reports the number of
filleted edges it found (in this case, three). Choose OK to clear the
message.
5. Choose Backup to return to the first page of the Solids menu.
6. Choose Solids mgr to open the Solids Manager.
7. Expand the operation history of the solid and click on the Fillet
operation. Mastercam highlights three fillets located at the
intersections of the segments of the Y on the standoff in the center
of the part.
Note: Drag the Solids Manager away from the part, if necessary,
to view the fillets.
Decreasing the fillet size
You will decrease the fillet size from 6.35 millimeters to 3
millimeters.

1. In the Solids Manager, expand the Fillet operation and double-

click on Parameters. The Fillet Parameters dialog box opens.
2. Enter 3 for Radius and choose OK to close the dialog box.
3. Choose Regen All to incorporate the new radius into the model.
Filleting the remaining vertical edges of the standoff
1. Right-click in the operation list of the Solids Manager and choose
Solids, Fillet. The Pick Solid Entity menu displays.
3. Zoom in on the Y-shaped standoff.
4. Select the six vertical edges shown in the following picture.
6
3 5
4
5. Choose Done to end the selection. The Fillet Parameters dialog
box opens.
6. Enter 1 for Radius and choose OK to close the dialog box.
Mastercam fillets the selected edges and reopens the Solids
Manager. There are now two Fillet operations listed for the solid.
Adding draft to the vertical walls of the standoff
Currently, the Y-shaped standoff has vertical walls, which are not
moldable. You will change the design by adding a 5-degree draft
angle to the vertical walls. To save time, you will select one face to
draft and apply the draft angle to tangent faces.
Solids, Draft Face.

Chapter 8
2. On the Pick Solid Entity menu, toggle Faces to Y and all other
Yes/No options to N.
3. Select the vertical face shown in the following picture.
4. Choose Done. The Draft Face Parameters dialog box opens.


8. Select the top face as the reference face, as shown in the following
picture. The drafted face will hinge at its intersection with the
reference face.

9. Mastercam displays a cone with an arrow on the selected face to

indicate the draft direction. Check to be sure the arrow points
upward, as shown in the following picture. If it does not, choose
Reverse it.
10. Choose Done. The walls of the standoff should now look like the
following picture.

Chapter 8
Filleting edges along the base of the standoff

You will fillet edges along the base of the standoff to make the design
more moldable. You will select one edge and propagate the fillet to
tangent edges.
Solids, Fillet.
3. Select the edge shown in the following picture.


7. Choose OK to fillet the base of the standoff.

9. Press [Alt + F1] to fit the geometry to the screen.

10. Press [Alt + S] to turn on shading. Your part should look like the
following picture.
11. Turn off shading and save the file.
Exercise 3 – Creating the mold stock
In this exercise, you will create a solid to represent the mold stock
(material) from which you will create the injection mold for the container.

Chapter 8
Creating lines to define the mold stock

Before you create the mold stock, you will use the Bounding Box
function to create lines at the extents of the container. You will add a
24-millimeter margin in the XY directions and a 12-millimeter
margin in the Z direction so that the edges of the material extend
beyond the edges of the part.
1. Open the Level Manager.
2. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, type 3 for Number
and Mold block for Name.

4. Set the construction color to light blue (number 11).
Tip: Press [Alt + 1] to open the Color dialog box. Set Current color to 11 and
choose OK.
5. Choose Main Menu, Create, Next menu, Bound box.

6. Clear Center Point.
7. Enter 24 for X (Expand) and Y (Expand).
8. Enter 12 for Z (Expand).


10. Choose OK to create the bounding box geometry.

following picture.
Extruding a solid within the bounding box lines

You will create a solid block to represent the mold stock by extruding
the bounding box lines at the top of the part to a point at the bottom of
the bounding box geometry.

Chapter 8
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude, Chain, Options.

2. On the Chaining Options dialog box, select Plane mask. Your
selection will be limited to entities in the same construction plane
as the first entity you select. Setting this mask speeds the selection
process by ignoring branch points from other intersecting
bounding box lines.
3. Choose OK to close the dialog box. An asterisk displays next to
Options on the menu to show that a selection mask is active.
4. Select the line at the position shown in the following picture.
Mastercam selects the four lines at the top of the bounding box.

6. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points downward. If it
does not, choose Reverse It.
8. Enter Mold Stock for the operation name.
9. Select Extend to point.

11. Choose OK.

12. Mastercam prompts you to enter the point to which you want to
extrude the solid. Select the corner (endpoint) of the solid shown
in the following picture. Mastercam creates the block-shaped
solid.

