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      <title>Fabrication and Machining</title>
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      <description>Fabrication and Machining</description>
      <lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:15:35 GMT</lastBuildDate>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ What&#8217;s New in SOLIDWORKS Machining Roles R2026x FD01 ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/whats-new-in-solidworks-cam-and-machining-roles-r2026x-fd01/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/69285</guid>
      <pubDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 12:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ This blog covers new enhancements for SOLIDWORKS Milling Professional, SOLIDWORKS Turning Professional, and SOLIDWORKS Milling + Turning Premium delivered in the latest functional delivery. 
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      <![CDATA[ 
It was great connecting with many of you at&nbsp;3DEXPERIENCE World this year. I hope you came away as energized and excited as I was by all the innovation shared throughout the event.&nbsp;One of the biggest announcements was our virtual companions, AURA, LEO and MARIE. If you weren’t able to attend, make sure you catch up through session replays.



While those announcements highlighted exciting progress in AI-powered design, this blog focuses on another important area of innovation: the latest updates in SOLIDWORKS Machining roles and how they help strengthen the connection between design and manufacturing. 



Manufacturers continue to face pressure from multiple directions simultaneously: tighter delivery expectations, growing product complexity, ongoing cost pressure, and the need to do more with limited skilled resources. At the same time, machining remains central to production across automotive, aerospace, industrial equipment, medical devices, and precision engineering. The broader market is still growing as demand rises.



Technavio projects the global CNC machine tools market will increase by USD 23.1 billion from 2026 to 2030, driven by rising demand for high-precision, multi-axis machining centers, with AI and digital technologies helping shape that evolution.



To help machining teams work more efficiently in this environment, SOLIDWORKS offers three dedicated manufacturing roles, we introduced last fall, tailored to different machining needs:• SOLIDWORKS Milling Professional• SOLIDWORKS Turning Professional• SOLIDWORKS Milling + Turning Premium



These roles connect design and manufacturing by extending your SOLIDWORKS data into downstream machining workflows, making it easier to move from engineering definition to production-ready NC programming.



Starting with SOLIDWORKS Milling Professional, this solution is suited for mold, core, and cavity machining. It streamlines programming with capabilities such as automated feature recognition, AI-driven reuse, high-speed roughing, 3- to 5-axis toolpath conversion, collision detection, and optimized feeds.SOLIDWORKS Turning Professional is designed for lathe and mill-turn programming, offering advanced, intuitive programming for milling and turning within a unified platform. Key features include intelligent automation, built-in feature recognition, and full 3D simulation to reduce errors and save time. It also supports multi-channel mill-turn machines and customizable post processors, ensuring compatibility with your shop floor.



For more advanced requirements, SOLIDWORKS Milling and Turning Premium extends support to five-axis mills and complex mill-turn machines.



As a reminder, all SOLIDWORKS Design roles include NC Shop Floor Programmer capabilities, enabling users to create and validate 2.5- and 3-axis NC programs, generate wire EDM operations, and identify potential production issues through machine simulation.Here is a breakdown of the latest enhancements delivered in the R2026x FD01 update for SOLIDWORKS Milling Professional, SOLIDWORKS Turning Professional, and SOLIDWORKS Milling + Turning Premium.







Compare Toolpaths



This enhancement makes it easier to compare toolpaths between releases and when changing key parameters. With multi-view mode, programmers can review differences between two machining activities, compare the same activity after release migration, or evaluate how parameter changes affect the result. Users can review revisions more confidently and catch unintended changes earlier in the process.



Cutting Tool SelectionFinding the right cutting tool is now more streamlined. Users can search with history, populate values from measured geometry, choose search locations from libraries or collaborative spaces with the Where filter, and view resources across open tabs, using the “All tabs” option in the Session Panel. This makes tool selection faster and more context-aware, helping programmers find the right tool with less searching and fewer interruptions.







Cutting Tool Selection



Finding the right cutting tool is now more streamlined. Users can search with history, populate values from measured geometry, choose search locations from libraries or collaborative spaces with the Where filter, and view resources across open tabs, using the “All tabs” option in the Session Panel. This makes tool selection faster and more contextual, helping programmers find the right tool with less searching and fewer interruptions.



