1.1 MENU SYSTEM MAIN MENU

Transcription

1 Click To See: How to Use Online Documents SURFCAM Online Documents 685)&$0Ã5HIHUHQFHÃ0DQXDO 1 0(186$1'',$/2*%2;(6 1.1 MENU SYSTEM MAIN MENU The Main menu appears on SURFCAM s opening screen and is the one menu through which all other SURFCAM menus are accessed. The Toolbar is displayed below the Main menu. The Status bar is displayed below the Toolbar. Figure 1: Main menu bar Figure 2: Toolbar Figure 3: Status bar Many SURFCAM commands require that you use one or more of the following common menus which will appear below the Status bar: Figure 4: Select Menu Figure 5: Select Point Menu Figure 6: Select Chain Menu For all except the Main menu, refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics: Section 1.6.1: SURFCAM Toolbar on page 13, Section 1.6.2: Status Bar on page 17, Section 1.7.1: Select Menu on page 38, Section 1.7.3: Select Point Menu on page 44, and Section 1.7.2: Select Chain Menu on page 39. SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes

2 2 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 1.2 FILE MENU Click File to open and/or save disk files, to create a 2D DXF file from a 3D drawing, to output a variety of pen plotter files, or to create a project directory to save the DSN and ICD files from a single NC project or a group of related projects. Recently used files are listed before the Exit command. Click on a file name to open that file. Figure 7: File menu File > New Clear the screen of all elements and begin a new drawing. The layers and views will also be cleared. However, the dialog box values will not be returned to the default values File > Open Click Open to load a design file into SURFCAM. A standard file Open dialog box will be displayed. Prior to loading a file, SURFCAM will give a warning if changes have been made to the current drawing so you can discard or save the changes before opening a new file. Two fields on this standard dialog box need specific consideration for SURFCAM: Append and Files of Type. Figure 8: Open dialog box

3 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 3 Append Check the box to load information from a file into SURFCAM without erasing the existing data. By using Append, you can combine information stored in a file with the work that is currently on the screen. All entities of the file will be added to the current file. This includes layers and views. If the appended file has a layer with the same number as one in the existing file, the drawings on that layer will be drawn on the corresponding layer of the existing file. The name of the layer will remain the same as it was in the existing file, not change to the name from the appended file. If you want to avoid the situation in which geometry from the appended file is placed on the same layers as an existing file, 1. Click the Layer button on the Status bar to display the Layers dialog box. 2. Click the New button to create new layers. Choose layer numbers that do not overlap with layers in the other file. 3. Click a new layer and then click the Move Geom button to move drawings from an old layer to the new layer. You will be prompted to select the geometry to move. Note that the layer from which you are moving elements must be both visible and selectable. It might be helpful if that layer is the only visible layer. Then you can easily click Visible to move the geometry to the new layer. 4. Repeat the above step until you arrive at the point where you will have no overlapping layers. 5. Then delete the old layers. Layers, in either the existing or the appended files, with different numbers will retain their number, name and contents. Files of Type Most CAD systems save designs in their own formats. You can open design files of the following types. These will be translated into SURFCAM s DSN format. 1. DSN (*.DSN) Open the standard SURFCAM design file. 2. DSN Fix (*.DSN) Open a DSN file that has problems due to a power problem or a system crash. A file will be created with the same name as the input file but with the TMP extension. The file will contain the fixed data. Although the file will have the TMP extension it is a valid DSN file and can be loaded by specifying the TMP extension. 3. CADL (*.CDL) Open a CADKEY Advanced Design Language file format.

4 4 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 4. CSF (*.CSF) Open a Chrysler Standard format file. 5. DES (*.DES) Open a General Motors format file. DES does not support color definitions. The Convert DES to DSN dialog box will be displayed for you to select the color for the SURFCAM entities. 6. DXF (*.DXF) Open a Data Exchange Format file. SURFCAM reads all DXF geometry and ignores dimension entities such as text, arrows and witness lines. SURFCAM will read all 2D and 3D geometric elements supported by the DXF format including blocks, layers, sub-figures, sub-figure definitions (and even nested subfigures). Surfaces, as they are represented in DXF, will be read into SURFCAM as line meshes due to the fact that DXF does not support true surfaces. The current image will not be erased. 7. FST (*.FST) Open a Ford Standard Tape format file. The Convert FST to DSN dialog box will be displayed for you to select the color for the SURFCAM entities. 8. IGS (*.IGS) The Convert IGES to DSN dialog box will be displayed. Click the Select Elements button to select entities for the conversion. The default is Select All. The Translate Only the Following IGES Elements dialog box will be displayed. Figure 9: Convert IGES to DSN dialog box

5 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 5 Figure 10: Translate Only the Following IGES Elements dialog box You can select all or none by clicking the appropriate button or click individual check boxes to select each element. If the IGES file contains text that you want to load, you must click Select All. Surface Arrows If you want surface arrows to be automatically hidden when you import an IGES file, enter the following code into the Default Section of the IGS2DSN.CFG file prior to importing: ShowSurfaceArrow 0 For example, place it right before the line: #end of default values. JAMA-ID Translator The JAMA-ID translator is a Japanese subset of I.G.E.S. The I.G.E.S. translator within SURFCAM automatically detects this type of I.G.E.S. format and interprets it accordingly. There is no user intervention in importing a JAMA-ID I.G.E.S. file. 9. MESH (*.CDL) Open a CADKEY CADL spline mesh file. There can be only one mesh per CADL file and no other elements. (The splines are converted to a single SURFCAM DSN surface.)

6 6 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes The Convert CADL spline mesh to DSN dialog box will be displayed. CADKEY CADL does not support NURB surfaces. The tolerance is the fitting tolerance when approximating it with a NURB surface. The CADKEY spline mesh file must meet the following requirements: Each spline in the mesh must have the same number of nodes. The splines must be synchronized in both the U and V directions. The mesh must be comprised of splines only. 10. NCAL (*.NCA) Open a Northrop or a FastSurf ASCII file. The file must be in Northrop format. NCAL files do not have color information. The Convert NCAL to DSN dialog box will be displayed for you to select the color for the SURFCAM entities. 11. Parasolid (*.X_T; *.X_B) The Convert PARASOLID to DSN dialog box will be displayed. Note: As of SURFCAM , the Parasolid Translator is no longer a separate upgrade option. It will be installed automatically with SURFCAM. Figure 11: Spline mesh with 4 nodes synchronized along each direction.

7 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 7 Convert a Parasolid based file to a SURFCAM DSN file. Model Unit Choose Inch or Metric. Convert Choice Choose entities for translation Surfaces, Wire frame, or Both. Surface Option Projection Option There are two options available for projection: UV or XYZ projection. Projection Error Projection tolerance (automatically converts to appropriate units). Color The general file format does not support color definitions. This option specifies the surface color in SURFCAM. Layer This specifies the SURFCAM layer that will contain the converted surfaces. Wire-Frame Option Figure 12: Parasolid To DSN dialog box Color Specify the color of the curves in SURFCAM for wire-frame entities. Layer Specify the layer that will contain the converted wire-frames entities. Degenerate Option Fix degenerate surface(s) Check the box if you want degenerate surfaces to be fixed. Degenerate Tolerance This is the tolerance to use to check whether the surface is degenerate or not. Trim-Back Size This is the size used to trim back degenerate surfaces. Add center line(s) and points Add center points of arcs and circles and center lines that are axes of revolution.

8 8 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 12. SAT (*.SAT) (Optional) 13. SolidEdge 4.0 or Earlier (*.PAR) (Optional) SAT Convert an ACIS Format file, 5.0 or earlier, to a SURFCAM DSN file. SolidEdge 4.0 Convert an ACIS Format file, 4.0 or earlier, to a SURFCAM DSN file. These require a SAT translator, a separate upgrade option to SURFCAM. The conversion dialog box will be displayed. Refer to Parasolid (*.X_T; *.X_B) on page 6 for all options except the ProjectionOption. Projection Option There are two options available for projection: ACIS and SURFCAM. Figure 13: Convert SAT TO DSN and Convert PAR TO DSN dialog boxes

9 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes SolidEdge 5.0 or Later (*.PAR) Convert a SolidEdge file, 5.0 or later, to a SURFCAM DSN file. Note: As of SURFCAM , the Parasolid Translator is no longer a separate upgrade option. It will be installed automatically with SURFCAM. The Convert SOLIDEDGE FILE TO DSN dialog box will be displayed. Refer to Parasolid (*.X_T; *.X_B) on page SolidWorks (*.PRT; *.SLDPRT) The Convert SolidWorks File TO DSN dialog box will be displayed. Note: As of SURFCAM , the Parasolid Translator is no longer a separate upgrade option. It will be installed automatically with SURFCAM. Refer to Parasolid (*.X_T; *.X_B) on page SPAC (*.SPA) Figure 14: Convert SOLIDEDGE FILE TO DSN dialog box Open a French Automotive SPAC Format file. The Convert SPAC to DSN dialog box will be displayed for you to select the color for the SURFCAM entities.

10 10 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 17. SUP (*.SUP) Open a CADKEY Surface Patch File. The surfaces must be created as a Super-Patch ASCII file. Use with the older CADKEY surfacing product. If you want to translate Fastsurf files, use the Northrop (NCAL) translator. 18. VDA (*.VDA) Open a German Automotive format file. The Convert VDA to DSN dialog box will be displayed for you to select the color for the SURFCAM entities. 19. ASCII / Ncc / Shn / Brn (*.asc, *.ncc, *.shn, *.brn) Open a digitized file. The Select Output Type dialog box will be displayed. SUPCA: 1 simple 1, 1, 0, 4, 1, 0, Figure 15: Sample SUPCA ASCII File format Figure 16: Select Output Type dialog box Element Type Identify the type of element to which the imported coordinates are to be converted. TYPE Points Lines Polylines Line Mesh Points Lines Polylines CONVERTED TO Line meshes This requires an equal number of coordinates per row.

11 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 11 TYPE CONVERTED TO Splines Ncurves Ncurves Cptrs Nsurface Nsurface Cptrs Splines NURB curves You can select a Least Squares Optimize option. You must indicate the number of Check Points Per Span and the size of the Optimize Deviation. NURB curves Coordinates define control points. Select Uniform or Non-Uniform Knots and indicate a Degree. You can elect to Show Polygon. NURB surface This requires an equal number of coordinates per row. NURB Surface Coordinates define control points. Select Uniform or Non-Uniform U and V Knots and indicate a number for U and V Degrees. You can elect to Show Polygon. ASCII In the case of ASCII files, SURFCAM reads these coordinates as points, lines, polylines, or line meshes. ASCII files containing the coordinate data should follow this format: newrow newrow

12 12 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes The following limitations exist for ASCII files to be read in with SURFCAM s Digitized command: Numbers ONLY Only the following characters are allowed in the coordinate line. X, Y, and Z are not allowed Spacing The spacing between the coordinates need not be consistent because SURFCAM treats any number of spaces as a single space. The incoming file may even use TAB characters instead of spaces. Newrow This is used to separate sections so that the complete file is not read in as a single entity. The example above will be read in as three entities. NC CODE SURFCAM will read any NC code file with X, Y, Z coordinates. The G00 code is read as the end code for each entity to be created. The G01 code is read as the beginning code for each entity to be created. All other G codes, M functions, Feed rates and arc moves are ignored. The X, Y, Z locations in the code are used to create the entity type clicked in the dialog box. SHARNOA BINARY FILES SURFCAM reads the Sharnoa binary files and creates the entity selected in the dialog box for each section of the file. BROWN AND SHARPE SURFCAM reads the Brown and Sharpe files and creates the entity selected in the dialog box for each section of the file. 20. Gear Data (*.gr) When you open a gear data file, the Gear dialog box will be displayed. This dialog box is the user interface for a gear design utility that enables you to create designs of spur and internal ring gears. To create a new gear design, open an existing Gear (.gr) file, such as default.gr in the SURFCAM\DSN directory.

13 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 13 Figure 17: Gear dialog box Gear File The name of the file you opened will be displayed. Save the file with the same name or use Save As to save the file with a new name. Gear Type Choose either Internal or External. Number of Teeth Indicate the number of teeth on the gear. Pitch Diameter This is the pitch circle diameter. Engaged gears have pitch circles that are tangent at a point on their connecting center line. This diameter can have no tolerance. Figure 18: Pitch Diameter

14 14 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Tip Diameter This is the diameter of the circle that defines the tips or top lands of the teeth. Figure 19: Tip Diameter Root Diameter This is the diameter of the circle that defines the bottoms or root lands of the teeth. Figure 20: Root Diameter Outer Diameter This is the outside diameter of an internal ring gear. All tooth elements lie inside this circle. A tolerance on this diameter should always be negative. Figure 21: Outer Diameter

15 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 15 Tooth Thickness The Tooth Thickness is the width of the tooth measured at the Pitch Diameter at the intersection with the pitch circle. Pitch Circle Figure 22: Tooth Thickness Pressure Angle The contact between a driving tooth on one gear and a driven tooth on the other gear occurs along a line called the Pressure Line. The Pressure Angle is the angle between the Pressure Line and a line tangent to the two Pitch Circles at their point of intersection. The actual tooth contact occurs along a segment called the Line of Action. Contact pressure starts when the tip of the driven tooth first touches the flank of the driving tooth. Contact pressure stops just after the tip of the driving tooth first touches the flank of the driven tooth. Line of Action Tangent Pressure Angle Pressure Line Figure 23: Pressure Angle, Pressure Line, Line of Action and the Tangent to the two Pitch Circles

16 16 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Base Fillet Radius This is the radius of the fillet at the base of the tooth. Base Fillet Radius Figure 24: Sample of Base Fillet Radius Top Fillet Radius This is the radius of the fillet between the top and the flank of the tooth. It must be less than half the top width. Top Fillet Radius Figure 25: Sample of Top Fillet Radius Backlash Backlash is the amount by which a tooth space exceeds the Tooth Thickness of the engaging gear at the pitch diameter. Make the Whole Gear The DSN file will have the entire gear instead of a single tooth. Provide gear measurement information This box must be checked if you want to input information in the following boxes. Type of Measurement Pin/Ball Measurement Input the pin diameter. SURFCAM will calculate the diameter to the outer tangency of the pins for external gears. SURFCAM will calculate the diameter between the internal tangency of the pins for internal gears. Chordal Measurement You must input the number of teeth to be included in the chordal measurement. SURFCAM will calculate the distance as measured by calipering across the specified number of teeth.

17 21. Involute Data (*.inv) SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 17 When you open an Involute Data file, the Involute dialog box will be displayed. This dialog box is the user interface for a design utility used to create involute curves. Involute curves are often used to design the flank of a gear tooth. Figure 26: Involute dialog box Involute File The name of the DSN file containing the involute profile will be displayed. Save the file with the same name or use Save As to save the file with a new name. Start Radius The radius at which the curve begins. Start Angle The angle at which the curve begins. Wrap Angle The angle used to define the length of the curve. Direction Specify CW for clockwise, CCW for counterclockwise. Center The three values here define the center of the arc used to begin the curve. 22. CAM Profile Data (*.cm) When you open a CAM Profile Data file, the Create CAM Profiles dialog box will be displayed. This dialog box is the user interface for a cam design utility that enables you

18 18 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes to create, analyze and modify the design of a disk or plate type cam used in conjunction with a roller type follower. To create a new cam design, open an existing CAM (.cm) file and modify it. Figure 27: Create CAM Profiles dialog box The components of the cam profile design are listed in the CAM Profile Information box. The Add, Modify, Delete, and Delete All buttons are used to modify the contents of this list. Other features of the cam and its follower are entered in the other data boxes. The Advanced button displays another dialog box that enables further refinement to your cam design. When you click OK, a cam design (.cm) file will be saved and a SURFCAM design, showing the profile of the cam, will be displayed on the screen. The design can then be saved as a DSN file. CAM Data File The name of the CAM data file will be displayed. Save Save the file with the same name. Save As Save the file with a new name. CAM Profile information A cam profile is a closed contour that consists of two or more sections or profile zones. A profile zone is a geometric shape that transmits a unique type of motion

19 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 19 to a roller follower. The start point of each profile zone is identified with an angular measurement (Angle) in degrees. A value (Lift) that represents the displacement or lift of the follower, away from the center of the cam, is associated with the start point of each zone. The geometric shape of a profile zone is mathematically determined by one of 18 types of motion (Motion Type) that can be assigned to it in SURFCAM. The CAM Profile Information box displays one line for each profile zone in the cam profile. Each line contains the values for the Angle, Lift, and Motion Type associated with a profile zone. Those values can be edited using the Modify button. Values for a new profile zone can be added to the list using the Add button. More detailed descriptions of Angle (Angle at start), Lift (Lift at Start), and Motion Type are found in the description of the Add and Modify buttons. Base Radius This is the radius of the cam base circle, which is the smallest circle (with center at the center of the cam shaft) that can be drawn tangent to the cam profile. At a given point on the cam profile, the distance of that point from the cam shaft center is the Base radius plus the Lift (or displacement) at that point. The value of the Base radius is used to determine the geometry of the cam profile and the velocity and acceleration of the follower. Follower radius Roller type followers are circular in shape and thus have a radius. The Follower radius is used to calculate the velocity and acceleration of the follower. The CAM profile will be offset by this amount. RPM RPM is the revolutions per minute of the cam shaft. It is used to calculate the velocity and acceleration of the follower. Theta Scale The SURFCAM cam design utility generates graphs of the displacement, velocity and acceleration of the follower, in addition to creating the design of the cam profile. When the DSN file containing the cam profile is generated, there are three additional layers generated to display these three graphs. The Theta Scale is the scale for the horizontal axis of the graphs saved in the DSN file. The default status of the layers containing the graphs is invisible. These layers can be made visible from the SURFCAM Layers dialog box accessed by clicking layers on the Status menu. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section : Layers on page 22. Add/Modify Click the Add button to create a new profile zone in the cam profile and display its attributes in the CAM Profile Information box.

20 20 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes To edit an existing profile zone, click it and click the Modify button. In both cases the Zone Start Point Info dialog box will be displayed. Figure 28: Zone Start Point Info dialog box Angle at start This is the angle (in degrees) that indicates the location of the start of the profile zone. This angle is in standard position with its vertex the center of the cam shaft. Lift at Start This is the displacement of the follower, beyond the cam base circle, that will exist at the start point of the profile zone. The cam base circle is the smallest circle (with center at the cam shaft center) that can be drawn tangent to the cam profile. Lift plus Base radius equals the distance from the cam shaft center to the cam profile at the start point of a profile zone. Motion Type There are 18 types of motion that can be assigned to a profile zone by the SURFCAM cam design utility. These are Dwell, Linear, Simple Harmonic Motion, general Cycloidal, Parabolic, Cubic, 6 special cycloidal types, and 6 special harmonic types. If you are undecided as to what type of motion to use for a particular profile zone, it is often useful to select the Linear type. Although Linear motion is usually not an acceptable type of motion, especially for moderate to high velocity cam applications, the cam design utility can automatically analyze a Linear type motion and turn it into one of the other more complex motion types. This is done using the Auto button on the Cam Pre-Process dialog box which is accessed by clicking the Advanced button. Delete/Delete All Click a profile zone in the CAM Profile Information box and click Delete to delete an individual line. To delete all profile zones in the box, click Delete All. Advanced Click the Advanced button to display the Cam Pre-Process dialog box that is used to analyze the displacement, velocity, and acceleration of the follower and to automatically modify the Motion Type of zone profiles that have been set to Linear motion.

21 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 21 Click the Auto button to modify the linear motion of a profile zone. Figure 29: Cam Pre-process dialog box Report Window The Report Window is used to display a Profile Zone Report and a Profile Zone Graphs report. Profile Zone Report Click the Report button to display a report on the characteristics of each profile zone. Point This is the start point of a profile zone. Angle This is the angle measurement of the start point of the profile zone. Type This is the motion type the profile zone imparts on the follower. Roller path, Velocity, Profile, and Acceleration continue These indicate whether or not there is continuity with the corresponding preceding zone. Profile Zone Graphs / Motion Graph Windows Click one of the buttons to display a graphical representation of the corresponding profile zone and motion window.

22 22 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Profile Zone Graphs Motion Graph Windows Figure 30: Graph of six profile zones Figure 31: Velocity Figure 32: Displacement Figure 33: Acceleration

23 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 23 Motion Mode A motion mode is a particular combination of the general motion types of rise, fall, dwell, linear rise and linear fall. You will select one of them before you use the Auto button to modify the current linear motions in the cam profile. Rise-(Dwell)-Fall This is the most common motion mode. It includes the following modes: Rise-Dwell-Fall, Rise-Fall, Rise-Fall-Dwell, Rise-Dwell-Fall-Dwell. Rise-(Linear Rise)-Rise-Fall-(Linear Fall)-Fall In some instances a required displacement profile will be other than the Rise-Dwell-Fall. This type of motion mode is for those users who have special requirements. It includes the following modes: Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Fall-Linear Fall-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Dwell-Fall-Linear Fall-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Dwell-Fall Linear Fall-Fall-Dwell, Rise-Rise-Fall-Linear Fall-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Fall-Fall, Rise-Rise-Dwell-Fall-Fall-Dwell. Rise-(Linear Rise)-Rise-(Dwell)-Fall This includes the following motion modes: Rise-Rise-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Dwell-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Fall, Rise-Linear Rise-Rise-Dwell-Fall-Dwell. Auto process method The process to be used when the Auto button is clicked to make modifications to the existing linear motion type in the cam profile. Replace When you click the Auto button on the toolbar, the design utility will try to replace the linear segments with some type of motion segment; Harmonic H1-H6 type or Cycloidal C1-C6 type. The cam profile will retain the same number of profile zones. Replace and Add Use when you want to keep the linear motion characteristics. The design utility will try to replace each linear segment with three other segments. The middle segment of these three will be a linear segment. The first and third will be of the Cycloidal (1-6) or Harmonic (1-6) type of motion.