Chapter 8

14. Select Shading active and Translucent and choose OK. Your
part should look like the following picture. The solidified part
(container) is positioned within the solid block.
15. Repeat steps 13 and 14 to turn off translucency and shading.

16. Save the file.

Exercise 4 – Creating a parting surface
You have completed the part design for the container and defined the mold
stock. In this exercise, you will create a parting surface. The parting
surface will be composed of multiple surfaces. You will use these surfaces
to split the mold stock into two pieces and define the shape of the mold
core in a later exercise.
Extracting surfaces from the solidified part
You will extract surfaces from the solidified part. You will use these
surfaces to define the portion of the parting surface that will cut the
shape of the mold core.
1. Press [Alt + 2] to open the Level Manager.
and Surfaced part for Name.

4. Set the construction color to yellow (number 14).
5. Choose Main Menu, Create, Surface, Next menu, From solid.

Chapter 8
6. Toggle Solids and Verify to Y and all other Yes/No options to N.

7. Position the cursor over the solidified part, as shown in the
following picture, and click to select it.
Select
here
8. Choose Next from the Verify Solid Entity menu.

9. Once the solidified part (container) is highlighted, choose Done
twice to select the solid and extract the surfaces. The system
creates one NURBS surface for each solid face.
Offsetting a copy of the bounding box lines
You will offset a contour composed of four of the bounding box lines.
You will copy the lines from the top of the mold block to the top of
the part. Later in this exercise, you will use these lines to create a
surface that will be used to split the mold block.
2. Choose Main Menu, Xform, Ofs ctour.
3. Select the light blue line at the position shown in the following
picture. The plane mask is still on, so the system selects only the
top bounding box lines.

4. Make sure the chaining direction arrow points in the direction

shown in the following picture. If it does not, choose Reverse.
Chaining
direction
arrow
Note: The chaining direction affects the offset direction.

5. Choose Done. The Offset Contour dialog box opens.
6. Select None in the Corners section of the dialog box. This option
tells Mastercam how to handle gaps that result between entities
when offsetting them outward. In this case, Mastercam extends
the lines until they connect at their endpoints.

Chapter 8
7. Select Absolute in the 2D Contour section of the dialog box.

Mastercam will offset the chain to the specified depth relative to
the construction plane. In this case, the depth (zero) is located at
the top of the part (container).
8. Enter 12 for Distance and check your settings against the
following picture. Make any necessary adjustments.
Note: Based on the chaining direction and the offset direction

(Left), the system will offset the chain outward, making it bigger.
9. Choose OK to offset the selected contour.
11. Clear the screen colors.

12. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Front. Your part
Offset
contour
Notice that the offset geometry is located at the top of the part. Also,
the lines extend beyond the mold stock by 12 millimeters in every
direction. The surface that you create using these lines later in this
exercise will be used to split the mold stock. Therefore, it must extend
at least to the extents of the mold stock (or beyond, in this case).
Deleting unnecessary surfaces
Previously, you extracted a surface for each solid face in the piece
part. However, you need only the surfaces that define the mold core.
Therefore, you will simplify the geometry by deleting unnecessary
surfaces from the part.
1. Open the Level Manager.
and Parting surface for Name.
3. Make levels 1 and 3 invisible.
Tip: Click in the Visible column for levels 1 and 3 to remove the red check
mark. The geometry on these levels will no longer display in the graphics
window.

Chapter 8

5. Press [Alt+S] to shade the surfaces.
6. Dynamically spin the geometry to view the underside.
8. Choose the Delete toolbar button.
9. Select the top face, as shown in the following picture.

10. Select the six fillet surfaces around the top face, as shown in the
following picture.
Tip: If you
4
accidentally 3 5
delete the
wrong
surface,
choose the
Delete-
Undelete-
2
Single
toolbar
button.
6
11. Select the six outer vertical walls, as shown in the following
picture.
5
3
1 6

Chapter 8
After the faces have been deleted, your part should look like the
following picture.
Extracting surface edge curves

You will extract curves from all edges along the bottom surface
(relative to the current view). Mastercam creates a curve (arc, spline,
or line) to match the geometry of each surface edge. You will use
these curves for trimming purposes later in this exercise.
1. Set the construction color to red (number 12).
2. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, All edges.
3. Select the bottom surface, as shown in the following picture.

