MOLDPLUS

Version 9
Application Guide (Metric)

CIM Concept, S.A. de C.V.

Sor Juna Inés de la Cruz 18-206
Tlanepantla, México
Tel. : 52(55) - 55-65-66-33
Fax.: 52(55) - 55-65-67-63
www.cimco.com.mx
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................4
INSTALLATION.............................................................................................................4
UTILIZATION ...............................................................................................................5
SOFTWARE UPDATES ...................................................................................................6
HASP SIM ACTIVATION ..............................................................................................6
NETHASP SIM ACTIVATION ......................................................................................7
MOLDPLUS TRIAL VERSION ........................................................................................7
TECHNICAL SUPPORT ..................................................................................................7
PRINTING THIS APPLICATION GUIDE ...........................................................................8
WHAT WILL YOU LEARN FROM THIS APPLICATION GUIDE? .................9
PROJECT 1 – CORE AND CAVITY SEPARATION WITH RAPID PARTING SURFACE
CREATION ...................................................................................................................9
PROJECT 2 – MOLD ANALYSIS AND RUN-OFF CREATION (AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL
METHOD) ....................................................................................................................9
PROJECT 3 – CORE AND CAVITY SEPARATION OF STRADDLE SURFACES ....................9
PROJECT 4 – CORE AND CAVITY SEPARATION OF A COMPLEX MODEL ......................10
PROJECT 5 – ISOLATING AND CREATING ELECTRODES FOR MACHINING ....................10
PROJECT 6 – SOLID SEPARATION, RUN-OFF CREATION, ELECTRODE ISOLATION AND
PREPARATION ............................................................................................................10

MOLDPLUS – MAIN MENU...................................................................................11

PROJECT 1 – CORE AND CAVITY SEPARATION WITH RAPID PARTING SURFACE
CREATION .................................................................................................................11
PROJECT 2 – MOLD ANALYSIS AND RUN-OFF CREATION (AUTOMATIC AND MANUAL
METHOD) ..................................................................................................................18
PARTLINE CREATION .................................................................................................19
DRAFT ANGLE ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................22
PARTING SURFACE CREATION (RUN-OFFS) – AUTOMATIC METHOD ..........................27
EDGES .......................................................................................................................29
2D Project ............................................................................................................29
3D Edges ..............................................................................................................33
PARTING SURFACE CREATION (RUN-OFFS) – MANUAL METHOD ...............................34
Mold edge.............................................................................................................34
Corner ..................................................................................................................42
Extend Edges ........................................................................................................44
Offset ....................................................................................................................46
Cplane ..................................................................................................................48
Other features of Extend Edge option (Partsurf menu) .......................................50
Overlap .............................................................................................................52
CUT AND SLICE .........................................................................................................53
X Section...............................................................................................................54
Plane Trim............................................................................................................58
Zig-Zag .................................................................................................................59
Zone Split..............................................................................................................60
Zone Delete ..........................................................................................................62
VIEWS .......................................................................................................................63

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 STK_ELCTRD.............................................................................................................64
SOLID SEP .................................................................................................................67
PROJECT 3 – SOLID SEPARATION ON STRADDLE SURFACES ......................................68
PROJECT 4 – SOLID SEPARATION ON A COMPLEX MODEL .........................................74
ELECTRODE MAKER ............................................................................................77
PROJECT 5 – ISOLATING AND CREATING ELECTRODES FOR MACHINING ....................78
PROJECT 6 – SOLID SEPARATION, RUN-OFF CREATION, ELECTRODE ISOLATION AND
PREPARATION ............................................................................................................97
AUTO INSERT –ISOL GEOM - SELECTING MULTIPLE REFERENCE GEOMETRIES
................................................................................................................................109
Isolating Bosses and Depressions using Stop+ and Stop- .................................110
An Easier Alternative!........................................................................................112
MANUAL INSERT .....................................................................................................113
CLOSE TRIMS ..........................................................................................................116
Merge Brother ....................................................................................................116
Open Gap and Closed Hole ...............................................................................118
Open Gap........................................................................................................119
Closed Hole ....................................................................................................120
MergeSurfs .........................................................................................................123
Edge Offset .........................................................................................................124
THANK YOU FOR USING THE MOLDPLUS APPLICATION GUIDE! ...............................126

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 Introduction
Moldplus, a powerful set of mold design tools that complement Mastercam’s design
functionalities. Moldplus provides mold analysis and design, advanced surface
trimming and un-trimming tools and superior functionalities to automate electrode
creation.

This application guide is designed to allow the user to optimally learn and use most or
all of the powerful tools of Moldplus.

There are users who purchase Moldplus to perform 1 or 2 primary functions, such as
automatic core and cavity separation and never learn about the other tools available to
alleviate their mold design process. For such users, going through the examples in this
user’s guide should open their eyes to the time reducing features we have developed
to help you increase your profits.

There are 6 main projects in this application guide. The projects will guide the end-
user through a standard procedure to properly start and finish a mold design process
with minimum amount of errors.

This guide is designed with the idea that you have basic mold design experience,
working knowledge of Mastercam Design (especially surface modeling) and
Microsoft Windows operating system in general. If you are not familiar with the latter
two, please contact your local Mastercam distributor for training on Mastercam and
your local computer distributor for training on Windows operating systems.

The new Moldplus 9 has many new robust and powerful features. We have also
extensively optimized the Electrode isolation and creation.

In order to go through these examples, you will need to make sure the following
example files are installed on your computer (they are normally automatically
installed with the Moldplus Version 9 installation). Depending upon your installation
file, the Metric or Inch sample files will be installed.

Installation
Moldplus for Mastercam Version 9 will install MOLDPLUS.DLL and TXT,
SUPRTRIM.DLL and TXT files into your MCAM9\CHOOKS folder (or the
appropriate Mastercam chook folder. The Moldplus.hlp and
Moldplus_V9_Application_Guide_Metric.PDF files are copied into the
\MCAM9\HELP\ directory.

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Upon installing Moldplus (in this case Metric), the following folders will be created.

MC9
| Moldplus_Examples_MM
| Moldplus_Standard_Electrodes_MM
| Moldplus_Job_123
| Moldplus_Electrode_Holders_MM

Please verify that these files exist on your system under the specific folder:

\MC9\Moldplus_Examples_MM

O_ELEC_1.MC9
O_ELEC_2.MC9
O_ELEC_3.MC9
O_ELEC_4.MC9
605TURBO_MM.MC9
CASE_MM.MC9
DOOR_MM.MC9
PROJECT1_MM.MC9
SOLID_SEP_ELECTRODES_MM.MC9

These files will be referred to throughout this application guide.

The Moldplus install copies the millimeter standard (rough) electrodes (MC9 files)
into the Moldplus_Standard_Electrodes_MM folder. The electrode database file
STD_ELEC_MM.TXT is also copied into the same folder. The holders or bases are
copied into the Moldplus_Electrode_Holders_MM folder. All new standard electrode
forms and holders will be stored into the respective folders, when created from within
Moldplus Electrode Maker.

!!!When you run Moldplus Electrode Maker for the first time make sure to
verify the JOB SETUP and check if the defined directories are correct. We
create a default CFG file that will automatically set the paths for the electrode
database and holder directories. Sometimes due to specific configurations this is
not done automatically. This being said, it is always best to verify!!!

Utilization
To use Moldplus for Mastercam, you can launch it as a C-hook by using ALT-C key
combinations and selecting or typing MOLDPLUS.

The first time you use it and exit Moldplus, the default settings will be stored in a
separate file called MOLDPLUS.CFG in the root MCAM9 folder.

To use SUPRTRIM, use the ALT-C key combination and type or select
SUPRTRIM.DLL. This chook will launch the powerful trimming and un-trimming
functionalities of Moldplus in one single menu.

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Software Updates
Moldplus continually adds more powerful functionality and features, based on user’s
requests. New releases are usually completed every 15 months and are available for a
reasonable upgrade price. If any bugs or problems are found, they are usually fixed
and available as a patch. The latest Moldplus updates will be available through your
local Mastercam distributor.

HASP Sim Activation

Moldplus for HASP SIM’s require access codes to function properly. Without access
codes, Moldplus will NOT run. Please read below on how to try Moldplus for FREE
for a period of 30 days.

Upon purchasing Moldplus and installing it for the first time, the installation will
prompt you for the access codes. You can enter the code(s) at this time. Please include
all alphabetic characters and numbers. When executing Moldplus for the first time,
the software will prompt you for access codes if it does not find the correct codes
already on your system. Enter the codes in the order they were provided to activate
the software, when the following window is displayed. Please include all alphabetic
characters and numbers.

Once the access codes are entered and the codes are correct, the “Not Active” will
display as “Registered”. You can click on Done, once this is displayed.

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The codes will be registered on your MCAM9 folder under a filename Moldplus.acc.
Please do not delete this file!

For more help on activating the software, please refer to the Moldplus.hlp file to
properly activate Moldplus on your system.

NETHASP Sim Activation

Moldplus for a Nethasp SIM requires access codes and the Moldplus Server installed,
to function properly. The Moldplus Server will need to be installed on the Mastercam
Server system (the system where the Nethasp License Manager is installed). The
access code moldserv.ini will reside on the server system, in the same folder where
Moldplus server is installed. Without the access code file, Moldplus Server will NOT
run.

The standard Moldplus installation will have to be performed on the workstations in

order to run Moldplus. As long as sufficient licenses exist on the Moldplus server, the
Moldplus application will run without any problems.

For more help on activating the network version, please refer to the
Moldplus_server.hlp file, installed on the Server system.

Moldplus Trial Version

Moldplus can be tried on an end user’s system for a period of 30 days. This will give
the end user the ability to test and use all the functionalities of Moldplus for that time
period. Only one trial license will be provided per customer, per SIM. For purchasing
Moldplus, please contact your local Mastercam representative.

Technical Support
Technical support for Moldplus will be provided by your local Mastercam distributor.
If you encounter problems with certain files (models are not always perfect!), please
use the following procedure for prompt support.

1. E-mail the problem MC9 file along with a STEP by STEP description of the
problem and procedure to replicate it (the more the details, the better) to your
local Mastercam distributor.
2. Please indicate the exact Moldplus version you are using (Moldplus 9.09.22,
etc). This information can be determined when you launch Moldplus and look
at the Mastercam prompt menu.

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 3. Also, please indicate the version of Mastercam you are using (the software
build date will be displayed when you launch Mastercam for the first time at
the prompt menu.)
4. The Windows Operating System (Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 Service Pack
version, XP etc).
5. The type of hardware you are using (Pentium II,III, IV, RAM, etc.)
6. The distributor can then look at the problem and either find a solution for you
or pass it on to us.
7. You can email the files directly to support@moldplus.com but we would
prefer that you contact your local Mastercam dealer first.

Printing this Application Guide

This document has several embedded color images. A color ink-jet or laser printer is
highly recommended to get the best results. This document has also been optimized to
deliver quality black and white printouts.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to email us at

support@moldplus.com

Thank you for using this application guide!

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 What will you learn from this application guide?
This guide has 6 main projects. Each project is designed to teach you different
features and functions of Moldplus. Features that are not covered in the projects are
covered under the individual menu functions.

All of the other features of Moldplus are covered with individual examples, using the
provided geometry files. You will learn most of the functions, if you go completely
through this guide.

Project 1 – Core and Cavity Separation with Rapid Parting

Surface Creation
This project will teach you how to separate core and cavity surfaces from a surface
model that contains all types of surfaces. This project demonstrates the simplicity with
which you can easily identify surfaces that belong to the core and cavity of a mold,
split straddle surfaces with superior ease (Straddle surfaces are those surfaces that
curve beyond the parting lines in a part model. Common straddle surfaces are hoses,
tubes and edges of molds) and move undecided surfaces to either side of the mold.
Once the separation is completed, you can create parting surface extensions to the
mold edge with just a few clicks! A totally amazing amount of time and money can
be saved by completing these tedious tasks in a matter of minutes!!!

Project 2 – Mold Analysis and Run-Off creation (Automatic

and Manual Method)
The second project will walk you through analyzing a door panel for negative draft,
orient the part for proper machining and create the run-off surfaces to the mold edge.
Next, you will learn to create 2D and 3D parting edge curves. Next, you will learn to
create parting surfaces manually on the door panel. This feature is very important
because it complements the automatic parting surface creation in some situations
where the rapid part surface extensions will not give the desired results. In cases
where you have to create your part surface extensions based on a single mold edge or
corner, you will have to use this method. You will walk through creating each edge
and then go through the process of filling in the corners, all in a few steps

Project 3 – Core and Cavity Separation of Straddle Surfaces

This project will teach you how to create core and cavity surfaces from a surface
model that contains mainly straddle surfaces. Straddle surfaces are those surfaces that
curve beyond the parting lines in a surface model. Common straddle surfaces are
hoses and tubes.

