1. Designer Soap Making A Team Project from Concept to Completion

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4. A hyperlink page has been included to allow you to view parts of the slide show on an as-needed basis. This tutorial may be run simultaneously with the solid modeling software and the Cam package, allowing the user to move between them. 4

5. Select the Item You Wish to View Introduction Activity Overview Teamwork Guidelines Printing Slide Notes Mold Cavity Design Mass Properties Exporting From Inventor Exporting From Mechanical Desktop Verifying a Roughing Cycle Verifying All Tool Paths Creating the CNC Code Milling the Mold Cavity Suggestions for Pouring the Mold Supplies on the Internet The End Creating All Tool Paths ----------------------------------- Assigning Tool Bits

6. Before viewing this presentation, you should print the slides in handout format to enable you to take detailed notes. Exit the slide show and follow the directions below. Pick File Pick Print By activating print in this manner, you are able to configure the type of output as in the dialog box to the right. Pick Black & White Pick Handouts (2 or 3 slides per page) then pick OK 6

7. This activity uses: §The Team Design Approach §Solid Modeling software: AutoDesk Inventor or Mechanical Desktop 3.0 §Cam Software: Surf Cam §CNC mill control software for Prolite Machines §Prolite 1000 Machining Center §Machineable wax §Clear glycerin soap, food coloring, fragrance oil, non-stick cooking spray §Microwave oven, plumber’s putty, clamps, candy thermometer 7

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9. First, we design the mold, using AutoDesk Inventor or Mechanical Desktop 3.0 The following slides are from a part replay sequence. 9

10. Sketch this profile 10

11. 1” Extrusion 11

12. Planar parallel work plane with offset of 1/2” Profile of mold cavity Draft angle is 8 degrees. [90 - 82 = 8] 12

13. Extrusion 4” distance 13

14. Sprue profile Mold halves are combined, later a part split will create each half Boat clip art has been added and extruded 14

15. Sprue profile has been extruded with a draft angle of 20 degrees 15

16. Fillet applied 16

17. Part split completed All corners filleted 17

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19. The volume of glycerin soap required can be determined by comparing the mass property of Volume for the solid block with that of the mold cavity block. 19

20. Pick File, then Save Copy As Set the Save As file type to SAT and pick Save 20

21. Use the AMACISOUT command to translate the model’s geometry into a format that can be read by SurfCam 21

22. This is the correct folder in which to place the Amacisout file Make sure the file extension is sat 22

23. Now we will convert the solid model of the mold into tool paths using a CAM package called Surf Cam. 23

24. Launch SurfCam and import the SAT file using the sequence illustrated in the following slides Pick 1 Pick 2 24

25. Set up these dialog boxes as indicated by the arrows 25

26. When the Sat file has been successfully translated, pick Close Sat file as it should appear in SurfCam. Note: the yellow arrows are obstructing the view of some details. In the next slide, we will turn them off. 26

27. The next 2 slides will illustrate how to eliminate the yellow arrows that sometimes block the user’s view of wireframe elements Pick 1 Pick 2 Pick 3 27

28. The wire frame will be free of yellow arrows after shaft size is set to zero, then pick OK 28

29. Then double click here To produce the Isometric view Pick View first Now the viewing direction will be changed to Isometric 29

30. It is very important to make sure the top surface on the lower left corner of the model is at the coordinates of 0, 0, 0 The following 4 slides will illustrate how to move the top surface of the lower left corner of the model to that location 30

31. Move cursor to this point and left click 31

32. Leave all values at zero and pick OK Pick 32

33. Zoom Extents to center image The move function should produce the XYZ label on the top of the part in the lower left corner 33

34. Save your work after each major step using the following procedure From the Main menu pick Files The first time the file is saved, use the Save As command. This allows you to check for the proper destination folder. This is the correct folder, in the filename box enter a name and pick Save 34

35. We now must Mask out the wireframe components which do not need to be machined Pick the Mask icon Pick 2 Third, pick here then pick OK 35