5. Choose Do it from the All Edge Curves menu. Mastercam creates
red curves along all edges of the bottom face.

6. You no longer need the bottom surface (yellow) and outer edge
curve (red). Delete them, as shown in the following pictures. This
leaves only the inner chain of edge curves, which will be used in a
later exercise.
Bottom yellow surface
Outer red curve

Creating a ruled surface

You will use the offset bounding box lines to create a ruled surface
(linear blend) at the top of the surfaced part. This surface will define
the parting line of the mold halves in a later exercise.
4. Choose Main Menu, Create, Surface, Ruled, Chain, Options.
The Chaining Options dialog box opens.
5. Enter 0.005 for Chaining tolerance.

Chapter 8
6. Choose OK to close the Chaining Options dialog box.

7. Choose Backup to return to the Surface menu.
8. Choose Ruled, Single.
Note: Each chain that you select will consist of a single entity.
9. Select the two lines at the positions shown in the following
picture.
Note: Make sure the direction arrow points in the same direction
for both chains.
10. Choose Done to end the selection. The prompt area displays the
current ruled surface settings.
11. The surface error tolerance should be set to 0.02, and the surface
type should be set to N (NURBS). If your settings match these
settings, continue with step 12. If your settings do not match these
settings, take one or both of the following actions:
To change the surface error tolerance, choose Tolerance from
the Ruled Surface menu. In the prompt area, type 0.02 and
press [Enter].
To change the surface type, toggle Type to N on the Ruled
Surface menu.
12. Choose Do it. Your part should look like the following picture.

Trimming the ruled surface to the edge curves

You will trim the ruled surface to the remaining edge curves and
delete the inner section from the surface.
1. Choose Backup to return to the Surface menu.
2. Choose Trim/extend, To curves.
3. Select the green ruled surface that you created in the previous
exercise, then choose Done. This surface will be trimmed to the
curves that you select in the next step.
4. Select the red curve at the position shown in the following picture.
Mastercam chains all of the red curves.

Chapter 8
5. Choose Done to end the selection. The Trim to Curves menu

displays.
6. Choose Do it from the Trim to Curves menu.
7. The system prompts you to select the section of the surface that
you want to keep. Select the green ruled surface.
8. The system displays an arrow on the surface. Use the cursor to
drag the arrow to a position outside the red curve boundary, as
Position the arrow

outside the container
boundary.
9. When the arrow is positioned outside the red boundary, click to

trim the surface. The inner section of the ruled surface is deleted.

12. Choose Main Menu, Delete, All, Arcs. Mastercam deletes the
red arcs that define the shape of the container.
13. Choose Lines. Mastercam deletes the green lines that you used to
create the ruled surface.
14. Repaint the screen.
15. Check the screen statistics. There are now only surfaces
remaining in the graphics window.
16. Save the file.
Solidifying the parting surface
You have created all of the surfaces required to define the parting
surface, which you will use to trim the mold stock. However, you
can't trim a solid to multiple surfaces. In order to trim the mold stock,
you must first stitch the surfaces to form a single solid. The resulting
solid will be an open sheet solid, which has no thickness (volume).
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, From surfaces. The
Stitch Surfaces into Solids dialog box opens.

Chapter 8
3. Choose OK to create the sheet solid. The processing time will

take several seconds. The prompt area reports the progress.
4. The gaps between surface edges are larger than the edge tolerance
value (0.075). Therefore, the resulting solid is an open sheet, and
the system asks if you want to create edge curves on the open
edges. Choose No.
Note: The edge curves are useful for creating surfaces, which can
be used to close gaps so that a true solid (one with volume, as
opposed to a sheet solid) can be created. In this case, the intended
result is a sheet solid, so the edge curves are not necessary.
5. Check the screen statistics. The graphics window now contains
only one solid.

Exercise 5 – Splitting the mold stock into two

pieces
In this exercise, you will use the sheet solid that you created in the
previous exercise to trim the mold block into two pieces. The parting
surface (sheet solid) contains the shape of the final product. Therefore,
after the mold block has been trimmed, the mold core will be complete.
1. Use the Level Manager to set the Main Level to number 3 (Mold
block) and make level 2 invisible.
Your part should look like the following picture. There are now two
solids visible in the graphics window. The light blue solid represents
the mold stock, and the light green solid is a sheet solid, which
represents the parting surface and contains the shape of the final
product (container).

Chapter 8
2. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Trim.