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Project 4 – Core and Cavity Separation of a complex Model
This project is similar to the above, with the absence of Straddle surfaces. However,
the proper procedure of cleaning the model before performing the Solid Sep function
will be covered. Mastercam provides tools to verify the cleanliness of the surface
model imported into the system. Make sure you follow this procedure before using the
Solid Sep function.

Project 5 – Isolating and creating electrodes for machining

This project covers several features of Moldplus Electrode for Mastercam. Electrode
creation and manipulation can be a boring, cumbersome and time consuming task.
Moldplus Electrode Maker provides tools to make it fun, efficient and productive!

Project 6 – Solid Separation, run-off creation, electrode

isolation and preparation
This project covers most of the features of Moldplus and Moldplus Electrode for
Mastercam. Walking through this part will give a good idea of the tools available and
the process of preparing a part for creating the inserts for the mold.

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 Moldplus – Main Menu
Upon launching the C-Hook Moldplus.dll, the following menu appears:

The version number of Moldplus (useful for support and update purposes) will be
displayed in the Mastercam prompt area as follows:

Project 1 – Core and Cavity Separation with Rapid Parting

Surface Creation
The first project will teach you how to separate core and cavity surfaces from a
surface model that contains all types of surfaces. This project demonstrates the
simplicity with which you can easily identify surfaces that belong to the core and
cavity of a mold, split straddle surfaces with superior ease (straddle surfaces are those
surfaces that curve beyond the parting lines in a surface model.) and move undecided
surfaces (such as vertical surfaces) to the desired side of the mold. Once the
separation is completed, you can create parting surface extensions to the mold edge
with just a few clicks! Talk about time and money saved in completing these tedious
tasks in a matter of minutes instead of hours!!!

First, load the project file, PROJECT1_MM.MC9, which can be found in the
Moldplus_Samples folder. Click on ALT-S to shade the surface model. The following
should be displayed.

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Next, launch Moldplus and click on SolidSep. The following menu is displayed:

At this point, before selecting any other function, we need to verify that we have the
correct configuration required to perform the core and cavity separation. Click on the
Settings option. The following Window is displayed:

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Make sure your Settings page matches the previous settings. This will ensure
smooth sailing through the project. For questions related to the Settings, you can
move the cursor over the particular setting or refer to the On-line help.

Result Attributes
The MC9 file has all the surfaces currently on Level 1 (you can click on ALT-Z to
check the levels). The above settings will move the Cavity and Core surfaces to Level
2 and 3 respectively and change the colors at the same time. The undecided surfaces
(Vertical, Straddle and Unknown) will be moved to individual levels (Level 4, 5 and 6
respectively) with the appropriate color changes. You can later manipulate all these
surfaces and move them to either core or cavity level, or leave them untouched. The
“Name Levels” will use the above names as level names.

CP translation heights (Z)

The settings here will move the Cavity surfaces 250mm above the Core surfaces. All
the Undecided surfaces will be translated to 125mm above the Core. This allows for
easy manipulation of these surfaces.

The rest of the settings allow for tolerance and mode settings. Make sure the “Pre-
Split Straddle surfaces” button is checked since there are straddle surfaces in this
model. This will automatically split the Straddle surfaces (based on the parting line
and plane of splitting) and move the surfaces to the core or cavity automatically.

Click on Done, once you are done with the settings. For more detailed information on
each setting, please click on Help from within Moldplus to access the on-line context
sensitive help.

Click on Do It from the SolidSep menu. The surfaces will be separated in a matter of
seconds. The following will be the result of the separation:

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You will notice that the cavity surfaces (green) are moved above the core surfaces
(brown) and the vertical surfaces (yellow) lie in between the two. Think about how
long this would take to accomplish manually! Now that we have split these surfaces,
we can either choose to leave the vertical surfaces where they are, or move them to
the core or cavity side. We will move these surfaces to the cavity side. In order to
accomplish this, we need to click on Move Undef. Once you click on Move Undef.,
the following menu is displayed:

This menu provides easy and fast control over the surfaces such as Straddle surfaces,
vertical surfaces and unknown surfaces. The current settings with the arrow <
pointing to the Vertical and the other arrow To Top will move the vertical surfaces to
the cavity. Since we have only a few vertical surfaces, we can move them by simply
clicking on them with the mouse. This will snap the vertical surfaces to the cavity,
change the properties (color and level) of the surfaces to the cavity in 1 click!

Click on surface to
send to core.

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Make sure you click on each vertical surface (2 of them in this example) to move
them to the cavity. Once you have completed this, the following will be the result:

Now, we can close the mold, since we have completed what we need to do. Simply
click on Open/Close and the Cavity surfaces will be moved back to the original Z
level. You have completed the first part of this project, the separation of core and
cavity surfaces with superior ease! The result should look as follows:

We can now proceed on to create the parting surfaces to the mold edges for the Core
and cavity sections. This could also be a very time consuming task, if not for the
parting surfaces creation feature of Moldplus. This part can easily be completed by
using the Auto partsurf creation feature of Moldplus. In order to do this, we will first
need to turn off the Core Level and enable the Mold Edge level (if not already
enabled).

Click on ALT-Z, and click on Levels used, you will see the following information
displayed on the Window.

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You will notice that the Core and Cavity surfaces have the appropriate names (CP Z-
and CP Z+) for the levels along with the surfaces (as long as the “Name Levels”
options was checked in the Settings). Do the following:

1. Double click on Number 2, to make the Level 2 as the Main Level.

2. Uncheck the Level 3 from the Visible Level section.
3. Check the Level 10 to enable the Mold edge level.

The following should be the result of the above steps:

Once you have appropriate levels set, click on OK and return to the main Moldplus
menu. From here, click on Parting, Partsurf, Auto. The following menu is
displayed:

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From here, click on Settings and set the window as follows:

With the above settings, the parting surfaces are created in Red and the 3D parting
edge curves of the surfaces are created in yellow. The level on which these surfaces
will be created will be on the Main Level. A value of 0 will not change the levels.
Make sure the check box is enabled for Create Edge.

Click on OK.

At this point, we need to define the Stock Limits or boundary until which we will
create the run-off surfaces in one Click! This boundary is stored on Level 10. Click
on Stock Lim to bring up the selection menu for Mastercam. Click on any edge to
automatically chain the boundary as follows.

Click here in order

to chain select
boundary

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Once you have chain selected the boundary and selected Done, the Stock Limit is
defined. At this point, we have 2 options for creating the parting surface extensions.
Create1 or Create2. Each selection uses different algorithms to calculate and create
the parting surfaces. Depending on the part, simply put, if one fails to give a good
result, use the other! Click on Create1. The parting surfaces are instantly created to
the mold edges in 1 click!!! The following will be the result:

Project 2 – Mold Analysis and Run-Off creation (Automatic

and Manual Method)
The correct design of a mold always poses a myriad of different questions when it is
conceived. The following are typical and contribute often to unwanted scrap when
neglected:

How do you determine if a model/part can be machined?

How do you determine if the part is clean of undercuts?
How do you know if you can pull a mold apart without wasting time machining
prototypes?

In most cases, it is usually too late before you realize that a mold cannot be pulled
apart. Arrrgh! Another costly redesign and delay! Once the model is positioned
correctly the run-off surfaces need to be created to the mold edge. This task could be
very cumbersome and tedious if you do not have the right software design tools.

Another challenging task is to create the part lines and/or part edges. Moldplus allows
the user to easily contract parting lines, edges and complex parting surfaces (Run-
Off). The powerful draft angle analysis function automatically splits the part surfaces
at the parting line.

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We will start with a model that looks like the left drawing and result in the right
drawing, all in a matter of a few minutes!

Partline Creation
The Parting menu comes up with the following options:

The first set of features covered in this example are the ability to create Parting Line
curves, based on any defined Construction plane. This will allow you to instantly
recognize undercuts and determine marginal draft angle zones. The parting curves are
created on the model as soon as you click on Do it.

To learn this feature, follow the steps outlined below

Load the DOOR_MM.MC9 file from the Moldplus_Examples_MM folder.

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Launch Moldplus, click on Parting and then Partline. The following menu will
appear:

Click on the Direction button and the following menu appears:

This menu allows you to specify the direction of pull for the mold. The parting curves
will be created based on this direction. In most cases, the default direction you select
will be Z+ or CP Norm (Construction plane normal). For this model we will choose Z
because it is a standard pull direction mold.

The following arrow will be displayed in green, on the geometry in the middle of the
screen.

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The arrow currently is based on setting the direction to Z (Top). The direction of the
arrow can also be changed to the positive or negative side of the mold by clicking on
Chg +/- but for this example we will use the positive Z.
Once the direction is set to Z+, hit ESC to get back to the Main Partline Menu. From
here, set the desire draft angle. Typical partlines are created with a draft angle of 0 or
3 degrees. This is typical draft angle used to ease the pulling of molds.

Click on Angle and set the value to 3

Once the draft angle is set to 3 degrees and the direction is Z+, the prompt menu
displays the angle at the bottom left of the screen. This is a way to confirm your angle
setting.

Now, we are ready to create the partlines.

Click on Do All

The part lines are created in red and displayed. This allows you to instantly recognize
the undercuts and / or areas of the mold where knockouts or sliders need to be built, or
to determine the need to rotate the part to an appropriate angle to allow for machining
in one setup.

The Undo option allows you to remove one parting curve at a time. The Undo All
option will remove all the parting lines created in 1 click.

The partline tool allows you to instantly generate parting curves on your geometry.
You can then use these curves to determine shallow areas of the geometry, use them

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as containment curves or to identify undercut areas. You will notice several regions
where there are undercuts within the model. This is the result of bad design or
positioning! This part has been provided in this format to show the problems that a
person can encounter. In order to machine this door, some areas of the geometry will
have to be redesigned or repositioned.

Click on Undo All to remove all the parting lines to perform the operations that
follow.

Draft Angle Analysis

Draft Angle Analysis instantly identifies partlines, negative draft areas and will also
trim the areas for easy slider or knock-out creation. This, all in one click! This tool
alone will provide an immediate return on your investment in Moldplus. You can save
hours of valuable time and money by instantly determining if a mold can be pulled
without creating a costly prototype or even worse, “SCRAP”!

To try this on your model, do the following.

Perform the Undo All operation to remove the parting lines generated (if you hadn’t
already done so) or load the DOOR_MM.MC9 part again if you didn’t undo the
parting lines created with the previous step. This feature will also illustrate why you
don’t need the parting lines to create the mold edges.

Launch Moldplus and click on Draft Angle. The following menu appears:

The draft angle analysis is usually performed with the construction plane set to Top as
molds are usually machined on 3 axis mills with the construction plane set to Top.

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Clicking on Settings, the following dialog screen is displayed.

Above in the Angle zone is the allowable angle greater than or equal to the maximum
angle value. The surfaces identified in this area (3 degrees or greater) will be trimmed
and marked as green surfaces (default color). The default Max angle is usually set to
3 degrees.

The In between check box in the Angle zone allows the analysis of the surfaces that
are between the Above and Below angles. In this example the area with a draft angle
less the 3 degrees but less then 0 degrees will be identified by the color Yellow. Leave
this box checked.

Below in the Angle area is the minimum value beyond which all surfaces are
undercuts. This value is usually set to 0. All surfaces found below this value are
trimmed as red surfaces (default color).

The Levels control allows you to place the different surfaces analyzed, on different
levels. For example, if you want to isolate all the undercut, trimmed surfaces (in this
setting, the red surfaces), to a different level, you can do so by changing the value to
the desired level. Note: Leaving the values as Level 0, will NOT change the
properties of the levels. All the resultant surfaces will remain on the same level. In
this case, set the levels as shown

You can use positive or negative values to analyze your model.

Set your Angle, Above to 3 degrees.

Angle, Below to 0 degrees and leave the angle and chord tolerances at their defaults.

The prompt menu of Mastercam should display the following information:

Make sure your Cplane is set to TOP!!!

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You are now ready to perform your analysis

Click on Do it.

Your model is analyzed and displayed with the following results.

The surfaces in Red are equal to or below the Angle, Below of 0 degrees.

The surfaces in yellow are in between the maximum of 3 degrees and minimum angle
of 0 degrees.

The surfaces in green are equal to or above your angle for machining tolerance.

Obviously, this model in its current position has a few zones of undercut. At this time
the mold maker can decide to either one of two things to allow fabrication without
redesigning the complete part:

1. Create knock-outs, using the undercut surfaces that are on Level 4 and
machine the main surfaces that are above 0 degrees up to an angle of 0 degrees
(the yellow surfaces included), or machine the yellow surfaces along with the
undercut surfaces. This can be very costly!

2. Reposition the model until the negative or marginal draft areas are totally
eliminated. Moldplus can easily identify the problem areas without cutting a
costly prototype.

If we were going to produce this example, we could accomplish option 1. All the
undercut surfaces (red surfaces) are already on Level 4, and the yellow surfaces are on
level 3, which can be machined with either set.