Sequential Axial Operation ImprovementIncrease the flexibility and efficiency of sequential axial operations by simplifying the selection of bottom and top planes and adding circular motion. The axial plane of a sequential axial activity can reference the stock top plane, stock bottom plane, hole top plane, hole bottom plane, and other axial planes. Users can define a sequential axial activity in a more generic way and build a chain of planes using another axial plane as a reference. This is a more adaptable way to define axial machining logic, which is especially useful when part geometry evolves or when similar features need to be programmed consistently.



AI-Powered Alternate Toolpath Strategy and ParametersMinimize roughing machining time by leveraging AI to automatically generate alternative toolpath strategies and parameters. The system suggests a preferred toolpath strategy and parameters for the selected geometries in Roughing and Prismatic Roughing Operations. Ultimately, this enhancement helps to reduce some of the trial and error that often comes with roughing optimization, making it easier to move toward better machining performance with less manual tuning.







Surface Creation as Additional GeometryProgrammers can now create extended or trimmed surfaces directly within the machining workflow, without having to go back to the CAD model first. By selecting faces, setting an overhang, optionally choosing extrapolation edges, and previewing the result before validation, users have more control over machining geometry in context.







These new machining solutions are all integrated and deployed from the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, so you also benefit from real-time collaboration and data management capabilities. SOLIDWORKS Machining solutions provide users with a complete set of tools to meet you where you are today, tomorrow, and into the future. Learn more about SOLIDWORKS CAM extended machining solutions here.



You may also be interested in these manufacturing blogs for more on SOLIDWORKS machining roles, CNC programming best practices, CAD/CAM integration, machining simulation, AI in manufacturing, and more.



Bridging the Gap between Design and Manufacturing: A Collaborative Approach



Revolutionizing Manufacturing: the Critical Role of SOLIDWORKS CAM Solutions



And see my last blog on the selective loading functionality in SOLIDWORKS design&nbsp;here.




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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Don’t Miss the Skit – See what’s Coming Next for SOLIDWORKS ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/dont-miss-the-skit-see-whats-coming-next-for-solidworks/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/61204</guid>
      <pubDate>Sat, 03 May 2025 15:00:35 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Did you miss the skit at 3DEXPERIENCE World? No worries. You can…
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      </description>
      <content:encoded>
      <![CDATA[ Every year at 3DEXPERIENCE World, the highly anticipated Don’t Miss This Demo takes center stage. More than just a software presentation, this annual tradition blends over-the-top theatrics with live CAD demonstrations, showcasing both recent and potential future enhancements to SOLIDWORKS.This year’s Demo kicked off with an outrageous AI-generated teaser, featuring dinosaur-riding cowboys, jet packs, great white sharks, and high-speed chases—essentially, everything you’d expect from an action-packed sci-fi thriller. Unfortunately for the tech marketing team, technical difficulties cut the broadcast short, leaving the team stranded. The rest of the presentation unfolded as they scrambled to use a homegrown version of AI to help them navigate the rest of their presentation.If you missed 3DEXPERIENCE World LIVE, watch the full introduction and the Don’t Miss This Demo presentation here. For those eager to see what’s next for SOLIDWORKS—including the latest 2025 FD01 release—this blog post will highlight some of the most exciting enhancements available now and more coming soon.What’s New in SOLIDWORKS 2025 FD01Simplified User InterfaceThis new option addresses the fact that while SOLIDWORKS is known for its ease of use, it is still a sophisticated program with a potentially complex user interface. To improve the experience for new or casual users and reduce clutter, SOLIDWORKS now allows users to choose to work with a simplified interface. The Command Manager tabs and icons, the Heads Up Toolbar, and the Feature Manager are all simplified to provide a less overwhelming environment for those new to the software or who prefer a cleaner interface.Prevent Users from Dragging Parts Far AwayWhen dragging components in an assembly, users may unknowingly move them a significant distance depending on their view orientation. SOLIDWORKS now detects these large movements and will display a warning message to the user.This also provides easy access to undo the action, allowing users to quickly revert the unintended large displacement of the componentUse Sketch Point for End Point for Edge FlangePreviously, when creating edge flanges, you could define their length based on existing solid geometry. Now, SOLIDWORKS is expanding this capability to offer even greater flexibility by allowing you to use sketch vertices to define the extent of your edge flanges.  This offers users more flexibility when building in design intent with their sheet metal models.Configuration/Family TablesManaging multiple variations of a part is a common practice in design, and SOLIDWORKS has long supported this through configurations. These allow you to create different sizes or versions of a single part file. However, documenting these variations in drawings has sometimes required manual workarounds.The good news is that SOLIDWORKS is introducing a new, more efficient way to handle this with the addition of Family Tables in drawings.  This new table type is specifically designed to conveniently display all configured data for a part or assembly within a drawing.Flattened BOM Quantities