36. We will now select the color to apply to the non-machined wireframes From the Main menu, pick Edit The next pick is Color Select dark green from the color palette. 36

37. Use Intersect Pick here and drag across to lower right This will produce a yellow selection box. All surfaces under it will be turned green and masked from cutter tool paths. 37

38. The green surfaces are now masked from any machining activity Continue masking the outside vertical surfaces as well as the top surface Mask both hole surfaces using the Within selection mode. The holes will be worked on after the mold cavity toolpaths are finished 38

39. The mold cavity and sprue surface are now ready for cutter tool path application Now would be a good time to save. Always answer YES to both of the following dialog boxes while saving 39

40. First, pick NC from the Main menu Pick 2 Pick 3 Pick 4 Set Masking color to White 40

41. First set mask to Yes Pick 2 Pick 3 Pick 4 41

42. This is the tool bit selection dialog box. Here we will select the cutter bit, set the speed and feed rate, depth of cut and width of cut. For this mold cavity, we will use a 1/2” ball mill for the roughing cycle, a 1/4” ball mill for two intermediate planar cycles, (on both the X and Y axes) and a 1/8” ball mill for the Registration pin Holes and the final cleanup of the mold cavity. Pick here to select the tool bit 42

43. Pick this tool then OK 43

44. Adjust the parameters indicated by the arrows then select the Cut Control tab The spindle speed and feed rates used in this tutorial are for machinable wax only. 44 The actual tool number will depend on how you have set up the tool library in the machining center software.

45. Adjust the parameters indicated by the arrows, then pick the Z Rough Pocket Options tab 45

46. Adjust the parameters indicated by the arrows, then pick OK 46

47. Pick 1 Second, pick on this white line Third, pick on this white line After the third pick, you will see a tool path simulation, then pick Accept 47

48. Pick the Operations Manager Tool path description, eventually several more will be listed The Operations Manager dialog box keeps track of the various tool paths created, allows the graphical verification of tool paths, and gives the user the ability to change the order of machining operations by dragging and dropping Pick Done to return to Surf Cam Press F8 to hide the tool path in the Surf Cam screen. This will keep the screen from being too cluttered as more tool paths are added. 48

49. We will now activate a graphical verification of the previously applied tool path - Pick the Operations Manager First, pick NC Project Next, pick Surf Cam Verify 49

50. Pick here to add stock to the model X, Y, Z values must all be zero for Corner 1 For Corner 2, the X + Y values must match the stock, with the Z axis set to a negative thickness value Pick Add after all values have been entered 50

51. Pick here to shade the stock Press the Play button to view the cutting simulation 51

52. Simulation progress bar Press the Close button when done viewing Observe the result of the 1/2” ball mill. The surface is rough, but material has been removed quickly, keeping the cycle time shorter. We will now refine the cavity with consecutively smaller bits. 52

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54. Pick here first to produce the dialog box below. Pick 1/4 HSS Ball nose then OK 54

55. Verify that you have selected a 1/4” Ball nose bit. Change the tool number to 3 Turn Coolant Off Spindle speed 3000 Feed Rate 15 Plunge Rate 3 Enter this comment Pick Apply, then pick the Cut Control tab at the top of this dialog box 55

56. Stock to leave:.03 Step Size:.002 Change only two of the above indicated settings and pick OK 56

57. Surf Cam is prompting for a machining start point Pick Keyboard to input the values This is the Keyboard input panel, accept the defaults by picking OK 57

58. Surf Cam is now prompting for a point to establish the direction of the cut Pick Keyboard Enter 5 and pick OK 58

59. Surf Cam is now prompting for the direction to offset the toolpaths as it generates them Pick on this side and watch the tool paths being generated 59

60. X axis planar tool paths being generated When the tool path is finished, pick the Operations Manager 60

61. Observe the tool path description First, select NC Project Second, select Surf Cam Verify If you need help with the tool path Verification, return to the index page and view the verification sequence. 61