To accomplish Option 1 is totally at the discretion of the individual mold design

expert and profit desired.

To accomplish Option 2 and save money using Moldplus you can do the following:

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First, click on Undo and retrieve the original model. All the surfaces are reverted to
their original state (color and level). We can rotate the model based on the side view
till we reach an angle that eliminates all undercuts.
Go to the Main Menu of Mastercam.

Set Cplane to S or Side view.

Xform, Rotate, All and click on Surfaces, Done. All the surfaces are selected and
highlighted in white.

Next, the system prompts you to enter the point to rotate about. Click on the bottom
right corner of the rectangle as the point of rotation.

Rotation Point

The following window is displayed

Enter a rotation angle of –5 degrees as shown above and make sure the Move is
checked. Click on OK. The whole part is rotated 5 degrees clockwise. The result is
shown in Purple. Click on the Clear Colors Icon in Mastercam. The surfaces are set
back to the original colors.

Now launch Moldplus, MAKE SURE YOU SET YOUR CONSTRUCTION

PLANE to TOP!

Using the same settings as before in Draft Angle Analysis, click on Do It.

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The following result should appear.

The result shown is better than the previous analysis, but we still have some areas of
undercut.

Click on Undo.

Now, repeat the process as before (part rotation) and rotate the model for an additional
angle of –6.5 degrees. The total rotated angle now is –11.5 degrees.

Make sure you check your Cplane Setting (to TOP) before clicking on Do It.

The following result should appear:

This is the result at a total part rotation of 11.5 degrees clockwise from the original
model setting.

Obviously, we have eliminated all of the undercuts in the corner. There are still other
areas of the model where there are still some undercut surfaces remaining that are a
result of design deadline. These areas would require redesign in order to pull the
mold.

26- -
By performing a draft analysis on the model, we have saved hours and hours of work
on analyzing each surface before machining them. No other software tool in the
industry performs such a complex task in such a cost efficient and simple manner!

Save the rotated part as DOOR_MM1.MC9. We will create run-off surfaces for the
geometry using the Automatic and Manual methods.

Parting Surface creation (Run-offs) – Automatic method

We will now create the run-offs using the Auto parting surface (Run-Off) creation.
This powerful function allows the user to create parting surfaces (Run-Off) to the
mold edge with a few easy clicks. We will create the surface extensions to the mold
edge (Run-Off) by merely chaining the mold edge.

Click on Parting, from the main Moldplus menu. When you click on Partsurf, the
following menu appears:

Click on Auto. The following menu appears:

The Auto Partsurf option basically requires that you adjust the settings, chain the
stock boundary (closed stock boundary) and use one of the options Create1 or
Create2 option.

27- -
Click on Settings. The following Window appears:

The parting surface extensions are created using the indicated color (in this case red)
and on the indicated level. A value of 0, will not change the properties of the level. If
the Create edge button is checked the edges curves will create the 3D edge curves
with the set color and level.

The Overlap value allows you to create an overlap extension of the surfaces on the
interior of the mold, based on the value. This helps in negative stock machining
and/or assuring sharp edges.

Leave the values and settings as is.

Click on Stock Lim. As default, the Mastercam Chain window is displayed.

Click on one of the edges of the rectangle. The entire chain is selected. WARNING:
The chained contour must be entirely closed. If it is not the automatic parting
surfaces (Run-Off) will not be created. Once you have selected the chain, clicked on
done twice, you are back at the main Auto partsurf menu.

Click on Create1

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The following surfaces are created and displayed.

The part surfaces are created immediately and the corners filled in. You will notice
that there may be a few modifications that may need to be done. Playing with the
tolerance value should result in better parting surface creation. If not, simply delete
the unwanted surfaces and modify the areas that are not acceptable. To reach this
stage in the first place, with a matter of a few clicks, is in itself a huge time saving
feature!

Shading the drawing and viewing it as shown above help in determining if the
projections are good or not.

Save the part as DOOR_MM2.MC9 if you wish. But, do not overwrite the
DOOR_MM1.MC9 file as we will use it for the following tasks.

Edges
Moldplus provides some extremely useful tools to create 2D or 3D edges on surfaces.
All edges of surface boundaries or just the parting edges can be created using these
tools. Surfaces generated from a Solid model that do not have edge curves for drilling,
contouring or pocketing purposes can easily be created using the planar option or drill
center option.

2D Project
The 2D Project edges menu allows you to create 2D projected curves of multiple
surface edges or parting edges of surfaces on a specified Z depth. This is very useful
for 2D contour machining of electrodes or machining stock off the mold sides before
performing the surface machining operation. The major advantage of using this
function is the fact that you can create the 2D edges as lines and arcs rather than just
lines of splines. This helps in smoother 2D machining of lines and arcs.

To try this feature, do the following:

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 Load the DOOR_MM1.MC9 file.

Launch Moldplus and click on Edges. The following menu should appear:

Click on 2D Project and click on Settings. The following window should appear:

The edges that are created can be saved as Splines, Lines or Lines and Arcs. Lines and
Arcs are most useful for 2D machining. Check the Lines and Arcs box, if it is not
already selected and leave the rest as default. Click on OK. The 2Dproject menu will
be displayed.

The part Edges menu will give you the edges for those surfaces that are on the
boundary of the part. This is very useful for 2D machining or to create boundary
curves for the part. The single Surf option allows you to create 2D projected edges for
a single surface. All edges will create 2D edges for every single surface on the model.

IMPORTANT: Before creating the edges, make sure the correct Z depth is set. The
projected curves will be created at the specified Z depth on the main menu. In this
case leave the default Z depth to 0.000

30- -
Set the color in Mastercam to Blue (number 9) and the Level to 3. All the edges will
be created in the selected color and will be placed on Level 3. Set your Cplane to
Top.

Click on Part Edges. All the boundary curves of the edge surfaces are created at the Z
depth of 0.000 in Blue and on level 3.

To clean the internal boundary curves and keep the outside boundaries only, you can
accomplish this in 1 of 2 ways.

Hide all levels except Level 3 or

ALT-E and select only color 9 (Blue)

We will use the Hide function in Mastercam. Click on ALT-E. The Hide menu is
displayed and requests you to select only the entities you want to keep on screen.

Click on All, Color, Blue. All the blue curves are highlighted in white. Click on
Done. Only the blue curves are displayed on the screen. All other entities have been
temporarily blanked.

Isometric View Top View

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From the Top View, we can use the Delete menu and use Window, Polygon and get
rid of all the interior geometry.

Your result should display in this manner once you delete the interior geometry.

TIP: How do you know if you have a clean geometry without any improper
intersections? You definitely need a clean geometry to completely chain the whole
geometry with one click. You can use the Mastercam Analyze, Chain function to test
whether the geometry is clean or not.

Go to Analyze, Chain and pick on any specific location of the geometry. The whole
geometry should be highlighted in white and the start point should be closest to the
endpoint where you selected. If the start point jumps to a whole new location, then
you have a break in the geometry at that location.

This task can save you some time in cleaning up the geometry later.

The geometry should appear in this format.

The green arrow for chaining should start from that location. If the green arrow
starts from some other location, in spite of clicking at this location, you have a
break in the geometry.

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Follow the above Analyze guidelines to test the integrity of both 2D and 3D edges.

Once the chain is cleaned up, you can hit ALT-E again and bring back the rest of the
hidden geometry.

You can now perform your machining operations or whatever else you plan to do with
the 2D geometry.

3D Edges
3D edges are useful to get the exact surface edges of the geometry as splines or lines.
The recommended setting for this example is splines. You can create the part edges
similar to 2D edges, with the exception that these edges follow the surface boundaries
at their respective Z depths. This is very useful for creating mold edge extensions.

To try this option, lets do the following:

Turn Level 3 off that contains the 2D edges. ALT-Z, and uncheck Level 3.

Change the color to Red (number 12) and change the level to 4.

Launch Moldplus, Edges, 3D edges. Lets look at the Settings page first. Click-on
Settings. The following Window should appear. Notice it is different from the 2D
edge window by only one selection missing. The Lines and Arcs option because
of the fact that you cannot create 3D Arcs.

Leave the default selection of creating the edges as Splines. The Lines option can be
used to create 3D edges on flat surfaces to create Moldlocks on the corner or side of
surfaces.

Click on OK.

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You are back at the main 3D edges menu, which is similar to the 2D edge creation
menu. Click on Part Edges. All the 3D part edges are created on the surface. The
result should appear in this fashion.

You can use the same procedure as defined in the 2D edge section to clean out the
interior edges and to check the integrity of the Chain.

Parting Surface creation (Run-offs) – Manual method

Once you have created the Part edges, you can now use these edges to create your
Mold edge extensions using the manual method. We will use these 3D edges for the
upcoming mold surface edge creation. You can save this file as DOOR_MM3.MC9
or keep working with the file as is.

We will now create Part Surfaces using the manual method. These surfaces can either
be (1) extended to a specified mold edge, (2) extensions of the surface edges by a
specified distance or (3) offset from a specified edge based on a set construction
plane.

Click on Parting, Partsurf. Then click on Mold Edge.

Mold edge
Mold edge allows you to create edge surfaces to a specific mold side, based on your
default set construction plane (usually Top). This feature is extremely useful to
quickly create run-off surfaces to the edge of a mold block. You can either create
surfaces by clicking on the edges of individual surfaces or by chaining curves that
represent the edges of the surfaces. We will first attempt it by using the edge of
individual surfaces.

Continue working with the current file or load DOOR_MM3.MC9 file (the file saved
with the 3D edges).

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When you click on Mold edge, the following menu appears:

Click on Mold side. This allows you to specify the mold side to create surface
extensions to. The following message appears in the prompt area of Mastercam.

Click on the lower left edge of the mold (green line that represents the length of the
mold as shown:

The line is highlighted. This will be the edge that all the surface edges are created to.
Turn Level 4 off. We do not need the 3D edges at this time.

The cursor on the menu jumps to the default setting for selecting the surface edge.
The following are the options for the type of selection you desire.

35- -
Edgesurf will select the edge of a surface, closest to where you select the surface and
create an edge surface. With one click, you can specify which edge to extend to. This
selection method may not be appropriate if you are dealing with a small surface where
you do not have enough room to click near the edge. In this case, you can use the
Surf+Edge option.

To use the Edgesurf option, do the following:

Zoom into an area where you want to create surface edges from:

When you click on the indicated edge using the Edgesurf option the following
resultant surface is generated.

36- -
Click on a few other surfaces and you will see that edge surfaces are created. This
allows easy edge surface creation. You can keep clicking on all the edges, one at a
time and you will soon realize that this method is a rather boring and time consuming
task!

The Surf+Edge works in a similar way, except that you have to first select the surface
and then indicate which edge you want to use to create the edge surface for. This takes
two clicks, but is useful when you have a hard time picking the correct edge using the
Edgesurf method!

The curVe option allows you to select an edge curve that represents the surface
boundary (usually the parting edge of the surface). Only individual curves can be
selected.

Chain Curv option is the best option to use when you have several edges to create
edge surfaces for. The edges can be created using the 3D Partedge option.

To use this option, turn Level 4 on. This should contain the 3D edges we created
earlier. Click on Moldedge and pick the same edge you used to create the individual
edge surfaces.

First, Undo all the surface edge extensions you created. Next, click on Chain Curv.
The standard Mastercam chain menu appears, asking you to select a chain of curves.
Note that you only want to chain the section of the surfaces that you want to extent to
the selected edge. In other words, make sure the chain does not go all the way around
the part edges. The other edges will need to be extended to the respective mold sides.

37- -
Click on Chain, Partial to indicate a partial chain or if in Mastercam version 8, you
can click on the beginning edge and click on an ending edge to automatically make
the chain a partial chain.

The chain start and end direction should display as indicated with the green and red
arrows respectively.

Next, zoom to the left corner of the mold and click on the last edge of the surfaces.
This part was already rotated to eliminate the undercuts in this corner.

38- -
Once the chain is completed, click on Done. The following resultant surfaces are
created.

With a few clicks of the mouse, you can complete the rest of the sides also in the
following manner.

Lets complete the rest of the sides. Click on MoldSide and choose the right side of
the mold edge represented by the line. Once the Mold side is selected, you can choose
Chain Curv, Chain, partial and chain as follows:

Start of Chain End of Chain

39- -
This following result will be created. Notice that the surfaces are created normal to the
construction plane, irrespective of whether the surfaces are vertical, small, sharp or
jagged.

Once this side is created, you can flip the part dynamically to get a better view of the
left side. Click on dynamic view and rotate the part till you get a comfortable view of
the left side of the part. Click on Mold side again and Chain Curv, chain, Partial and
chain as follows:

Start of Chain End of Chain

Once the chain is completed, the following resultant surfaces will be generated.