4. Mastercam prompts you to select the solid to trim. Select the light
blue solid, and choose Done.
5. Choose Sheet from the Trim Solids menu.
6. Select the light green sheet solid. Mastercam displays an arrow on
the selected solid, which indicates the side of the solid that you
want to keep. The arrow direction does not matter because you
will keep both sides of the mold after it has been trimmed.
7. Toggle Keep All to Y.
8. Choose Done to trim the block into two pieces. The top half
represents the mold core, which is complete. The bottom half
represents the mold cavity, which requires further modifications.
9. Make level 4 invisible to remove the parting surface (sheet solid)
from the display.

The graphics window now contains only the two halves of the mold,
10. Press [Alt+E] to access the Hide function.

11. Select the light blue solid, which represents the mold core, then
choose Done. Mastercam hides the green solid.

Chapter 8
12. Dynamically spin the solid to see the finished core. Your part
13. Set the graphics view to Isometric.

14. Press [Alt+E] to return the light green solid to the graphics view.
15. Press [Alt+E] to access the Hide function again.
16. Select the light green solid, which represents the mold cavity, then
choose Done. Mastercam hides the mold core (light blue solid).
17. Save the file.

Exercise 6 – Creating a void between the mold core

and cavity
In the previous exercise, you used the parting surface to split the mold
stock into two pieces. The core side is complete. Its shape was defined by
the parting surface, which was created from the inner surfaces of the
surfaced container. The mold core now fits exactly within the mold cavity.
In this exercise, you will modify the cavity to create a void where the
molten plastic will be injected into the mold. You will do so by removing
the volume of the solidified container from the mold cavity. The outer
faces of the container will define the shape of the cavity and create the
void.
2. Make level 1 visible.
3. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Boolean, Remove.


Chapter 8
5. Define the target body by selecting the light green block solid
(mold cavity) at position 1 in the following picture.
6. Define the tool body by selecting the solidified part (light gray
solid) at position 2 in the previous picture.
7. You will use only one tool body, so choose Done to exit the Pick
Solid Entity menu. The system removes the volume of the part
(container) from the block. Your part should look like the
following picture.

8. Use the Shading Settings dialog box to turn on shading and

translucency.
9. Press [Alt+E] to unhide the core.
10. Press [Alt+F7] to access the Blank function.
11. Choose All, Lines. Mastercam blanks the light blue bounding box
lines.
12. Choose Backup twice to exit the Blank function.
13. Press [F3] to repaint the screen. Your part should look like the
following picture.
Notice the void between the core (light blue solid) and the cavity
(light green solid). The molten plastic will be injected into this void to
form the part (plastic container).
14. Turn off translucency but keep shading turned on.
15. Save the file.

Chapter 8
Exercise 7 – Creating a drawing layout for the mold

core
In this exercise, you will use the Layout function to create a drawing
layout of different views for the mold core. Mastercam creates curve
geometry (lines, arcs, splines) to represent the selected solid in each of the
defined views. After you create a basic layout, you will customize it
further by turning on hidden lines, repositioning and aligning views on the
page, and adding a detail view.
Creating a basic drawing layout
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Layout. The Solid
Drawing Layout dialog box opens.
2. Set Paper Size to A1 (841 by 594 millimeters).
3. Choose 4 View DIN. This option creates a layout with four views:
Bottom, Front, Left (side), and Isometric.

5. Choose OK. The Levels dialog box opens.

6. In the List Levels section of the dialog box, select Named.
7. In the Selected Level section of the dialog box, enter 5 for
Number and Detail core side for Name. Mastercam will create
the layout entities on level 5.
Tip: When creating a drawing layout, be sure to use a level that does not
contain any entities because they will be deleted when the layout is created.

Chapter 8
8. Choose OK.
9. Mastercam prompts you to select a solid for which to create the
drawing layout. Select the mold core (light blue solid). Mastercam
creates the layout and displays the Solid Drawing Layout menu.
Note: You will use this menu later in the exercise to customize the
drawing layout further.
10. Press [Alt+2] to open the Level Manager.
11. In the Main Level section of the dialog box, enter 5 for Number.
12. In the Visible Levels section of the dialog box, choose All off to
make all levels invisible except for the main level.


14. Fit the geometry to the screen. Only the drawing layout displays
in the graphics window. Your part should look like the following
picture (without the text).
(Bottom) (Isometric)
(Front) (Left)

Chapter 8
Turning on hidden lines for a select view

You will turn on hidden lines for the Isometric view to see the mold
core detail, which is on the underside of the part and is not visible in
this view.
1. Choose Hidden lines from the Solid Drawing Layout menu.
2. Choose One view from the Hidden Lines menu.
3. Select the Isometric view in the upper-right corner of the paper.
Mastercam turns on the hidden display lines for this view. Your
part should look like the following picture.
4. Choose Backup to return to the Solids Drawing Layout menu.