With the Flattened BOM option, SOLIDWORKS will now automatically take the quantities of items that are present in your subassemblies and roll them up to provide a total instance count in the top-level assembly BOM. This means you’ll get a clear and concise overview of the total number of each unique component required for your entire assembly, without any manual workarounds.Automatic Drawing View Creation (Phase 1)Creating manufacturing drawings is a crucial step in the product development process, but it can often be time-consuming, especially when dealing with numerous parts or assemblies. Recognizing this, SOLIDWORKS is introducing a significant time-saving enhancement: Automatic Drawing View Creation.This new feature allows you to automatically generate drawings from any combination of selected parts or assemblies. This is a game-changer for anyone who frequently needs to produce a large number of drawings, as it transforms this task into an efficient batch operation.  This is available today with the release of 2025x FD01. This enhancement will evolve over future releases.What’s Coming In Future Releases – SOLIDWORKS 2025-2026DSPBR AppearancesGet ready for even more realistic visuals in your SOLIDWORKS designs! Soon, you’ll be able to define your model appearances using DSPBR shaders. PBR, or physically based rendering, will allow for much more detailed and life-like materials.  By defining appearances based on layers, with attributes like color, reflection, roughness, and normal maps (and more!) all contributing to the final look.  This enhancement will truly elevate the visual quality of your SOLIDWORKS parts and assemblies.System Options for Large Multibody Part PerformanceWorking with large parts and complex selections in SOLIDWORKS is about to get a lot smoother! Coming soon, you can expect to see that the large assembly settings will now also support multi-body parts. This means you’ll experience a performance boost when working with part files containing tens, hundreds or even thousands of bodies, with the same file management considerations as seen with large assemblies.Multibody Selection ImprovementsIn the past, advanced selection tools weren’t fully available for multi-body parts. This is about to change in SOLIDWORKS.  You’ll soon see additional support for selection criteria in multi-body parts. This enhancement will provide a faster and more efficient way to make selections, giving you the option to select identical components, or select by size with just a few clicks.Additional Support for Canceling OperationsSay goodbye to being stuck in the middle of an operation! In future SOLIDWORKS releases, you’ll start seeing more and more commands supporting the escape key for canceling operations, starting off with complex features like combine, shell, and intersect. This will offer a much-needed way to quickly interrupt processes when needed.Assembly Tree Display System Wide OptionComing soon, you’ll be able to set your desired tree display as a system default. This means that SOLIDWORKS will have the ability to overwrite the tree display setting saved in the assembly document, ensuring you see your preferred organization every time you open an assembly. This will provide a consistent and personalized experience when working with your SOLIDWORKS assemblies.Equal Relations Rectangle (square)