40- -
We can now complete the back or final side. From this view, zoom out till you see the
back area of the mold. The back consists of only one surface, therefore one curve. So
we can use the curve option to create the mold edge surface.

Click on Mold Side and choose the back edge. Then click on Curve and pick on the
red curve as shown.

After the back surface is created, the part should look as follows from the TOP view:

The next job remaining to finish the mold is to fill in the corners. Moldplus offers a
special feature that will help in accomplishing this task.

Dynamically rotate the part till you see the first corner you need to fill.

41- -
 Corner
The Corner function can be found in the PartSurf menu. The corner function allows
you to fill in a corner by using two reference surfaces that represent the two sides that
form the corner. The result is the creation of two surfaces that fill the corner area,
based on the two side reference surfaces selected and the adjacent surface edges that
form the corner. Dynamically rotate the geometry view until you see the top left
corner as shown below.

Click on Corner. The following prompt appears asking you to select the first
reference surface.

Select the Side surfaces that you just created using the Mold edge option as shown:

Note: If the references are not coincident, an error message will be displayed. You
must then choose your two reference surfaces again or recreate your edge surfaces.

If the reference surfaces are accepted, the following prompt appears.

The menu displays the four options for selecting either the surface edges, curves or
chain. The best options to use are the Edgesurf or Surf+edge option. This ensures that
you pick the correct surfaces and edges. Using the Edgesurf option, select the edges
of the four surfaces that make the corner.

42- -
As soon as all the corner reference surfaces are selected, the corner is automatically
filled. This will be the result.

Similarly, you can fill in the corner on the top right side using the same steps. To fill
in the front edges, select the Mold side as the front edge and select the surface edges
that you just created to fill the rectangular corners. As an example, to fill in the
bottom right corner, do as follows:

43- -
When all the corners are completed, your final result should display as follows:

The time taken to accomplish this task using Moldplus will save you hours and hours
of tedious work if you had to do this without Moldplus.

The rest of the topics covered here are the other options available under the Partsurf
menu.

Extend Edges
Extend edges allows you to extend the edges of surfaces that are both trimmed or
untrimmed as much as you desire. Mastercam and several other products lack this
functionality to extend edges of trimmed surfaces.

Using the same model, we can extend the edges of a few surfaces to illustrate the use
and concept.

From the Partsurf menu, click on Extend Edge. The system first prompts you for an
offset distance. Enter a value of 6 mm in the prompt area as follows:

Once your offset distance is entered, the following menu appears.

44- -
This provided two selection methods for edge selection. You are also provided the
option to change the direction of the edge extension using the Chg+/- function.

Zoom into the first hole of the door part and click on one of the surfaces first, and then
the edge as follows (you can work with the shaded image, the selected surface is
highlighted in the default selection color - white):

The resultant edge extension is created as a new surface from the selected edge as
follows:

You can flip the direction of the created surface to the opposite direction if you so
desire by clicking on the Chg+/- option. The Chg +/- option will rotate the surface
in 45 degree increments until the desired extension is achieved.

45- -
As you create the edges, you also have the option to Undo the edge surfaces created.
The Undo function will remove the edge surfaces created, one at a time in reverse
order as long as you stay in this function.

Offset
Offset surfaces can be created off the edges of surfaces (trimmed or untrimmed) using
any specified direction, normal to the surface edge or at an angle from the normal
surface edge.

When you click on Offset from the Partsurf menu, the prompt menu asks you to
specify the offset distance. Enter a value of 12mm.

The following menu appears providing these options:

The first selection allows you to specify the offset direction. Clicking on Direction,
brings up the following options.

This allows you to indicate the offset direction. The XYZ options indicate the
directions for creating the offset surfaces. The CP Norm option uses the current set
construction plane. The cHg +/- option works similar to the Extend Edge function.
The 2 pts allows you to specify the direction based on 2 points.

46- -
The Normal option allows you to specify an angle in the positive or negative
direction from the edge of the surface selected. When you click on it, the following
prompt appears:

To show the difference between the Extend Edge option and Offset option, we can
create an Offset surface next to the edge surface created and see how it is generated.

After entering the Offset function and indicating a value of 12mm, click on Direction
and specify the direction as Z. This will create all the offset surfaces normal to the set
construction plane. You can leave the Normal angle at zero (0) degrees.

The following result will appear when you select the edge of the surfaces. One of the
surfaces was flipped using the cHg +/- function twice.

Undo the two surfaces generated and click on Direction. This time click on Normal
and specify an angle of –45. Hit Esc to go back to the Main Offset Surface menu. The
prompt will then display the following menu.

Now click on the same two surfaces and flip one of them with the cHg +/- option. The
result will display as follows:

47- -
Play with this function with other direction settings to see what results you get. You
can chain curves or select curves with this option. Depending on the direction
changes, if you use the chain curves option, there is a very likely chance of having an
overlap between the offset surfaces.

Cplane
Cplane option allows you to create surface extensions to a specified plane. This is
useful for molds that need to be extended to a plane before creating runoff surfaces to
a mold edge.

To try this feature, load the original DOOR_MM.MC9 file again.

Click on Partsurf, Cplane. The following menu options are displayed:

The options are similar to the Offset surface menu, with the exception of the cHg +/-
menu selection.

You have the ability to select the edges of surfaces, curves or chain a set of curves to
create plane extensions to.

Click on Direction and click on Z. An arrow will point upward in the Z+ direction.

48- -
Always check the Normal function to make sure the correct angle is set. We will first
do it with an angle of 0 degrees.

Next, we will create a surface in the same Z direction but with the normal set to 45
degrees relative to the plane.

Click on Direction, then Normal and set the value to 45 degrees. When you Esc out of
the Direction menu, the following should be displayed in the prompt menu.

Now click on the edge of the surface next to the 0 degree surface you just created. The
following should be the result:

49- -
The front view clearly shows that the surfaces are created to the set Z depth.

Other features of Extend Edge option (Partsurf menu)

Two other features of Partsurf Extend Edge are the Overlap and creating the edge
surfaces at a desired angle.

Creating edge surfaces at angles other than 0 degrees.

Surface edge extensions to a mold edge are normally created perpendicular to the set
construction plane. In other words, for a top construction plane, all the surface edge
extensions to a mold edge are created parallel to the construction plane. You can
create mold edge extensions at user specified angles if desired.

To create edge extensions at angles other than 0 degrees, you have to create a
separate construction plane that represents your desired angle, set your Cplane by
choosing that angled plane and then create your surface edge extensions.

Reload DOOR_MM.MC9 or delete all the surface extensions that you just created.

50- -
Create the 3D Partedges for the model using the Top Cplane. (Edges, 3D edges, Part
Edges)

Click on ALT-Z to bring up the Level Manager. Enable Level 7. This level contains
a pre-defined Cplane with a 15 degrees downward rotation from the side view. Zoom
into the right corner of the model where the blue geometry is located.

Click on Cplane, Entity and pick the line marked X axis first and then the line
marked Y axis. This should display a new plane in the following manner. If the
display shows this way, click on Save, otherwise click on Next till you reach the
displayed Cplane.

Once the plane is selected, you are ready to create the part edges to the mold edge at
the desired angle.

Click on PartSurf, Moldedge, Mold side and choose the bottom side of the mold
edge. Use the Chain Curv , Chain, Partial to chain the bottom portion of the mold
edge to extend to. Notice the angle at which the surfaces are created.

51- -
A side view of the same extensions clearly shows that the surface extensions were
created at the set 15 degree angle.

The surfaces generated here will not have overlaps either between connecting
surfaces.

Overlap

This is an option in the Mold Edge surface creation menu. This is a very useful
setting, if you are working with negative molds, machining a toolpath with a negative
offset and need clearance for the tool.

To try this function, keep the same geometry on screen and delete all the angles edge
surface extensions. Also, turn Level 7 off.

Set the Cplane back to Top. Go to the Mold edge menu, one of the selections is the
Overlap function. Click on Overlap and specify a distance of 12mm.

52- -
Click on Mold side and pick the bottom edge. Using the Edgesurf option, click on
one or two of the mold edges. You will notice that the surfaces are extended to the
mold edge on one side and extended by a distance of 12mm on the other side.

If you machine this door and use a negative stock allowance of 12mm or lower, the
tool will not drop below the surface and edge boundaries.

After using Parting Surfaces (Run-Off) you might want to try creating Moldlocks.
They can easily be created just by following the Moldplus on-line help.

Cut and Slice

Moldplus offers powerful trimming functions that make life easy for anyone working
with trimmed or untrimmed surfaces. Several options are provided for trimming.
These tools are useful in any mold making industry where you need to trim surfaces to
planes, boundaries or curves. The ability to trim, automatically change the color of the
trimmed surfaces and work with them to make die inserts or cutouts can easily be
accomplished with the provided tools.

When you click on Cut and Slice from the main Moldplus menu, the following
options are displayed:

53- -
 X Section
X Section allows you to create closed or open-ended cross section lines across single
or multiple sets of surfaces. Multiple section lines at a set spacing can help in
generating surface curves or splines across a part.

We will first create Section lines as splines using a specified direction.

Load the DOOR_MM.MC9 file.

Click on Cut_and_Slice from the Moldplus menu and then on X Section. The
following menu appears.

Click on Settings. The following window appears:

54- -
The default window shows the above settings. The section lines will be created as
splines (which are fine for this example). All the default settings can be left as is. If
you prefer to create the section splines with a different color and level, you can do so.
Click on OK once you have made your necessary changes. (No changes for this
example).

Next, click on Direction pl. This works the same as the previous direction menus.
Click on Side(X) direction. The arrow should point in the following manner:

Set the part in Top View. This will make it easier to select the reference starting
point.

Next, click on Multiple. The following prompt appears in the Prompt window.

The distance between each section is requested. The more the segments you desire,
the smaller the value you input. We will use a value of 6mm as the distance between
each segment.

The next prompt that appears requests the number of segments you desire. Enter a
value of 50.

The Multiple option will create 50 sections across the part in the side direction, with a
spacing of 6mm between each section.

The next prompt asks you to select a plane position defined by a point. You need to
specify the starting point of the section lines. If surfaces exist from that point, section
lines will be created across the part. In this case, we can select the top left corner of
the mold block as a reference point. The following section lines are created across the
part.

55- -
Section lines can be used for reverse engineering, designing, drafting or verification
purposes. You can also use these for sectioning or slicing your surfaces to create cross
section views of your part.

Creating closed sections of parametric splines can be useful to measure the thickness
of solid modeled parts or for creating cross sections of the models. Closed section
boundaries can be filled with cross hatches. Points on the extremities of boundaries
that are open can also be created to indicate where the breaks are. We will now create
a few cross section splines for a model that has thickness between the walls.

Load the CASE_MM.MC9

Moldplus, Cut_and_Slice, Xsection, Settings

Set the options as displayed in the window below:

56- -
These settings allow you to hatch closed sections and create points on extremities on
sections that are open. The level and color for the sections and hatching are also set
differently. Click on OK once you are done with the Settings page.

Next, you need to set the direction for creating the sections. Click on Direction Pl and
select the Side(X) direction. The prompt area should display the selected direction as
follows:

Next, click on ALT-Z and enable Level 6. This will bring up some reference points
to be used to create the section splines. Change your Active or Main Level to 7.

Click on All Surfs. The system prompts you to select reference points. Click on each
of the displayed yellow reference points. You will notice that sections are created
along the X axis across all the surfaces, forming open or closed boundaries. You will
notice that the closed boundaries are all hatched in blue and the open boundaries have
points on their extremities.

Once the sections are created, click on ALT-Z and turn off all levels and keep Level
7 on. The following should be your result.

This result could be used for design analysis, drafting or measuring your thickness of
the mold.

This tool is also very useful if you want to create pocket or contour boundaries within
the model at specified Z heights. The direction of the plane used would be the Z
plane.

57- -
 Plane Trim
Plane trim allows quick trimming of multiple surfaces relative to a selected plane.

To try this feature, load the DOOR_MM.MC9 file.

Set the Cplane to Top.

Moldplus, Cut_and_Slice, Plane Trim. The following menu is displayed.

You can trim only an individual surface or all surfaces relative to a plane. Click on
Direction pl and set the plane to Front(Y).

The arrow should point in the vertical direction and the prompt menu should display
the following message.

Hit Esc. The following message is displayed in the prompt menu, reminding you to
save your part before trimming. Since this is so radical we always recommend saving
your part.

Click on All surfs. You are asked to select a point to represent the plane position.
Click approximately on the screen as shown.

The prompt asks you to select the side to keep. Since you chose the Y direction, if you
click above the point, the geometry below will be trimmed and disposed and vice
versa. We want to keep the geometry below the point. So we click below the point.
All the surfaces above the reference point are trimmed and deleted. Notice the speed
at which the surfaces are trimmed. The result should be as shown below:

58- -
The other plane selections work in a similar fashion.

Zig-Zag
Zig-Zag allows for quick trimming using a user defined zig-zag line chain that defines
the trimming contour.