62. Successful verification of 1/4” X axis planar tool path. We will now further refine the mold cavity with a Y axis planar with a smaller scallop rate. This will yield a smoother mold cavity surface. Pick the Close button after inspecting the verification. In the event the tool path is unacceptable, follow the procedure in the next slide to delete it. 62

63. Pick the Operations Manager To delete a bad tool path, pick the path name and press the Delete key Confirm your intention to delete the tool path by picking Yes Pick Done to proceed 63

64. We will now mask the mold sprue from further machining by changing its color to green. Remember, earlier we set up green surfaces to be masked from selection. 64

65. We will now select the color to apply to the non-machined wireframes From the Main menu, pick Edit The next pick is Color Select dark green from the color palate. 65

66. Pick 1 Pick 2 Pick 3 Pick 4 66

67. Place the Within selection box around the sprue This should change the color of the sprue to green thus preventing another tool path from being created on this surface. The next slide will illustrate how to apply the Y axis tool path using a 1/4” ball mill. 67

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69. Pick 1/4” Ball nose then pick OK Change the entries in the dialog boxes as shown below by the arrows Pick Apply, then pick the Cut Control tab on top of page Pick OK when finished in the Cut control box 69

70. Select point to begin using the Keyboard option Accept the current XYZ values by picking OK Select point in direction of cut using the Keyboard option Enter 3 and pick OK 70

71. Select side to offset by picking about here. You will now see a tool path generated. 71

72. Tool path being generated When tool path is completely generated, pick Accept 72

73. Run the Surf Cam Verify cycle on all the tool paths. If you need a review of the Verify function, return to the index. We will now complete the tool paths by using a 1/8 Ball nose bit in just the boat cavity. 73

74. Now we will change the viewing direction and the color of the mold cavity. First, pick View 74

75. Double click Top View Top View is now displayed Now we will change the color of all entities to green, start by picking Edit. 75

76. Pick 1 Pick 2 Pick 3 Then, pick about here and drag to the lower right corner surrounding all the white surfaces with the yellow box 76

77. All mold surfaces are now green. Set the Editing color to white by first picking Edit, Color then the white block. 77

78. Pick Within, then pick about here and drag to the lower right corner, surrounding all the boat surfaces with the yellow box. This will produce a white boat image that can be selected for a tool path. 78

79. Pick this icon and set the dialog box Mask colors as they are on the right. This will allow tool paths to be assigned only to the white surfaces. 79

80. In the following slides, we will assign a 1/8 Ball nose cutter to both X and Y axis planar tool paths. These two cutter paths will further refine the outline of the boat. From the Main Menu, pick NC, NC Planar, 3 Axis, Planar, set Mask to Yes, then pick Visible 80

81. Pick 2 then OK Pick 1 Now, adjust the 3 axis Planar dialog box to have the values indicated by the arrows. When finished, pick Apply, then pick the Cut Control tab. 81

82. Adjust the contents of this dialog box as indicated by the arrows Pick Apply when finished with changes. Then pick OK 82

83. Pick 1 Pick 2 Accept the zero values Pick 3 Pick 4 Change value to 5 and pick OK 83

84. Pick about here for direction of offset for tool path 84

85. X axis planar tool path has been generated Pick Accept to keep the tool path After picking Accept, SAVE your work 85

86. Switch to the Isometric view, then follow instructions to add the Y axis tool path to the boat cavity. Pick View Double Click 86

87. Set Mask to White Pick 1 Pick 2 Pick 3 87

88. Set masking status to YES Pick 4 Pick 5 Pick 6 then select 1/8 Ball nose cutter and press OK After step 6 1/8 Ball nose should be present Set values indicated by arrows, pick Apply then pick the Cut Control tab 88

89. Set values as indicated by arrows, then pick OK 89

90. Use Keyboard option to enter coordinates of point to begin. Accept the current values by picking OK Use Keyboard option to establish the direction of cut Enter this value then pick OK 90

91. Pick about here to establish side of part to offset the tool paths 91

92. When tool path is complete pick Accept Now would be a good time to Save 92

93. We will now create the tool paths for the registration pins Adjust the color mask properties of both holes to white. 93