24 24 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Keep parameters If you select the Replace and Add Auto process method, you need to decide which parameter will be used to control the linear range. For example, if you choose Angle, the design utility will try to find a solution which will keep the selected percent of the linear rotation angle region. If you select Displacement the design utility will try to find a solution which will keep the selected percent of the linear displacement region. Linear Ratio With this scale you can control the percentage of the original linear motion region that will be kept. When you finish with the cam design utility and close the dialog box, the modified cam design will be displayed on the screen. You can then save this design as a DSN file and produce toolpaths to cut the cam contour. 23. DWG (*.DWG) Open an AutoCAD format file. The following elements are supported by the direct translator. Point Polyline 2D Solid Line Polygon Mesh Block Line 3D Polyface Mesh Text Circle Spline MText (Multi-Line Text) Arc Trace Leader Polyline Face 3D Dimension 24. CATIA (*.model, *.exp) (Optional) Open a CATIA file and translate to DSN format. This requires the installation of a CATIA translator, a separate upgrade to SURFCAM. A dialog box will be displayed prompting you to Select a Model file from the list. Figure 34: Select a Model file from the list dialog box

25 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 25 After you click OK, the CATIA to SURFCAM Data Exchange dialog box will be displayed. Figure 35: CATIA to SURFCAM Data Exchange dialog box Selected CATIA File, CATIA File Type, Selected CATIA These values are automatically entered. Explode Ditto Translate the entity details pointed to by the CATIA dittos. Transfer Hidden Transfer entities that exist as hidden entities in the CATIA file. Transfer Type Click the Select entity type button to display the Select Entity Types dialog box. Select the CATIA entity types that you want to import. Points and Lines are SURFCAM points and lines. Circles and Conics are SURFCAM NURBS curves. Surfaces, Faces, Skin, Volumes, Exact Solids are SURFCAM NURBS surfaces. Mockup Solids and Polyhedral Surfaces are SURFCAM wireframe (NURBS curves). Figure 36: Select Entity Types dialog box Click OK to return to the CATIA to SURFCAM Data Exchange dialog box.

26 26 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click OK to display the Utility Output dialog box. When the CATIA file has been loaded and translated, a text file describing its contents will be displayed in this dialog box. You can elect to Save and/or Print this file or you can Close the dialog box. After you click Close, the imported CATIA drawing will be displayed in the SURFCAM drawing window File > Save Figure 37: Utility Output dialog box If the current DSN file has already been saved and you wish to save it again using the same name and folder (directory), click Save. A dialog box will be displayed asking if you want to overwrite the file. If the current file has never been saved, a Save As dialog box will be displayed. Refer to the next section for further details.

27 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes File > Save As To save a file that has never been saved or to save a file with a new name, a new folder (directory), or a new format click Save As. The Save As dialog box will be displayed. Figure 38: Click File > Save As to display the Save As dialog box Save in Change the drive and directory if you want, using the standard Windows methods. File name Enter the name of the file. You may need to change the type in the Save As Type box. Save as type Descriptions of the types of files that can be saved with the Save As box follow. Save As > Write menu For many of the following file types, after you click the Save button the Save As > Write menu will be displayed on the Secondary Menu bar. Figure 39: Save As > Write menu Use this menu to select which elements to save. You can choose to Select individual elements, Select All elements, or select All Active elements. You can save files of the following types. 1. DSN Files (*.DSN) Save as a standard SURFCAM design file. If you are saving a design file, select DSN from the list. After you enter the name of your file and click Save, SURFCAM will display the NCPOST dialog box. Click Yes to cause the project and setup section names, that will later be associated with your design, to contain the name of the design file. This is a good practice so you will usually click Yes.

28 28 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 2. DSN V2000 Files (*.DSN) Save as a SURFCAM Version 2000 file. Files saved in SURFCAM cannot be read properly in SURFCAM 2000 or earlier. For example, if you use the SURFCAM option to define stock in the setup section of the NC Operations Manager dialog box, SURFCAM 2000 would not be able to read the file since that option was not available in version Note: SURFCAM 99 can open files saved in SURFCAM 2000 and vice-versa. 3. DSN V7.1 Files (*.DSN) Save as a SURFCAM Version 7.1 file. 4. CADL Files (*.CDL) Save a SURFCAM DSN file as a CDL file. Note: CADL does not support surface elements. Any surfaces created in SURFCAM will be written as a series of splines to insure compatibility with CADL elements. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). If you choose to select specific elements, the Select menu will be displayed for your input. 5. CSF Files (*.CSF) Save a SURFCAM DSN file as a format file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). CSF files do not support NURBS. A NURB Spline is approximated with lines in the conversion. The Convert DSN to CSF dialog box will be displayed for you to specify the tolerance. 6. DES Files (*.DES) Save a SURFCAM DSN file to a General Motors DES format file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to DES dialog box will be displayed. Max. chordal error Figure 40: Convert DSN to DES dialog box DES does not support arcs, circles, or NURBs so these are approximate with lines in the conversion. This parameter specifies the tolerance used when converting.

29 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 29 Start Line Number The first line number in the output DES file. Line Increment Amount to increment the line number. 7. DXF Files (*.DXF) Save as a DXF file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to DXF dialog box will be displayed. Figure 41: Convert DSN to DXF dialog box Surface output type Select either Line Mesh or Polyface. Surface tolerance The tolerance between the real surface and the poly face. Sampling curves The sampling curve number when converting a surface to a poly face. 8. FST Files (*.FST) Save a SURFCAM DSN file as a Ford Standard Tape format file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to FST dialog box will be displayed. Figure 42: Convert DSN to FST dialog box System Code FST files contain information about the origin of the file. Ford only supports CDC- Lundy, CV, and Gerber. Changing this may affect the receiving system s input options.

30 30 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Tolerance FST does not support NURBs. They are approximated with lines in the conversion. This parameter specifies the tolerance when doing this. 9. IGS Files (*.IGS) Save a SURFCAM design file as an IGES file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to IGES dialog box will be displayed. With the Precision parameter you can specify the number of digits to write after the decimal point when dealing with noninteger numbers. The default is 12. Figure 43: Convert DSN to IGES dialog box The text in a DSN file can be output to an IGES file. TrueType fonts will be output as StrokeFont. If you later open the IGES file as DSN, you can edit the text to return it to its original fonts. Text along curves can be output to an IGES file. Since IGES does not support text along curves, such text will be output as individual letters. The text will maintain its appearance along the curve, however. JAMA-ID Translator The JAMA-ID translator is a Japanese subset of I.G.E.S. The I.G.E.S. translator within SURFCAM automatically detects this type of I.G.E.S. format and interprets it accordingly. There is no user intervention in importing a JAMA-ID I.G.E.S. file. When exporting an I.G.E.S. file there is a new standard to support the JAMA-ID format. The following represents the additional standard listed in the DSN2IGS translator. Start Section JAMA-ID requires metric units so units of DSN2IGS file and all other tolerance numbers must be in metric units. DraftStd No standard specified 1 -- ISO 2 -- AFNOR 3 -- ANSI 4 -- BSI 5 -- CSA 6 -- DIN 7 -- JIS

31 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Parasolid (*.X_T, *.X_B) Save a SURFCAM design file as a Parasolid file. Note: As of SURFCAM , the Parasolid Translator is no longer a separate upgrade option. It will be installed automatically with SURFCAM. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). After you click a command on the Save As > Write menu, SURFCAM will display the Utility Output dialog box informing you that the translation was successful. 11. SAT Files (*.SAT) Save a SURFCAM DSN file in SAT format. Refer to Save As > Figure 44: Utility Output Dialog Box Write menu (p. 27). After you click a command on the Save As > Write menu, SURFCAM will display the Utility Output dialog box informing you that the translation was successful. 12. STL Files (*.STL) Save a SURFCAM DSN file in STL format. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to STL dialog box will be displayed. Part Name The name given here will be embedded within the file. STL machines commonly refer to this name in the control. STL File type Change output file to Binary or to ASCII format. Precision This parameter refers to the precision of the data and is available for ASCII format. Figure 45: Convert DSN to STL dialog box Surface tolerance The tolerance between the real surface and the poly face.

32 32 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Sampling curves Indicate the number of sampling curves when converting surface to poly face. 13. VDA Files (*.VDA) Save a SURFCAM DSN file as a German Automotive VDA format file. This conversion will support trimmed surface output. Rational surfaces or curves created in SURFCAM will be approximated with non-rational surfaces or curves in the output file. Refer to Save As > Write menu (p. 27). The Convert DSN to VDA dialog box will be displayed. Enter the first line number in the output VDA file, the amount to increment the line number and the precision. The Fitting Tolerance is the tolerance used in approximating a NURB Figure 46: Convert DSN to VDA dialog box surface with a Non-Rational B-spline surface. 14. DWG (*.DWG) Save a SURFCAM DSN file as an AutoCAD format file. The translator supports translation of AutoCAD Standard Drawing Entities including Dimensions and Text, as well as LW PolyLines File > Send To Mail Recipient the DSN and ICD files, as well as a file which contains pertinent information about your SURFCAM system the SystemInfo.Dat file. Clipboard Copy the screen contents to the Clipboard. Figure 47: Send File to Mail Recipient

33 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes File > Print The Print command is used to print or plot the image in the workspace. SURFCAM will display the Print dialog box. Figure 48: Print dialog box Device Information This lists the current default device to which the system will print or plot. The default device can be changed by clicking the Printer button. Screen Bitmap This changes the information being sent to the device to a raster format and is most applicable for printer drivers. If the device will not support this format, this option will not be available. If you click Screen Bitmap, the Bitmap Options and the White Background option will become available. Bitmap Options Select whether the printed image will be in Gray Scale (shades of gray) or color. White Background The background of the screen you are printing will be white if this box is marked. Entity Plot This changes the information being sent to the device to a vector format and is most applicable for plotter drivers although many printers will also support this format. If the device will not support this format, it will not be available. If you click Entity Plot, the Plot Options and the Swap White Pen options will become available. Plot Options / Line Width Enlarge or reduce the thickness of the geometry. This is particularly helpful when the screen resolution is high, for example 1280 X This field will not be available if the Screen Bitmap is chosen. Swap White Pen If this box is marked, the color of an element drawn in white will be changed to black when it is printed or plotted.

34 34 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Scale If the Scale to Fit Paper box is marked, the printed image is enlarged or reduced to fit within the margins of the paper. If it is not marked, the field to the right will be available for you to enter the scale at which the plotting will be done. Draw Borders If this box is marked, a border will be drawn around the edge of the paper. OK This will send the current image to the device. Cancel Exit the print feature. Changes you made will be ignored. Printer Display the second Print dialog box which is a standard Windows Print dialog box. Since there is only a single page to print, you have only the option to print All File > Print Setup This is a standard Windows command File > Plot Create a 2D DXF file from a 3D drawing or output a variety of pen plotter files. Flat DXF Create a DXF file that can be read into any CAD system that accepts DXF information. SURFCAM will output the image on the screen into a 2D file that can be sent to a 2D or 3D CAD program. When the data is read in, it will appear on the screen exactly the same way it appeared in SURFCAM when the file was made even though the data itself is not 3D data. The data file created will be in the 2D plane only. In order to achieve this, SURFCAM breaks the projected image into 2D lines in the current view. This creates files with only lines in them. Plot Figure 49: File > Plot menu Output a pen plotter file. The output file type is determined by the Plotter parameter set in the SURFCAM.INI file. The plot file created will be written to the PLTPath directory

35 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 35 defined in the appropriate configuration file. The default is the SURFCAM\PLT directory. The output file uses the default PLT extension. When you click Plot, the current screen drawing will be output in the specified file type. The drawing size is determined by the configuration file Plotter parameter. The current screen image will be fit to the plotter drawing size. The following are the supported pen plotter file types: HPGL, DMPL, CALCOMP, BGL, HPGL2. The Plotter Options dialog box will be displayed after entering the plot file name. Figure 50: Plotter Options dialog box Click File > Plot > Plot and enter a name in the Save As dialog box to display this dialog box. Number Of Pens The number of pens that the desired plotter uses. The default is 1. Paper Size Select any standard size from the following list. Click the arrow to see the letters which correspond with the paper sizes. INCHES MILLIMETERS A 8.5 by 11 a6 105 by 148 B 11 by 17 a5 148 by 210 C 17 by 22 a4 210 by 297 D 22 by 34 a3 297 by 420 E 34 by 44 a2 420 by 594 a1 584 by 841 a0 841 by 1189 Figure 51: Paper Sizes Plotter Tolerance The tolerance used by the plotter to maintain the drawing sizes. The tolerances are in metric for millimeter sizes.

36 36 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes After you select the Plotter Options, a Select menu will be displayed for you to choose entities. Figure 52: Plot > Select menu Select Select specific entities. The Select menu will be displayed for your input. On Screen Select all entities displayed on the current screen. Done Click Done when all entities have been selected. 1.3 CREATE MENU Each command on the Create menu displays a different type of element that SURFCAM can create. If you click a command, a Secondary menu bar will be displayed that lists different ways to create the element. This section provides information regarding the use of pointers in the Create mode. Pointers Used in the Create Mode When you use the Create menu, SURFCAM will display one of the following workspace pointers: 1. Crosshair pointer: used to select elements, 2. Arrow pointer: used to locate text or leaders when you create Text and Dimensions. Figure 53: Create menu 3. Pencil pointer: used to Select Point menus when SURFCAM is in the Snap mode. Refer to Section : Pencil Pointers on page 34 for a description of the Snap mode and the variations in the pencil pointer. Pick Distance in SURFCAM When you select existing elements in SURFCAM, you only need to place the pointer within a predetermined "pick distance" from an element in order to select it. This "pick distance" is defined by the dimensions of a non-visible square that always surrounds the pointer. The pointer is located at the center of this invisible square. The screen dimensions of this square are approximately equal to the length of three of the point symbols the "+" symbol SURFCAM uses to mark the location of a point you have created. SURFCAM will select an element if it is intersecting the interior of this square when you click the mouse. Selecting existing elements occurs when you use the Single command on the Select menu or the Point, End Point, Center, Midpoint, Intersect, or Quadrant commands on the Select Point menu.

37 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 37 Rubber Banding Rubber banding is a graphical pointer enhancement technique used in the creation of lines, arcs, and circles that makes your selection of points easier and more accurate. When you create a line, an arc, or a circle, first you must select an initial point. SURFCAM will enclose that point in a small square and enter the Rubber Banding mode. In this mode a line, an arc, or a circle depending on what is being created will be displayed on the screen and appear to be attached to the pointer as it is moved around the work space. That is, the line, arc, or circle will change in size as the pointer is moved. Also, the dimensions of the entity (length, radius, angle measure) will be dynamically displayed as the pointer moves. With the entity and its dimensions being displayed, you can more accurately locate the next point required in the creation of the entity. Linear Create a Line using 2 points Arc End Create > Arc > 3 points Arc Start Create > Arc > Center/Start/End Select the start of the arc. Arc Angle Create > Arc > Center/Start/End Select the end of the arc. Circle Third Point Create > Circle > 3 Points Select the third point. Align Create > Text/Dimension > Align Create > Point Figure 54: Examples of Rubber Banding Modes When you click Create > Point, SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.3: Select Point Menu on page 44.

38 38 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click a command to create the point. SURFCAM will create and display a point element as a cross at the defined position Create > Points Click Points to create a series of points. Figure 55: Create > Point > Select Point menu Figure 56: Create > Points menu Nodes Create points at the nodes of a selected spline. Click Nodes, then select a spline. A point will be created at each node. Figure 57: Points created at the nodes of a spline Error Create points along a selected spline such that a string of lines drawn between the points will not deviate from the original spline more than the defined chordal deviation. Click Error to display the Maximum Deviation dialog box. Enter the error value that you would like to maintain. Then select a spline or a NURB curve. A series of points will be created along the spline or NURB curve. Lines drawn between these points will stay within the error value specified. Figure 58: Points created along a spline using the error command Distance Create points along a chain of elements. The points will be a specified distance apart. 1. Click Distance to display the Create Points Distance dialog box. 2. Enter a value for the distance between the points.

39 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes The Create > Points > Select Chain menu will be displayed. To select the beginning element of the chain, click near the end point of the first element of the chain. 4. To select the ending element, click near the far end of the last element in the chain or click Close on the menu. A series of points will be created along the chain the specified distance apart. Figure 59: Points created along a spline a specified distance apart Project Create points (and lines) on splines and surfaces by projecting locations onto them. The location can be projected through the CView or normal to the surface or spline. Figure 60: Project On Surface dialog box Click Create > Points > Project and select a surface to display this dialog box.

40 40 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 61: Project On Curve dialog box Click Create > Points > Project and select a spline to display this dialog box. Many properties can be defined for the surface or spline, such as normals, tangent vectors, derivatives, and curvatures. All of these options create line elements except for the Point option. In the last field, specify the length of the tangent and normal lines to be created. Activating the tangent vector option(s) (U Tangent and/or V Tangent) is an easy way to create lines tangent to the spline or surface at any location. Rectangle Create a series of points in a rectangular array pattern. Define the array along the X and Y axes. Figure 62: Rectangular Array dialog box Number Of Points Define the total number of points to create along each axis.

41 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 41 Distance Enter a value for the distance between points along each axis. Angle Specify the angle from the 3 o clock position to establish the point array orientation. Make Circles Centered At Points Check the box to create circles centered on the points in the array. Circle Radius The radius of the centered circles. After you click OK, SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu for you to define the lower left corner of the pattern. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.3: Select Point Menu on page 44. Without Circles With Circles centered at points Circular Create a series of points around an arc. Figure 63: Rectangular Arrays Figure 64: Circular Array dialog box Number Of Points Define the total number of points to create. Note that the number of points must be greater than zero.

42 42 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Radius Enter the radius of the circle on which the points are to be created. Total Angle Enter a value for the angle between the first and last point. Use a positive value to create the points in the counterclockwise direction, a negative value for a clockwise direction. Start Angle Enter the angle from the 3 o clock position to the position at which the first point will be created. Make Circles Centered At Points Check the box to create circles centered on the points in the arc. Circle Radius The radius of the centered circles. After you click OK, SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu for you to select the center of the circle. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.3: Select Point Menu on page 44. Without Circles With Circles Centered at Points Figure 65: Circular Arrays Create > Line Figure 66: Create > Line menu Tangent Click Tangent to create a line tangent to elements or locations. Then select the elements (or locations). SURFCAM will draw a line connecting the elements selected and display the command on the menu if there are more possibilities. Each time you click Other, SURFCAM will draw another possible line. The Undo command will also be displayed which you can click to remove the line.

43 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 43 Refer to Figure 67: Line created tangent to two circles. The circles were both selected toward the top. Click Other to see different tangent lines. Figure 67: Line created tangent to two circles End Points Click End Points on the Line menu to display the Select Point menu. You will be prompted to select the starting point and the ending point. The first location will be marked with a small square. SURFCAM will display the line after the second end point is selected. String Create a set of line segments connected end to end. These segments can be created as separate entities or as a single entity called a polyline. Figure 68: Create Line String dialog box Create Line Elements Create a set of separate line segments connected to each other. The Select Point menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to select the starting and ending points. Create A Polyline Create a set of connected line segments that form a single entity a polyline. The point where neighboring segments meet is called a node. à Figure 69: Polyline created by selecting the points in the numbered order

44 44 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Horizontal, Vertical, or Both These commands are used to create lines that are oriented horizontally or vertically in the current CView. If you click Both, you can create both a horizontal line and a vertical line by indicating a single location. Be aware that when creating lines in this manner, SURFCAM trims the lines to the edges of your screen. Therefore, if the location you specify for the line(s) is not on the screen, the line(s) will not be created. To prevent this, it is advisable that the location specified be visible on the screen before you enter it. Use the Zoom In (Zoom) command on the Display menu (or click the Zoom In button) to accomplish this. Angle Click Angle to display the Create > Line > Angle menu. You will be prompted to Select an element or location. Angle = 0.000, Length = Figure 70: Create > Line > Angle menu The first step is to click the Info Change button and change the values for Angle and Length. Info Change The Create Line At Angle dialog box will be displayed for you to enter new values for Angle and/or Length of line. Figure 71: Create Line At Angle dialog box Location Click Location to display the Select Point menu so you can indicate where to create the line.

45 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 45 There are three ways to create a line using Angle. 1. Select an existing point or click the Location button and use the Select Point menu to indicate a location. SURFCAM will draw the line from that point at the indicated angle to the horizontal. 2. Select an arc (or a circle). SURFCAM will draw the line at the indicated angle to the horizontal and tangent to the arc, or its extension, on the side closest to the pick point. Figure 72: 1 Line Created at 30 angle from horizontal, from an existing point 3. Select a line. SURFCAM will then prompt you to Select a location through which the offset line will pass. Use the Select Point menu to locate a point from which the line will be drawn at the indicated angle from the previous line you selected. Figure 73: 1 Line Created at 30 angle from horizontal, tangent to the extension of an arc Original line New line Figure 74: 1 Line Created at 30 angle from extension of original line Cross Product A Cross Product is a line one unit long that is perpendicular to a plane (or a set of parallel planes) determined by two non-parallel lines. Note: Two intersecting lines lie on exactly one plane and therefore determine that plane. Also, two non-intersecting non-parallel lines in 3D space determine a set of planes that are each parallel to both lines and therefore parallel to each other. Two parallel lines also determine a plane but parallel lines are not used by SURFCAM to create a line with the Cross Product command. Click Cross Product. In response to prompts, select the two lines that will define the plane from which the cross product line will be created. SURFCAM will then prompt you for the location of the cross product line end point. After you select the location, SURFCAM will create a line 1 unit long at the location specified and display the Other command on the menu. You can select the other direction for the line. The line will be rotated 180º using the same end point.