Keep the same trimmed portion of the DOOR_MM on screen.

Click on Zig-Zag and define the trimming chain by sketching some points as follows
(approximately)

Once you select the curve, hit Esc. The system prompts you for the side to keep. Click
to the left of the Zig-Zag chain. The result after trimming should be as follows.

59- -
Zig-Zag is useful in Lathe operations, etc. where your trimming curves are linear. If
you need to trim surfaces to closed boundaries or pre-defined contours with radii, then
you need to use the Zone Split or Zone Delete option.

Zone Split
Zone Split is useful to trim surfaces to pre-defined contours that could consist of lines,
arcs or splines. If you have mold inserts and you need to trim out areas of the mold,
this is the perfect tool for it. Creating electrodes by trimming out an area of the mold
can be done using this option. More advanced methods of electrode geometry creation
and identification can be achieved using Moldplus Max. The split is based on the
selected geometry and construction plane. The resultant surfaces are created in a
preset color of red.

Load the DOOR_MM.MC9 file.

Click on ALT-Z and enable Level 8. We will use the pre-defined contour to create
the speaker knockout area. A blue contour with some fillets is displayed. Switch the
geometry to the Top view. This will assist on easier selection of the contour.

Moldplus, Cut_and_Slice, Zone Split. The following menu is presented.

60- -
Click on Settings. The following windows is displayed.

You can have better control of the split surfaces now by defining different colors and
levels for the original zone and split zone. The “First Zone” will keep the original
geometry in the level and color defined. The Black color and 0 for level will leave all
attributes as is. The “Second Zone” will be the split surfaces and as default they are
assigned a color of Red (12). The Level is also set to be at the original level. You can
assign a different level if desired.

Click on OK to accept the settings as shown. From the main menu, click on Do It.
The system will ask you to define the Zone Split boundary. Click anywhere on the
blue geometry, the system will automatically chain the boundary. The contour will be
chained and highlighted in white. You can chain a few more contours if you like (if
you created extra contours). Since we have only one contour, click on Done to exit
from the chain menu.

The system asks you to “Indicate the First Zone”. Click outside the chain. This will
trim all the surfaces within the contour and change the surfaces inside the contour to a
red color.

The result should display as follows:

You can transform the geometry in Z by 250mm to take a look at the cut-out surfaces.
Click on Xform, Translate, All, Color, Red (12), Done, Rectang and enter a value
of Z250 (make sure the Z is in front of the 250) and say Move in the Translate
window. This will move all the red surfaces 250mm above the rest of the surfaces.

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Switch to an Isometric view and you can have a better view of the cutout. You can
click on Clear Colors to get the original color of the trimmed surfaces.

Zone Delete
Zone Delete is identical in operation as Zone split with one exception. The remaining
surfaces are automatically deleted.

If we had chosen Zone Delete and performed the above operation, the following
would result:

The remaining geometry is deleted with the Zone Delete option

This completes the trimming options for Moldplus. These tools will trim any sets of
surfaces, whether trimmed or untrimmed.

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Views
Moldplus offers a neat method to create Views for Surface geometry that lack
wireframe geometry. You can create your standard 2D orthographic ISO, ANSI or
custom views for surface models. This can then be used for drafting purposes or for
creating quick layouts of the surface model. All the apparent edges of the surfaces can
be generated for easy comprehension. You can preview your Views first, before
actually creating them. Make sure you select a different active level and color before
creating the views. You can do these in the Settings page.

To try this feature, load the O_ELEC_3.MC9 file.

Click on Views from the Moldplus menu. The following menu appears:

The Settings page will bring up the following pop-up window.

Based on the above settings, you will create an ANSI style layout with the Top,
Isometric, Front and Side Views. You can add more views by simply clicking on the

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check boxes. The distance between each view is spaced at 20mm. The views will be
created on Level 7 and the geometry color will be dark blue(1). You have the option
to create the apparent surface edges and break the splines into arcs.

Once you have these Settings, click on OK. Click on Preview to get a quick layout.
The screen should display as follows:

If this is satisfactory, click on Do It. The views will be created to the specified level.
If you wish to Undo the creation, you can do so while you are still in this menu. If you
hit Esc from this display, the preview will disappear and by fitting the geometry to the
screen, the original geometry will reappear.

Stk_Elctrd
Stock Electrode is a quick and simple solution for creating rectangular containment
boxes around selected surface geometry, to be used for electrode machining.

This is a real simple tool for creating containment boundaries for simple electrode
machining purposes. Based on the surfaces selected and the settings, a rectangular box
with specified offsets is created around the geometry. For a more automated process
for electrode identification and creation, use Moldplus Electrode!

TIP: This tool can also be used to calculate the bounding box of the entire set of
surfaces for determining the Core and Cavity stock size.

Load the DOOR_MM.MC9 file.

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Moldplus, Stk_Elctrd will bring up the following menu.

Click on Settings. The following pop-up window appears.

Attributes defines the level and color for the containment box to be created. Leave the
settings as is with the exception of checking the Trim in Box option. This will result
in a containment box that is offset by 10 mm in X, Y and Z directions, based on the
selected surfaces. The surfaces will then be trimmed within the boundaries of the
containment box. Make sure you save the original model before performing the
trimming option!

Change to the Top View and select a few surfaces as shown. Click on seLection to
choose the surfaces you want to create the electrode box for and click on Done.

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Click on Do It. You will notice a white containment box is created around the
selected surfaces. A Window pops up verifying if you want to trim all the surfaces to
the box.

Select OK if you are positive you have saved the original model. All the surfaces will
be trimmed and the remaining surfaces will only be the ones in the containment box.
When viewed from an Isometric View, the following should be the result.

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At this point, you have the option of rotating the electrode 180 degrees so that you can
machine the rear of the part. Click on Rotate 180. The entire electrode is rotated 180
degrees. This will be the resultant geometry.

The center point created is now on the top. You can now machine the surfaces and
insert the electrode back to its original location.

We have covered a lot of ground in Moldplus. You should be able to refer to the
above sections and optimally use these functions!

Solid Sep
Solid Sep automatically separates core and cavity geometry of complex surface
models that were generated with a Solid Modeling package. If an end user has to
spend hours and hours deciding which surfaces belonged to core or cavity, then
changing the attributes, he would probably quit his day job and become a bartender at
night or he will realize that he has finally found eternal employment!

As increasing worldwide competition demands that you deliver molds faster than ever
before, tools such as Solid Sep can keep your company competitive. A task that would
normally take hours, days or weeks can be accomplished in a matter of few minutes.

If you imported surfaces from certain CAD systems, chances are that some of the
surfaces are duplicates and corrupt or bad. Here a basic set of guidelines to follow
before performing a Solid Sep operation.

When you import a new file by IGES, CATIA, ProE or whatever external translator,
make sure you follow these guidelines before proceeding on.

1. Import the file and save it first in Mastercam.

2. There is a good chance that the imported model is in the wrong view. The Side
View may actually be the Top View, etc. or the part may be rotated to a
designer preferred view. Set the geometry to your preferred view and angle.

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 3. Click on File, Next Menu, Ramsaver and click on Yes in the Prompt
window. The model will be cleaned of any corrupt or duplicate entities. Save
the cleaned file.
4. The wireframe geometry is not useful in the Solid Sep operation. You can
either delete them (all lines, arcs, points, splines, etc) or move them to a
different level.
5. Save the cleaned geometry.

Following the above steps will save you some frustration and not allow the wireframe
entities to deceive you when you perform a Solid Sep operation.

Solid Sep will split surfaces, based on the set construction plane (usually, the direction
of machining – Top). It will slice any surfaces straddling the parting line. This
function alone is a time saver if you need to construct parting lines and then slice the
surfaces. Tubes, gas tanks, pipes, manifolds and any surfaces that go beyond the
parting line are not easy to split and usually take hours to precisely create the parting
line and then perform the split operation.

To understand the process, lets try an example with a few straddle surfaces.

Project 3 – Solid Separation on Straddle Surfaces

This project will teach you how to create core and cavity surfaces from a surface
model that contains straddle surfaces. Straddle surfaces are those surfaces that go
beyond the parting lines in a surface model. Common straddle surfaces are hoses and
tubes.

Load the 605TURBO_MM.MC9 file.

This geometry has already been cleaned for duplicates, etc. but feel free to practice
through the preparation steps. Once you are done, launch Moldplus and click on
Solid Sep. The following menu appears.

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The main function to always start with is the Settings window. Click on Settings. The
following pop-up window appears.

Solid Sep will separate the surface model into five different results. CP Z+, CP Z-,
Vertical, Straddle and Unknown surfaces. Each result is usually associated to a
different color. You have the option of isolating each result to a separate level also. As
displayed here, the CP Z+ surfaces will be marked as green and saved on Level 2. The
CP Z- is brown and stored on Level 3. The Vertical surfaces that could belong to
either side are marked in yellow and stored on Level 4. Straddle surfaces are marked
in light blue color and stored on Level 5. Unknown surfaces are marked in red and
stored on Level 6. The “Name Levels” option will name the levels using the names
indicated.

The CP Translation heights (Z) allow you to view your CP Z+ surfaces at a set
translated distance (default 250mm) and the Undecided surfaces (Vertical, Straddle
and Unknown) at half the distance of the CP Z+ (default 125mm) to visually inspect
the surfaces and move them to the correct sides. Upon completion of the final
separation, you can Close the mold from the main Solid Sep menu. This will ensure
that all the surfaces are moved back to their original Z heights.

The other settings are explained when you click on Help.

The Pre split Straddle surfaces function will split all the surfaces that straddle the
parting line and move them to the appropriate side. If this check box is disabled, you
will have to split the Straddle surfaces from the Move Undef. Menu. The Leave
Straddle surfaces on Straddle level will split the straddle surfaces at the parting line,
but still leave them at the original straddle level.

Now, that you have a better understanding of the Settings menu and know exactly
how to use it, set your window identical to the displayed one and click on Done.

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Click on Do It. This will perform the Sold Sep operation; create the Core and Cavity
surfaces and pull the core and cavity surfaces apart by 250 mm.

This should be the resultant surface split.

At this point, you can also notice that there are two surfaces that belong to the CP Z-
half, in the CP Z+ half. While in the main Solid Sep menu, you can move any
surface to the opposite half by just clicking on it! You do not have to perform an
Xform, Translate option as many customers who do not pay attention to this little
function normally do.

Zoom into this location and click on the surface as shown. The Auto highlight
function of Mastercam makes visualizing the selection surfaces a lot easier. Move the
cursor to the green surface. When it highlights in white, click on it. The surface will

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immediately snap to the cavity half. Do the same for the other surface. With 2 clicks
you have changed the attributes of those surfaces!

The result after clicking on these 2 surfaces will be the following.

Once the model is correctly separated, you can click on Open/Close to restore the
original Z settings for all the surfaces.

The final result should display as follows. Notice we went from an unsplit model to a
split model with the core and cavity on a separate level, all in a matter of seconds!

We can now attempt the core and cavity split for the straddle surfaces without using
the Pre-Split Straddle surfaces option. This method could be useful in the case of large
molds, where you identify manually, the straddle surfaces to be split.

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Reload the 605URBO_MM.MC9 file.

Launch Moldplus, Solid Sep, Settings and uncheck the Pre split Straddle surfaces.
Click on Done.

Click on Do It. The following should be the result of the split. Notice that all the
straddle surfaces (majority of them) are marked in the light blue color and are on the
Undefined Z location.

At this point, we need to split the straddle surfaces from the Move Undef. Menu. This
menu allows you to easily split the straddle surfaces and move the vertical and
undecided surfaces to either side.

Click on Move Undef. The following menu should appear:

Click on Straddle. The arrow will display as above. We need to select the geometry
now. Click on MultiSel, All, Surfaces. All the surfaces will get selected. This is
OK. Moldplus will only split the straddle surfaces displayed. Click on Done. The
following should be the result:

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VERY IMPORTANT! You are still in the Move Undef. menu. Make sure you click
on Done and go back to the main menu before moving surfaces between core and
cavity!

Click on Done.

You are now in the main Solid Sep menu. Move the two green surfaces to the correct
half by clicking on them. Then click on Close. The following should be the result at
the end.

Notice that these steps took a few more clicks than the first method, but nevertheless
could prove to be useful if you wish to only split selective straddle surfaces.

Now that you have had a tour of the Straddle function, we can now try the core and
cavity split of a more complex model.

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Project 4 – Solid Separation on a complex Model
This project is similar to the above, with the absence of Straddle surfaces. However,
the proper procedure of cleaning the model before performing the Solid Sep function
will be covered. Mastercam provides several tools to verify the cleanliness of the
surface model imported into the system. Make sure you follow this procedure before
using the Solid Sep function.

Load the CASE_MM.MC9 file.

We will first perform the model analysis. This model has already been checked
before, but will do it anyways, to practice the steps.