Repositioning two views
You will perform point-to-point translations to reposition the Front
and Left (side) views to make room on the paper for an additional
view that you will create later in the exercise.
1. Choose Pan from the Solid Drawing Layout menu. The system
2. Select the upper-left corner (Endpoint) of the Front view, as
shown by position 1 in the following picture.

3. Drag the cursor to the approximate location shown by position 2

in the previous picture, then click to enter a point at this position.
The front view moves closer to the Bottom view.
4. Choose Pan from the Solid Drawing Layout menu.
5. Select the upper-left corner (Endpoint) of the Left side view, as
shown by position 1 in the following picture.
1
2
6. Drag the cursor to the approximate location shown by position 2

in the previous picture, then click to enter a point at this position.
The Left side view moves closer to the Isometric view.

Chapter 8
Aligning views
You will clean up the drawing layout by aligning the translated Front
side view with the Bottom view and the translated Left side view with
the Front view.
1. Choose Align from the Solid Drawing Layout menu. Mastercam
2. Set the alignment axis by selecting the lower-left corner
(Endpoint) of the Bottom view, as shown in the following picture.

Mastercam displays horizontal and vertical axis lines through the

selected point.
3. Select the upper-left corner (Endpoint) of the Front view, as
shown in the following picture. This point will be aligned to the
axis.
Note: Mastercam automatically calculates which axis to align the

second point to. In this case, Mastercam aligns the upper-left
corner of the Front view to the vertical axis defined by the lower-
left corner of the Bottom view.
4. Choose Align from the Solid Drawing Layout menu.
5. Set the alignment axis by selecting the upper-left corner
(Endpoint) of the Front view.
6. Select the upper-left corner (Endpoint) of the Left side view, as
shown in the following picture. This point will be aligned to the
axis.

Chapter 8
7. The left edge of the Bottom and Front views and the top of the
Front and Left views are now aligned. Repaint the screen. Your
Adding a detail view of the Y-shaped standoff

You will create a new view based on an enlarged section of the
Bottom view. This type of view is referred to as a detail, or blowup,
view.

1. Choose Add/Remove from the Solid Drawing Layout menu.

2. Choose Add Detail from the Add/Remove menu. The Detail
Type dialog box opens.
3. Choose Rectangle, then choose OK. Mastercam displays the
Point Entry menu.
4. Enter (sketch) two points for opposite corners of a rectangle
around the Y-shaped standoff in the middle of the Bottom view,
Click
here
first. Click
here
second
Tip: If the cursor is too jumpy, right-click in the graphics window and choose
AutoCursor to turn it off. When turned off, the option no longer has a check
mark next to it on the right-click menu.
5. On the Parameters dialog box, enter 13 (light purple) for Color.

Note: It is useful to select a different color from the current
construction color so that you can distinguish the detail from the
default views.
6. Enter 2 for Scale factor, then choose OK.
7. Enter a point at the approximate position shown in the following
picture. This point positions the center of the rectangular detail.

Chapter 8
Click
here
Mastercam creates the detail view. Your part should look similar to
Mastercam draws a rectangle around the Y-shaped standoff in the

Bottom view using the same color that you selected for the detail
view. This makes it easy to associate the detail view with the regular
view from which it was created.
8. Choose Backup twice to exit the Drawing Layout function.

9. Mastercam asks you if you’re sure you want to exit the Layout
function. Once you do so, you will not be able to access the Solid
Drawing Layout menu for the purpose of editing the current
drawing layout. You have completed all work for this layout, so
choose Yes.
10. Set the main construction level to 3 and make level 5 invisible.
12. Fit the part to the screen.
13. Save the file. You will use the saved file in Chapter 9.
In this chapter, you created a two-piece injection mold for a container
from an imported surface file. You then created a drawing layout for the
mold core. In the next chapter, you will create an electrode with the shape
of the standoff from the mold core.

Chapter 8

Designing an Electrode
9 Designing an Electrode
In this chapter, you will create an electrode with the shape of the standoff
from the mold core that you created in the previous chapter. The electrode
will be used in a plunge, or die sinking, EDM (Electrical Discharge
Machining) application to form a cavity in a workpiece.
Note: A backup file containing the mold core was provided with the other
tutorial parts in case you did not complete Chapter 8.
Creating a sheet solid by removing a solid face
Using a solid face to define a construction view
Thickening a sheet solid
Creating non-associative disjoint bodies
Exercise 1 – Creating a sheet solid from the mold

core
In Exercise 4 of Chapter 8, you created a sheet solid by stitching together

surfaces whose edge gaps were too large to form a closed solid body. In
this exercise, you will create a sheet solid by removing a face from a
closed solid (the mold core).