For all you sketch enthusiasts, creating squares is about to get easier! SOLIDWORKS will soon feature the ability to create an equal-sided rectangle, or a square, simply by holding the shift key while drawing the rectangle. This seemingly small addition will automatically add equal relations to all four sides, eliminating the need for manual relation application and speeding up the creation of bolt-hole patterns and other square features.Pin Fillet CommandFor those of you who frequently use fillets, the process is about to become less disruptive. SOLIDWORKS will soon allow you to PIN the Fillet command. This will be particularly useful when you need to apply multiple fillets of varying sizes to different edges of a part.  This will lead to a more continuous and efficient design process.Modify Individual Bend Radii in Convert to Sheet MetalWhen using the ‘Convert to Sheetmetal” feature, SOLIDWORKS identifies and applies bends, rips, and gaps based on a reference face. While you can define a bend radius that applies to all bends at once, what if you need different bend radii within the same converted sheet metal part?Coming soon to SOLIDWORKS, you’ll gain the ability to uniquely define each bend radius when using the “Convert to Sheet Metal” feature. This means you’ll no longer be limited to a single bend radius for all bends created during the conversion process. This enhancement is also expected to support lofted sheet metal profiles and when converting imported sheet metal geometry.Additional Magnetic Line Support in DrawingsIf you’ve ever spent time meticulously positioning notes, revision symbols, geometric tolerances, datum feature callouts, or surface finish symbols in your drawings, you’ll appreciate this upcoming feature. SOLIDWORKS will enable you to snap these and other drawing elements directly to magnetic lines, which previously only supported balloon callouts.  This helps create clear and concise drawings with only a few clicks!Future Projects Around Artificial Intelligence and Machine LearningAutomatic Mating of Non Toolbox FastenersSOLIDWORKS users sometimes need to source fasteners from outside the built-in Toolbox library.  The exciting news is that SOLIDWORKS R&#038;D is actively working on incorporating Artificial Intelligence and machine learning to automatically recognize fasteners based purely on their geometric shape. Imagine the convenience of simply dragging and dropping downloaded fastener models into your assembly, and having them intelligently mate into place! This promises to significantly improve the efficiency of the assembly process, allowing you to focus more on your design and less on manual mating.AI-Generated Parametric Models from Imported MeshAnother project that the R&#038;D teams are investigating is allowing users to import complex mesh data, 2D images, or even video and have AI intelligently reconstruct them as fully editable parametric SOLIDWORKS models. This would significantly streamline workflows for users who frequently work with scanned data, imported geometries, or who need to translate visual information into CAD models.AI-Assisted Assembly StructuresAmong the intriguing potential enhancements showcased this year was a look at AURA, Dassault Systèmes’ AI assistant, and its capabilities in streamlining the initial stages of product design. The demonstration highlighted how AURA could revolutionize the process of creating assembly structures. Imagine starting a new project, such as an e-bike design, and being able to simply prompt AURA to generate the foundational assembly structure.AURA’s intelligent capabilities would allow it to research the requirements for the specified task and automatically generate all the necessary assembly, sub-assembly, and part files to kick off the project. This means the time-consuming initial step of manually creating this structural hierarchy could be significantly reduced.AI Help GuidanceWhether you are a new user struggling with basic feature workflows or a seasoned expert looking for best practice recommendations, AURA aims to be your go-to resource.  This potential integration promises to allow users to ask questions about various SOLIDWORKS functionalities and receive immediate, context-sensitive answers, pulling from user forums, knowledge base and help files. AURA will be capable of offering recommendations on optimal workflows and guiding you through different stages of your design, from the initial conceptualization to the final release of your product.AI Generative RenderingsAURA highlights an exciting future in creating compelling marketing visuals from your CAD models. Users could provide simple prompts describing the desired outcome – in the example shown, the prompt asked AURA to generate marketing images with an ORANGE theme.The power of AURA would then come into play, leveraging AI to process the CAD geometry and the user’s prompt to generate stunning rendered images in seconds. This means that the often time-consuming process of setting up scenes, applying materials, and manually rendering marketing visuals could be significantly accelerated.This year’s demo worked out just fine, with little help from AI and relying on showing off some current and future enhancements coming in SOLIDWORKS.  Be sure to watch future FD release notes to see when these projects will be available for you to integrate into your design workflows. ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ How to Bring Complex Designs to Life in SOLIDWORKS CAM ]]>
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      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/how-to-bring-complex-designs-to-life-in-solidworks-cam/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/16791</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 08 Oct 2020 15:00:44 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Hi. I’m Mike Dady, Application Engineer for Alignex. A few months ago,…