Click on Analyze, Surfaces, Check Model, All, Surfaces, Done. The system
prompts you for a default tolerance for verifying self-intersection. Accept the default
value of 0.005 and hit Enter.

The entire model is analyzed. If any bad surfaces are found, they will be marked in a
color of your choice. Mastercam will also prompt you with the option to “attempt to
fix” some of the bad surfaces. Your best bet is to usually mark the bad surfaces in a
different color and clean them individually by creating edge curves and recreating the
surfaces.

The following should be the displayed result.

Once you have determined that you have a good surface model, you can proceed to
the next step.

Next, click on Delete, All, Lines, then All, Arcs, All, Points and All, Splines. Since
this model is clean, you will not see any entities deleted. You can opt to move these to
a new Level if you prefer. These will only hinder visually in the Solid Separation.

Next, click on File, Next Menu, Ramsaver. The following prompt will appear on the
screen.

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This feature looks for corrupt or duplicate entities in the file database. Click on Yes,
and let the feature do its job. The following message will appear if the file is clean.

Go ahead and save the file at this time. If the system cleans the database, it will
prompt to save the file automatically.

We are now ready to perform the Solid Sep operation.

Click on Moldplus, Solid Sep, Settings and verify the settings. Set them as shown
here.

Always make sure the Cplane is set correctly. In this situation, it should be Top.

Click on Do It.

The surfaces (478 in total) are split apart in a few seconds. You will notice that there
are several vertical surfaces represented by the yellow color and displayed in the
middle. Shade the result. It should display as follows:

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The vertical surfaces can easily be moved to the top or bottom, using the Move Undef.
Menu. The vertical surfaces can be moved as a whole group or selectively from the
menu.

Click on Move Undef. The following menu is presented. As default, Vertical is

selected. We will move all the Vertical surfaces to the Top. Click on To Top. The
display should show as follows:

Click on MultiSel, All, Surfaces. Done. All the vertical surfaces will be moved to
the top half in 1 move! Think about the time savings here. The following should be
the result of moving the vertical surfaces.

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Click on Done from the Move Undefined menu. Click on Open/Close to restore the
original Z settings. The following will be the result.

If you wish to create rapid parting surfaces for this model, activate Level 10 for the
mold edge, disable Level 3 to only view the green surfaces and using the Auto
Partsurf, define the stock boundary and click on Create2. You are done!!!

As you can see, this one feature could pay off your purchase of a seat or two of
Moldplus! Imagine life without it!!!

Electrode Maker
Complex molds normally require multiple electrodes, each with a different form and
location. The time you now spend doing this boring task is one of the major problems
why molds are always late. Each EDM project is what we call a JOB. In order to

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make electrodes quickly we must have a library of standard electrodes, bases (holders)
for the standard electrodes and a JOB name.

Project 5 – Isolating and creating electrodes for machining

Electrode creation and manipulation can be a boring, cumbersome and time
consuming task. Moldplus Electrode Maker provides tools to make it fun, efficient
and productive!

Load the O_ELEC_4.MC9.

Launch Moldplus, ElectrodeMKR, click on Job Setup.

The following dialog is displayed.

This tab (Files/Location) is to select the Data paths for saving the identified
electrodes to, the database where the standard electrodes are saved to and the
electrode holder directory. MAKE SURE THAT THE MOLDPLUS_JOB_123
FOLDER IS EMPTY. We will use this directory as the Job Directory for this project.
(A quick indicator for this is whether the “View JobList” button is active or not. If it

78- -
is active, it means the directory is NOT empty. If it is grayed out, it means that there is
no JobList.txt file and that it is probably empty). If you fail to empty this folder, then
you might have different results.

Click on the Options Tab.

This tab controls most of the electrode maker parameters for optimally inserting
electrodes and preparing the electrode for machining. “Grid step to auto center
electrode” allows you to round off the electrode center point values to the closest
decimal or integer for easier machine programming. “Electrode Snap angle in
degrees” controls the angle increments to optimally insert an electrode at an angle to
reduce rough stock usage by using a smaller electrode. “Starting electrode storage
level” sets the level to start storing the electrodes to after isolation. Each electrode will
be stored on 2 levels - the reference geometry will be stored on the first level (20) and
the electrode will be stored on the following level (21) in this case. The succeeding
electrodes are automatically saved on the following pairs of levels.

“Minimal Electrode length (Z)” will create new standard electrodes using this value
as the minimum Z length. “Tip Z offset” controls the Z offset in the direction of the
tip of the electrode. “Make Electrode files” will save the electrode files to the job
directory in addition to saving the electrodes within the part file. “Create Toolpath
Group Names” will create Mastercam toolpath group names using the operation name
and gap value as the name. “Skip Collision test” will disable the holder collision
detection feature of electrode maker. Do not check this box! “Make bottom Z point”
will create a yellow point at the lowest Z point of the reference surfaces. This value is
also output in the HTML report. “The Back Z extend” will create a dark blue point at
the specified distance, using the highest Z surface height as the reference point. This
point is used to create the automatic extensions for the reference geometry in the
direction of the holder. “Minimum holder offset” will also extend the Z height of the
electrode further, using the holder as the reference point. These 2 values will help
create electrodes with ample clearance for making the electrodes and then re-inserting
them. Leave all the settings as displayed above.

79- -
Click on the Machine Settings tab.

This Tab allows you to create different machine configurations for manufacturing the
electrodes. Each machine can have 4 different operations to be performed on the
electrodes. These values do not affect the electrode geometry in any manner or form.
The operation names and offset values are used to create the toolpath group names
and to be listed in the HTML report. This will tell the operator how many operations
to perform to manufacture the electrode. Choose the following machine from the list.
If this does not exist on your system, create the above machine and operations.

Click on OK to close the Job Settings dialog. You will be returned to the electrode
maker menu. You can now start isolating reference geometries to insert electrodes.

Click on Auto Insert. The system prepares the part for collision testing. We will
now identify a rib to insert an electrode for. By clicking on any surface that is related
to the first rib displayed, the whole rib is selected and the electrode list is immediately
presented for insertion. Please note that this automatic selection, without entering the
Isol Geom menu will allow you to select 1 set of reference geometry immediately. To
select more than 1 set of reference geometries, you need to click on Isol Geom, select
the geometry and then click on Done to get the Electrode Insert menu.

Make sure you click on one of the vertical surfaces for electrode reference geometry
selection. If the whole model gets selected, simply close the Electrode List window,
click on Undo and start over.

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 Selection
result. 1 click,
whole rib is
selected

Select this face for

the rib.

As soon as the rib is selected, the Electrode List is presented. The Standard
electrodes found in the database are displayed in the order of minimum volume of
stock needed to manufacture this electrode. If a standard is not found in the database,
there will be nothing listed. Electrode maker always recommends the smallest stock
size for manufacturing the electrodes and lists them in the order of using the minimal
amount of stock needed.

In the above case, for the rib, there are 6 standard electrodes that can be used. The list
presented to you may not be the same. Notice the volume percentage indicates the
minimal stock size.

Select the first standard, the FC9_124_70. Highlight and click on OK. The
electrode is inserted. You can check the different views of Mastercam to verify that
the electrode is centered to the reference geometry and that it clears the part with the
holder.

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 Isometric View Top View Front View

You are now presented with a new menu that limits you to Trim2Elec, MoveElec,
Save or Undo.

Click on Save to show the next dialog and the process. The following dialog is
presented with a name automatically started for the electrode called ELECT_1. It also
prompts to save to Level 20. The machine chosen is what you had chosen in the Job
Setup.

Click on OK. The electrode and reference geometry will be saved to the external file
and to Level 20 and 21 of the main part file and then hidden. The following message
will be presented and the geometry will be presented as follows:

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You have done the first electrode! You are immediately presented with the Auto
Insert Electrode menu again. This time, you can do an angular electrode. To do this,
make sure that the Angle Fit is set to Y in the Auto Insert Menu.

Click on the following surface to select the reference geometry. The result of the
selection will be as follows:

Selection
Select this result.
surface. Reference
geometry
selected

83- -
The Electrode List is immediately presented again.

Please note that the list may not display all the electrodes displayed here. But the first
3 are all that matter.

Select the first electrode from the list FC10_23_60. Highlight and click on OK. The
following electrode will be inserted and at an angle for optimal stock usage.

Isometric View Top View Side View

Notice from the Top View, the optimal angle that the electrode is rotated to for
minimal stock usage.

Click on Save from the menu. The electrode will be saved to Level 22 and into the
external file.

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We will now do the isolation of a rib and create a new non-standard electrode.

Click on the vertical surface of the succeeding Rib (from the first rib already done),
to select the geometry from the menu. The following should be the result.

Second rib selected to

make 3rd electrode by
clicking on vertical
surface

When the Electrode List is displayed, click on

The following dialog is displayed.

The minimal stock dimensions are displayed, along with the recommended stock sizes
for the new standard. You can define whether the electrode is Copper or Graphite,
specify whether it is Flat, Square or Round, the minimal electrode length is calculated
based on the set parameters in the Job Setup page. When you check the “Add it to
Standards” box, it will name the electrode with the sizes and using the naming for FC
– for Flat Copper, followed by the thickness, width and height and save it to the
database for future use.

Set the parameters as define above. The only change made to the default display of
the dialog was the minimal height was changed to 71mm instead of the recommended
70.

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Click on OK. Moldplus will prompt you to choose a holder. Select the following
holder from this dialog. Notice that using the Mastercam File Get menu, you can
preview the electrode holder before attaching it to the electrode.

Select the 70X70X30MM.MC9 file for the electrode holder. Click on Open. The
electrode is attached to the new standard we just created and inserted into the
geometry. The following will be the result.

You can now click on Save to save the electrode.

You have now isolated and inserted electrodes. We will now move on to viewing the
electrodes done so far.

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Click on Backup to take you back to the main Electrode Maker menu. From here,
click on ElecDisplay. The following menu is presented.

From here, you can look at all the electrodes that have been isolated so far.

Click anywhere on the geometry. Immediately all the reference geometries that
were hidden will be displayed. The geometry will probably first disappear and then
reappear with the reference geometries displayed (the reference geometries will be
displayed in the result(magenta) color. This is a quick way to visualize the work done
so far. You could also have clicked on Show Ref from the menu to get the same
result.

You can now view all the inserted electrodes by clicking on the Show Elec in the
menu, or click on any specific reference geometry that is in magenta color to see the
corresponding electrode. We will do the latter.

Click on the first rib that is displayed in the magenta color.

Click on this
surface.

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The first electrode is immediately displayed. You do not have to click on Levels and
the Level Manager to display the electrodes. This menu does it all!

We will now create the Automatic surface extensions for this electrode towards the
holder.

From the same ElecDisplay menu, click on AutoExtend. The following will be the
result.

TIP: If the part geometry is blue in color (same color as holder geometry, auto extend
will not work.

Isometric View Side View

The electrode reference geometry’s back surfaces are extended tangentially to the
Dark Blue point that is the distance specified in the Job Setup for the Back Z extend
from the lowest Z point. A flat surface is then created automatically to indicate the
guard plane.

Click on Show Part to see the part in relations to the electrode while in the Side
View. You will notice that the surface extensions clear the part. This helps immensely
in manufacturing the electrode.

Electrode displayed in reference to the original part. Auto extended surfaces

clear part

You can create auto extensions for the remaining electrodes in a similar manner.
These extensions are all saved within this part file. If you wish to create the
extensions for the files stored in the Job Directory, then you have to load the

88- -
individual electrodes and prepare them within the electrode file. Now you can move
on to the next step, which is generating the HTML Report.

Click on Clear All, then on Show Part. The following should be displayed on the
screen.

We will now generate a HTML Report of the electrodes identified so far. This is a
powerful and useful tool that will provide the Electrode Maker with both visual
information as well as textual information for manufacturing the electrodes and
reinserting them.

Click on HTML Report from the main Moldplus Electrode Maker menu. The
following dialog is displayed. The default settings are good. The electrodes identified
are listed in the Electrode list option. We will automatically capture the images for all
the electrodes for the specified Views, Top, Side and Isometric.

89- -
Click on

Moldplus will automatically capture all the electrode images for each electrode with
Top, Side and Isometric Views. The Masterpiece will also be captured for the ISO
view to show the electrode in relations to the whole part.

The following should be the result of the display when all the images are captured.
When the ELECT_1 is highlighted as shown, the corresponding images will be
displayed.

Now we can move on to selecting all the text that will be displayed within the HTML
Report.

Click on the HTML Settings Tab. The following should be the display. All the items
are checked on the list. The items can be reordered if desired and only selected items
can be output if preferred.