Chapter 9
Preparing the part

You will hide all geometry except for the mold core and define a
level on which to create the electrode.
1. Choose Main Menu, File, Get.
2. Select container-mm.mc9 from your working folder and choose
Open. Note: If you did not complete Chapter 8, open container-
backup-mm.mc9.
3. Press [Alt+S] to turn on shading.
5. Select the light blue solid (mold core) and choose Done. Only the
mold core remains in the graphics window.
6. Press [Alt+2] to open the Level Manager.
and Electrode for Name.
8. Make level 4 visible and levels 1, 2, 3, and 5 invisible.
9. Choose OK to close the dialog box.

Exercise 2 – Reducing the size of the Y-shaped

cavity
In this exercise, you will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity. Doing so
makes the electrode smaller, which compensates for the overburn (spark
gap) between the electrode and the mold. Before you do so, however, you
will define a new construction view at the bottom of the sheet solid.
Defining a new construction view
You will use the View Manager to define a new view based on the
geometry of a flat solid face at the bottom of the sheet solid. You will
reverse the Z direction of the Bottom view and set this view as the
current WCS (work coordinate system). If you left the part in the
original WCS, it would not be shown in the view that it is being
machined in.
1. Dynamically rotate the solid so that the mold core geometry
points upward.
4. Choose WCS from the Secondary Menu. The View Manager
opens.
5. Right-click in the View list section of the dialog box and choose
Create, Select menu. The View Manager closes.
6. Choose Entity from the Create View menu.
7. Choose Solid face from the Entity menu. The Pick Solid Entity
menu displays.
9. Select the face shown in the following picture.

Chapter 9
10. Mastercam displays an axes marker on the solid. Choose Next

from the Select Plane menu until the Z axis points up, as shown in
11. When the Z axis points upward, choose Save. The View Manager
reopens.
12. Mastercam recognizes the selected view as one of the pre-defined
views and displays the number 4 (for Bottom view) in the V#
column. Enter Bottom for Name.
13. Click in the WCS column for the Bottom view to set this view as
the current view.

14. Choose OK. The WCS button reflects the number of the current
view (n4), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (22.86) of the
selected face.
Thickening the sheet solid
You will thicken the sheet solid by 0.3 millimeters. The added
material will reduce the size of the Y-shaped cavity.
1. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Next menu, Thicken. The Thicken
Sheet Solid dialog box opens.
2. Enter 0.3 for Thickness.

Chapter 9
3. Choose OK. A direction arrow displays on the sheet solid, which

indicates the side to be thickened.
4. Make sure the arrow points upward. If it does not, choose Flip.
5. When the arrow points in the correct direction, choose OK to
thicken the sheet solid. This process will take several seconds.
Once it is complete, the sheet solid becomes a closed solid body.
Notice that the cavity of the standoff is smaller now than it was
previously.
6. Save the file.

Exercise 3 – Creating the electrode blank
In this exercise, you will create the electrode blank, which is the block of
material from which the electrode is formed.
Defining the shape of the electrode blank
You will create multiple lines connected at their endpoints. The lines
will form a closed boundary that will define the shape of the electrode
blank.
1. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top. The bottom
of the mold core points upward.
Note: You reversed the Z direction for the Bottom view in
Exercise 2. Therefore, the Top view is really the Bottom view.
2. Zoom in on the Y-shaped standoff in the center of the part. Your
3. Choose Z from the Secondary Menu.

4. Type 38 for the construction depth. As you type, the value
displays in the prompt area.
5. Press [Enter]. The Z button reflects the new depth.
6. Choose Color from the Secondary Menu.

Chapter 9
7. On the Color dialog box, set Current color to 12 (red), then

choose OK.
8. Choose the Create-Line toolbar button. The Line menu displays.
9. Choose Multi from the Line menu. The Point Entry menu
displays.
10. Enter (sketch) points to create lines around the Y-shaped standoff,
as shown in the following picture. Make sure that the last line that
you sketch ends where the first line begins to form a closed chain.
Note: In the picture, the lines have been thickened to show you
the intended result.
11. After sketching all of the lines, choose Backup to exit the
function.
Creating the electrode blank
You will extrude the shape defined by the red lines to form a 60
millimeter solid for the electrode blank.
1. Switch to Isometric view and fit the part to the screen by zooming
in on the entire part.
3. Select anywhere on the red lines that you just created, then choose
Done.

