TRAINING

GUIDE

MILL-LESSON-1
GEOMETRY CREATION
Mastercam Training Guide

Objectives
You will create the geometry for Mill-Lesson-1. You will be working through the process to
machine parts in later Lessons; Mill-Lesson-1 will just cover geometry creation. This Lesson
covers the following topics:

Create a 2-dimensional drawing by:

Creating lines using line endpoints.
Using the AutoCursor to snap to endpoints of lines when creating lines.
Using the zoom functions to change the view of entities in the graphics window.
Saving the file.

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MILL-LESSON-1 DRAWING

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LESSON -1 - THE PROCESS

Geometry Creation
TASK 1: Setting the environment.
TASK 2: Creating lines.
TASK 3: Save the drawing.

Absolute coordinates at endpoints of lines.

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TASK 1:
SETTING THE ENVIRONMENT
Before starting the geometry creation you should set up the grid and toolbars as outlined in the
Setting the environment section at the beginning of this text:
1. Set up the Grid. This will help identify the location of the origin.
2. Load the Workspace SETTINGS>Load Workspace>2D Toolpaths to machine a 2D part.
3. Set the machine type to a Haas Vertical Spindle CNC machine.

TASK 2: INTRODUCTION
CREATE A SERIES OF LINES USING CREATE>Line>Endpoint
THE BOTTOM LEFT HAND CORNER OF THE PART IS AT X0 Y0.
This task explains how to create the ten lines for Mill Lesson -1. These lines could be
created in many different ways, this is just one option.
Note the location of X0 Y0 and the direction of the X and Y axis as shown below.
You will start to create line 1 first and then move around in a clockwise direction to create
the remaining lines 2,3 etc as shown below.

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To create this series of lines you need to refer to the dimensioned part drawing for Mill-
Lesson -1 and determine the absolute values in the X and Y axis for the endpoints of the
individual lines.
Absolute means the X and Y coordinate all relate to the Origin - the X0 Y0 position.
For more information on co-ordinate systems see the Tips and Techniques section on the
multimedia DVD supplied with this text.
The X and Y values for the endpoints of the lines are shown below:

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Create Line #1
1. Select from the pull down menu: CREATE>Line>Endpoint

2. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint and the Line ribbon
bar appears.

3. To satisfy this first prompt click in the X value box of the ribbon bar (left hand side of the
ribbon bar) and enter a value of zero.
4. Hit the Tab key on your keyboard and then you will be transported over to the Y value enter
a value of zero again. Hit the Tab key again then you will be moved over to the Z value and
enter once more a value of zero and hit the tab key again.
5. You have now input the coordinates for the start of line 1 and the prompt on the graphic
screen changes to Specify the second endpoint.
6. Click in the X value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of zero.
7. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value enter a value of 5.0. Hit the Tab key again then
you will be transported over to the Z value and ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab
key again.
8. The first line is complete and the prompt changes to Specify the first endpoint and the
display of the line is off the screen. Before you move onto the second line you need to
adjust the display of the geometry on the screen.

What you will do now is Zoom and Pan the display so that as when creating the remaining
lines you will be able to view all the geometry of the part. The View manipulation toolbar is
shown below and can be found at the top of the screen.

9. Select the Screen Fit icon from the toolbar to fit the part to the screen .
10. Next Select the Un-Zoom .8 icon from the toolbar to shrink the display.

11. Now use the RIGHT arrow key on your keyboard to pan the screen over so the first line
moves over to the far left of the screen, close to the left toolbar. This will allow the creation
of the remaining lines without any need to perform any Zoom display functions.

Unzoom .8: Reduces the size of the displayed geometry to 80% of its current size.

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Your part geometry, the first line, should look as below:

Create Line #2
On the screen you are prompted to Specify the first endpoint for the selection of this point
you will employ the use of the AutoCursor to select the endpoint of the line you just
created.

AutoCursor: Visual Cues detects and highlights endpoints and midpoints of curves, lines, arc
center points, and point entities. In addition, AutoCursor can snap to angle, nearest, tangent,
perpendicular, horizontal, and vertical conditions.

For more information on AutoCursor see the Tips and Techniques section on the multimedia
DVD supplied with this text.

The following are Mastercam Visual Cues:

12. Move the cursor over the last end point of the first line you just created, see above, and as

you get close to the end point a visual cue appears. This is the cue that will allow
you to snap to the endpoint of this line. With this visual cue highlighted pick the end point of
the line.
13. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 1.5.
14. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 5.0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the second line.

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Create Line #3
15. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
16. Move the cursor over the last end point of the second line and as the visual cue appears
snap to the endpoint of this line.
17. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 3.0.
18. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 3.0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the third line.

Create Line #4
19. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
20. Move the cursor over the last end point of the third line and as the visual cue appears snap
to the endpoint of this line.
21. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 3.0.
22. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 2.5. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the fourth line.

Create Line #5
23. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
24. Move the cursor over the last end point of the fourth line and as the visual cue appears snap
to the endpoint of this line.
25. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 5.0.
26. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 2.5. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the fifth line.

Create Line #6
27. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
28. Move the cursor over the last end point of the fifth line and as the visual cue appears snap
to the endpoint of this line.
29. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 5.0.
30. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 3.0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the sixth line.

Create Line #7
31. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
32. Move the cursor over the last end point of the sixth line and as the visual cue appears snap
to the endpoint of this line.
33. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 6.5.
34. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 5.0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the seventh line.

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Create Line #8
35. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
36. Move the cursor over the last end point of the seventh line and as the visual cue appears
snap to the endpoint of this line.
37. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 8.0.
38. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 5.0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the eighth line.

Create Line #9
39. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
40. Move the cursor over the last end point of the eighth line and as the visual cue appears
snap to the endpoint of this line.
41. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 8.0.
42. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the ninth line.

Create Line #10

43. On the graphics screen you are prompted: Specify the first endpoint.
44. Move the cursor over the last end point of the eighth line and as the visual cue appears
snap to the endpoint of this line.
45. The prompt on the graphic screen changes to Specify the second endpoint. Click in the X
value box of the ribbon bar and enter a value of 0.
46. Hit the Tab key to move over to the Y value, enter a value of 0. Hit the Tab key again and
ensure a value of Z 0.0 is set and hit the tab key again. This completes the tenth line.

47. On the ribbon bar click on Apply to fix the entity.

48. Click on the OK icon to complete this feature.
49. Select the Screen Fit icon to fit the part to the screen .

Screen Fit:Use this function to maximize your view of visible geometry in the graphics window.
When you use this function, the system positions and sizes the displayed geometry to fill as
much of the graphics area as possible.
In addition to using the View menu, you can access this function from the right-click menu, from
the toolbar, by pressing [Alt+F1], or by pressing the Home key.

The finished part is shown below:

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TASK 3:
SAVE THE DRAWING
1. Select File.
2. Select Save as.
3. In the File name box, type Mill-LESSON-1.
4. Save to an appropriate location.
5. Select the Save button to save the file and complete this function.

6. This completes Mill- Lesson-1.

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MILL-LESSON-1 EXERCISES

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