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Leave the default settings and simply click on View HTML. The HTML Report will
be presented with the following details. The information presented here is only for 1
electrode.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Date, Time 03/30/2002 19:00:34

MC9 file of origin D:\MCAM9\MILL\MC9\MOLDPLUS_EXAMPLES_MM\0_ELEC_4.MC9

Job name Moldplus_Job_123

Job directory D:\Mcam9\Mill\mc9\Moldplus_Job_123\


91- -
 

 


  


Electrode Name ELECT_1

MC9 file of Origin D:\MCAM9\MILL\MC9\MOLDPLUS_EXAMPLES_MM\0_ELEC_4.MC9

Electrode Filename D:\Mcam9\Mill\mc9\Moldplus_Job_123\ELECT_1.mc9

Level in part file 20

Level Name S: ELECT_1

Machine Charmilles

Operation Rough_Heavy: Gap=0.0300

Rough_Light: Gap=0.0200
Finish_Heavy: Gap=0.0100
Finish_Light: Gap=0.0050

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 Minimum Electrode Dimensions X=117.2269 Y=2.6531 Z=69.2555 

Standard Used FC9_124_70

Standard Dimensions X=124.0000 Y=9.0000 Z=70.0000 A=90.0000 

Electrode Type Flat

Material Type Copper

Electrode Lowest Z point  3.9624
Nominal Position X=117.8877 Y=0.0000 Z=70.9624 A=90.0000 

Comment



 


  

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The above is just an excerpt of the HTML report. Without doing any settings changes,
you can easily generate and display the report. All the information relevant to the
electrode is listed in the report.

Click on Close to close the HTML Report dialog. We will now prepare an electrode
for machining.

Open the Moldplus_Job_123 folder and open the ELECT_2.MC9 file. The following
electrode and geometry should be presented.

Notice that the electrode needs to be rotated and translated to origin for machining
purposes.

From the ElectrodeMKR menu, click on Prep Elec. Click on OK to the prompt
dialog. Click on Translate, Make sure the UseRedPt has the arrow pointing to it.
This is the highest point of the electrode stock that you need to move to Z0. This is
normally the location to which you want to translate to.

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Click on To Origin. The following will be the result. Notice that the red point is now
at 0,0,0. Then click on Rotate, By Origin. The right hand side will be the result.

Translate to Rotate By

Origin Origin

Now switch to the Top View. Since this electrode was isolated and inserted with an
angle fit, we need to rotate one of the edges back to 0 degrees. To do this, from the
same Rotate menu, click on HrzAngle and select one of the edges to rotate to
Horizontal or 0 degrees. The following will be the result.
Electrode rotated back to 0
Select this red edge for rotation degrees
to 0 degrees

Quickly, we have translated and rotated and positioned the part for machining. The
last thing left is the Ext2Cont option for this electrode.

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Click on Iso View and from the Prep Elec menu, click on Ext2Cont. The following
should be the result.

TIP: If the part geometry is blue in color (same color as holder geometry, auto extend
will not work.

The electrode is now ready for machining!

Exit Moldplus, click on Toolpaths, Operations Manager, you will notice that toolpath
group names have been created for the electrodes.

By right clicking on each operation, you can create any Mastercam toolpaths of
preference using the gap value and type of operation listed for reference.

96- -
Project 6 – Solid Separation, run-off creation, electrode
isolation and preparation
This project covers most of the features of Moldplus and Moldplus Electrode for
Mastercam. Walking through this part will give a good idea of the tools available and
the process of preparing a part for creating the inserts for the mold.

Load the SOLIDSEP_ELECTRODES_MM.MC9

You need to separate the surfaces for Core and Cavity first.

Before doing that, we can close the holes on the top and untrim the cavity surface
before performing the Solidsep operation by using the Close Trims, Merge Brothers
feature using the Both options feature. This will help in closing the holes on both
sides (Core and Cavity side) minimizing time used later to accomplish the same tasks.

Click on ALT-E and select the following surface. This is the surface which will
become the core surface top.

Select the bottom

surface to untrim.

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This is what the selected surface should be, representing the core surface top:

Launch ElectrodeMKR, Close Trims and select the Merge Brothers option. The
Merge Brothers option is ideal here because there are closed holes and open gaps on
the surface. Set the option to Both Options. This will untrim the holes on the surface
and create fill surfaces for them.

Now select close to the surface to fill the holes. This should be the result of the
operation:

We have untrimmed the surface and created fill surfaces for the surface. The fill
surfaces are useful for the Cavity side. Now click on ALT-E to see the whole part
model.

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We will now proceed with the separation of the Core and Cavity.

To do this, click on Solid Sep, Settings and make sure the settings are as follows:

Click on Done and Do It. The surfaces will be separated and the result will display as
follows:

Notice that the holes are filled for the Cavity side and the core side! There is 1
surface that is marked as vertical that belongs to the Core. Using the Move Undef.,
move the single Vertical surface to the Core (To Bottom), then click on Done to
exit the Move Undef. menu. The separation process is complete.

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Click on Open/Close to return the surfaces to the original Z level.

If you click on ALT-Z, and look at levels used, the following should be the result.

Disable Level 3 (CP Z-).

We will now create run-off surfaces on the CP Z+ side.

The following will be the result when you turn Level 3 off.

We will now create run-off surfaces to the mold edge (green wireframe boundary).

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Click on Parting, Partsurf, Auto, verify that the settings are as follows:

Click on OK.

Chain the stock boundary by clicking on any line of the boundary. Click on Create2.
The following will be the result.

Notice that all the holes are closed and the cavity is done!!!

Click on ALT-Z and then shut off levels 1 and 2. Enable Level 3.

We will now extract some electrodes from the core surfaces.

There are several electrodes in this file. We will do one that is a single electrode and
one that requires a few picks for the electrode geometry.

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Launch the Electrode Maker, click on Job Setup and create a new directory for this
job. We will call this job directory MOLDPLUS_JOB_1

You can create the new directory by clicking on Browse from the Job Directory.

Click on New Folder and enter the following name and accept the name.

Click on OK. The Job Directory should display the Moldplus_Job_1 directory as the
default Job directory. This should be the display.

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You can leave the rest of the settings for the other tabs as default. Click on OK.

Click on Auto Insert, click on the following rib. If the whole geometry gets selected,
click on Undo, click on Isol Geom and make sure the Isol Depre option is selected
since all these electrodes are depressions in the core.

Select this rib

The Electrode Insert dialog is automatically displayed if the electrode was isolated
from the main Auto Insert menu.

You may be presented with some electrode options. Click on

Accept the default values presented. You do not need to save this to the database
unless you plan to isolate more electrodes.

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Select the 54X54X30MM.MC9 file for use as the holder.

TIP: ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT THE HOLDER GEOMETRY NEEDS TO

BE BLUE IN COLOR IN ORDER FOR THE AUTO EXTEND TO PROPERLY
FUNCTION. PART GEOMETRY CAN NEVER BE BLUE IN COLOR!

The following electrode will be created and inserted into the geometry.

Click on Save from the menu to save the electrode to an external file. Accept the
defaults in the Save dialog.

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We will now isolate these reference surfaces to create an electrode for.

Second electrode
reference geometry

The surfaces here will need to be selected using the Isol Geom menu since there are
about 5 sets of geometry to select to make this electrode.

Click on Isol Geom. Make sure the Isol Depre option is selected. Zoom in on the
electrode part and click on the following surfaces to select the 5 sets of geometry for
this electrode.

Select the base surfaces

to highlight the vertical
surfaces along with it.

Once the reference geometries are highlighted in the following manner, click on Done
from the menu. You will once again be presented with some electrodes to insert. We
will once again create a new electrode for this geometry selection.

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Using the above settings, click on OK and then select the following holder 3R 20
MM.MC9.

The following will be the result of the electrode creation and insertion.

Click on Save and save the electrode with the default settings.

Click on Backup, and then select Elec Display.

Since we hid the cavity surface and the runoffs, do not click on the geometry directly
as the other surfaces will be also displayed.

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Click on Show Ref. The two reference geometries are displayed. Click directly on
this set of geometries.

Select this set of

surfaces.

The following electrode will be displayed. We can now perform the AutoExtension
on this electrode. Extending each of these surfaces will be a painstaking process
without the AutoExtend feature!

Click on AutoExtend from the same menu. This will be the result of the surface
extensions.

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Click on Clear All and then Show Part to get the part view. The Levels 1 and 2 will
also get activated. Disable Level 1 and 2 using ALT-Z.

Click on HTML Report. The 2 electrodes should be presented that were inserted.

Click on

The following will be the result if you highlight ELECT_2.

Click on View HTML. The HTML report will be generated with the electrodes
inserted.

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We will now look at the other options for Moldplus Electrode Maker.

Auto Insert –Isol Geom - Selecting multiple reference geometries

To select multiple sets of reference geometries can be accomplished by clicking on
Isol Geom.

Load the O_ELEC4.MC9 file.

Select the following geometries using the Isol Depre. You can select these ribs by
clicking on the vertical surfaces.

Select these 2 ribs

by clicking on any
of the vertical
surfaces of the ribs.

Once the 2 ribs are selected, click on Done from the menu. You are now presented
with the Electrode List dialog. Most likely there will not a standard to fit that size.

Click on

Accept the default settings for the electrode size. Click on OK. Then choose the
70X70X30MM.MC9 holder.

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The following will be the result.

You can always isolate electrodes using the Isol Geom method.

Isolating Bosses and Depressions using Stop+ and Stop-

Isol Geom will function automatically only when there are sharp edges that limit the
bosses or depressions. All the geometry you have selected until now was limited by
sharp edges. We will now do a depression that has fillets transitioning off from one
side. In this circumstance Isol Geom will continue searching until a sharp edge is
found. In this case the vast majority of the part will change color to magenta.

An example of this phenomenon will happen when you select the large axis support
located in the middle of the part. Load the MC9 file 0_ELEC_4.MC9. If you left
Moldplus for any reason you would start Moldplus, select Electrode MKR, Auto
Insert then Isol Goem. Make sure the selection default is Isol Depres and select the
axis support indicated below:

Select this
surface here.

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When you select the vertical surface almost the whole part will turn magenta. NOT
COOL! Now select Undo to return to where you were before you selected the wall
(everything is green). Everything turned magenta because the wall has 5 fillets that
blend from the vertical wall into the boss. If there are no sharp edges ISOL BOSS will
continue until it finds one.

Zoom into the area as below (surfaces have been deleted in order to make the
description clearer):

Select the surfaces

marked in dark blue
as the Stop –
surfaces.

The fillets surrounding the surfaces have been marked in Dark blue.

In order to correctly auto select the support we will first need to limit the Isol Depre
selection search by using STOP-. STOP- will limit the automatic selection search at
the entities selected with STOP-. The entities selected will not be included in the
selection (reason for the -). Select Stop-, zoom closer onto the fillets for easier
selection, then select the five fillets indicated in dark blue in the preceding graphic.
The 5 fillets, once selected with STOP-, will limit the automatic selection search on
the support up to but not including the fillets. If you look closely at the bottom of the
support you will see that the lower counterbores will still be green. They will not be
selected because Isol Depre cannot find an edge (it is round). Select STOP+, zoom
and select the counterbores on each side. When selected properly with Stop+ they
will turn magenta and will be included in the selection.

Now select Isol Depre and select one surface of the vertical support (make sure not to
click on the fillets already selected with STOP- or the counterbores with STOP+). The
whole support should automatically turn magenta.

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Now that the support is magenta you can now select Done. You will be presented
with an empty screen on the Electrode List because there are not any standard
electrodes in the database that will fit the support. Go through the creation of the
electrode and the selection of the base.

An Easier Alternative!
You just selected 7 surfaces and probably did 3 zooms in preparation of the selection
process. Even though it required at the minimum 8 operations it still was much faster
than individually selecting each surface of the support. Just think if there were over a
hundred small surfaces to select manually! YEECH!

Alas, there is always more than one method to skin a cat!

You could also select the big vertical surface that is coincident to the 5 fillets with
STOP+ then select another surface of the support (DO NOT select the surface that
you just selected with STOP+). The auto select will produce the identical results as
with STOP- but with much fewer mouse clicks. Less clicks means less tedious time
selecting surfaces!

Select this surface as

the Stop + surface

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Manual Insert
This function allows the manual placement of electrodes. Clicking on this function
from the main Electrode Maker menu OR the Isol Geom menu will immediately ask
the user to select an electrode localization point. This point can either be selected from
the Top view or the Isometric View. As soon as the point is selected, the Insert Elect
dialog is displayed with a recommended list if electrodes. The reason why you are
recommended a list is because the point that you select calculates the lowest Z point
from the Top plane and uses the distance between the highest point of that reference
geometry and the lowest Z point to calculate the electrodes that will be ideal! This is
done so that the collision detection is still performed.

Manual Insert takes away most of the automatic stock calculation features since there
is no reference geometry selected! It is upto the user to define the point, select an
electrode that passes collision detection, then perform the Trim2Elec operation to
identify reference geometry and Save the electrode.

The process of using this would be as follows.

Load the O_ELEC4.MC9 file.

