I've used this a lot. It seems to give poor results on the same type of poor surfaces (imported?) that surface machining does. It also seems to work well on clean surfaces.
Vertical surfaces can't be solved. Where surfaces are nearly vertical, the silhouette curves may jump up and down. Decreasing the allowable tolerance will reduce this. Quite often, I get an incomplete solution for a parting line silhouette, but can fill in the blanks by hand. Gene Bowen "Lauzus, Frederick" wrote: > Larry, > > There is some information on this feature on pages 108 > and 110 of the SmartCAM Customization Guide under Utility > Macros and again on page 149 under Macro Command Reference. > Macros. > > There is also mention of this feature on page 140-141 of the > Free Form Machining Users Guide under Split Surface. > > There is also mention of this feature in the Free Form > Machining help file under Split Surface. > > In addition I found some reference to this feature in old > release notes for Free Form v4.5 and 4.61. > > I've experimented with this function in the past but had > less than a 100% success rate. Perhaps you will have more > luck. > > Please let us know if you find anything additional. > > ======================================================== > >From the SmartCAM Customization Guide: > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > PARTING LINE CURVES > partingl.mcl > PART_CURVES[PT=##] > > Generates polyline curves around the silhouette of the > surfaces in the active group, as viewed down the active > work plane Z axis from +Z to -Z. > PT = Approximation tolerance of how far the curve is > allowed to deviate from the surface. > Default = 0.001 > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > PARTING LINE > prtyline.mcl > Available to SmartCAM Advanced Production Milling > and SmartCAM FreeForm Machining. Generates > parting line silhouette curves around a group of > surfaces as viewed from the active workplane Z-axis. > Uses the surfaces in the active group, and the insert > properties of Step and Layer. Uses the result group and > undo. > PLTOL = the chord height tolerance that determines how > far the curve can deviate from the surface. > > Referenced by: ..\shared\f_surf.pcb > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > PARTING LINE CURVES > PART_CURVES[PT=##] > > PT = Approximation tolerance of how far the curve can > deviate from the surface. (Optional) > Default: 0.001 > > Generates polyline curves around the silhouette of the > surfaces in the active group, as viewed down the active > work plane Z axis from +Z to -Z. > > ======================================================== > >From the Free Form v4.5 release notes under Utility > Macros: > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > Parting Line Curves > partingl.mcl > PART_CURVES[ ] > Generates polyline curves around the > silhouette of the surfaces in the active > group, as viewed down the active work > plane Z axis from +Z to -Z. Uses a fixed > tolerance of 0.010. > > ======================================================== > >From the Free Form v4.61 release notes under > Enhancements: > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > Parting Line > The parting line macro was enhanced to > add a user variable for the approximation > tolerance. The PART_CURVES macro is > described on page 7. Also, the silhouette > curve quality is improved in ACIS version > 1.7. > > -------------------------------------------------------- > > ============================================= > Fred Lauzus, CAM Programming Coordinator > High Steel Structures, Incorporated > mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.highsteel.com > ============================================= > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Larry Jacobs [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Sunday, February 18, 2001 11:34 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [mfg-smartcam] free-form process > > Where can I find more info on "generate parting line silhouette curves"? > > The icon is on the second side of the free-form icon bar. All I could find > was a small reference to "3d" and "wall offset". ====================================================================== To find out more about this mailing list including how to unsubscribe, send the message "info mfg-smartcam" to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ======================================================================