94. The following narration will assist you in creating tool paths for the registration pin holes. From the Surf Cam main menu pick: NC, NC Mode, 3 Axis, Z Rough Select using the Visible option with Masking turned ON Pick OK at the Surf Cam Material Information dialog box Pick Done from the Selection menu, this will reveal the Surf Cam 3 Axis Z Rough dialog box. The first group of settings will be done in the Tool Information Tab. Pick the Tool bit button and set the bit size to a 1/8” diameter cutter Set tool number to (2), Coolant off, Spindle speed = 3056, Feed Rate=15, Plunge Rate=3 Enter this statement for the comment: 1/8” cutter for Registration pins and pick Apply. Do not pick OK just yet. 94

95. Next, pick the Cut Control Tab and make the following changes. Stock to leave = 0 Z step size =.125 XY step size =.0625 Pick Apply but not OK. Now pick the Z Rough Pocket Options Tab and make these changes. Side roughing step size =.0625 Depth roughing step size =.125 Material cut mode and Pocket cut mode = spiral Pick Apply and then OK. You should observe at tool path being created for the holes. Pick Accept, then save your work. 95

96. We will now use Surf Cam Verify to check the entire set of tool paths. As the verification cycle proceeds, make sure the cutter paths don’t endanger the vise and produce the smoothness of cut adequate for a mold cavity. 96

97. Pick the Operations Manager to get the dialog box below. Next, pick NC Project. Selecting this will enable the verification of all the generated tool paths below 97 For a review of the verification process, pick this icon to return to the hyperlink page.

98. Verification progress Pick the Close button when finished and Save the file. 98

99. Now that the tool paths have been verified, our next operation is to create numeric code by picking the Post button from the Operations Manager. Pick NC Project to insure all tool paths are used to generate numeric code Pick Post to create NC code 99

100. Completed code must now be saved, pick File, Save As Pick here to find the correct folder to save code. This will allow you to browse to the desired folder. 100

101. Double-Click this folder which was created earlier in the Mechanical folder Double-Click this folder which was created earlier in the SurfCam files folder Make sure to change the file type extension to.nc This is the only extension recognized by the Prolite machining center. 101

102. Close this application Pick Done, save the Surf Cam file and exit Surf Cam 102

103. We are now ready to launch the ProLite machining center software and open the NC code just created. Pick Open Select NC file and pick Open 103

104. The NC code has been opened. In the next slide group, we will apply line numbers to allow the running of segments of the code as needed. Pick Edit 104

105. Pick here, This will allow changes in the code Unlocked code has a white background Pick Edit, then Renumber 105

106. Pick here to apply line numbers Line numbers applied Now would be a good time to save 106

107. Before you begin the milling process, consult the Prolite Machining Center’s operation manual for the details of setting up the tool library, tool length offsets and general operating procedures. Below are the tool library settings for cutting mold cavities in machinable wax. 107

108. Using the CNC code you have just created, you now machine the mold. 108

109. Mold Release Machinable Wax Mold 109

110. Excessive shrinkage caused by over heating of glycerin soap. Microwave ovens vary in power. You should try heating a four oz. bar for 1 min. to gauge the results. The soap should be 150-160 degrees Fahrenheit, to avoid excessive shrinkage. 110

111. Temperature Measurement Use a candy thermometer, available at grocery stores. The temperature prior to pouring should be in the range of 150 - 160 degrees Fahrenheit. It may be necessary to let the melted soap cool down for a few minutes. If poured too hot, excessive shrinkage and bubbles may appear. 111 Do not put Thermometer in The microwave oven.

112. Soap should be cut into 1/2” thick pieces for quicker melting Microwave for 1 minute on full power for each 4 oz. bar Use eye protection when pouring Clear glycerin soap is available in the supermarket or via the Internet Soap can be scented as well as colored 112

113. Use plumber’s putty to expand the sprue volume. As the soap cools, shrinkage will occur in the sprue. Always use safety glasses The use of an air nozzle can assist in removing soap from the mold. Use quick adjust mini clamps or spring clamps 113

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