Use CAM Templates to Automate Programming — The One-Person Shop #3

Thinking takes time! This is the insight that led Dan Donaworth of Dan’s Custom Machining to rely more heavily on the automation capabilities of his software. Some CAM systems (he uses Autodesk Fusion 360) offer the ability to develop templates for automatically programming certain part types. The programmer can equip the template to select the right series of tools for any given feature so that the programmer does not have to recall and reconstruct that tool sequence each time a variation on that same part comes to the shop.

Donaworth discusses his use of time-saving software automation in the latest episode of The One-Person Shop:

Transcript

Peter Zelinski

Welcome to the One Person Shop, I’m Pete Zelinski Modern Machine Shop and we are doing this video series on ideas, products technology that allow a very small shop to be very effective. The shop we're at is Dan's Custom Machining Williamsburg, Ohio. The one person in this one person shop his sole proprietor, Dan, Donaworth. Dan, thank you for having us.

Dan Donaworth

No problem, thank you for coming.

Peter Zelinski

So, with this episode, we're going to look at the software side of this. The challenge of programming time for a job shop, particularly a small job shop talk about that a little bit Dan, how big a deal is the impact of programming time on the work you do?

Dan Donaworth

Programming time is the big impact for us, because we're only doing one offs of things, maybe five a part, ten at most, for most of the stuff that comes through. For us, you want to get the program wrote as fast as possible and out to the machine. You don't want to waste time trying to nitpick every part down to the second because if you spend ten minutes to save one minute on a part that you're only going to run two of. You wasted more time at a computer than you are at the machine.

Peter Zelinski

The device we're going to talk about for speeding programming time is templates. A resource that's available in many CAM systems. Talk about what that means what is a template in CAM software, and how does it save you time?

Dan Donaworth

Template and CAM software is just a part that you use to save all the features on. So, say you have a 4140 HD part from a customer and you know the tap sizes, drill sizes, end mills that you use you. If need to go into smaller pockets and then come back in with another one to do an adaptive, you can set all your rest machining up to where it's just simple load it into the part that you're working on, click the features that you want for each operation and generate it and off to the machine you are.

Peter Zelinski

So, CAM templates. A way to capture your knowledge sort of prepackage a part of the program related to a given feature a given tool so that you can call it up again and you don't have to think through it again. Is that right?

Dan Donaworth

Yeah, that's exactly right.

Peter Zelinski

You didn't always do it this way. Early on, this shop was much newer, and you were just you were happy to get the job and you were programming part after part. But now you rely pretty heavily on CAM templates and talk about how you made that transition. Where did the realization come that you needed to rely on this resource within the software?

Dan Donaworth

When we first started out our tool library we always had dedicated to different speeds and feeds for the tool. But it still doesn't have when you click on an operation the radial with of cut the depth of cut that you want or the rest machining. If you're coming in with smaller tools down the road, say you're going to come in with a half inch tool, then go quarter inch than eighth inch to remove all the material, the most effective way is adjuster rest material that you're using. So, when we were spending so much time, and even breaking tools, and forgetting to change the default radial with of cut for something and it would take too big of one and snap an end mill.  I had to start thinking of a way to speed up the process, besides just having the speeds and feeds set and do other cutting parameters instead.

Peter Zelinski

Because of that moment, snap the tool, it's because in the past, you knew how to machine that feature well. It's just you didn't have that top of mind when you were programming it again.

Dan Donaworth

Exactly.

Peter Zelinski

Maybe give an example and talk that out. A situation that might look like what comes up frequently in this shop and talk about how you draw on CAM templates and how it makes programming so much easier.

Dan Donaworth

 So, let's say we have a park that you're gonna rough outside with a half inch cutter and 4140 HD and then you're going to come in with a high feed mill, do some high feed milling and then drill and tap some holes. You would just load in that template for that customer that uses the standard tap sizes and all that and it would also import the half inch mill and the high feed mill and all your cutting parameters would be set as far as depth of cut, width the cut and everything like that.

Peter Zelinski

And all those parameters are in there because those are the parameters you figured out from past jobs on your machine and how to tune in that process just right.

Dan Donaworth

That is correct. I mean everything gets updated. We have a master template that we can go in. So, say we try out a whole new cutter for a high feed mill from a different tooling brand and we tend to like that one better, we can get better removal rate, I can go in edit the master templates. And then every time you draw in the template, it's all correct. programming

Peter Zelinski

Programming takes time, because thinking takes time, because remembering what you know takes time. So, store all of that knowledge, all of those parameters that have worked so well inside of templates within the CAM software and allow programming to be that much quicker and easier. Thank you, Dan

Dan Donaworth

No problem