46 46 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Offset Click Offset to create a line offset from an existing line. The Offset menu will be displayed. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Offset on page 132. The new line can be offset to either side of the existing line. The Offset command can produce a line that: 1. is a user-selected Distance from a given line, 2. passes through a user-selected Location, or 3. is tangent to a user-selected arc or circle. Possible offsets at a fixed Distance from the line Line to offset Offset through a Location Location Possible offsets Tangent to a circle Circle Figure 75: Offset lines Note: In Figure 75: Offset lines, the Location offset does not contain the location point and the Tangent offsets do not intersect the circle. This is usually the case when using the Offset command to create a line. Rectangle Click Rectangle to display the Create Line Rectangle dialog box. Figure 76: Create Line Rectangle dialog box.

47 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 47 Select Two Corner Points Mark this option to create a rectangle by selecting two points that will be diagonally opposite corners of the rectangle. The Select Point menu will be displayed so you can select each point. One Corner-Length-Width Mark this option if you want to create a rectangle by selecting the starting point and specifying the length and width of the rectangle. Length / Width Specify the length and width of the rectangle. A side is drawn in the negative direction if a negative value is entered. Fillet Radius Specify the radius of the fillet if you want a fillet to be created at each corner. Location When Tangent is clicked, you will be prompted to Select first tangent element or location and the Location command will be displayed on the menu. Click Location to display the Select Point menu so you can select a first and second tangent element. SURFCAM will draw a line that is tangent to the two elements you select. Undo Click Undo to delete the last element created Create > Arc Figure 77: Create > Arc menu 3 Points Create an arc using three points. The Select Point menu will be displayed. Choose a location command to select each of three points. The first two locations will be marked with small squares. SURFCAM will display the arc when the last location is indicated.

48 48 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Center/Radius SURFCAM will display the Create Arc dialog box. Figure 78: Create Arc dialog box. Enter values for Radius, Start Angle, End Angle and Direction of arc. Then click OK. The Select Point menu will be displayed for you to select the arc center location. Center/Diameter This command works the same as the Center/Radius command except that SURFCAM will prompt you for the diameter instead of the radius. 2 Points/Diameter Create an arc of 180º by specifying the two end points of the diameter. SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu so you can select the two points. The 180º arc will be created from the first point to the second in the counterclockwise direction. Center/Start/End Create an arc by specifying the center of the arc, the start point of the arc, and a point defining the angle of the arc. The Select Point menu will be displayed for you to select the required locations. The distance between the center point and the start point that you specify is the radius of the arc. The second point that you select will not usually be the end point of the arc. It will determine the central angle for the arc, that is, the degree measure of the arc itself. The arc will be created in the counterclockwise direction from the start point of the arc. Tangent 2 Create an arc tangent to two elements. A second menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to select the two tangent entities. Figure 79: Create > Arc > Fillet menu Click Create > Arc > Tangent 2 to display this menu. Change Radius The radius will be displayed on the prompt line. If you want to change it, click Change radius.

49 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 49 Trim Indicate the number of elements neighboring the new arc that are to be trimmed. Select 0, 1, or 2. (Click the button to toggle from Trim 0 to Trim 1 to Trim 2.) 0 Create the arc without trimming any of the elements. 1 The first element selected is trimmed to the arc. The other element is not trimmed. 2 Both elements are trimmed to the arc. Sweep<180 Change the sweep of the arc from less than 180º to greater than 180º. Location Use if you want to create an arc tangent to an element and passing through a given point. The Select Point menu will be displayed so you can select the point. Flip Arc Flip an existing arc from less than 180º to greater than 180º or vice versa. The following commands will be displayed ONLY after the arc has been created. Other Display other tangent possibilities. Reverse Reverse the trimming or reverse (flip) the arc itself. Undo Return the elements to the original configuration and remove the created arc. All elements will be untrimmed to the original size. Note: An arc can be created tangent to two points (or locations) that you specify. The Sweep command determines the size of the arc (that is less than or greater than 180º). Use the Flip arc command to display the complementary arc. Two arcs, of the same size, can be drawn between two points. The position of the pointer, when you select the second point, determines which of the two arcs is drawn. Use the Other command to display the other arc. Tangent 3 Create an arc tangent to three elements. You will be prompted to select the three elements. The elements selected are restricted to points, lines, arcs and circles. The arc with tangent points closest to the locations selected, when selecting the three elements, will be created. Use the Other command to select a different possibility, or Undo to delete the created arc.

50 50 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Offset Click Offset to create an arc offset from an existing arc. The Offset menu will be displayed. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Offset on page 132. The new arc can be offset to the exterior or interior of the existing arc. It cannot, however, be offset to the interior a distance greater than the radius of the arc. Splarc Creating toolpaths that follow the contour of splines can result in the creation of more linear moves in the final G-code than is desirable. The Splarc command is used to create a new entity, that approximates the original spline, but which can be machined more efficiently. The new entity is a series of connected arcs, each of which approximates a section of the spline. After using Splarc, both entities will exist in your drawing. HINT: It will be helpful to create the Splarc on a different layer from the spline. Figure 80: Spline to Arcs dialog box Tolerance Tolerance is the maximum allowable chordal deviation the maximum distance between the spline segments being approximated and the calculated arc. Minimum Radius This is the smallest allowed arc radius. An arc with a smaller radius will be replaced with a line segment. Maximum Radius This is the largest allowed arc radius. An arc with a larger radius will be replaced with a line segment. Check Points Per Span The Knots of a NURB spline divide the spline into a number of spans. Each span will be evaluated at the number of points specified by this parameter. One or more arcs may result from this evaluation. Fit Area Least Squares Use Area Least Squares (ALS) Arc fitting function instead of the default Total Least Squares (TLS) fit. ALS fit is much faster if you have a very large tool path, but may not be quite as accurate a fit to the arcs. ALS method may also not produce quite as much optimization as the TLS method.

51 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Create > Circle Figure 81: Create > Circle menu In SURFCAM a circle element is the same as an arc with a 360º sweep. Most methods for creating a circle are the same as for creating an arc. A circle is created with the start and end point at the three o'clock position on the circle in the view that it was created. The three o clock position is the end point of the circle. Note: The end point of a circle will rotate into another position when the Rotate command to move or copy the circle(s) is used. 3 Points Create a circle by specifying three points. These three points are selected using the Select Point menu. Each point can be selected using a different command on the Select Point menu. The first two locations will be marked temporarily with small squares. When the third location is selected, SURFCAM will display the circle. Center/Radius SURFCAM will display a dialog box for you to enter the radius, then the Select Point menu so you can select the center of the circle. Center/Diameter SURFCAM will display a dialog box for you to enter the diameter, then the Select Point menu so you can select the center of the circle. 2 Points Radius Create a circle by specifying two points defining the radius of the circle. Select the points using the Select Point menu. Each point can be selected using a different command on the Select Point menu. The first point selected defines the center of the circle. The distance between the selected points defines the radius of the circle. 2 Points Diameter Create a circle by specifying two points defining the diameter of the circle. Select the points using the Select Point menu. Each point can be selected using a different command on the Select Point menu. The first point selected defines the center of the circle. The distance between the selected points defines the diameter of the circle.

52 52 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Tangent 2 Create a circle tangent to two elements. When you click Tangent 2, a second Circle menu will be displayed. Figure 82: Create > Circle > Fillet menu Click Create > Circle > Tangent 2 to display this Circle menu. Change Radius Change the radius of the circle. Trim Indicate the number of elements neighboring the new circle that are to be trimmed. You can select 0, 1, or 2. This command toggles among the choices when you click it. 0 Create the circle without trimming any elements. 1 The first element selected is trimmed to the circle. The other element is not trimmed. 2 Both elements are trimmed to the circle. Location Use this command if you want to create a circle tangent to an element and passing through a given point. The Select Point menu will be displayed so you can select the point. The following commands will be displayed ONLY after the circle has been created. Other Display other tangent possibilities. Reverse Reverse the trimming of the elements. This command is only displayed when either Trim 1 or Trim 2 is clicked. Undo Return the elements to the original configuration and remove the created circle. All elements will then be untrimmed to the original size. Note: The circle can be created tangent to specific locations which you select. This is useful to create a circle tangent to two points. The circle closest to the selected location will be displayed. Use the Other command to select a different possibility. +-

53 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 53 Tangent 3 Create a circle tangent to three elements (points, lines, arcs and circles). You will be prompted to select the three elements. The circle with the tangent points closest to the selected location will be created. Use the Other command to select a different possibility. Offset Click Offset to create a circle offset from an existing circle. The Offset menu will be displayed. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Offset on page 132. The new circle can be offset to the exterior or interior of the circle. It cannot, however, be offset to the interior a distance greater than the radius of the circle Create > Fillet A fillet is an element that is tangent to two other elements that are arcs, lines, splines or points, in any combination. These elements may exist anywhere in 3D space and need not intersect. You can create a fillet as either an arc or a spline. When creating spline fillets, SURFCAM makes use of the features of an arc. In most cases, a spline fillet drawn on a plane will be in the shape of an arc. A spline fillet drawn in 3D space will not be in the shape of an arc, but will look like one when viewed from the same CView (construction view) in which it was created. Because of the connection to arcs, a fillet has a radius, which you must indicate before you create it. In the same dialog box you indicate the radius, you will also indicate the fillet type to create: arc fillet or spline fillet. If the two elements that the fillet will connect lie on the same plane, the fillet can be created as either an arc or a spline. If, however, the two elements exist in 3D space, intersecting or not, the fillet must be created as a spline if it is to connect and be tangent to the two elements. If you select arc as the fillet type, in 3D space, you will get unintended results. An arc will be created tangent to the first element you selected and lying on a plane parallel to the CView plane. Such an arc will rarely intersect the second element and will never be tangent to it. When you create a spline fillet between two elements in 3D space, it will look like an arc, with the designated radius, when viewed from its CView. If you rotate out of view, using the Rotate button on the toolbar you will see that it is a spline that is tangent to the two elements. When you create a fillet you can also have one or both of the elements trimmed at the point of intersection with the fillet. Click Create > Fillet to create a fillet between two elements. The Create > Fillet menu will be displayed. Figure 83: Create > Fillet menu The prompt line will display the current radius value of the arc to be used in creating the fillet and the prompt Select first tangent entity or location.

54 54 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Change Radius Click Change Radius to display the Fillet dialog box. Figure 84: Fillet dialog box Enter the radius of the fillet and set the Create Element(s) parameter to indicate whether the fillet will be an Arc, a Spline, or Both. Trim You can trim 0, 1, or 2 of the elements the fillet intersects. Clicking this button toggles among the three commands. 0 Create the fillet without trimming any elements. 1 The first element selected is trimmed to the fillet. The other element is not trimmed. 2 Both elements are trimmed to the fillet. Sweep Usually, if SURFCAM can create a fillet using one arc, it can also create one with that arc s complement. Usually the arcs involved will not equal 180º; one will be less than 180 and its complement will be greater than 180. The Sweep command is used to tell SURFCAM which one to use. The Sweep button toggles between Sweep<180 and Sweep>180. There can be situations in which the complement cannot be used to create a fillet. The phrase change the sweep of a fillet means to use the complement of the arc to create the other fillet. Next select the elements to which the fillet will be attached. You can use the Location command to help in selecting. Location The Select Point menu will be displayed. Use one of its options to select the tangent elements. After you select the first tangent element SURFCAM will prompt you to Select second tangent entity or location. After you click the second element, SURFCAM will display one of the possible fillets that can be drawn. The one that is first displayed will depend on where, and in what sequence you click the elements.

55 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 55 Flip Arc Click Flip Arc to flip an existing arc fillet from less than 180º to greater than 180º, or vice versa. (This operation cannot be used on fillets that are splines.) You will be prompted to select an arc to complement or a vector to flip direction. The following commands will be added to the menu after the first fillet possibility has been displayed. They are used to display other fillet possibilities, display the other trim possibilities or to cancel the creation of the new fillet. The Reverse command is displayed only if Trim was set to 1 or 2. Other Click Other to display the other tangent possibilities for the fillet. The number of the current possibility is also listed on the button. Click Other to see the next possibility. You can also click the Sweep button to display the possibilities available with the other sweep of the fillet. Reverse Reverse is intended for use with arc fillets only. It is used to reverse the trimming of the elements to which the fillet is attached, or to change the sweep of the fillet. It is displayed only if Trim has been set to 1 or 2. To use it, click the Reverse button. Then click an element that was trimmed. The complement of the trimmed element will now be displayed. You must always click Reverse before you click an element to reverse. If you click the fillet, you will reverse both the fillet and the elements that were trimmed. Undo Click Undo to cancel the creation of the fillet on which you are currently working Create > Chamfer A chamfer is a line segment drawn between two elements usually two intersecting lines. However, one can also be drawn between a point and a line and between two points. When drawn between two intersecting lines, the chamfer connects two points that are a specified distance from the intersection of the lines. The specified distance on the first line selected is called the First Trim Value. The distance on the second line is called the Second Trim Value. You can elect to trim one or both of the lines to the end points of the chamfer. Between two intersecting lines there are four possible chamfers that can be drawn. Click Create > Chamfer. The prompt line will display the First and Second Trim Values and prompt you to Select first element or location. Figure 85: Create > Chamfer menu

56 56 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Change Chamfer The Chamfer dialog box will be displayed for you to enter the First and Second Trim Values. Trim You can trim 0, 1, or 2 of the lines connected by the chamfer. Figure 86: Chamfer dialog box 0 Create the chamfer without trimming any elements. 1 The first line selected is trimmed to the chamfer. The other element is not trimmed. 2 Both lines are trimmed to the chamfer. After you select the fist element (line), you will be prompted to Select second element or location. After you select the second line, the Chamfer will be drawn and the Other and Undo commands will be added to the Chamfer menu. Other You can click this command to display all chamfer possibilities between the two lines. Undo Click Undo to erase the Chamfer you just created and return to the regular Chamfer menu. When a chamfer is drawn between two non-intersecting (and non-parallel) lines, the frame of reference is the intersection of the extensions of the two lines. The results will be similar to those that you get when you create a chamfer between intersecting lines. A chamfer drawn between a point and a line will connect the point and a location on the line the applicable trim distance from one end of the line. There are two possibilities. A chamfer drawn between two points will simply connect the points Create > Spline Figure 87: Create > Chamfer menu with Other and Undo commands Click Create > Spline to display the Create > Spline menu. Figure 88: Create > Spline menu

57 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 57 There are a number of commands on this menu used to create splines. Splines can also be created using the Transform > Offset command. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Offset on page 132. Points Used to create a natural cubic spline (the curvature is zero at its ends) by indicating the locations of the node points. Click Create > Spline > Points to display the Create > Spline > Points menu. Figure 89: Create > Spline > Points menu Points If you click either Points or Polyline, the NURB Curve dialog box will be displayed. Figure 90: Nurb Curve dialog box Click Create > Spline > Points > Points to display this dialog box. Construction Method Interpolate Create a NURB curve that passes through the points. This is done by creating new control points. Figure 91: A spline created by interpolating points Control Points Create a NURB curve that uses the chosen points as control points. When this option is chosen, the Knots and Degree parameters become available. Least Squares Create a curve using the chosen points as control points and a Least Squares method for fitting the spline to the points.

58 58 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Knots NURB splines are composed of distinct spans. Each span is defined by a single mathematical equation. Knots are the transition points between spans. Knots are of three types: Bezier, Uniform, and Non-Uniform. Non-uniform knots will usually give the smoothest results. Use the others only if you have a specific need. Uniform Knots All spans are of equal length. You can have an unlimited number of spans. Bezier Knots There is only one span (two knots). Figure 92: Uniform Knots Figure 93: Bezier Knots Non-Uniform Knots Spans are different lengths. The length is calculated from the control points so as to keep the speed of the curve as uniform as possible. You can have an unlimited number of spans. Figure 94: Non-Uniform Knots Degree Interpolated splines are always degree 3. If control points are specified and the NURB spline uses Uniform or Non- Uniform knots, then the degree field can be used to control the degree of the spline. The maximum degree is 20 and the minimum degree is 1. The minimum number of control points in a Uniform NURB spline is the degree of the NURB spline plus one. If the NURB spline uses Bezier knots, then the degree is automatically the number of points in the controlling polygon minus one, and this value is

59 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 59 ignored. Since the maximum degree is 20, the largest Bezier spline that can be created will contain 21 control points. This specifies the complexity of the equations defining the NURB spline. The number of points that can be interpolated by a single segment increases with an equation of higher degree. Also, with a higher degree the spline tends to stay away from the control polygon (considered smoother). Higher degree splines have problems of different kinds (numerical instability and oscillations). Even numbers are worse than odd. Time to work with a spline is inversely relative to the degree. In general, many geometric modeling applications limit the degree of the splines to be 3, although degrees of 5 through 8 are not uncommon. SURFCAM limits the degree of a NURB spline to 20. A NURB surface has two degrees: one along the U direction and the other along the V direction. The degree of a NURB spline must be at least one less than the number of control points. In the case of a NURB surface, the degree in each direction must be at least one less than the number of control points in that direction. A NURB spline of degree 1 can be used to represent lines and polylines. SURFCAM splines can be accurately represented by NURB splines of degree 3. Degree = 1 Degree = 3 Degree = 6 (one less than the total number of points) Figure 95: Splines Created with Different Degrees Check Points Per Span The Knots of a NURB spline divide the spline into a number of spans. Each span will be evaluated at the number of points specified by this parameter.

60 60 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Optimize Deviation This is the maximum allowable chordal deviation of the spline from the lines drawn between the chosen points. Show Polygon Check to display the controlling polygons. NURB splines are defined by a set of points in space. Unlike splines where the spline passes through the points that define the spline, the points defining the NURB spline (except the first and last) do not usually lie on the spline. Sometimes they are called puppet points, as each controls a piece of the spline and moving one point causes a portion of the spline to move in that direction. A NURB surface is defined by a rectangular mesh of control points. Figure 96: Interpolated Spline with the Control Polygon Visible Polyline If you click Polyline on the Points submenu, the same options will be available to you as when you click Points. However, SURFCAM will use an existing polyline for the points. Refer to String on page 43 for information on how polylines are created. Figure 97: Interpolated spline through a polyline Figure 98: Uniform spline through a polyline with a degree of 3 Elements Click Elements on the Create > Spline menu to create a spline from a series of chained lines, arcs, and even other splines.

61 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 61 Optimize Create an optimized spline by duplicating an existing spline, then removing the unneeded nodes from it. The new spline created will only use the nodes that are needed to hold a tolerance, which you specify, to the original spline, reducing the amount of data and time that is required to represent curves and surfaces. When working with digitized data, you are given many extra node points on a spline that are unnecessary. A small number of nodes may be required to accurately define the shape of the spline. SURFCAM's Optimize command can drastically reduce the amount of RAM needed, and more importantly, the amount of time required to process a spline. This time savings is greatly amplified when a surface is constructed from an optimized spline. Example: Eleven splines are used as cross sections to create a surface in SURFCAM. Suppose these splines are originally defined by an average of 101 nodes each, whereas an average of only 21 nodes each are required if the splines are optimized. A surface created with the non-optimized splines would consist of about 1000 patches (100 nodes times 10 splines), whereas a surface created with the optimized splines would consist of about 200 patches (20 nodes times 10 splines). The patches created with optimized splines would take about one fifth the RAM to store and close to one fifth the time to construct. On more complex surfaces these savings are even more dramatic. Note: Since the new spline will be almost identical to the old one, it is highly recommended that before a spline is optimized, you set both the color and layer parameters (in the Status menu) to settings different from those in the original spline so you can distinguish easily between the new spline and the original spline. Ellipse Click Create > Spline > Ellipse to create an elliptical spline. Figure 99: Create > Spline > Ellipse menu Center Create an ellipse whose major axis is a specified angle from horizontal. The Ellipse dialog box will be displayed.

62 62 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 100: Ellipse dialog box Major/Minor Diameter Enter the length of the diameters along the major and minor axes of the ellipse. Angle Enter a value for the angle you want the major axis to make with the horizontal. SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu for you to select the center point of the ellipse. Axis The Select Point menu will be displayed for you to select the center of the ellipse and points at the end of the major and minor axes. The point for the minor axis will be projected to the true minor axis. Spiral Helix Create a spiral spline, a helical spline, or a helical spiral spline. The Spline Spiral/Helix dialog box will be displayed. Type Click Spiral, Helix, or Both. Figure 101: Spline Spiral/Helix dialog box

63 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 63 Start Radius The radius of the spline at the start point location. Start Angle The angle from the 3 o clock position to the start point of the spline. End Radius The radius of the spline at the end point. This parameter is not used when Helix is selected for the Type. Radial Pitch The amount of change in the radius for every 360º when you choose either Spiral or Both. Helical Pitch The height change in the spline for every 360º when you choose either Helix or Both. Helical Length The overall height of the spline when you choose either Helix or Both. Axial Direction The direction to apply the helical length. This direction is based on the current construction view. Towards The direction of the positive Z axis in the current construction view. Away The direction of the negative Z axis of the current construction view. Rotation Direction The direction of the spline. Click CCW for counterclockwise or CW for clockwise. Use the Select Point menu to select the center point of the spiral or helix. Surface Spline The Surface Spline command is used to create splines associated with surfaces. In some cases the surface spline will be created on (but separate from) a surface. In other cases the spline is created by following features of a surface but is not created on the surface. In most cases these splines will be used as either boundary curves or flow surface curves. These splines remain separate from their associated surfaces. Boundary curves, however, do have surface associative properties that enable them to be used for things like surface trimming.

64 64 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click Create > Spline > Surface Spline to display the Create Curve dialog box. Figure 102: Create Curve dialog box: Boundary Curves tab and Flow Curves tab Boundary Curves A Boundary Curve is one that follows the edge of a surface. It can be used as a trim boundary for another surface. Creation Choice Select Create As Single Curve to create one single curve that follows the boundary of the selected surface(s). Select Broken Into Multiple to create multiple curves along the edge of the selected surface(s). Boundary Choice Select All Boundary to create a curve around all of the boundary of the selected surface(s). Select Boundary Picked to create a curve along the boundary edge that is picked.