Click on Manual Insert. The user is immediately prompted to define a localization

point. Click on the following location from the Top View. The point is represented by
the Magenta point below.

The Insert Elect dialog presents the list of recommended electrodes. Click on
Create non/new Standard electrode and enter the following dimensions as
displayed.

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Select the following Holder 3R-70MMX70MM.MC9

The electrode is inserted and presented in the part geometry as follows:

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 Obviously, the electrode is inserted at an angle of 90 degrees. Therefore we
need to reposition the electrode at a new angle. Click on Move Elect, click on
Angle and enter 90. This will be the result:

At this point, click on Esc and then perform the Trim2Elec operation and save
the electrode. The Trim2Elec option will trim all the reference geometry
contained within the electrode boundary and store it in the electrode level. It
makes a copy of the reference geometry and does not move the original
reference geometry.

You can continue to create electrodes in this manner if you prefer. The automatic
level and name increment will still function for the Save dialog.

Once again, this option is available due to user request to insert electrodes without
automatically isolating reference geometry. We would not encourage the use of this
tool for it does not isolate the reference geometry and follow the logic of using
Electrode Maker.

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Close Trims
Close Trims is a powerful compilation of untrimming functions that are possibly the
most appreciated functions utilized by Moldplus clients. You can automatically close
exterior trim curves, close interior trim curves and also merge surfaces that have the
identical base surface into one surface. MAJOR TIME SAVINGS! We will start
Close Trims with the automatic untrimming function Merge Brother. Merge Brother
is a function that allows the user to fill and close the exterior(s) and interior(s) of a
complex trimmed surface or many trimmed surfaces having the same base surface.

BUT FIRST A MAJOR DEBATE!

The untrimming functions included in Close Trim permit the designer to Fill (with a
new surface) or Remove (modify the trim curve) the notches or holes of a trimmed
surfaces. Removing the trim curves will make the machining calculations faster,
especially if you have 100 holes in a trimmed surface and each hole is filled with a
new trimmed surface. Just remember that the Undo only functions on the last
modification. If you use Remove make absolutely sure to save a back-up of the
original geometry to be modified in case you do a major OOPS!

TIP: Using Both Options is useful before separating Core and Cavity surfaces.
Filling the hole/s and untrimming the surface/s can serve to close the holes on
both core and cavity surface side.

Merge Brother
Merge Brother is a function that allows the user to fill and close the exteriors and
interiors of a complex trimmed surface or many trimmed surfaces having the same
base surface. This is quite often the case with parts that come from a solid modeler. It
is typical of the part where we just isolated and saved the 3 electrodes. We will use an
example of the electrode where all the ribs have already been isolated.

Load the part 0_ELEC_3.MC9. It will look like the following:

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Start Moldplus, select Electrode MKR then Close Trims. You will be presented
with the following menu:

Before we use the super untrimming function Merge Brother, we will first have to
test for brother surfaces (having the same parent surface). Select the Test Brother
function and change the color to Red. Turn Keep Color to NO. Select the top
surface. Next try the fillets around the corners. You will see that many of the small
surfaces have the identical mother (base) surface. If they have the same parent surface
they can be easily filled with Merge Brother. You can also use the Allsurf function to
test all the surfaces but make sure that the Keep Color is set to NO.

Maximum power! Automatically untrims a surface to its exterior boundaries by

eliminating gaps, notches, cavities and holes. Merge Brother will also automatically
untrim two or more separate trimmed surfaces that have the identical base surface.
Surfaces having identical base surfaces can be easily identified using the Test Brother
function in the same menu. When you untrim or merge the two trimmed surfaces it
will be by FILL with a new surface, by REMOVE which untrims or BOTH which
fills and untrims the selected trimmed surface.

This is the function that can create the most joy or frustration depending on the user. It
requires practice to be familiar with its limits. The most important feature of this
function is the GAP.
GAP This parameter is extremely important! It defines the maximum size of the gap to
fill. If this is set too small the surface will not be untrimmed. Too large and the
exterior limit might be severely modified.

The GAP should be set to the largest gap or notch in/on the exterior boundary of the
trimmed surface. Small discontinuities can be filled using the linear fill function of
Split Loop. Set the GAP to 5mm. Set your color to Dark Blue. Now click on the
surfaces one by one. The openings will be filled each time you click the surface. This
tedious task normally takes hours. Now it can now be done in seconds. The core
should look like the following when you are finished:

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 Open Gap and Closed Hole
Open Gap and Closed Hole allows you to manually control the areas to Fill, Remove
or Both. Attention! Close Trim currently allows only linear boundary modification of
the trimmed surface curve.

BUT FIRST A HELPFUL HINT!

Most trimmed surfaces that require the Open Gap and Closed Hole (shown later)
feature cannot be easily identified because they are neatly laid close to other surfaces.
How do you determine which feature to use (Open Gap and Closed Hole)?

Here is a solution. Isolate the surface and work with it individually. Use the ALT-E
(Mastercam Hide function) and select that particular surface you want to work on.
Click on Done. Now only that surface is displayed. You can easily identify now if you
need to use the Open Gap feature (if exterior edges are trimmed as slots, etc.) or the
Closed Hole function (if the edges all connect together). Once you have done your
Untrimming, Click on ALT-E again and your entire model reappears. Work on each
surface this way and you will make your life much easier.

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First load the file 0_ELEC_1.MC9. The file should look like the graphic below:

Open Gap

Launch Moldplus, select Electrode MKR then Close Trim. Next, select Open Gap
from the menu. We can fill the contour notches with a new independent surface with
Fill or modify the original contour that defines the trimmed surface with Remove. The
new surface fill or remove is created relative to the newly defined trimmed surface
contour using the identical base surface. Just remember that the Undo only functions
on the last modification. If you use Remove make absolutely sure to save a back-up of
the geometry to be modified in case you do an OOPS!

For this lesson we will select Fill.

Next, select the top Surface that has the UV Point 1 and 2 indicated on the graphic
above with your cursor. The surface will turn white. Now select the UV Point 1 then
the UV Point 2 with your cursor. Moldplus will first find the corner if you are close.
If you are too far away the Fill Surface will start somewhere on the trim curve. A new
surface that fills in the notch is created automatically. If you used Fill it should look
like the geometry on the top of the next page. It is better to use another color than the
original geometry (Red).

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Open Gap also allows the user to partially fill the internal openings of trimmed
surfaces. For this we will use the lower surface of the file 0_ELEC_1.MC9. While
still in Open Gap try selecting the lower surface to be modified on one side or the
other of the large interior opening. Make sure to select the opening at a point close to
the internal boundary indicated by Side_1 on the below graphic.

Side_1 Point 2

Point 1

Side_2

Next, select the sharp point Point 1 then the sharp point Point 2. Only one side of the
opening will be filled relative to the side selected. It should look like the following
graphic on the left. If you had selected the side Side_2 then Point 1 and Point 2 you
would have the results as in the graphic on the right.

Closed Hole

Closed Hole allows the user to easily fill or eliminate a trimmed surface's closed
interior curves (holes). The holes can be selected individually or automatically.

AGAIN THE HELPFUL HINT!

Most trimmed surfaces that require the Open Gap and Closed Hole (shown later)
feature cannot be easily identified because they are neatly laid close to other surfaces.
How do you determine which feature to use (Open Gap or Closed Hole)?

Here is a solution. Isolate the surface and work with it individually. Use the ALT-E
(Mastercam Hide function) and select that particular surface you want to work on.

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Click on Done. Now only that surface is displayed. You can easily identify now if you
need to use the Open Gap feature (if exterior edges are trimmed as slots, etc.) or the
Closed Hole function (if the edges all connect together). Once you have done your
Untrimming, Click on ALT-E again and your entire model reappears. Work on each
surface this way and you will make your life much easier...

AGAIN THE MAJOR DEBATE!

With Closed Hole we can fill a trimmed surfaces closed interior curves with a new
independent surface with Fill or modify the original contour that defines the trimmed
surface with Remove. The fill or remove is created relative to the newly defined
trimmed surface contour using the identical base surface. Just remember that the Undo
only functions on the last modification. If you use Remove make absolutely sure to
save a back-up of the geometry to be modified in case you do an OOPS!

For this lesson we will select Fill.

Load the file 0_ELEC_1.MC9 again. It should resemble the following graphic. Next
select Closed Hole. Make sure that Fill is selected. We will be working on the lower
surface.

Now touch the hole indicated by Closed Hole 1 on the lower surface of
0_ELEC_1.MC9. The hole will be filled. BIG DEAL!

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Now do an Undo.

Next touch the outside edge of the surface indicated by Extract Loop 2. If you do
so, ALL of the holes will be filled. If there are thousands they will be filled with one
click! Think about it. Major time saver!

If you selected Remove Gap for the modification method you would see the following
results:

After you fill the holes you will invariably think "What about the notches?" In this
case, "No problem!", Undo the surfaces you just filled or delete by color. Now go to
Merge Brother. Set the GAP to 5mm and click on the surface with all the holes.
Make sure that you have undone or deleted all the fill surfaces before doing this. This
will fill all the gaps, holes and notches in one click, if the GAP value is set correctly.

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Do not forget that the exterior notches are limited along the exterior edge by a linear
segment. Merge Brother and Open Gap currently only allow untrimming with Linear
segments.

MergeSurfs
Merge Surf allows the user to manually merge two separate trimmed surfaces that
have the identical base surface. Surfaces having identical base surfaces can be easily
identified using the Test Brother function in the same menu.

Load the file 0_ELEC_2.MC9. It should look as follows:

When you select MergeSurf you are asked to select the two surfaces that you wish to
merge. If the boundaries of the two surfaces are common the merging is automatic
and the space between the two surfaces will be filled with a new surface.

First select the manner in which you want to Fill the trimmed boundary. Next, select
the surfaces to be joined. Select Surf 1 then Surf 2 with a click of the cursor. They
will turn white. You then define the first corner P1 by clicking close to it with you
mouse pointer, then the second corner P2, the third corner P3 and the forth corner P4.

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You need not touch the corner of the trim boundary. The cursor will automatically
snap to the corner of a cavity. To aid the user, once a corner has been selected it
cannot be selected again. You may also maintain the cursor between the two corners
and select two times. If you do this Merge Surf will automatically select one corner
then the other. Do not stray too far from the corner! In this case it will attach the end
of the new limit along the edge away from the corner.

This function is modal so after the surfaces are joined the new surface will now be
considered as Surface 1 and is memorized as already selected. If you need to join the
third surface to the joined surface you need only to click select the third surface and
repeat the corner selection process.

This part could also be done with one click if you would have used Merge Brother!
We made you do it in this manual method so you would see that what is done
automatically in Moldplus can also be done manually. We know you would prefer
that everything be totally automatic but there are always forms that make a designers
life difficult. This is when you will be glad that you have a manual mode.

Edge Offset
Allows the user to easily create tangent offset surfaces around a selected surface. The
offset is used if you do not want to start the cutter a certain distance away from the
surface when machining on the edge of a fragile copper or graphite electrode. With
the edge offset the tool will start away from the actual part edge.

If the surface is a trimmed surface the offsets are extended on the base surface. If the
defined offset is larger then the edge of the base surface a surface with its normal 90
degrees tangent to the base surface is created as in the Extend Edge function of
PartSurf. This will provide a smooth transition. Edge offset also allows you to define
the beginning and end of the offset. It will also do correct offsets in trimmed surface
corners with less than 90 degrees.

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Offset Edge functions as follows. Load the O_ELEC1.MC9 file.

Delete the Labels UV Point 1 & 2. Next start Moldplus, Close Trims and select the
Edge Offset function. Set the offset to 2mm without a limit. You will see that the
offset is extended to the edge of the base surface. Since this is less than 2mm from the
edge Edge offset will construct another surface continuing tangent from the edge of
the base surface until the edge reaches 2mm from the trimmed surface edge. You can
see the new surfaces with the higher UV density.

LIMITS of this function …

This command may create more than one surface if the offset extends beyond the
edge of the base surface. The algorithm also creates the offset edges onto a plane that
is perpendicular to the normal that extends through the surfaces center of gravity. If
the surface has edges that form a U, are greater than 180 degrees in difference or
come close to closing upon itself strange results might happen. In this circumstance it
is better to use the Limited option.

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Thank you for using the Moldplus Application Guide!
We hope this training guide will help you better understand Moldplus. We feel that
the functions included in Moldplus are one of the best values you can find in today's
CAD/CAM market. We cannot maintain this level of value unless we hear from you,
our valued users. Please forward any questions, additional ideas on how to make
Moldplus more efficient, terminology differences or problems you might have to us
immediately at support@moldplus.com

CIM Concept, S.A. de C.V.

Sor Juna Inés de la Cruz 18-206
Tlanepantla, México
Tel. : 52(55) - 55-65-66-33
Fax.: 52(55) - 55-65-67-63
www.cimco.com.mx

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