4. Make sure the extrusion direction arrow points down. If it does

Tip: Rotate the part slightly if you have trouble seeing the arrow.

6. Enter Electrode for the operation name.
7. Select Extend by specified distance and enter 60 for Distance.
9. Choose OK to create the electrode blank.


Chapter 9
Cutting the shape of the electrode

The final step in creating the electrode is to cut the Y-shape of the
cavity in the electrode blank. You will do so by removing the volume
of the thickened solid, which contains the Y-shaped cavity, from the
electrode blank.
1. Set the graphics view to Front. Your part should look like the
following picture. Notice that the thickened solid (green)
completely intersects the electrode blank solid (red).
2. Choose Boolean from the Solids menu.

3. Choose Remove from the Boolean menu. The Pick Solid Entity
menu displays.
5. Select the red solid (electrode) as the target solid.
6. Select the green solid as the tool body, then choose Done.

7. Because the tool body completely intersects the target, the result
of the operation is a disjoint body, meaning that the electrode is
cut into two pieces. Mastercam is unable to create disjoint bodies
and maintain associativity between them. However, you have the
option to create non-associative bodies (bricks) from the two
pieces of the electrode. To do so, choose Yes.
8. On the Keep menu, toggle Target to N and Tools to Y. The tool

body will be saved along with the resulting disjoint bodies. The
original electrode, with all of its operation history, will be deleted.
9. Choose Done. The electrode is split into two bricks (solids with
no operation history) and the green tool body remains in the
graphics window.
11. Select the top piece of the electrode, as shown in the following
picture.
12. Choose Done. Only the top piece of the electrode remains visible
in the graphics window.
13. Rotate the electrode to view the Y-shaped standoff.
14. Fit the geometry to the screen. Your part should look similar to

Chapter 9
15. Save the file.

Extend the electrode
The final step in creating the electrode is to extend the Y-shape of the
part so the electrode will not make contact with the floor of the mold.
Since you are only burning the Y-shape, you must make sure there is
sufficient clearance between the non-burning area of the electrode and
the mold. You will cut the part and apply a draft to the sides.
1. Choose Color from the Secondary Menu.
2. On the Color dialog box, set Current color to 9 (blue), then
choose OK.
3. Choose WCS from the Secondary Menu to change the work
coordinate system. The View Manager opens.
4. Right-click in the View list section of the dialog box and choose
Create, Select menu. The View Manager closes.
5. Choose Entity from the Create View menu.
6. Choose Solid face from the Entity menu. The Pick Solid Entity
menu displays.
8. Select the face shown in the following picture.

9. Mastercam displays an axes marker on the solid. Choose Save

from the Select Plane menu. The View Manager reopens.
10. Mastercam recognizes the selected view as a new view and
displays the number 1 in the V# column. Enter Standoff for
Name.
11. Click in the WCS column for the Standoff view to set this view as
the current view.

Chapter 9
12. Choose OK. The WCS button reflects the number of the current
view (nT), and the Z depth button reflects the depth (-3.475) of
the selected face.
Create the edge curves
1. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Top.
2. Choose Main Menu, Create, Curve, All edges, Solids.
4. Select the top face, as shown in the following picture.
5. Choose Done, Done, Do it to create the edge curves.

6. Choose Main Menu, Create, Rectangle, 2 points.
7. Draw a rectangle around the entire part, as shown in the following
picture.
8. Right-click in the graphics window and choose Isometric.

9. Choose Main Menu, Solids, Extrude, Chain.

10. Select the two blue chains shown in the following picture and
choose Done.

down. If both arrows point in the correct direction, continue with
step 11. Otherwise, take one of the following actions:
wrong direction.
1. Select Cut Body.
3. Clear the Outward check box

Chapter 9
6. Choose OK to cut the electrode. Your part should look like the
following picture.
7. Save the file.

Congratulations! You have completed the Version 9 Solids Tutorial. The

final chapter provides you with a list of the Mastercam shortcut keys. To
learn more about Mastercam:
See the online help to read more information for features you learned
about while completing this tutorial.
Contact your local Mastercam reseller.
Visit CNC Software on the Web to keep up with the latest Solids
developments and learn about other Mastercam products. Visit
http://www.mastercam.com, or visit the Mastercam forum at
http://www.emastercam.com.
If you have any comments about this tutorial, please send them to
techdocs@mastercam.com.