65 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 65 Select Segment Picked to create a curve along a segment that is picked on a boundary edge. Flow Curves A Flow Curve is a curve that follows the U or V flow of the surface at a given location. Refer to Figure 103: Flow Curve Examples on page 66. Flow Type Single Create splines on a surface through a point that is the projection of a point you will choose. That projection can be either normal to the surface or parallel to the construction view. Increment Length Create splines a specified distance apart (starting along the edge farthest from the surface arrow). Number Of Splines Create a number of evenly spaced splines (including along the surface edges). Edges Create splines along the surface edges. Knot Lines Create splines at the natural knots of the surface. Direction There are three different options to define the direction of the curve on the surface. The shape of the curve is always iso-parametric. This means that it will follow the shape or flow of the surface. It is not sectional. Major The direction in which the surface arrow is pointing. Minor The direction that is roughly perpendicular to the direction the surface arrow is pointing. Both Curves will be drawn in both major and minor directions. Increment When the Flow Type is set to Increment Length, the value entered in this field sets the distance between the curves to be created. Note: When it is necessary to create splines on the surface edges, enter an increment value larger than the size of the surface.

66 66 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Number Of Splines When Flow Type is set to Number Of Splines, the value entered in this field sets the number of curves to create. Project Direction Project Direction becomes active when Flow Type is set to Single. Normal Create splines on the surface that pass through a point at the foot of a normal projection of a selected point. Construction View Create splines on the surface that pass through a point at the foot of a projection (of a selected point) parallel to the current construction view. Original Surface Flow Type = Single Direction = Minor Flow Type = Increment Length Direction = Both, Increment =.5 Flow Type = Number of Splines Direction = Both, Splines = 4 Flow Type = Edges Flow Type = Knot Lines Figure 103: Flow Curve Examples

67 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 67 Rest Curves Select Rest Curves to create curves that are offset from those that follow the boundary of material left by previously performed 3 Axis operations. Such curves are also produced during the 3 Axis Rest Material operation to guide the creation of tool paths. Rest Curves must be created in Top CView. They are drawn on the Z0 plane, not the surface. Figure 104: Rest Curves tab For a description of the parameters not listed below, refer to Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Compare Along on page 258 and Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Tolerances on page 258. Surface Surface cutting moves are linear moves along chords between two points on the surface. The length of these chordal moves is adjusted so that no point on the surface, beneath a chord, is a greater distance from the chord than the value of Surface. Save Curves Original Undercut Boundaries SURFCAM will determine the edges of the material (the rest material) that was not removed by the previous operations in the selected Setup Section and create boundary curves along these edges. Select this option to display the Original Undercut Boundaries along with the toolpath and save them on the currently active layer. It is best to save it on a layer other than the one containing your drawing.

68 68 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Intermediate Offset Curves SURFCAM will determine boundary curves that are offset from the Original Rest Boundaries. Select this option to display the Intermediate Offset Curves and save them on the currently active layer. Normals Used For Tool Offset SURFCAM will display and save normals used to determine the tool offset. Final Offset Curves SURFCAM will project the Intermediate Offset Curves onto the 0 Z level plane. The Final Offset Curves are used to guide the creation of the rest machining toolpath. Select this option to display the final offset curves and save them on the currently active layer. Steep/Shallow Curves Select Steep/Shallow Curves to create the same boundary curves ordinarily created to guide toolpath creation when Steep/Shallow cutting is done in 3 Axis Z Finish or Planar operations. Figure 105: Steep/Shallow Curves tab Refer to Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Steep Cutting Options on page 238, Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Shallow Cutting Options on page 249, Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Stock To Leave on page 228, and Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Surface Tolerance on page 228.

69 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 69 Pencil Curves Select Pencil Curves to create the same curves created when 3 Axis Pencil Cut is used to remove material along the concave intersection of two surfaces. Figure 106: Pencil Curves tab Stock to Leave Refer to Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Stock To Leave on page 228. Surface Tolerance Refer to Chapter 3: 3 Axis, Surface Tolerance on page 228. Curve Tolerance SURFCAM will break all contour moves along a spline into linear moves along chords connecting two points on the spline. When driving the tool along a spline curve, SURFCAM will adjust the length of the chordal moves to make sure that no point on the spline, beneath the chord, is a greater distance from the chord than the value of the Curve Tolerance. Threshold Angle The Threshold Angle parameter is concerned with the value of the angle at which two surfaces intersect. The size of that intersect angle can vary along the intersection. The size of the intersect angle will affect the amount of material that is left un-cut after any particular cutting operation. The smaller the angle, the more material that will be left. The larger the angle, the more material that will be cut by an operation. Thus, less material will need to be removed by a later clean-up operation like Pencil

70 70 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Cut. Because of this fact, it is more efficient to have SURFCAM generate pencil curves only in those regions of the intersection that involve small angles of intersection. Threshold Angle is a parameter that tells SURFCAM when to generate a pencil curve, based on the angle between the two intersecting surfaces. Threshold Angle is a value that will be compared to the supplement of the angle of intersection between the two surfaces. SURFCAM will generate a pencil curve in those regions along the intersection of two surfaces where the supplement of the angle of intersection is larger than the value of Threshold Angle. When the angle of intersection between the two surfaces gets large enough for its supplement to be less than the value of Threshold Angle, SURFCAM will not generate a pencil curve. If any resulting breaks in the pencil curve are smaller than a set value, SURFCAM will connect the separate pieces of the pencil curve so that a smooth and continuous toolpath will be maintained along the intersection. Cross Section The cross section spline is created by slicing surfaces (single, multiple, or composite) at defined intervals relative to the CView. The plane of the sections is perpendicular to the CView. When the CView is set to zero, the current view is used. To create cross section splines: 1. Click Create > Spline > Cross Section. SURFCAM will prompt you to Select surfaces to project across. 2. Select the surface on which to create the cross section splines. The Create Cross Sections Splines dialog box will be displayed. Figure 107: Create Cross Section Splines dialog box 3. Enter the Increment distance between the splines created, the Spline Tolerance, and click OK. You will be prompted to Select Point menu to begin. The Select Point menu will be displayed for you to select this point. 4. Select the point on the surface on which you want the cross sections to begin. You will then be prompted to Select Point menu in direction of cut. Select a point in the direction for the cross section. SURFCAM will prompt you to Select the offset side to start. After you do so, the splines will be created along the defined direction on the side selected.

71 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 71 Figure 108: Surface and the cross section splines created at an angle in the top view using Sketch from Select Point menu. Note: When it is necessary to create a single cross section, enter an increment value larger than the size of the surface. Note: Requires SURFCAM 2 Axis Plus system or greater. Surface Intersect Click Surface Intersect to create a spline along the intersection of two surfaces. SURFCAM will prompt you to select the surfaces, then will analyze both surfaces to find the points of intersection and display the intersect spline. Note: If SURFCAM cannot find the intersection, select the surfaces in the opposite order and/or increase the number of display curves. When there are multiple intersections, SURFCAM will attempt to find all existing intersections. Figure 109: Two intersecting surfaces and the surface intersect splines created Note: Requires SURFCAM 2 Axis Plus system or greater. Cutter Intersect A cutter intersect spline is an intersect spline that is offset from the intersection of two surfaces by a distance that is calculated using the Tool Diameter and Tool Tip Radius of a selected mill tool and an optional value for Stock To Leave, entered by the user. Cutter intersect splines are useful for creating boundaries used during a cutting routine to limit the area of the surface being cut. Typically, they are used to contain the tool to avoid cutting an adjacent surface. The spline will be created on the surface arrow sides of the intersecting surfaces. Use the Side command on the Edit > Surfaces menu to move a surface arrow to the opposite side of a surface. Refer to Section 1.4.6: Edit > Surfaces on page 113.

72 72 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click Cutter Intersect to display the Select Mill Tool dialog box. Figure 110: Select Mill Tool dialog box Tool, Tool Diameter, Tool Tip Radius Click the Tool button to open the tool library. You can then select a tool whose values for Tool Diameter and Tip Radius will be entered into the dialog box. Select the tool you will be using when you cut near the two surfaces. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 3: Common NC Parameters, Section : Select Tool on page 70. You can also enter your own values for Tool Diameter and Tool Tip Radius. Stock To Leave If you enter a non-zero value for Stock To Leave, it will be added to half the Tool Diameter (the tool radius) and to the Tool Tip Radius to get values for Total Radius and Tip Radius that are used to locate the cutter intersect spline. When you later analyze the spline using the Analyze > Elements command, you will see the values for Total Radius and Tip Radius. After you click OK, you will be prompted to Select first surface. Select a surface. You will then be prompted to Select second surface. SURFCAM will then create the cutter intersect spline. Note: If SURFCAM cannot find the intersection, select the surfaces in the opposite order and/or increase the number of display curves. When there are multiple intersections, SURFCAM will attempt to find all existing intersections. Figure 111: Two intersecting surfaces and the cutter intersect spline created using a.25 ball end mill

73 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 73 Project Project a spline onto a surface. The spline must be located in space relative to the location of the surface. The projection will be accomplished either normal to the surface or through the construction view. Figure 112: Project Spline dialog box Maximum Error Set the deviation from the original spline shape. Project Direction Set to Construction View or Normal. After you follow the prompts and make appropriate selections, the spline will be created contoured to the shape of the surface. Figure 113: A surface and spline Figure 114: The spline projected onto the surface Blend Create a smooth spline between any two wireframe entities. Click Create > Spline > Blend. Then select ends of blending spline to display the Create Spline Blend dialog box. Figure 115: Create Spline Blend First End / Second End Fullness Enter the fullness factor for the spline ends. The fullness factors determine the final blended spline shape.

74 74 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Part Line A parting line is a curve on the horizon of the surface. This is most commonly used to create a parting edge or surface. To create a parting line surface, click Part Line on the Create > Spline menu then select the surfaces on which to create a parting curve. The parting curve will follow the horizon of each surface. This is done relative to the current construction view. Figure 116: Model with a Parting Curve Wrap Curve A wrap curve is a spline created by wrapping a set of chained elements (or curve) around a cylinder. You will define the cylinder by entering values for its radius and the orientation of its major axis. You will then map a base point on the chained elements (or curve) onto a reference point on the surface of the cylinder. You can elect to display a portion of the cylinder to aid in visualization. You can also control the angular orientation of the curve on the cylinder surface as viewed from a perpendicular to the cylinder. Figure 117: Wrap Curve Note: The example Figure 117: Wrap Curve was created using the sample program 2dstar.dsn and trimming after the creation. To create a wrap curve, click Create > Spline > Wrap Curve. The Select Chain menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to select the beginning and ending elements. After you complete the chaining and click Done, the Input wrapping information dialog box will be displayed. Figure 118: Input wrapping information dialog box

75 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 75 Radius of the cylinder Enter the radius of the cylinder. Reference point The reference point is a point on the surface of the cylinder. A corresponding base point on the curve, to be wrapped, will be mapped onto this reference point. The way the remaining points on the curve will be mapped onto corresponding points on the cylinder is controlled by mapping the tangent to the curve being wrapped, at the base point, onto the tangent to the cylinder at the reference point. There are two ways to locate the reference point on the cylinder. Specified by coordinates The reference point will be identified by the coordinates that you will later be prompted to enter. Specified by angle The reference point will be rotated (around the circumference of the cylinder) through the angle you enter here starting from the point whose coordinates you will later be prompted to enter. Angle at the reference point The image of the wrapped curve, as viewed from a normal to the cylinder, will be tilted at this angle at the reference point on the surface of the cylinder. Tolerance A value that controls how closely the wrapped curve will adhere to the circumference of the cylinder, as viewed in a cross section of the cylinder. Do you want to display the cylinder? Select Yes to display a portion of the cylinder. When you click OK, the Select Point menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Input the center of the cylinder and Input another point to specify the direction of the cylinder. After you enter these two values, a portion of the cylinder will be displayed if you selected that option. You will then be prompted to Pick a point on the curve. This base point will be mapped onto the reference point on the surface of the cylinder. You will next be prompted to Pick the corresponding position on the cylinder. Use commands on the Select Point menu to pick this reference point. The wrap curve will then be drawn on the surface of the cylinder Create > Surface In SURFCAM, a surface is a mathematical representation of a part's outer or inner shape. Surfaces have a positive and a negative side to them, typically indicated by a surface arrow. The direction of the surface arrow indicates the side and the cutter path direction of the surface to be machined. A surface will be displayed using U and V splines. The area bounded by the U and V splines is a surface patch, and the splines are the patch boundaries.

76 76 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Refer to Chapter 2: Surfaces starting on page 171 for a detailed description of how to create the surfaces that appear on the Surface menu Create > View You can define a specific screen orientation as a view. This makes it possible for you to quickly return to that orientation. It also makes it possible for you to create geometry and to machine in that orientation. Note: When you create a view you will assign it a view number. The first 8 numbers are predefined. When you create new views, do not use numbers less than 9. Because a view is a line of sight down a normal or perpendicular to a plane (the viewing plane) a view can be defined by describing the viewing plane. Planes can be defined by three points, a line and a point not on the line and by two intersecting lines. SURFCAM enables you to create views using each of these methods. Before SURFCAM can display a view its local origin must be known. Consequently, identifying a local origin is always part of creating a new view. Figure 119: Create > View menu 3 Points Create a view by selecting three points. 1. Click Create > View > 3 Points. 2. SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu and prompt you to select the first location on the X axis. Select a point. 3. SURFCAM will mark the location of the point and prompt you to select the second location on the X positive axis. This point defines the positive X axis direction. Select the second point. 4. SURFCAM will prompt you to select a location in the Y positive direction. This point defines the positive Y axis direction. Select the Y axis point. 5. SURFCAM will prompt you to select a location for the local origin. Select the location for the local origin (the X0, Y0, Z0 point for the local coordinate system). This also determines the point through which the view plane will pass.

77 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes SURFCAM will display the View dialog box. Enter a name up to 79 characters. Accept the displayed number or assign a new one not the predefined view numbers: 1 to 8. Figure 120: View dialog box 7. SURFCAM will save the view and display a dialog box asking if you want to change the current view to this new view. If you click Yes, SURFCAM will switch the display into the new view. Respond with No to maintain the current view. Point/Line Create a view by using an existing line and a point. 1. Click Create > View > Point/Line. 2. SURFCAM will prompt you to select a line that describes the X axis. Select a line. 3. The Select Point menu will be displayed. SURFCAM will prompt you to select a location in the direction of the Y axis. Specify the location. 4. You will be prompted to select a location for the local origin. Indicate the location for the local origin (X0, Y0, Z0 point for the local coordinate system). This also determines the location through which the view plane will pass. SURFCAM will display a dialog box to prompt you for the view name and number. Refer to Figure 120: View dialog box on page 77. Normal Create a view using the X and Z axes. The view is created with the same method as 3 points. The difference is the axis orientation. The first two points specify the direction along the Z axis, and the third point orients the X axis. As with the 3 points command, SURFCAM will prompt you for the location of the origin and a view name and number. Current Used to save the current screen orientation as a view. Click Current to display the Select Point menu and the prompt Select a location for the local origin. Use a command on the Select Point menu to identify the local origin (X0, Y0, Z0 point for the local coordinate system). This also determines the location through which the view plane will pass. The View dialog box will then be displayed for you to name the view and assign it a name. Refer to Figure 120: View dialog box on page 77. Click OK to display a dialog box with the prompt Change the current view to this new view? If you click Yes, this new view will become the current active view.

78 78 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Create > Text/Dimension Figure 121: A Sample Part Displaying Various Dimensions An understanding of the following concepts will be helpful in learning to use the Text/ Dimension command. Dimension A dimension is a single entity consisting of text, dimension lines, and extension lines. The text for linear measurements consists of numbers only. Arc radius measurements are preceded by the letter R. Arc diameter measurements are preceded by the symbol Ø. Angular measurement contains degree, minute and second symbols. Dimensions for arc measurement also contain a mark showing the center of the arc. Since these features form a single entity, if you attempt to delete one feature, you will delete the entire dimension. Text In addition to the numeric text in a dimension, SURFCAM provides two commands to annotate your drawing with textual material. One command, called Leader, produces text that is connected to a line pointing to a specific entity in your drawing. The other command, called Text, produces straight line or curved text that can be used for notes in the drawing or changed into a geometric entity that can be machined.

79 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 79 Coordinates Depending on the dimension command you choose, SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu or prompt for selection of a specific entity. Placing the Dimension When placing the dimension, you can click any one of the display buttons on the toolbar to reposition the image. Rubber-banding The dimension display can be dragged to its location by rubber-banding it to the desired location. Exact placement is possible since the actual dimension is always visible. Drag the entire dimension Figure 122: Placing a Dimension using Rubber-banding Centering When you create a dimension, SURFCAM will recognize when the text is centered between the extension lines. As you move the mouse to locate the dimension on the drawing, the text color will change when the text becomes centered between the extension lines. This makes consistent placement possible when detailing and provides a better looking design. Figure 123: Centering a Dimension

80 80 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Construction Views SURFCAM treats dimensions like other geometric types. Dimensions that you create are placed on the plane of the current CView (construction view). Figure 124: Dimensioning in Multiple Construction Views To create a dimension, click Create > Text/Dimension. Figure 125: Create > Text/Dimension menu If MouseText a toggle command with StyleText appears on the Dimension menu, you have the option of placing the dimension display in various locations. Move the mouse until the dimension is in the desired location and then click the left mouse button. Refer to MouseText/StyleText on page 95. Linear Click Linear to measure and display the horizontal or the vertical distance between points. When you click Linear and select two points, the linear dimension will be displayed. Position the dimension by moving the mouse and clicking the left button or by using one of the other Select Point menu commands.

81 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 81 If the points are not on a horizontal or a vertical line, as you move the mouse to different locations, SURFCAM automatically switches between the appropriate horizontal and vertical measurements. Figure 126: Horizontal and Vertical Linear Dimensions Figure 127: Linear dimension between points not on a vertical or a horizontal line Align Measure and display the straight-line distance between two points. When you click Align, the Select Point menu will be displayed. Select two points and the align dimension will be displayed. Position the dimension with the mouse or with one of the Select Point menu commands. Radius When you click Radius, you will be prompted to Select an arc to dimension. When you select the arc, the radius dimension will be displayed as well as the Select Point menu. Position the dimension with the mouse or the Select Point menu commands. Once you have set the location of the radius dimension, the center of the arc will be marked. In the drawing note that SURFCAM extends an arc to the appropriate quadrant when the inside is chosen. Figure 128: Aligned Dimension Figure 129: Radial Dimension Diameter Measure the diameter of any circle or arc. The procedure for creating a diameter dimension is similar to that for creating a radius dimension except that the result will be an arc diameter measurement.

82 82 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Angular Measure the angle between two lines or the angle of an arc. Figure 130: Angular Dimension When you click Angular, you will be prompted to pick an arc or a line for angular dimensioning. If you choose an arc, its angular dimension will be displayed as well as the Select Point menu. Position the dimension with the mouse or the Select Point menu commands. If you pick a line, you will be prompted to pick the second line. The angular dimension between the two lines will then be displayed as well as the Select Point menu. Position the dimension with the mouse or the Select Point menu commands. Leader Create a line with an annotation. The line often has an arrowhead pointing to a specific entity. When you click Leader, SURFCAM will display a text entry dialog box. Enter your text and click OK. Select the start point for the leader using the mouse or the Select Point menu commands. This is where the point of the arrow will be placed. Once the point is clicked, the leader and text will be displayed. You can now move the mouse and thereby move the display of the leader. The prompt line indicates that if you click the right mouse button (RM), you can insert intermediate points in the line of the leader. Click the left mouse button (LM) when you are satisfied with the location of the display.

83 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 83 Text Click Text to display the Input Text dialog box. It is used to enter text to be used for notes in a drawing or to be exploded for machining. Refer to Explode on page 126. Text can take two different forms: straight line and curved. Straight line text lies on a line that can be oriented at any angle. Curved text lies along a curve. The top or the bottom of curved text characters can be placed along any curve at a predetermined distance. After you enter the text and click OK, you will be prompted to locate the text on the drawing. Straight line text will appear on the screen with a pointer located at the top or the bottom of the first character in the text. You can move the text around before placing it at a location, either by clicking or using the Select Point menu. You can continue placing the text at different locations until you click Back on the Select Point menu. When the text is curved you will be prompted to identify the curve, along which the text will be displayed, and the location on the curve where the text display will begin. Figure 131: Input Text dialog box Click Create > Text/Dimension > Text to display this dialog box. Text Use this box to enter text. This text box has the wrap around feature. When more than five lines are entered the scroll box is displayed between the scroll arrows. The keyboard Page Up/Down keys scroll up and down four lines. The Home and End keys move the pointer to the beginning and end of lines.

84 84 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Font Type You can select StrokeFont or TrueType Font. When Font Type is StrokeFont the Font box is active. When Font Type is TrueType, both the Font and Font Style boxes are active and a Sample box will be displayed. Font Displays the available fonts, like Arial or Times New Roman. Sample If you choose TrueType font, the Sample box will be displayed. Font Style Displays the font styles Bold, Bold Italic, Italic and Regular. Text Shape Straight Line The text is normal looking appearing on a straight line. Angle Enter the angle at which Straight Line text will be displayed. It is measured counterclockwise from the horizontal. Mouse As After you click OK, the Straight Line text will be displayed with the pointer at the bottom or top of the first character of the text, depending on your selection of Bottom or Top. Figure 132: Angle = 45 Curve The text is wrapped around a curve. Offset Enter the distance away from the curve that you want the wrapped text to be placed. Create Text When text is wrapped around a curve, it is placed above the curve or below the curve depending on your choice of Overline or Underline, respectively. Figure 133: Text Overline Figure 134: Text Underline Before placing curved text, you will be prompted to select the beginning element of the curve, then the ending element. The beginning element is treated as the beginning of the line (or curve) on which the text is placed.

85 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 85 You will then be prompted to indicate the point along the curve where you want the text to begin. The selection of Create Text and the order of the selection of the curve end points determine how the text appears on the curve. Experiment with these two concepts to get an understanding of how they work together in placing the text along the curve. Text Height Text Height determines the size of the text characters. Block Spacing This option affects the spacing between characters. When set to No the default spacing for the chosen font is used. When set to Yes, the Block Spacing box will be available for you to enter the value of the distance between the characters. Figure 135: Top Line: No Block Spacing Second Line: Block Spacing, Set at.1 After you have entered the text and chosen the various options, click OK. SURFCAM will then display the Select Point menu and prompt you to Choose upper left position for the text. Select the appropriate option and place the text. Style Make changes in the Default Style or create and name new styles. A style consists of all the characteristics of a dimension format text size, dimension line color, arrow size, etc. Any new style you create will only be available during the current work session on the current design file. When you save the design file, the styles you created during this work session will be saved with it. But the styles will not be transferred to the next work session on the next design file. Also, keep in mind that the Style command is not used to change from one style to another. The Change Style command is used for that. Refer to Change Style on page 95. Figure 136: Dimension Style dialog box Default Style Click the Default Style button to have a list of the available styles displayed. When a particular style is chosen, the parameters in the dialog boxes reflect that style. The style can be chosen by typing its number or selecting it with the mouse. Note that selecting a style here does not make it the current working style.

86 86 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes New Click New to create a new style. Figure 137: Style dialog box Style Name / Reference Number Type a new name and the reference number you wish to use. Then click OK. Geometry Click Geometry to display the Dimension Style Geometry dialog box. Figure 138: Dimension Style Geometry: Scale tab Scale Tab Dimension Scale Change the display size. For example, a dimension scale of two will double the size of the display of the dimension.

87 Dimension Lines Tab SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 87 Figure 139: Dimension Style Geometry: Dimension Lines tab Figure 140: Dimension and Extension Lines Extension lines are lines extending from points on the drawing indicating the distance being measured. Dimension lines are the lines that point to extension lines. The one pointing at the extension line of the point selected first is considered the first dimension line. Dimension lines also point to arcs and angles being measured. Suppress First and Second Dimension Lines Check the box to suppress the display of the first and/or second dimension line. Leaving unchecked causes the corresponding dimension line to be displayed.

88 88 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 1st point selected Figure 141: Suppression of the First Dimension Line Force Line Inside Check to display a continuous line between the extension lines. Use when the dimension text is placed outside of the extension line. Figure 142: Force Line Inside = Yes Figure 143: Force Line Inside = No Lead Length The horizontal length of a dimension line. If the entire dimension line is horizontal, this is the distance from the dimension text to the extension line. If there is an elbow in the dimension line, this is the length of only the horizontal part of the dimension line. Figure 144: Lead Length

89 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 89 Color The default color for the dimension line is set to Inherit which makes the dimension lines the same color as the entity being measured. Check Color, then click the button at the end of the line to display a color chart so you can change the color. Extension Lines Tab Figure 145: Check Color and click the color chart button Figure 146: Dimension Style Geometry: Extension Lines tab Suppress Extension Lines To suppress extension lines, follow the same procedure used to suppress dimension lines. Figure 147: Suppression of First Extension Line A common application for displaying dimensions without extension lines occurs when the Align command is used to measure a wall thickness.

90 90 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Origin Gap The distance between the extension lines and the corresponding point. Refer to Figure 148: Origin Gap and Extension on page 90. Extension The distance the extension line extends beyond the dimension line. Figure 148: Origin Gap and Extension Color The value for the extension line color. Refer to Color on page 89. Arrow Heads Tab The arrow heads point toward the measured entity or toward the extension lines. Figure 149: Dimension Style Geometry: Arrow Heads tab Draw Arrow Head Click Yes or No to display an arrow head or not.

91 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 91 Arrow Height The length of the arrow head measured along the dimension line. Arrow Width The width of the arrow head. Center Mark Tab The center of the arc being measured. Figure 150: Dimension Style Geometry: Center Mark tab Draw Center Mark Select None for no mark. Select Mark to draw a point at the center of the arc. Select Line to draw a line in each quadrant extending from the center. Figure 151: None Figure 152: Mark Figure 153: Line Mark Length The size of the mark drawn in the center of the arc.

92 92 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Text Modify various text properties. Figure 154: Dimension Style Text dialog box Click Create > Text/Dimension > Style > Text to display this dialog box. Dimension Line Gap Specify the distance between text and dimension line. Refer to Figure 155: Dimension Line Gap. Text Alignment Horizontal Text will be displayed horizontally regardless of the dimension line direction. Align with Dimension Line The text will be displayed along the dimension line. Figure 155: Dimension Line Gap Alignment = Horizontal Figure 156: Alignment = With Dimension Line

93 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 93 Text Position With Respect To Extension Line Chosen By User SURFCAM will place the text midway between the extension lines. If MouseText a toggle command with StyleText is displayed on the menu, you have the option of placing the dimension display in a different location. Move the mouse until the dimension is in the desired location and then click the left mouse button. Refer to MouseText/StyleText on page 95 for an explanation of StyleText and MouseText. Outside Extension Lines Place the text outside one of the extension lines. You can modify the placement of the display if MouseText is chosen. Figure 157: Outside Extension Lines Dimension Line You can modify the following placement by moving the mouse until the text is at the desired location. Then click the left mouse button. Note that the Away From Defining Point option places the text on the opposite side of the dimension line from the two points concerned. In Figure 158: Text Position With Respect to Dimension Line, the top end points of the two lines were chosen to display a linear dimension. Centered Between Above Away from Defining Point Figure 158: Text Position With Respect to Dimension Line Vertical Gap This option is available only if you have chosen either Above dimension line or Away from defining point. The value you enter defines the distance between the text and dimension line. Text Height, Block Spacing, Color Refer to Text Height and Block Spacing on page 85, and Color on page 89. Text Font Click the Text Font button to display the Font dialog box.

94 94 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Annotation Click the Annotation button to modify display properties. Figure 159: Dimension Style Annotation dialog box Click Create > Text/Dimension > Style > Annotation to display this dialog box. Dimension Units Dimension Precision/Angle Precision The number of places to the right of the decimal point. Closest Round Off The number of places to the right of the decimal point for rounding purposes. The measured distance will always be a multiple of this value. VALUE OUTPUT Angle Format Measure angles in decimal values or in degrees and minutes. Dimension Tolerance Tolerances Choose None to allow no tolerance. To display the same tolerance value above and below, choose Symmetrical. To allow for a different tolerance above and below, choose Deviation.

95 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 95 Default Upper and Lower Tolerances Define tolerance values above (+) or below (-). Text Height Factor The size of the tolerance text relative to the size of the dimension text. A scale factor of.5 would make the tolerance texts half the size of the dimension text. Tolerance Precision The number of places to the right of the decimal. Vertical Justification Top Dimension text is at the top of the tolerance display. Middle Dimension text is at the center of the tolerance display. Bottom Dimension text is at the bottom of the tolerance display. Change Style When you click Change Style, SURFCAM will display a dialog box listing the available styles. MouseText/StyleText Click this button to toggle between two ways of displaying dimensions. With MouseText, you can move the mouse and click the location where you want the dimension displayed. With StyleText, you depend on the current style to place the dimension Create > Vector None Symmetrical Deviation Figure 160: Tolerance Displays The Vector command is used to define the offset side when creating a tool path in 2D. Click Create > Vector to display the Create > Vector menu. Figure 161: Create > Vector menu

96 96 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.4: Vector Menu on page EDIT MENU Edit > Color Change the color of one or more elements using the standard Select menu commands Single, Within, Intersect, Visible, and MultSelOn/Off. Click Color to display a 16-color selection bar. Click a color and SURFCAM will display the Select menu. Select the element(s) whose color is to be changed. SURFCAM changes the color of the element(s). Note: If the MultSelOn/Off command in the Select menu is set to Off, when you select an element its color will be changed immediately. You can continue selecting elements one at a time to change them to the same color. If the MultSelOn/Off command is set to On, you can select a number of elements which will be highlighted when they are selected. To change the color of these elements, click Done. To choose a different color for more changes, click Back. Figure 162: Edit menu Edit > Flip Element Create the complement of an existing arc or vector. For an arc, the portion of the circle that is not currently displayed will be displayed. For a vector, the vector arrow is flipped so that it points in the opposite direction Edit > Trim/Break Figure 163: The Original Element Figure 164: The Element after clicking Flip Element The Edit >Trim/Break menu is used to perform trim and break operations on lines, splines, arcs, and surfaces. Click Trim 1 to change it to Trim 2. Click Break 1 to change it to Break 2. Trim 1 and Break 1 are used to trim or break the first element selected; Trim 2 and Break 2 are used to trim or break both the elements that are selected.

97 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 97 If either Trim 1 or Trim 2 is selected, the Keep Segment, Delete Segment, and AutoTrim commands will be displayed. Figure 165: Edit > Trim/Break Menu With Trim Selected If either Break 1 or Break 2 is selected, the Multiple and AutoBreak commands will be displayed. Figure 166: Edit > Trim/Break Menu With Break Selected The Keep Segment, Delete Segment, Multiple, AutoTrim, and AutoBreak commands are used to perform multiple trims and breaks. Trim/Break operations occur at boundaries lying on elements or their extensions. A boundary occurs at the intersection of two elements (or their extensions). If elements or their extensions do not intersect, boundaries can occur at or along the projection of one element onto another. Projections are always made in the current CView Trim/Break Definitions The Trim operation can either delete a part of an element lying on one side of a trim boundary or extend the element from an end point to its intersection with a trim boundary. The Break operation splits or divides an element into two separate elements at or along a break boundary. A trim/break boundary on one element is defined by a second element. The first element (the trim/break element) is said to trim to or break to the second element (the trim/break to element) Trim/Break Boundaries Trim/break boundaries for lines, splines and arcs occur at intersections of these elements or their extensions and other lines, splines and arcs or their extensions. Trim/break boundaries for surfaces can occur 1) at the intersection of two surfaces or 2) along the projection of an element (line, spline or arc) and its extensions onto the surface Extensions of elements Line segments, splines and arcs (but not surfaces or points) are often extended to create trim/break boundaries. There are four types of extension: 1. Segments are extended along the line on which they lie. 2. Splines are extended by lines drawn tangent to the spline at its end points. 3. An arc associated with a line, a spline or another arc in a trim/break is extended along the circle on which it lies.

98 98 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 4. An arc to be projected onto a surface is extended by lines drawn tangent to its end points. Figure 167: Spline and Spline extended along tangent lines Projection of an element Figure 168: Arc and Arc extended along its circle Figure 169: Arc and Arc extended by tangent lines All elements, other than surfaces, can be projected onto another element to create a trim/break boundary. The direction of a projection is usually perpendicular to the current CView XY plane parallel to the CView Z axis. Changing the CView can give you a different projection and, thus, a different trim/break boundary. When the CView is set to zero, however, trim/break projections will be perpendicular to the current view plane (that is, the screen). Projections are always bidirectional toward and away from the projection plane (CView or View). Thus an element can be projected onto another regardless of whether it is above or below it in space. When trim/break operations are applied to surfaces, the user can elect to have projections made normal to the surface. Figure 170: Circle above surface Figure 171: Circle projected from 3 CViews Trim/Break lines, splines, and arcs When you Trim a line, a spline, or an arc to a second line, spline, or arc, both the elements and their extensions are first projected onto the CView XY plane. With Break, the Break element is projected without its extensions. The intersect points of these

99 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 99 projected images are then projected back to the Trim/Break element to become the potential trim/break boundaries. If the images do not intersect, no Trim/Break will occur. To perform a Trim/Break on lines, splines or arcs: 1. Click Trim/Break 1 or 2. You will be prompted to Select first element to trim/break. 2. Select the first element. If Trim/Break 1 is displayed, the element you select will have the trim/break performed on it. You will then be prompted to Select element to trim/break to or location. If Trim/Break 2 is displayed, trim/break will be performed on the element you just selected and the next one selected. You will then be prompted to Select second element to trim/break or location. 3. Select an element. Trim/break will be performed on the first or both elements. If either Trim 1 or Trim 2 is displayed, the Other, Reverse, and Undo commands will be displayed on the Trim/Break menu. A. Click Other to display all the trimming possibilities. B. Click Reverse and you will be prompted to Select an element to reverse the trim. Choose one of the elements just trimmed. SURFCAM restores that element to its original state and trims it from the other end. C. Click Undo to undo the trim operations. If either Break 1 or 2 is displayed, break will be performed on one or both elements. The Undo command will be displayed on the Trim/Break menu. Click Undo to undo the break operations. Note that often you must Edit > Color to see where the elements have been broken. 4. Break with Multiple: A. To break elements at their intersections with a multiple number of other elements, click either Break 1 or Break 2. B. Click Multiple to display the Select menu and the prompt Select elements to break to. C. Select one or more elements to break to and click Done. D. You will then be prompted to Select element to be broken: E. Select one or more elements to be broken and click Done. F. The elements that you just selected will be broken at the locations where they intersect with the elements you previously selected as the break to elements. Refer to Section : Trim/Break lines, splines, and arcs to a location on page 100 for the Location command description.

100 100 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Trim/Break lines, splines, and arcs to a location When you Trim/Break a line, a spline, or an arc to a location or point, the point is first projected onto the CView XY plane. If you are trim/breaking an arc, its center is also projected. Then the Trim element with its extensions is projected, or the Break element without its extensions is projected. For lines If a perpendicular can be drawn from the image of the point to the image of the line or its extensions if you are trimming the intersect point is projected back to the original line or its extension if trimming to become its trim/break point. For a spline If one or more perpendiculars can be drawn from the image of the point to the image of the spline or its extensions if trimming the intersect point of the shortest perpendicular is projected back to the spline or its extension if trimming as its trim/break point. For an arc A line is drawn through the image of the point and the image of the center of the arc. The intersect points of this line with the image of the arc or its extensions if trimming are projected back to the original arc or extensions to become the possible trim/break points on the arc. When breaking an arc, the intersect point nearest the break to point or location is the break point. If an intersection described above cannot take place, there will be no trim/ break operation in that instance. 1. Click Trim/Break 1 or 2. Follow instructions 1 and 2 from the Section : Trim/ Break lines, splines, and arcs on page Select the location (the point) to trim/break to. To do this, click Location on the Trim/Break menu to display the Select Point menu. Figure 172: Select Point menu 3. Use the commands on this menu to select the point to trim/break to Trim/Break a surface to a line, a spline, a surface edge or an arc Note: To supplement the following information, refer to the Surface Trimming Rules Help screen in the SURFCAM online Help File. When you Trim or Break a surface to a selected line, spline (including a surface edge), or arc, the element is projected perpendicular to the CView XY plane. If the image of that projection falls on the surface, that image becomes the trim/break boundary.

101 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 101 If this boundary is not a closed contour or does not intersect the surface edges at two locations, the ends of the boundary will be extended by one of three methods. 1. The end points of the boundary may be connected to form a closed boundary. 2. The end points may be extended until they intersect an edge of the surface. 3. Splines may be drawn from the boundary end points parallel to the surface flow lines to the edges of the surface. The method used will be the one that results in the shortest single extension from any one of the boundary ends. Figure 173: 3 open contour boundaries not intersecting surface edges Figure 174: 3 extension methods and resulting surface breaks 1. Click Trim/Break 1 or 2. (Trim/Break 2 will not trim/break the second element if it is a line, a spline, or an arc.) You will be prompted to Select first element to trim/ break. 2. Select the surface to trim/break. When a surface is selected for a trim/break operation, the Edit > Trim/Break > Surface menu will be displayed with the Element command highlighted. Figure 175: Element Element Select a single point (if marked by SURFCAM as a point), line, spline or arc to trim/break the surface to. (When you trim or break a surface to a second surface you will use Element to select a second non-tangent surface.) Location Used to trim/break the surface to a location. Refer to the Section : Trim/ Break a surface to a location on page 103. Multiple Chain a number of separate elements together to create an entity to trim/ break the surface to. The Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select contour(s) to be chained, then Done.

102 102 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Surface Edge Used to select the edge of a second surface as the trim/break element when trimming or breaking the previously selected surface. (When you trim or break a surface to a second surface that is tangent to the first, you will use Surface Edge to select the tangent edge of the second surface.) Options Change the projection from perpendicular to the CView XY plane to normal to the surface. 3. Click the Options command to select the type of projection to be used for the line, spline, or arc. The Trim Options dialog box will be displayed. Figure 176: Trim Options dialog box The default projection is perpendicular to the CView XY plane. If you want to project the element normal to the surface, Set the Project Spline Direction parameter to Normal and click OK. 4. If Trim/Break 1 was displayed, you will be prompted to Select element to trim/ break to or location. If Trim/Break 2 was displayed, you will be prompted to Select second element to trim/break or location. Use either the Element command or the Multiple command to select the element(s) to trim/break to. After you select one or more element(s), the trim/ break operation will be performed on the surface. The Undo command will be displayed on the Trim/Break menu for you to undo the operation, if you choose Trim/Break a surface to another surface Note: To supplement the following information, refer to the Surface Trimming Rules Help screen in the SURFCAM online Help File. When you Trim or Break a surface to another surface, the two must intersect. The trim/ break boundary will be the intersection of the two surfaces. If this boundary is not a closed contour or does not intersect the surface edges at two locations, the ends of the boundary will be extended by one of three methods. 1. The end points of the boundary may be connected to form a closed boundary. 2. The end points may be extended until they intersect an edge of the surface. 3. Splines may be drawn from the boundary end points, parallel to the surface flow lines, to the edges of the surface.

103 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 103 The method used will be the one that results in the shortest single extension from any one of the boundary ends. Refer to the drawings following Section : Trim/Break a surface to a line, a spline, a surface edge or an arc on page Click Trim/Break 1 or 2. (Trim/Break 2 will also trim/break the second surface selected.) You will be prompted to Select first element to trim/break. 2. Read instructions 2 and 3 in the preceding Section : Trim/Break a surface to a line, a spline, a surface edge or an arc on page Select the second surface. The Location and Multiple commands cannot be used to select the second surface. If the two surfaces are not tangent at their intersection, you will use the Element command to select the second surface. If the two surfaces are tangent at their intersection and a surface edge of the second surface lies on that intersection, select the second surface by using the Surface Edge command to select the tangent surface edge. After you select the second surface, or the surface edge of the second surface, the trim/break will occur on the first surface or both. The Undo command will be displayed on the Trim/Break menu for you to undo the operation, if you choose Trim/Break a surface to a location When you Trim or Break a surface to a point (or location), the point is either: 1. projected toward or away from the CView XY plane or 2. projected along the shortest normal to the surface. If the image of the projected point falls on the surface, the trim/break boundary will be a spline through the image point intersecting two edges of the surface and parallel to either the major flow lines of the surface or the minor ones. You will choose, in a dialog box, the method of projection and the direction of the flow lines. 1. Click Trim/Break 1 or 2. (Trim/Break 2 will operate the same as Trim/Break 1 when you trim/break a surface to a location.) You will be prompted to Select first element to trim/break. 2. Read instructions 2 and 3 in the preceding Section : Trim/Break a surface to a line, a spline, a surface edge or an arc on page Select the location (the point). To do this, click Location on the Trim/Break menu to display the Select Point menu. Use the commands on this menu to select the point to trim/break to. When you select the point, the Trim/Break Surface dialog box will be displayed.

104 104 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 177: Trim/Break Surface dialog box 4. Select the Trim/Break Direction (Major or Minor). The trim/break boundary can be made parallel to either the major or minor flow lines of the surface. 5. Select the Project Direction (CView or Normal) and click OK. 6. The trim/break to a location will be executed. There is no undo command available. To undo the trim or break, use the Untrim command on the Edit > Surfaces menu Trimming with Keep Segment and Delete Segment The Keep Segment and Delete Segment commands on the Edit >Trim/Break menu provide you with two efficient methods of performing multiple trims on lines, splines and arcs. These two commands were created for situations in which you have multiple elements to trim and multiple elements to which they will be trimmed. With these commands you are able to select a number of possible trim to elements at one time. Then without having to re-select the Trim command each time you can trim, one by one, other elements to various combinations of the previously selected trim to elements. You can use the Undo command to undo the previous trim. You can also undo, sequentially, any number of the previous trims by repeated use of the Undo command. The Keep Segment and Delete Segment commands differ in the way the trim is performed. With Keep Segment, the part of the element that is selected is the part that is retained. With Delete Segment, the part of the element that is selected is the part that is deleted. Keep Segment Use Keep Segment to select the part of an element to be retained when that element is trimmed. To trim multiple elements to one or more elements consecutively and retain the part of the elements that are selected: 1. Click Keep Segment. The Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select element(s) to trim to. 2. Use commands on the Select menu to select any number of elements that other elements will be trimmed to. When finished, click Done. You will be prompted to Select the element(s) to be trimmed.

105 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Select the first element to trim. The part of the element you select up to a single trim to element or between two trim to elements will be the part that is retained. The Undo command can be used to undo that trim and, sequentially, any number of previous trims, if you choose. If you select another element or click Done, the trim will be kept. Continue selecting the elements you want to trim, one by one. When you are finished click Done. Before trimming After trimming with Keep Segment Figure 178: Multiple elements trimmed away from other elements In the above example the two horizontal lines were selected as the elements to trim to. The three vertical lines to the left were trimmed. The first, on the left, was selected at a point above the top horizontal line. The second was selected at a point between the two lines. The third was selected below the bottom line. Note that the part of each element that was selected is the part that was retained. Delete Segment Use Delete Segment to select the part of an element to be deleted when that element is trimmed. To trim multiple elements to one or more elements consecutively and delete the part of the elements that are selected: 1. Click Delete Segment. The Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select element(s) to trim to. 2. Use commands on the Select menu to select any number of elements that other elements will be trimmed to. When finished, click Done. You will be prompted to Select the element(s) to be trimmed. 3. Select the first element to trim. The part of the element you select up to a single trim to element or between two trim to elements will be the part that is deleted. The Undo command can be used to undo that trim and, sequentially, any number of previous trims if you choose. If you select another element or click Done, the trim will be kept. Continue selecting the elements you want to trim, one by one. When you are finished, click Done.