Chapter 9

Mastercam Shortcut Keys
A Mastercam Shortcut Keys
Alt + 0 Set Z depth for Cplane Alt + X Set main color, level, line
style and width from
Alt + 1 Set main color
selected entity
Alt + 4 Choose tool plane (Tplane)
Alt + Z Set visible levels
Alt + 5 Choose construction plane
Alt + ‘ Create two-point circle
(Cplane)
Alt + - With hidden entities, select
Alt + 6 Choose graphics view
additional entities to hide
(Gview)
Alt + = Unhide selected entities
Alt + A AutoSave
Alt + F1 Fit geometry to screen
Alt + B Toolbar on/off
Alt + F2 Unzoom by 0.8
Alt + C Run C-Hooks
Alt + F3 Cursor tracking on/off
Alt + D Drafting global parameters
Alt + F4 Exit Mastercam
Alt + E Hide/unhide geometry
Alt + F5 Delete using window
Alt + F Menu font
selection
Alt + G Selection grid parameters
Alt + F7 Blank geometry
Alt + H On-line help
Alt + F8 System configuration
Alt + J Job setup
Alt + F9 Display all axes
Alt + L Set entity attributes
Alt + F10 Minimize/maximize screen
Alt + N Edit named views
F1 Zoom
Alt + O Operations Manager
F2 Unzoom
Alt + P Prompt area on/off
F3 Repaint
Alt + Q Undo last operation
F4 Show Analyze menu
Alt + R Edit last operation
F5 Show Delete menu
Alt + S Full-time shading on/off
F6 Show File menu
Alt + T In Toolpath menu, turn
F7 Show Modify menu
toolpath display on/off
F8 Show Create menu
Alt + U Undo last action
F9 Part information on/off
Alt + V Mastercam version number
and SIM serial number F10 List all functions and
execute selected
Alt + W Viewport configuration

Appendix A
Esc System interrupt or menu

backup
Page up Zoom in by 0.8
Page down Zoom out by 0.8
Arrow keys Pan
In the Operations Manager:

Ctrl + A Select all operations
Ctrl + C Copy selected operations
Ctrl + V Paste selected operations
Ctrl + X Cut selected operations
E Expand or collapse all
operations
G Set parent group of
selected operation as the
active group
L Toggle NCI locking on
selected operations
P Toggle posting on selected
operations
T Toggle toolpath display for
selected operations

MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)

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MasterCam V9 Solids Tutorial (Metric)

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Version 9

Mastercam Version 9 Solids

Date: March 15, 2002

U.S. Government Restricted Rights

Exceptions To Security Mechanism Requirements

All rights not expressly granted are reserved by CNC.

Printed in the United States of America.

This book was printed on recycled paper.

2 Designing a Chair Seat....................................................... 5

3 Designing a Plastic Cap ................................................... 31

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial i

5 Designing a Forging Die................................................. 111

6 Designing a Windshield for a Toy Race Car ................. 125

ii Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

8 Designing an Injection Mold from a Surface File ......... 201

9 Designing an Electrode .................................................. 251

Mastercam Shortcut Keys.................................................. 269

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial iii

1 Introduction to Mastercam Solids

Welcome to Mastercam Solids Version 9. Mastercam Solids brings solid

Using the sample parts

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 1

If you need more help

Choose the Help

2 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 3

4 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

2 Designing a Chair Seat

In this chapter, you will use existing wireframe geometry consisting of

You will learn how to perform the following skills:

Exercise 1 – Starting Mastercam

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 5

Prompt area Graphics window

Learning about the HASP and NetHASP

6 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

this component is either missing or not configured properly. Refer to

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 7

You will use these controls throughout this tutorial.

8 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Exercise 2 – Defining the seat’s basic shape

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 9

2. If the AutoCursor and AutoHighlight options do not have check

6. Choose Done. The Extrusion Direction menu displays.

10 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Setting extrusion parameters

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 11

3. Press [Alt + S] to turn on full-time shading. Your part should look

4. Choose Main Menu, File, Save.

12 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Exercise 3 – Creating indentations in the top of the

4. The system prompts you that it has reached a branch point.

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 13

Note: A branch point is the position where the endpoints of two

Setting sweep parameters

14 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

Exercise 4 – Smoothing the seat’s center edge

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 15

5. The cursor symbol changes to show that an edge has been

16 Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial

3. Check your settings against the following picture. Make any

Defining the radius at the vertices

2. Click on the first VERTEX in the Edge List area. Mastercam

Mastercam Version 9 Solids Tutorial 17