106 106 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Before trimming After trimming with Delete Segment Figure 179: Multiple elements trimmed away from within other elements In the above example the two horizontal lines were selected as the elements to trim to. The three vertical lines to the left were trimmed. The first on the left was selected at a point above the top horizontal line. The second was selected at a point between the two lines. The third was selected below the bottom line. Note that the part of each element that was selected is the part that was deleted Trimming with AutoTrim AutoTrim is a quick and efficient method of trimming a single element up to its intersections with two other elements. AutoTrim is used to delete or keep a section of an entity between an end point and its intersection with another element or between two intersections with one or two other elements. Click the Trim 1 or Trim 2 button to activate the Auto Trim button. Figure 180: AutoTrim Click the AutoTrim button to put SURFCAM in the AutoTrim mode. If the Delete Segment button is active, a click on a segment of an entity will delete that segment.. Before trimming After AutoTrim with Delete Segment Figure 181: AutoTrim to delete segments with a single click

107 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 107 To trim by keeping the segments that are clicked, click the Delete Segment button to toggle it to the Keep Segment button. Figure 182: Keep Segment and Delete Segment are toggle buttons when AutoTrim is active. Now when you click a segment of an element it will be retained while the rest of the element beyond its intersection with two other elements will be deleted. Before trimming After AutoTrim with Keep Segment Figure 183: Multiple elements trimmed away from other elements Breaking with Auto Break Click the Break 1 or Break 2 button to change the AutoTrim button to the AutoBreak button. Then click the AutoBreak button to put SURFCAM into the AutoBreak mode. Figure 184: AutoBreak In the AutoBreak mode any element you select will be broken at every one of its points of intersection with all other elements. In the drawing, a single click on the spline will create break points at the two intersections with the circle and the five intersections with the line. Thus the spline will become eight separate entities. Figure 185: A Spline Broken into 8 Entities by AutoBreak

108 108 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Edit > Increment The Increment command is used to specify locations at even increments along an element. Click Edit > Increment and select an element. The Edit Increment dialog box will be displayed. Number Of Sections This defines the number of sections into which the element will be broken. Break Original Element Check to break the original entity into separate entities. Leave unchecked to maintain it as a single element. Points At Breaks Create points at the break locations. These points will be created whether the element is broken or not. Chords Between Breaks When an arc, a circle, or a spline is incremented, you can create chord lines between the break locations Edit > Splines Figure 186: Edit Increment dialog box Click Splines on the Edit menu to display the Spline menu which is used to edit or modify splines. Long time users of SURFCAM can encounter two kinds of splines they may need to edit. Starting with version 6.1 splines created in SURFCAM have been exclusively NURB splines. Prior to version 6.1 both NURB and parametric splines could be created. A parametric spline is a smooth curve through a series of points in space. The points through which a spline was originally drawn are called nodes. When a parametric spline was created each node was assigned a tangent vector by a blending function built into SURFCAM. Each vector had a direction defined by X, Y and Z coordinates and a magnitude. The combination of direction and magnitude of the tangent vectors for all the nodes defined the parametric spline. A NURB spline is a smooth curve that is defined by a series of points through which, except for the first and the last points, the curve does not pass. These points are called control points. The spline itself is composed of a set of spans defined by equations. Spans are

109 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 109 connected by transition points called knots. The complexity of the span equations is controlled by a number called the degree. The control points, the type of knots and the degree combine to define a NURB spline. The Node/Tangent Vector command on the Spline menu is used to modify parametric splines only. To modify NURB splines you must use the Control Points command on the Edit menu. The Optimize and Untrim commands are used with both NURB and parametric splines and the Polygon and Explode commands are used with NURB splines only. Click Edit > Splines to display the Edit > Splines menu. Figure 187: Edit > Splines menu Node/Tangent Vector Click Node/Tangent Vector to display the Edit > Splines > Node menu so you can modify the node and tangent vector information for parametric splines. Figure 188: Edit > Splines > Node menu Analyze Click Analyze and select a parametric spline to display a window that indicates the location and tangent vector information. Press any key or click the mouse to erase the window. Move Node Move a node to another location. Note: Moving the node has no affect on the tangent vector. Figure 189: The spline as created Figure 190: The spline with the topmost node moved to the left of its original location Tangent Vector Change the direction of a tangent vector by indicating a new location for the tangent vector to point towards.

110 110 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Note: This does not change the magnitude of the tangent vector, only its direction. Figure 191: A spline as it was created through the node points. Figure 192: The spline with one of the tangent vectors edited so that it runs towards a point to the right of the spline. Note: Unless the direction the spline is running is known, there is a 50% chance that the effect of the editing may not make the spline take the desired shape. This is because splines run in only one direction, from one end to the other. If the spline was running in the direction other than the one assumed, the editing may have changed the direction of the tangent vector by more than 90º, and an unexpected loop or curve may have appeared. To correct this, simply reverse the magnitude of the tangent vector edited. In other words, if the magnitude is.76 make it This can be done by using the Magnitude command. This can be avoided by using the Line Tangent command on this menu to display the vectors that indicate the spline direction. Line Tangent Create a line that represents the tangent vector at the spline node selected. The length of the line created will be equal to the magnitude of the tangent vector. Figure 193: The spline as created Figure 194: The spline with tangent vectors displayed at each interior node

111 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 111 Splines can be thought of as having a directional quality that is indicated by the direction of their tangent vectors. Note: This command can be used for extending a spline. Lines can be created tangent at either end, then trimmed using the Edit/Trim command to the desired length. The line at the end, pointing along the spline will have to be trimmed twice the first time to extend the line past the end of the spline, and the second time to trim the other end of the new line to the end point of the spline. Magnitude Change the magnitude of a tangent vector thereby increasing or decreasing its effect on the spline. Refer to Figure 195: The Original Spline to see a spline as created in SURFCAM through the nodes indicated by the points. Refer to Figure 196: Magnitude Doubled to see the same spline with the magnitude of the topmost vector doubled. Notice that the top of the spline appears more blunt. Figure 195: The Original Spline Refer to Figure 197: Magnitude Reduced to see the original spline with the magnitude of the topmost tangent vector reduced to about half its original value. This resulted in a sharper curve at the top of the spline. Figure 196: Magnitude Doubled Figure 197: Magnitude Reduced

112 112 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes The magnitude of a tangent vector can be thought of as the speed of the spline at that node. The larger the magnitude, the higher the speed. This restricts the spline from turning as sharply. Copy Tangent Vector Assign the direction of a tangent vector at one spline node to another spline node. Note: Copying a tangent vector does not copy the magnitude. To copy the magnitude as well as the tangent vector direction, follow this operation with the Copy Magnitude procedure. Copy Magnitude Give one tangent vector the same magnitude value as another simply by clicking the nodes. To copy a tangent vector magnitude, click Copy Magnitude. Then select a spline near the node with the magnitude to copy. Then select the spline near the node to which the new magnitude is to be assigned. The edited spline will be redrawn. Untrim No When you click Untrim, the display on the menu will change from Untrim Yes to Untrim No. While set to Yes, any trimmed spline selected will be temporarily untrimmed. The spline will return to its trimmed state when this is set back to No, when another spline is selected, or when you exit the spline editing menus. Optimize This command creates an optimized parametric or NURB spline, and is similar to the Optimized command on the Create > Spline menu. Refer to Optimize on page 61. The original spline will be replaced by the optimized spline. Multiple splines can be optimized at the same time. Untrim Return a parametric or NURB spline that has been trimmed to its original untrimmed state. Polygon Display or hide the controlling polygon on a NURB spline. Explode Convert NURB splines to parametric splines or polylines. You will be prompted to Select NURB splines to explode. Select the spline(s) you want to explode. The Explode dialog box will be displayed for you to select Spline or Polyline for the conversion. You can also enter the number of extra elements to include in the new entity. Click OK to display the Transform Copy dialog box. Enter the number of copies, the color and layer parameters and the new entity will be displayed.

113 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Edit > Surfaces Every surface element created by SURFCAM has a small arrow attached to one corner. This arrow indicates the surface side and direction that a cutter will traverse. You can change the side or direction for the cut with the Edit > Surfaces menu. When a surface is created, the surface arrow is placed at the first point selected. The default size and color of the arrow are set in the SURFCAM.INI file. You can override these defaults in Display Options dialog box which will be displayed when you click Options > Display. Refer to Section 1.8.1: Options > Display on page 157 and also to Chapter 7: Configuration Tools, Section 7.3: Display Options Tab on page 371. Click Surfaces on the Edit menu to display the Edit > Surfaces menu. Figure 198: Edit > Surfaces menu Side Click Side and then click a surface to move its surface arrow to the other side. Note: This determines which side of the surface will be used for machining, filleting, offsetting, and cutter intersections. Direction Click Direction and then click a surface to change the direction its surface arrow is pointing. If it is currently pointing along the cross sections, using this command will cause the arrow to point across the cross sections (and vice versa). Corner Click Corner and then click a point near the desired corner of a surface to move its surface arrow to that corner. Cutting will now start at this corner rather than the previous one. Original Drawing Arrow on the other side Figure 199: Surface arrow locations

114 114 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Arrow in different direction Figure 199: Surface arrow locations Arrow at different corner Arrow Click Arrow and then click a surface to toggle its surface arrow from visible to invisible (or vice versa). Decompose Untrim the surfaces that make up a composite surface and return them to the state they were in before they were trimmed. Figure 200: A composite surface Figure 201: The individual surfaces after using decompose command Twist Vectors When you select a parametric surface, the Surface Twists dialog box will be displayed for you to select the new twist type vectors for the surface. The surface will be recalculated with the new twist vectors. Figure 202: Surface Twists dialog box Surfaces use Twist Vectors to describe the curvature within a surface patch. SURFCAM represents surfaces by drawing their patch boundaries (the U and V splines) and the Twist vectors do not affect the patch boundaries. SURFCAM will automatically recommend the correct twist vectors for all methods of surface construction. Splined The default for drive curve and 4 curve surfaces.

115 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 115 Ruled Used when there are only two cross sections. Ruled surfaces must have exactly two rows in the U direction. Zero Used for compatibility with other systems. Blended The default blending type for surfaces built from cross sections and offset surfaces. Polygon Create a polygon on an existing NURBS or parametric surface. Figure 203: A parametric surface before and after the polygon command Display Select the number of curves to display in the U and V direction. When a value of zero is entered, the surface will be displayed with flow splines that represent the natural curvature of the surface. The original surface Number of Curves = 0 Number of Curves in each direction = 3 Figure 204: A surface with different numbers of display curves Align Specify either a location or a vector (direction) that will be used as a reference for setting the surface side by aligning the arrows on one or more surfaces automatically.

116 116 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 205: Align Options dialog box Click Edit > Surfaces > Align and select a surface to display this dialog box. Align Click Towards or Away From a point or a vector. a Point/ a Vector To use a Point, you may not need to create a reference point if there is already some location (element end point, center, etc.). To use a Vector, you will be prompted to indicate two locations. Again, you may or may not need to create reference geometry, depending on the elements available in the drawing. Usually a line is good to use as a reference vector. Note: The location of the surface corner with the arrow is used to determine which side the arrow should point toward. For complicated geometry, you may need to do the alignment in more than one step. Untrim Click Untrim to untrim a surface previously trimmed, either once or a number of times, using surface trimming commands. Refer to Section 1.4.3: Edit > Trim/Break on page 96 and Chapter 2: Surfaces, Section 2.6: Create > Surface > Fillet on page 192. The Edit > Surfaces > Untrim menu will be displayed. Figure 206: Edit > Surfaces > Untrim menu Surfaces extended using the Edit > Extend command cannot be untrimmed with the Untrim command. Refer to Section : Edit > Extend on page 125. Older composite surfaces can also be untrimmed with this option. Refer to Chapter 2: Surfaces, Section 2.7: Create > Surface > Composite on page 196. Surface The Surface command untrims every trim operation that has occurred on a surface. A surface can be trimmed multiple times to multiple elements. All these trims can be untrimmed in one step by clicking the Surface command and then clicking on the surface.

117 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 117 Edge The Edge command untrims a single trim operation. To untrim a single trim, click the Edge command and then click the edge of the surface along which that trim operation occurred. Figure 207: Surface with multiple trims Figure 208: All trims untrimmed by clicking Untrim > Surface, then the surface arrow. Figure 210: One trim untrimmed by clicking Untrim > Edge, then clicking on the trimmed edge. Figure 209: A composite surface Figure 211: A single surface untrimmed from the composite Color Change the color of surfaces to help separate models that consist of inner and outer surfaces. SURFCAM does so by determining which surfaces are above, or outside, others and colors them accordingly. Note that boundary curves will have the same color as their corresponding surfaces and a vertical wall surface will have its original color.

118 118 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 212: Rainfall Color dialog box Above Color The color of the surfaces that are above (on top of) other surfaces. Below Color The color of the surfaces that are below (under) other surfaces. Transition Color The transition color for those surfaces that have both front and back parts visible in the same view. Surface Tolerance The polygon tolerance which affects the image resolution. Sampling Curves The number of curves on the surface that are initially evaluated before the polygons are created. This number should be increased when some surfaces are not shaded at all. Check Check will detect defective or invalid surfaces. When you click Check the Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select surfaces to check. After you make your selection, the Surface check options dialog box will be displayed. Figure 213: Surface check options dialog box Click Edit > Surfaces > Check and select surface(s) to display this dialog box.

119 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 119 Check Tolerance If the distances between the points checked on the surface (surface knots) are less than this tolerance, the surface is considered to be a degenerate surface. Surface Evaluation Error Enter the maximum desired deviation error. SURFCAM uses this tolerance to define the maximum distance between each evaluation point. Based upon the surface normal at evaluation points, SURFCAM checks if the normal is crossed between evaluation points. Evaluation points are at the end points of chords having a chordal deviation of this value. Change Layer and Color Of Bad Surfaces Move Degenerate Surfaces To Layer Select the layer to which the Degenerate Surfaces will be moved. Move Crossed Normal Surfaces To Layer Select the layer to which the Normal Surfaces will be moved. Change Colors To Select the color for the bad elements Edit > Polylines Click Edit > Polylines to display the Edit > Polylines menu which gives you access to commands to add, delete, or move nodes within a polyline, or to create individual line elements that resemble a chosen polyline. Figure 214: Edit > Polylines menu Move Node Move one or more nodes by translating. The following procedure can be used to move a polyline node: 1. Click Move Node. You will be prompted to "Select the polyline to edit. 2. Select the polyline. SURFCAM will prompt you to Select the nodes to move. 3. Select all of the nodes you want to move. Then click Done. The From Select Point menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select a location to move from. 4. The point you choose here has nothing to do with the existing location of any of the nodes you are moving. It is merely the base or starting location which when combined with a second point you will be prompted to select will determine the distance and direction that the nodes will be moved. 5. Select the base location. SURFCAM will put a square on the base location, display the To Select Point menu and prompt you to Select a location to move to. 6. Select a point. SURFCAM analyzes the distance and direction of this point from the base point and moves the nodes you selected the same distance and direction from their original locations and redraws the polyline.

120 120 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 7. You can continue selecting points as done in step five and watch SURFCAM move the nodes to different locations and redraw the polyline. When you are satisfied with the new location of the nodes, click Back on the To Select Point menu and you will be returned to the Edit > Polyline menu. Add Node Insert nodes into a polyline in the following manner: 1. Click Add Node. 2. In response to the prompt, select a polyline. 3. In response to the prompt, select two nodes between which to add nodes. The Select Point menu will be displayed for you to indicate the locations for new nodes. 4. As you indicate a location for another node, SURFCAM draws a new segment into the polyline. 5. Repeat step 4 for as many nodes as desired to insert. Click Back when complete. SURFCAM redraws the polyline with the new nodes in place. Delete Node Delete selected nodes from a polyline as follows. When you click Delete Node, SURFCAM will prompt you to select the polyline to edit. After doing so, select all of the nodes to delete, then click Done. SURFCAM will redraw the polyline with the chosen nodes removed. Explode Create individual line elements that resemble the chosen polyline. The polyline will be deleted and will no longer be available to edit Edit > Tangency The Tangency command connects two separate splines or surfaces by re-drawing and extending the spline(s) of one entity so that the spline end points coincide with the corresponding spline end points of the other entity. The two splines or two surfaces become connected but remain as two separate entities. You are prompted to Select first surface edge or spline end followed by Select second... You must select the end points or surface edges you want to become connected. The order of these selections has an effect on the shape of the resulting splines or surfaces. After the selections are made the Edit Surface Tangency dialog box is displayed. Figure 215: Edit Surface Tangency dialog box Click Edit > Tangency and select two surfaces edges to display this dialog box.

121 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 121 Figure 216: Edit Tangency dialog box Click Edit > Tangency and select two splines to display this dialog box. Align Edges When set to No, not all splines on the first surface selected will necessarily be connected to splines on the second surface. This will be true when the first surface edge selected is longer than the second selected edge. Figure 217: Tangency of two surfaces with Align Edges set to No and the top surface, whose selected edge is longer, selected first Edge Tangency This option is available on the Edit Surface dialog box when the Align Edges option is set to Yes. Edge Tangency controls the way the connecting splines are drawn. When the Tangency command is executed, splines from the second entity selected are re-drawn and extended so that they become tangent to corresponding splines in the first entity. The corresponding splines in the first entity will be modified slightly or remain unchanged depending on which Edge Tangency option is chosen.

122 122 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Average Both Splines in the first entity selected will be changed slightly in making the connecting splines tangent. Two surfaces Left surface selected first Right surface selected first Figure 218: Tangency of two surfaces with Edge Tangency set to Average Both First Element The splines in the first entity selected will remain fixed. Only the splines in the second entity will be changed in making the connecting splines tangent. Method Select the accuracy of the blend. <= Tolerance Tangency of connecting splines will be to within the angle tolerance specified in the Angle Tolerance box. Exact Tangency of connecting splines will be exact. Angle Tolerance This is the user-defined tolerance to use for the <= Tolerance option Edit > Join Two surfaces Left surface selected first Right surface selected first Figure 219: Tangency of two surfaces with Edge Tangency set to First Element The Join command connects two separate splines (or surfaces) into a single entity by redrawing and extending the spline(s) (or surfaces) of one entity so that their end points coincide with the end points of corresponding splines (or surfaces) in the other entity. Each pair of newly joined splines (or surfaces) is turned into a single new spline (or surface). For surfaces, this set of new splines defines the new single surface.

123 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 123 You will be prompted to Select first surface or spline to join followed by Select second surface/spline. Unlike Tangency, selecting a surface edge has no special effect. These two entities can be touching or not connected. When not connected, the dialog box Edges/ Corners do not meet. Do you want to proceed? will be displayed. Click Yes to continue. The Join Curve dialog box (or the Join Surface dialog box) will be displayed. Figure 220: Join Curve dialog box Click Edit > Join and select two splines to display this dialog box. Figure 221: Join Surface dialog box Click Edit > Join and select two surfaces to display this dialog box. Note: The Join command is not the same as the Blend command on the Create > Surface and Create > Spline menus. Tangent If set to No, the corresponding splines from the two entities will be connected without being tangent. If set to Yes, they will be tangent. Two surfaces Left surface selected first Right surface selected first Figure 222: Join two surfaces with Tangent set to No Edge Tangency This option is available when the Tangent option is set to Yes.

124 124 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Edge Tangency controls the way the connecting splines are drawn. When the Join command is executed, splines from the second entity selected are re-drawn and extended so that they become tangent to corresponding splines in the first entity. Before the two sets of splines are joined together into one set, the corresponding splines in the first entity will be modified slightly or remain unchanged depending on which Edge Tangency option is chosen. Average Both The splines in the first entity selected will be changed slightly in making the connecting splines tangent. Two surfaces Left surface selected first Right surface selected first Figure 223: Join two surfaces with Edge Tangency set to Average Both First Element The splines in the first entity selected will remain fixed. Only the splines in the second entity will be changed in making the connecting splines tangent. Two surfaces Left surface selected first Right surface selected first Figure 224: Join two surfaces with Edge Tangency set to First Element Method Select the accuracy of the blend. <= Tolerance Tangency of connecting splines will be to within the angle tolerance specified in the Angle Tolerance box. Exact Tangency of connecting splines will be exact. Angle Tolerance Define the tolerance to use for the <= Tolerance option.

125 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Edit > Extend Extend the length of a surface or a spline along either axis using two methods. Figure 225: Edit Extend dialog box Click Edit > Extend and select an element to display this dialog box. Click Extend ortrim to extend or to trim the surface or spline. The original element will be replaced by the trimmed/extended element. Length This is the distance the surface/spline will be trimmed or extended. Type Tangent Extend tangent to the element (continuous in first derivative). Curvature Extend along the curvature of the element (continuous in first and second derivatives). Continuity Extend continuous to the element (continuous in first through third derivatives). Full Extend completely continuous to the element (continuous in all derivatives). Figure 226: A Surface Before and After Extending

126 126 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Figure 227: The Result of Using the Tangent Option Parameter Extend along the original curve definition. Note: Parameter is available only if the curve or surface was previously trimmed Edit > Text/Dimension Figure 228: The Result of Using the Curvature Option Click Edit > Text/Dim to display the Edit > Text/Dimension menu. Figure 229: Edit Text/Dimension menu Most of these commands produce the same dialog boxes that were used in the original text/ dimension creation. Refer to Section : Create > Text/Dimension on page 78. Text When you click Text, you will be prompted to Select the text or dimension to change. Make your selection by clicking on any part of the dimension or text arrows, extension lines, dimension lines, or text. Font Change the font of an individual dimension or text. When you click Font, SURFCAM will prompt you to Select the text or dimension to change fonts. After you make your selection, the font dialog box will be displayed so you can change the font. Explode Change text into a geometric entity that can be machined (for engraving purposes). When you click Explode, you will be prompted to Select the text to explode. Select an item of text and it will be changed to geometry that can be machined. It cannot be changed back to text.

127 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 127 Style Create new styles for your text and dimensions that will apply to your entire drawing. Position Used to change the position of an existing dimension. You will be prompted to Select the dimension to edit. Reposition the dimension and click the left mouse button. Style Number Allows you to change the style for the entire drawing to one you created with the above Style command. Properties Change the style properties for an individual dimension so it will have a style different from the rest of the drawing Edit > Control Points You can modify surfaces or splines by changing the location of the control points. When you click Control Points, SURFCAM will prompt you to select a spline or a surface. After you do so, SURFCAM will display a polygon representing the positions of the control point locations. SURFCAM will then prompt you to select the control points to be moved. Select the control point(s) with the cross hair. SURFCAM will then display the Select Point menu to define a from and to location. The distance defined will be applied to each control point chosen. Surface Control polygon Modified Control Point Figure 230: An example of how a single control point can affect a surface Edit > Transform Menu Figure 231: Edit > Transform menu You can move elements to other locations or make copies in other locations.

128 128 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click Copy or Move before clicking one of the other Transform commands. The Copy or Move command that is active will be highlighted. Prompts on the prompt line will contain the word COPY or MOVE to remind you which one is active. After you choose to copy or move, click one of the other Transform commands. If you choose Copy, at some point during the operation SURFCAM will display the Transform Copy dialog box. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page Edit > Transform > Distance Click Distance to copy or move one or more elements a specific distance from the current position. You will be prompted to select an item. Then the World dialog box will be displayed for you to enter the translation distance for the X, Y and Z coordinates. After you click OK, if you chose Move, the item will be moved. If you chose Copy, the Transform Copy dialog box will be displayed. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page Edit >Transform > Location Click Location to move one or more elements from one location to another so that the two locations have the same relative position to each other as do two points which you will be prompted to select. The Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Translate to a location, select item(s) to COPY/MOVE. Make your selection. If the Copy mode is active, a modified Transform Copy dialog box will be displayed. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page 137but note that the Number of Copies box does not appear on the modified Transform Copy dialog box. Next SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu and prompt you to Select location to translate from. Select a point. SURFCAM will place a box around the point, display the Select Point menu, and prompt you to Select location to move to. Select the point. SURFCAM will copy or move the selected element(s) from the old location to a new location so that these two locations have the same relative position to each other as the two points you just selected. The Select Point menu remains displayed so that you can continue to move the selected element(s) until they are in the desired location or you can make additional copies of the elements in other locations Edit > Transform > Rotate Click Rotate to copy or move elements by rotating them about a specific location. The Rotation Angle dialog box will be displayed for you to enter the counterclockwise rotation angle. (Negative values rotate clockwise.) Note: The rotation always occurs in the construction view. It is recommended that before performing the rotation, you change the current CView, or rotate the screen, to ensure the proper rotation.

129 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 129 Enter an angle and click OK. SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu and prompt you to Select the point of rotation. This point will be the center of an arc through which the element(s) will be rotated. Select the rotation point. If the Copy mode is active, SURFCAM will display the Transform Copy dialog box. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page 137. If you enter a value greater than 1, each additional copy will be rotated the selected number of degrees from the previous copy. Click OK. SURFCAM will then rotate the elements through an arc whose center will be the point of rotation and whose size is the angle you specified Edit >Transform > Scale Click Scale to copy or move elements by applying a scale factor that affects both the size and location of the elements being copied or moved. After you click Scale, SURFCAM will display the Select menu and the prompt line will say Scale, select item(s) to copy/move. After you make a selection, SURFCAM will display the Scale dialog box prompting you to Enter scale factor. The scale factor determines the size of the copied/moved element. For example, a factor of.5 means the copied element will be half as large as the original. Note: A negative value is allowable for a scale factor, but it is the absolute value of the scale factor that determines the size of the copy. After a scale factor is entered, SURFCAM will prompt you to Select Point menu to scale about. This point to scale about helps determine where the copied element will be drawn. If you select the exact center of the original element, the copied element will be drawn on top of the original but at the new size. If you select a point away from the center of the original element, this point to scale about acts like the origin on a number line. The center of the original element acts like the unit location on the number line. The scale factor will be the coordinate on this line of the center of the copied element.

130 130 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Original element Point to scale about Scale Factors Figure 232: The effect of the scale factor on the size of the copied element and its location from the ³point to scale about If you choose a different point to scale about, you get a similar result but on a different number line. If the Move command is active, after you select the point to scale about, SURFCAM will erase the original element and place the scaled element at the location described above. If the Copy command is active, SURFCAM will display the Transform Copy dialog box. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page 137. When you make more than one copy, the unit location on the number line is the center of the original element for the first copy, but is the center of the previous copy for each succeeding copy Edit > Transform > Scale XYZ Scale all geometry independently along the three axes. When the elements to scale are selected, the World dialog box will be displayed. You can enter different scaling factors for each axis. Negative scale factors can also be used. Note: Arcs will be converted to splines for independent scaling. In the Move mode, the original arcs will be deleted. The minimum scale factor that can be applied to any axis is To shrink something more than scale, repeat the process until you have achieved the proper scale. A scale factor of 1.0 leaves the geometry unchanged along that axis.

131 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 131 Figure 233: Original Element Figure 234: The element after using the Scale XYZ command with X axis scaled by 1.5; Y axis scaled by 2.0, Z axis scaled by Edit > Transform > Mirror Click Mirror to copy or move element(s) in a mirror image fashion. The Select menu will be displayed for you to select an item. Then the Select Point menu will be displayed for you to select the beginning and ending points of the mirror line. The plane of symmetry (the mirror ) is always perpendicular to the construction view. It can be described as an imaginary line in the construction view. The line is situated where the mirror plane intersects the construction view. Therefore, you can describe the mirror plane simply by indicating two locations on the line where the mirror plane intersects the construction view. If the Copy command is active, SURFCAM will display the modified Transform Copy dialog box. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page 137. SURFCAM will copy or move the entities to the opposite side of the mirror line Edit > Transform > To View Copy or move and rotate one or more elements from one view to another. Note: Using the Copy mode with the To View command makes a single copy of the selected elements in the destination view. To copy or move elements from one view to another use the following procedure: 1. Click Copy or Move, then To View. SURFCAM will display the Select menu and prompt you to Transform to new view, select item(s) to COPY/MOVE. 2. If the Copy command is active, SURFCAM will display the modified Transform Copy dialog box. Refer to Section : Edit > Transform > Copy on page SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu and prompt you to Select view and location to transfer from (COPY/MOVE mode). 4. When the CView parameter does not indicate the number of the view from which to copy or move the element, click CView on the Status bar and set it accordingly (set it to 0 to transform from the current view). SURFCAM sets the construction view to the number entered.

132 132 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 5. Set the View to the same number as the CView and then specify the base point. SURFCAM will mark the point and will prompt you to Select view and location to transform to (COPY/MOVE mode). 6. Set both the View and CView parameters on the Status bar to the view to which the element(s) are to be transformed. Then click the location that will be the base point in the new view. SURFCAM will copy or move and rotate the element(s) to the new view and base point. Original element in Top view View 1 View 7 Figure 235: The element copied to the isometric view with the point as the origin Edit > Transform > Offset The Offset command appears on four SURFCAM menus: Edit > Transform, Create > Line, Create > Arc, and Create > Circle. When you click the Offset command on any of these menus, the Offset menu will be displayed. Figure 236: Edit > Transform > Offset menu An offset is a set of planar points obtained by projecting the points of a planar element. Each point of the element is projected the same offset distance. The line of projection is perpendicular to the element. When the Offset menu is displayed, you will be prompted to Select element to offset The default offset distance is Change Offset Click Change Offset to change the offset distance. The Offset dialog box will be displayed. Enter a new offset value and click OK. The Offset command creates offsets on two different groups of planar elements in slightly different ways. One group consists of individual lines, arcs, and circles. The other consists of splines and chained geometry made up of lines, arcs, and splines. On the Offset menu, the Offset Distance, Location, and Tangent commands are used when offsetting lines, arcs and circles. Offset Distance is also used to offset splines. The Chain command is used to offset chained geometry.

133 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Offsetting Lines, Arcs and Circles Offset Distance When you click Offset Distance, you will be prompted to Select element to offset n.nnnnn where n.nnnnn is the offset value entered with the Change Offset command. After you select a line, an arc, a circle (or a spline), you will be prompted to Indicate offset side. When offsetting a line, click one side of it. A new line the same length as the original and parallel to it will be drawn on that side, at a distance equal to the offset distance. When offsetting an arc or a circle, click in its exterior or its interior the interior being the interior of the circle on which the arc lies. A new arc or circle will be drawn concentric with the original one at a distance equal to the offset distance. Note that if you chose the interior of the arc or circle as the offset side and the offset distance exceeds the radius of the arc or circle radius, SURFCAM will display an error message reading Offset must be smaller than radius. Line Arc Figure 237: Offset Distance Location When you click Location, you will first be prompted to Select an element to offset. After you select a line, an arc, or a circle, the Select Point menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select the location through which the offset arc/line will pass. If you offset a line segment, the new line will be located so that either it or its extension passes through the location. A new arc will be concentric with, and similarly oriented as the original arc. It will be located so that either it or its extension will pass through the location.

134 134 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes If you offset a circle, the new circle will be concentric with the original one and pass through the location you selected. Line Arc Figure 238: Offset Location Tangent Click Tangent and you will be prompted to Select an element to offset. If you select a line to offset, you will be prompted to Select the tangent circle. Click an arc or a circle. SURFCAM will draw the offset line as one of the two possible tangents to the arc or circle and display the Other command on the menu so you can have the other possible tangent drawn. If you select an arc or a circle, you will be prompted to Select tangent arc or line. If you click an arc or a circle, SURFCAM will draw the offset arc/circle as one of the two possible tangents to the other arc/circle and display the Other command so you can have the other possible tangent drawn. If you click a line, SURFCAM will draw the one possible offset arc or circle that can be drawn tangent to that line. Line using a tangent circle Arc using a tangent arc Arc using a tangent line Figure 239: Offset Tangent You can continue selecting elements to which you want your offset to be tangent. When you are finished selecting elements, you can click another Offset command or click Back to return to the Transform menu Offsetting Chained Geometry Click Chain to offset a set of connecting elements. Chain When you click Chain, the Select Chain menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select beginning element and Select ending element. Chain the connecting elements and click Done. When you do, you will be prompted to Select offset side. Click one side of the chained elements.

135 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 135 The Offset Spline dialog box will be displayed. Figure 240: Offset Spline dialog box Offset Corner Angle (Degrees) The Offset Corner Angle controls how the offset of adjacent elements of chained geometry or adjacent sections of splines is handled when the offset is toward the exterior of the intersect angle. Maximum Deviation Error From Spline Maximum chordal deviation from the spline (or other entity being offset) allowable in the offset. When chained geometry is offset, each element in the chain is offset separately. Each of the resulting offsets is the same type of element as the corresponding element in the original chain. How the offset of two adjacent elements is accomplished depends on whether the offset is toward the interior or the exterior of the angle at which the adjacent elements intersect. (The angle at which adjacent elements intersect is the angle between the tangents to the two elements at their point of intersection.) Offsets Toward The Interior of the Intersect Angle When the offsets of two adjacent elements are toward the interior of their intersect angle, the two offsets will always overlap or intersect and will therefore be trimmed or trimmed back. Adjacent elements to be offset Offset to the interior of the intersect angle before trim Offset to the interior of the intersect angle after trim Figure 241: Offsets toward the interior of the intersect angle In some situations, where the offset is toward the interior of an intersect angle, a section in the middle of the chained geometry will not have a corresponding section in the offset due to the effects of the trimming that takes place. Figure 242: Offset of Chained Geometry

136 136 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Offsets Toward The Exterior of the Intersect Angle When the offsets of two adjacent elements are toward the exterior of their intersect angle, the two offsets will not intersect. How the two offsets are connected depends on the values of the Offset Corner Angle, on the Offset Spline dialog box, and the intersect angle between the two adjacent elements. When the value of the intersect angle is greater than the Offset Corner Angle, the offsets will be trimmed to each other ( extended ). When the value of the intersect angle is less than the Offset Corner Angle, the offsets will be connected with an arc.. Adjacent elements offset separately to the exterior of the intersect angle The offset when the intersect angle is greater than Offset Corner Angle The offset when the intersect angle is less than Offset Corner Angle Figure 243: Offsets toward the interior of the intersect angle Offsetting Splines When offsetting splines, you can either use the Offset Distance or the Chain command. You cannot use the Location or Tangent commands. With either the Offset Distance or Chain command, the Offset Spline dialog box will be displayed after you select the spline and the offset side. Refer to Chain on page 134. Spline offsetting is similar to chained geometry offsetting. Even though a spline is not made up of separate elements, the offsets of adjacent portions of a spline may intersect and overlap. If this occurs, the overlaps will be trimmed. Also, in some cases arcs will be inserted in the offset at locations where the spline has sharp corners. Figure 244: Offset a Spline

137 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Edit > Transform > Copy Click Copy to set the copy mode. Copies will be created of the element(s) being transformed. After you choose to copy, click one of the other Transform commands. At some point during the operation, SURFCAM will display the Transform Copy dialog box. Number of Copies If you choose the Distance, Rotate, Scale, or Scale XYZ command, the Transform Copy dialog box will contain the Number Of Copies option. Copy To Color Choose the Original color or the Current color of the element being copied. Copy To Layer Choose to copy to the Current layer, to the Original layer of the element being copied, or to an Other layer. Other Layer When Other is selected, Other Layer becomes active for you to enter the number of the layer on which you want the copies to appear. When multiple copies are made, the first copy will be transformed from the location of the original by the distance, angle, and/or scale you have indicated. The second copy will be similarly transformed from the location of the first copy. Each additional copy will be similarly transformed from the previous copy. When multiple copies are made using the Scale or Scale XYZ commands, the first copy will be an enlargement or reduction by the scale factor of the original element. The second copy will be a similar enlargement or reduction of the first copy. Each additional copy will be a similar change in size from the previous copy Edit > Transform > Move Figure 245: Transform Copy dialog box Click Move to set the move mode. NO copies will be created of the element(s) being transformed. The elements selected will be moved to the new location.

138 138 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Delete Menu When you click Edit > Delete (Shortcut: Ctrl + D), SURFCAM will display the Edit > Delete menu and prompt you to Select element(s) to delete. Figure 246: Edit > Delete menu You can delete a single element, all the elements inside a rubber-band box, elements that intersect other elements, all visible elements or duplicate elements. You can also delete text styles. In addition to deleting, you can undelete (restore) the last element or all previous elements deleted Delete > Single, Within, Intersect, Visible Select elements using Single, Within, Intersect, or Visible. These menu commands are the same as those in the Select menu. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.1: Select Menu on page 38. Note: If a composite surface consists of data on different layers, deleting any part of the composite will cause the complete composite to be deleted, including data that was on layers that are not visible. This preserves the integrity of the database Delete > Duplicate The Delete Duplicate command is used to delete elements that are the same size and shape and occupy the same space. They may even have the same color. Duplicate surfaces are those that have identical surface arrows, control points and UV lines. When using the Delete > Duplicate command you can define, within certain tolerances, what constitutes a duplicate. When you click Duplicate on the Delete menu, the Select menu will be displayed. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.7.1: Select Menu on page 38. Select an element. The Delete Duplicate Tolerance Options dialog box will be displayed for you to specify the conditions under which you consider elements to be duplicate elements.

139 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 139 Figure 247: Delete Duplicate Tolerance Options dialog box Click Delete > Duplicate and select elements to display this dialog box. Distance Tolerance If the difference in the distances between corresponding features of two or more elements, such as the end points of lines, is less than this value, the elements are considered to be duplicate elements. Also, if the difference in location of same sized elements is less than this value the elements are considered to be duplicates. Angle Tolerance Angle tolerance is used to compare the angle of arcs. It is also used to compare the angle between vector orientations of two elements of the same size and shape. If the angle difference is less than this value, the elements are considered to be duplicate elements. Consider Opposite Orientation as Duplicate Some elements, such as lines, may appear to be the same, but actually have opposite orientations. One line may start at point one and end at point two, while another may start at point two and end at point one. If this option is checked, these two lines would be considered to be duplicate elements, and one would be deleted. If not checked, these two lines would not be considered to be duplicates. This option does not apply to surfaces.

140 140 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Delete > Styles When you click Delete > Styles, the Delete Styles dialog box will be displayed. Note: When you delete a style, all the dimensions on your drawing that are in that style will be deleted from the drawing. Note: Deleted styles can be undeleted any time during the current session by using the Undelete Last or Undelete All commands, provided you have not created a new style with the same name. Delete To delete a style, click the word Keep next to that style to toggle it to the word Delete. This will indicate that you want the style deleted. It will not actually be deleted until you click OK. Click the Delete button at the top of the column. A dialog box will be displayed. Specify whether you want the styles to show the word Keep or the word Delete. Then specify the range. Styles will not be deleted until you click OK. Swap All Delete When you click the Swap All Delete button, all styles marked Keep will be changed to Delete and all styles marked Delete will be changed to Keep Delete > Undelete Last Figure 248: Delete Styles dialog box Click Undelete Last to restore the most recently deleted element (view, layer, style, duplicates). Repeat this procedure until all elements have been restored. This command is only valid for items that were deleted during the current SURFCAM session, or since a new file was loaded. When SURFCAM is exited, these items cannot be undeleted.

141 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 141 Note: Note: When the layer with the element is set to Hidden, the element will NOT appear on the screen until the layer is set to Visible. When layers with elements in them have been deleted, all deleted layers will be undeleted before SURFCAM undeletes any of the elements that were on the deleted layers Delete > Undelete All Click Undelete All to restore all elements (views, layers, styles, or duplicates) that were previously deleted during the current SURFCAM session. Note: When the layer with the element is set to Hidden, the element will NOT appear on the screen until the layer is set to Visible. 1.5 DISPLAY MENU You can change the screen display at any time by selecting the appropriate button from the toolbar or by using a command from the Display menu. If you click Display on the Main menu bar, the Display menu will appear whereas the toolbar is always displayed at the top of the screen. When you click any command except Shade on the Display menu, the Display menu bar will appear on the screen. It contains the same commands as the menu itself. The order of the Display commands corresponds to the order of the display tools on the toolbar. Note, however, there is no toolbar button that corresponds to the Shade command. For a detailed discussion all the tools except Shade, refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.6.1: SURFCAM Toolbar on page 13. This section will discuss only the Shade command. Figure 249: Display Menu Note: Figure 250: Display Menu bar There is a slight enhancement in the operation of the Rotate and Pan tools when these are used from either the Display menu or the Display menu bar, instead of from the toolbar which is constantly displayed on the SURFCAM screen. Refer to Hot Keys to use with Rotate and Pan (p. 142).

142 142 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes COMMAND FUNCTION When Used From Display Menu or Display Menu Bar Rotate Arrow keys If you continue to press an arrow key, SURFCAM will rotate the image in 5º increments around the vertical axis or the horizontal axis. + or - keys If you continue to press the + or - keys, SURFCAM will rotate in 5º increments around Z axis. Refer to the online SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 7: Configuration Tools, Rotation Increment on page 373 to change this default value. Pan + or - keys If you continue to press the + or - keys, SURFCAM will continue to slide the image in the direction of the arrow. Figure 251: Hot Keys to use with Rotate and Pan Shade Menu Figure 252: Shade menu Select When you click Select, SURFCAM will display the Select menu. Shade After the surfaces are chosen, SURFCAM will begin to render the surfaces. (Shortcut: Ctrl + A. To turn shading off, press Ctrl + A again.) Undercut After you have chosen the surfaces, click the Undercut command and SURFCAM will begin to render the surfaces. The difference between this command and the Shade command is that Undercut shades in different colors representing machinable and nonmachinable areas of surfaces. The side evaluated is defined by the surface arrow. This is done in reference to 3 axis machining capabilities.

143 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 143 Options SURFCAM will display the Shade Options dialog box. Figure 253: Shade Options dialog box Sort Type Define how the system sorts or evaluates surfaces that lie underneath or intersect others. Quick The system will not check for underlying and intersecting surfaces. This is desired when there is a single surface. Full The system will check for underlying and intersecting surfaces. This is desired when there is more than one surface. This option requires more time to process. Shade Type Define which method will be used to render the surfaces.

144 144 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Quick The system renders polygons. The accuracy of the polygons is defined by the surface tolerance value defined later in the dialog box. This is the fastest method of shading. Smooth This method is commonly referred to as Phong shading. It is a pixel based method that provides the best quality image. This method requires longer processing times. Color Define which colors will be used to shade the surfaces. Note: The minimum number of colors necessary to properly shade surfaces is 256. The number of colors available to SURFCAM is defined by the driver supplied with color card installed in the computer. Single will provide the best image with 256 colors. Anything higher than 256 will provide enough colors to provide excellent images regardless of the color parameter. Multiple Shade each surface in its own color. Single Shade each surface in a single color defined by the Single Color option. Single Color Define which color will be used to shade the surfaces when the Color option is set to single. Ambient Light Define the brightness or intensity of the surrounding light. The value must be between zero and 1, 1 being the brightest. Material Finish Define the brightness or intensity of light s focal point. It could be described as a brightness value. The value must be between zero and 1. Light Source Location Define where the light source will be located in 3D space. Surface Tolerance Define the chordal accuracy of the surface when it is shaded. Increasing the value reduces the accuracy. Sampling Curves The number of curves that will be evaluated before polygons are created. This number should be increased when some surfaces are not shaded at all.

145 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 145 Undercut Options Under Color Define the color used to shade the areas of a surface that are not machinable. Over Color Define the color used to shade the areas of a surface that are machinable. 1.6 NC MENUS Click NC to access machining commands that produce the instructions needed to machine a part. Commands are available for producing instructions for the following types of machine: 1. Lathe, refer to Chapter 5: Lathe starting on page Wire EDM, refer to Chapter 6: Wire EDM starting on page Axis, refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 6: 2 Axis Axis, refer to Chapter 3: 3 Axis starting on page Axis and 5 Axis, refer to Chapter 4: 4 Axis and 5 Axis starting on page ANALYZE MENU Use the Analyze menu to display physical information about elements, locations and distances. Distances and locations will be displayed in pop-up windows using the current coordinate system. When the Coord parameter is set to VIEW in the Status menu, the locations and distances displayed are relative to the current construction coordinate system. When you analyze an entity, you do not generally need to close the resulting pop-up window before choosing to analyze another entity. You can even choose another command from the Analyze menu and continue to analyze other entities without closing the pop-up window. You can also select certain commands from the Main menu and keep the Analyze dialog box open for subsequent copy and paste functions. Figure 254: Analyze Menu

146 146 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Copy Data The measurements that are displayed in the pop-up windows described in this section can be copied and pasted into parameter boxes on other dialog boxes. To copy a single measurement, highlight it and press Ctrl + C. Place the cursor in the data entry box where you want the value to appear and press Ctrl + V to paste it into that box. To copy more than one value, highlight the complete message and press Ctrl + C. Open a plain text editor. Press Ctrl + V to paste the message to the editor. Then copy and paste individual values to various fields in another dialog box. Figure 255: Copy a single value. Figure 256: Copy several values.

147 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Analyze > Angle When you click Analyze > Angle, you will be prompted to select two lines. After you do so, SURFCAM will display a pop-up window showing the value of the True Angle, the CView Angle and the Current View angle. True Angle True Angle is the true measure in 3D space of the angle between the two line segments. CView Angle The CView Angle is the measure of the angle as it would appear if viewed from the current construction view (CView). Current View Angle The Current View Angle is the measure of the angle as it appears on the screen (in the current view). Choose another angle, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window Analyze > Distance Figure 257: Angle pop-up window When you click Distance, the Select Point menu will be displayed. Select the starting and ending locations of the distance to be analyzed. The locations will be marked with a small square. SURFCAM will then display a pop-up window with information about the distance selected. Figure 258: Analyzed Distance pop-up window Click Analyze > Distance and select two locations to display this sample pop-up window.

148 148 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Choose to analyze another distance, or choose another command from the menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window Analyze > Min/Max Use this command to measure the maximum and minimum distances between two splines, two surfaces or a surface and a spline. Click Min/Max and select the two elements. After you make your selection, the Analyze Max/ Min pop-up window will be displayed. Figure 259: Min/Max pop-up window Create Points Used to place points on the two elements at specific locations after the measurements have been made. There are four options for Create Points. None SURFCAM will display a pop-up window showing the result without placing any points on the two elements. Maximum A point will be placed on each element at the points that are the greatest distance apart. Minimum A point will be placed on each element at the points that are the least distance apart. > Tolerance If this option is selected, the Tolerance parameter is activated. SURFCAM will generate a set of corresponding points on the two elements that exceed the distance value that is entered for the Tolerance parameter. Tolerance The value used when the Create Points option is set to!toleranceenter the distance, and SURFCAM will generate points at a set of locations that exceed this value.

149 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 149 Check Points Major Direction Number of points in the direction of the surface arrow. Minor Direction Number of points in the direction roughly perpendicular to the surface arrow. This is only active when two surfaces have been selected. Click OK to see a pop-up window showing the results. Choose other entities, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click to close the popup window Analyze > Elements Figure 260: Analyze Min/Max pop-up window Click Elements and select an element to analyze. SURFCAM will mark the ends of the element with small squares and then display a pop-up window showing detailed information about the element. Note: You can single out, or mask, elements to analyze by type and color. Masking makes element selection easier when trying to analyze a complex 3-dimensional image in which many elements are close or overlapping. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section : Mask Selection Settings Dialog Box on page 27. Figure 261: Line pop-up window

150 150 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes If you select a surface to analyze, the pop-up window display will depend on whether or not you check the box for Show Advanced Analyze Dialogs in the Configuration Tools System Options tab. Figure 262: System Options Tab in Configuration Tools

151 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 151 Figure 263: Analyze Surface Pop-up Window Without Show Advanced Analyze Dialogs checked. Figure 264: Analyze Surface Pop-up Window With Show Advanced Analyze Dialogs checked. Choose another element, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window.

152 152 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Analyze > Location Click Location. SURFCAM will display the Select Point menu for you to indicate a location to analyze. SURFCAM will then display a pop-up window showing the X, Y, and Z coordinate values of the location indicated. Choose another location, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window Analyze > Tangency Figure 265: Selected Location pop-up window This command is used to analyze the joining or potential joining of the edges of two surfaces, the end points of two splines, or the end point of a spline and the edge of a surface. In doing so, it measures the angle between the tangents 1) to the two surfaces at corresponding points on their edges, 2) to the two splines at their end points, or 3) to the spline at its end point and the surface at a point on its edge closest to the end point of the spline. Click Tangency. You will be prompted to select the first and then the second surface edge or spline end. If you select two surface edges, the Tangency dialog box will be displayed. Figure 266: Tangency dialog box Create Normals You can elect to have normals drawn to corresponding points on the edges of the two surfaces to help you visualize how the surfaces join or would join. None The angular difference of the tangents will be measured without creating normals at the measured locations.

153 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 153 Maximum Normals will be drawn at the corresponding points on the two edges where the angle difference between the two tangents is at a maximum. Minimum Normals will be drawn at the corresponding points on the two edges where the angle difference between the two tangents is at a minimum. > Tolerance Normals will be drawn at the corresponding points on the two edges where the angle difference between the two tangents exceed the defined tolerance. Angle Tolerance The tolerance value used when Create Normals is set to > Tolerance. Check Points The number of points along the surface edges that will be checked. Click OK to display a pop-up window showing the maximum and minimum values of the angles between the tangents at corresponding points on the edges of the two surfaces. If you select two spline end points or a spline end point and a surface edge, a pop-up window will be displayed showing the angle value between the two tangents. Two Surfaces Two Spline End points or a Spline End point and a Surface Edge Choose other entities, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window Analyze > Surface Points Figure 267: Analyze Tangency pop-up windows Use the Surface Points command to display a pop-up window evaluating points based upon their distance from a surface. This can be used to verify the accuracy of a surface developed through these locations.

154 154 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Click Surface Points and select a surface to display the Analyze Surface Points dialog box. Figure 268: Analyze Surface Points dialog box Tolerance The user-defined tolerance that is being analyzed. If a point falls beyond this tolerance, SURFCAM indicates how far the point is from the surface, tolerance not included. Create Elements Create geometry as markers at the analyzed locations. Points SURFCAM will project a point onto the surface where the measurement was taken. Lines SURFCAM will create a line normal to the surface where the measurement was taken. Both SURFCAM will create both a line normal to the surface and a point where the measurement was taken. None SURFCAM will not create any entities to represent the areas measured. In Tolerance Color The color for the entities that are within the tolerance specified. Above Color The color for the entities that are above the tolerance specified. Below Color The color for the entities that are below the tolerance specified.

155 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 155 Direction Normal The measurement will be taken perpendicular to the surface. Construction View The measurement to the surface will be taken along the construction view, parallel to the Z axis. Offset Define the offset distance to be added to the measurement taken. This can account for a design model that has offset surfaces or the probe radius used when digitizing. After you make selections in the Analyze Surface Points dialog box and click OK, the Select menu will be displayed and you will be prompted to Select points to project from. After you select a point, a pop-up window similar to Figure 269: Analyze Surface Points pop-up window will be displayed indicating the results. Figure 269: Analyze Surface Points pop-up window It is necessary to click Close to return to the Select menu to select other points, or to go back to the Analyze menu.

156 156 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Analyze > Curvature Use the Curvature command to display a dialog box showing the minimum and maximum radius, or curvature, across a defined grid of points. This command can be used to find the appropriate cutting tool for the surface. The side measured is based on the surface arrow. Figure 270: Curvature dialog box Create Points Points are created based on the selected command. None The pop-up window will show the result without placing points on the surface. Maximum A point will be placed at the largest curvature. Minimum A point will be placed at the smallest curvature. < Radius Based upon the radius defined, the system will generate points that fall under this value on the surface. Radius The value defined here is used when the Create Points command is set to < Radius. Enter the radius, or tool corner radius, to determine if there is an area on the surface that has a smaller radius. The default radius is 0.1. Check Points The number of points affects the areas analyzed. Therefore, more points cover more area but decrease the speed of the process. Major Direction Number of points in the direction of the surface arrow. Minor Direction Number of points in the direction roughly perpendicular to the surface arrow. Choose other entities, or another command from the Analyze menu, or click OK to close the pop-up window.

157 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes OPTIONS MENU Use the Options menu to access many system parameters and settings. The default values for the parameters and settings on the Options menu can be changed by editing the SURFCAM.INI file. Refer to Chapter 7: Configuration Tools starting on page 367. Figure 271: Options menu Options > Display Click Display to change various parameters that affect the graphics screen. Figure 272: Display Options dialog box

158 158 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Draw the Tool No No cutting tool will be displayed. Yes The cutting tool defined will be displayed. 2D Circles The cutting tool is not displayed. SURFCAM will display 2D circles, the diameter of the tool for milling, or the diameter of the nose radius of the insert for turning, representing the cutter path. With Holder SURFCAM will display the cutting tool and the tool holder defined in the SURFCAM.TOL file. If you chose Yes or With Holder, the following keys will be activated to control the tool display. Enter Stop the tool motion. Press Enter again to restart the tool motion. Space Bar Single-step the tool through its moves after using the Enter key to halt the tool path. Pressing the Enter key again will cause SURFCAM to resume animating the tool. 0-9 Change the speed of tool path animation. Zero is maximum tool path animation speed, 9 is minimum. Tool Color The number of the color of the animated tool display. Tool path display Off The tool path will not be displayed. The path will not be saved in the graphics area. During cutting The tool path will be drawn while the cutter path is created. Upon redraw The tool path will be displayed only when the graphics screen is redrawn using the Display Redraw command. The Off and Upon redraw options may result in a significant decrease in actual processing time. Normal vector display Click Yes to cause SURFCAM to draw the offset vector lines that show the relation of the center of the tool to the contact point on the surface being cut. This also traces curves on the surface itself showing where the tool nose contacts the surface. These

159 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 159 vectors and contact path are NOT stored, and will disappear when the screen is redrawn. Alternate tool path colors Click Yes to cause the tool path to be drawn with alternating colors. Every other move will alternate between the primary tool path color (as shown in the Status menu) and the secondary color, which is the next higher number color in the color selection dialog box. Draw Rapid Moves Click Yes to display the rapid moves. When this is set to No, the rapid moves will not be visible. Tool animation wait The speed/rate at which the animation will be displayed. The default is zero, the fastest. Shaft Size / Head Size / Arrow Color These parameters, measured in units, affect the way that the surface arrows are drawn. The surface arrow is composed of two parts: the shaft and the arrow itself. The default values are set by the SurfaceArrow parameter in the SURFCAM.INI file. Shaft Size The length of the shaft. Head Size The length of the arrow. Arrow Color Number of the color that will be used to draw the arrows. If zero is selected, the arrow will be drawn in the same color as the surface to which it is attached. The following two parameters are delay time values that are measured in seconds. Entering a value of.5 to either of these will result in a 1/2 second delay. Time pop-ups are displayed This value determines the length of time the warning messages appear on the screen. Rotation wait When using the mouse to rotate or pan the image, a delay must be introduced to prevent the screen from being redrawn whenever a mouse pulse is detected. If there is no delay, it is difficult to see how the mouse movement is affecting the image. Color Scheme Change the background color of the SURFCAM workspace. The options white, gray, blue, and black have colors for the surface arrow, etc., preselected. The last option is User Defined. To define your own background color, you will need to change the Colors.def file and ultimately the SURFCAM.col file. Refer to the online SURFCAM Support Utilities Manual, Chapter 1: Miscellaneous Utilities, Section 1.4.3: Color File on page 9.

160 160 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Surfaces selectable by Patch edges Surfaces can be selected by clicking anywhere on the surface, including the arrow portion. Arrows only Limits the surface selection so that you can select a surface by picking the arrow only. This option speeds up surface selection for very large DSN files. Turn on repaint timer Activate or deactivate the repaint timer. Display text/dimensions Always This is the default. The dimensions will be visible regardless of the current view. In view only Display dimensions only when the current view matches the construction view the dimensions were created within. Show CView Indicator Check the box to to have the CView Indicator displayed. Use the Display Options tab of the Configuration Tools program to set the default. Show Arc Center If checked, the center of the arc or circle (not the midpoint) will be displayed Options > Tolerances Figure 273: Arc Center Figure 274: Tolerance Options dialog box Chaining Tolerance Elements whose end points are farther away from each other than this distance will not be chained together.

161 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 161 User Tolerance SURFCAM will regard elements that do not come within this distance of each other to be not touching. As an example, a point will not be created at a selected intersection unless the actual intersection of the two selected elements is within this tolerance. View Tolerance This value, measured in degrees, is used when comparing angular values. Dialog Decimal Precision Specify the number of digits to the right of the decimal point. Change this value and tab to other fields to see the change in precision. Note that this does not change the decimal precision in the NC dialog boxes. Click Options > NC Settings to change that decimal precision. Refer to Section 1.8.5: Options > NC Settings on page Options > Units Click Units to choose between inch and metric measure. No conversion of part geometry is carried out by SURFCAM. This effectively multiplies the tolerance values by a conversion factor to suit the tolerance values to the unit of measure that was chosen. The default unit can be set by using the SURFCAM Configuration Tools. Refer to Chapter 7: Configuration Tools, Units on page Options > Axis Click Axis to choose Mill Axis, Lathe Radius, or Lathe Diameter. The default can be changed by editing the SURFCAM.INI file. This command is only available with the SURFCAM lathe option Options > NC Settings Click NC Settings to display the NC Settings dialog box that is used to control the display of dialog and warning boxes during toolpath creation and post processing. It also enables you to have control over the default values of NC parameters displayed during the preparation for creating toolpaths. Note: Changes you make in the NC Settings dialog box are saved when you exit SURFCAM. Before performing an NC operation, such as 2 Axis Pocket, SURFCAM displays a dialog box containing the settings for the NC parameters used by the operation. When SURFCAM is shipped, these parameters have SURFCAM-determined default settings. The original default settings are contained in three initially identical INI files: SURFCAMDefault.ini, Default.ini and Current.ini. These files are saved in the C:\SURFCAM\Surf2000\NCDefault subdirectory.

162 162 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes The original SURFCAM default settings are permanently saved in the SURFCAMDefault.ini file. This file is write-protected so that its contents will remain unchanged and it will always be available for use by a technician in the event that you request SURFCAM technical support. Initially, the Default.ini file is a copy of SURFCAM s default NC settings. It is expected that many users will want to modify this file to create their own set of default NC settings. If you do, you should write-protect it. To do this, right click the Default.ini file in the NCDefault subdirectory. Select the Properties option from the menu that appears. Check the Read-Only attribute. Current.ini is the file that SURFCAM reads, at start up, to get the default NC settings. When SURFCAM is shipped, this file contains the SURFCAM default NC settings. In the following NC Settings dialog box, notice the three NC Dialog Options boxes that are checked. With these settings, the Current.ini file will be updated whenever you exit SURFCAM. The new contents of the Current.ini file will be the last NC settings in effect when you exit a SURFCAM session. If you remove a check from one of these boxes, the related part of the Current.ini file will not be updated when you exit SURFCAM. The associated default NC settings will then remain the same as they were when you started the SURFCAM session in which you removed the check. Figure 275: NC Settings dialog box

163 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 163 Don t ask to accept or reject toolpaths. Keep All Toolpaths. If not checked, the Keep Operation dialog box will be displayed each time a new toolpath is created (except when toolpaths are regenerated). You can then Accept or Reject the toolpath. If checked, SURFCAM will keep all newly created toolpaths without displaying the Keep Operation dialog box. The Keep Operation dialog box also has a Keep All Toolpaths check box which, if checked, puts a check in this check box. During Posting, display a warning if file already exists. During post processing several files are created. If a file with the same name already exists, you can be warned by a dialog box that asks Do You Wish To Continue? These existing files are usually temporary files from previous post processing operations. You will usually want to continue. Click this check box if you do want the warnings to be displayed. Note: Veteran SURFCAM users, note that this requires checking the box if you do want the warning displayed. Previous versions asked you to check the box if you did not want the warning displayed. Close Operations Manager On Show Toolpath Close Operations Manager On Backplot Toolpath Close Operations Manager On Hide Toolpath Check the corresponding box if you want the Operations Manager dialog box to close on the specified condition. Dialog Decimal Precision Specify the decimal precision displayed in NC dialog boxes. The default value is 6 decimal places. Save Settings As Click this button to save the current NC settings on the Cut Control, Material and Options tabs as a customized default INI file. You may find it helpful to have a special set of default NC settings for a particular type of NC project. For example, if there is a specialized 2 Axis job you do frequently, change the parameter settings on the 2 Axis Cut Control and Options tabs to meet the needs of that job. Then open the NC Settings dialog box and click the Save Settings As button to display the Save As dialog box. Save these NC settings as an INI file with a name of your choosing. Choose a new name for this kind of file. Do not save them as SURFCAMDefault, Default or Current since the files with these names have special uses. The default directory for these INI files is SURFCAM\Surf2000\NCDefault.

164 164 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes When you need these default settings, load them into SURFCAM using the Open Settings button. Figure 276: Save As dialog box for saving NC Settings Open Settings Click this to display the Open dialog box. It will show the INI files in the NCDefault subdirectory. When you click a file name and click Open, the NC settings in that file will be loaded into SURFCAM to become the new default NC settings. If you will need these settings in the next several SURFCAM sessions, save them using the Save Settings As button as the Current.ini file. Then they will be loaded automatically each time you start SURFCAM. Figure 277: Open dialog box Enable Integrated Verification Check this box to use integrated verification within SURFCAM. If this box is not checked, then the stand-alone version of SURFCAM Verify will be launched. Refer to the online Integrated Verify Document and to the online SURFCAM Verify Manual.

165 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 165 NC Dialog Options Use last selected material as default at start-up If checked, the last material loaded will be saved in the Current.ini file when you exit SURFCAM. If not checked, the default material loaded is always the same and can be selected by clicking the Choose Material button. If you click Choose Material, the Select Material dialog box will be displayed for you to make your selection. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 3: Common NC Parameters, Section 3.2.2: The Material Library on page 76. Figure 278: Select Material dialog box Use last selected tools as default at start-up If checked, the last tool loaded will be saved in the Current.ini file when you exit SURFCAM. If not checked, the default tools loaded are always the same and can be selected by clicking the Choose Tools button to display the Default Tools dialog box. Figure 279: SURFCAM Default Tools

166 166 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes There are separate default tools for US (Inch) Tools and Metric (MM) Tools. There are seven categories of tools for which defaults can be set. To change the default tool for a category, click its button. This will display the Select Tool dialog box for that category of tool. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 3: Common NC Parameters, Section : Select Tool on page 70 for a description of how to use the Select Tool dialog box. Save cut control information at SURFCAM exit If checked, the last entries on the Cut Control, Material and Options tabs will be saved in the Current.ini file when you exit SURFCAM. If not checked, the default NC settings will stay the same. When you exit the SURFCAM session in which you remove the check from this box, the Current.ini will not be updated. Therefore, the default NC settings for the next SURFCAM session will be the same as the ones for the previous session. Calculate Initial Value For Minimum Z If checked, the initial value for the Minimum Z parameter on the 3 Axis, 4 Axis and 5 Axis Cut Control tabs will be calculated from the geometry selected. If not checked, the initial value for Minimum Z will be blank. Program Number is Alphanumeric Name If checked, you can add a program name instead of a number in the Tool Information dialog box. This should be used only when you choose APT-CL in the Post List box of the NC Operations Manager. The output file will then show the PARTNO/Alphanumeric name Options > Password Enter password for upgrading functionality. Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Section 1.4: Password on page Options > Create Figure 280: Create Options dialog box Surface Intersect and Fillet Tolerance SURFCAM uses this tolerance when creating splines and surface fillets. It defines the chordal accuracy of the curves when created.

167 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes 167 Surface Fillet Maximum Evaluation Step SURFCAM uses this tolerance when creating splines and surface fillets. It defines the maximum distance between each evaluation pass. Create Rationals SURFCAM uses this option when creating splines and surfaces. If Checked This will force EXACT representation of the elements used for construction. It will increase the size of the database and is recommended when perfect accuracy is a must. If Not Checked This will provide an approximate representation of the elements used for construction. It will decrease the size of the database and is recommended when general tolerances are required. The surface will be built within the user tolerance of the exact theoretical surface. (Enter the User Tolerance value in the Tolerance Options dialog box that appears when you click Tolerances on the Options menu.) The default is inches or.001 mm. Refer to Section 1.8.3: Options > Units on page Options > Snap & Grid Click Options > Snap & Grid to display the Snap & Grid Options dialog box. Figure 281: Snap & Grid Options dialog box

168 168 SURFCAM Reference Manual, Chapter 1 Menus and Dialog Boxes Refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 1: System Basics, Points on a User Defined Grid on page HELP MENU Contents Click Contents to display the main SURFCAM help file and its table of contents. For an in-depth discussion of the help file refer to the SURFCAM Getting Started Manual, Chapter 7: Tutorial, Section 7.1: Using SURFCAM Help on page 217. Figure 282: Help menu Status Click Status to see a pop-up window showing the amount of memory space that has been used by SURFCAM s Database and Display list, as well as the amount of space free and the maximum amount available. The database is where all elements and views are recorded. It is a double precision (16 digit accuracy) database. The display list is a single precision copy of the elements in the database that are used for SURFCAM to draw quickly on the screen. Because the display list is single precision, its maximum size is usually configured to be about half the size of the database. Figure 283: Statistics pop-up window The size of the database and display list can be changed by modifying the DataRAM and DisplayRAM parameters in the SURFCAM.INI file. Refer to Chapter 7: Configuration Tools, Memory allocation settings on page 369. About SURFCAM Click About SURFCAM to see a window showing: 1. The current version 2. Copyright information 3. The licensee 4. The SIM serial number 5. The Maintenance expiration date