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      <![CDATA[ Hi. I’m Mike Dady, Application Engineer for Alignex. A few months ago, I was having dinner at a friends’ house when I was given a wine glass that piqued my SOLIDWORKS interest. The glass had a set of spiral grooves machined on it’s exterior. My engineering brain immediately began wondering how I would go about recreating this exact design within SOLIDWORKS &#038; SOLIDWORKS CAM. Let’s take a look at how it works.After some review, it turns out we can do it all using the SOLIDWORKS CAM Standard package that comes with every license of SOLIDWORKS on subscription support. The first step on our journey is establishing the path needed to cut the groove in our Part. The varying diameter of the glass is the complicating factor to this process. There are multiple solutions that can create the path needed, but the most versatile is using Solid-Surface Hybrid Modeling. This creates an Intersection Curve that will update as the glass geometry changes. To learn more on this process, check out ‘Mastering Parts and Features’ in the Training Section of the Alignex web site.Now that the modeling has been completed, it’s time to machine the groove using SOLIDWORKS CAM. Our first step will be to create a Configuration that has the grooves Suppressed. This new configuration will be used for the machining stock by using a Part File in the Stock Manager. Pick the current Part Model, and then choose our stock configuration to complete the process.To machine our groove we’ll use a Curve Machining Feature. Right away we see another reason the Intersection Curve is the best solution for our groove path. We’ll re-use it in SOLIDWORKS CAM to create our machining feature. Once the curve is selected, move on to set the depth of the feature. With the machining feature complete, we’ll create an equally spaced Pattern to machine the second groove, and then create the Operation.Our next step is to change the Operation setup to properly machine the grooves. Currently the Operation is using a Flat End Mill and that will not work. Normally, we would customize the Technology Database ahead of time to add the tool for machining the grooves. Today, we’ll create a custom tool on the fly. Everything starts by adding a keyway tool into the Tool Crib from the Library, and then the Tool is selected for use in the Operation. It doesn’t matter what size keyway tool is added since it will be customized to match our groove diameter. We have to make sure our Tool Diameter and Overall Length are large enough for cutting the lower section of the glass. The Tool Protrusion also needs to be adjusted in the Holder definition. It’s a good practice to use the Tool preview in the graphics window to check for interferences.Next up is adjusting the Contour Side Parameter Allowance. The current value will have the tool only trace the outside of the glass. We need to adjust the allowance to match the groove depth using a negative value to cut into the glass.The last Operation change will be modifying the Lead-In and Leadout to match our model. The overlap will need to be removed or our groove will be too long. Make sure the Leadout length is large enough to prevent the tool from crashing while retracting due to the undercut. Now that all our modifications are complete, we can create the Toolpath.To verify everything is setup correctly, we’ll Simulate the Toolpath to review everything. This will let us know if there are any interferences with the Tool or Holder, and let us review our final machined geometry. ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Creating a Custom Tool within SOLIDWORKS CAM ]]>
      </title>
      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/creating-a-custom-tool-within-solidworks-cam/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/16755</guid>
      <pubDate>Thu, 01 Oct 2020 15:00:12 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Learn how to create a custom tool within either SOLIDWORKS CAM or…
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      <![CDATA[ Learn how to create a custom tool within either SOLIDWORKS CAM or CAMWORKS. You’ll start with a SOLIDWORKS part with a single revolve feature.Some notes about the sketch used to create this feature:
The sketch must be on the front plane
The sketch must have a vertical line of revolution
Everything within the sketch must be above and to the right of the origin
We continue written instructions below this video, but if you prefer to watch, we have this CAM Tech Tip recorded for your convenience.Want to Watch? View This TutorialOnce you have your revolved feature, within the SolidWorks CAM or CAMWorks menu tab, click the button for user-defined tool / holder. This will launch the Create Tool dialogue box. From within this box, click the browse button and choose the location you want to save this tool.We recommend saving these custom tool files outside the SOLIDWORKS and CAMWorks file structure completely to reduce any chance they are overwritten accidentally during upgrades.Give the tool file a distinct name you will remember later.We’ve now saved this tool file externally but note the SOLIDWORKS file itself has not been saved. If you’d like to keep this file for modification later, do so now.Now we can launch our Technology Database. Once inside we can select the tab for mill tooling, then choose user-defined tools. Click any tool from the list and make a copy of it.Now select the copy and change any relevant parameters. Some specifications, such as feed per tooth, are generally available from the tool manufacturer. Be sure to point the tool name and path location to the file we saved externally earlier and click save.Your newly created tool is now available under the user-defined tools heading in SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks.Find more videos on our YouTube Channel including more Tips and Tricks.Contact Us at GSCWe’re always available over the phone at 262-790-1080, or, if you don’t have time for a phone call, we take submitted inquiries online. Our CAM Applications Engineer Austen writes on other CAM topics as well.Want More on CAM?If you’re Interested in SOLIDWORKS CAM or CAMWorks and other resources:
SOLIDWORKS CAM Solutions
CAMWorks Solutions
CAMWorks Case Study – Saved a Medical Device Company 100+ Programming Hours
CAM Features Glossary
About the AuthorAusten Popejoy has worked in design, prototype, and production manufacturing and has also been a collegiate lecturer. His work as our CAM Application Engineer supporting SOLIDWORKS CAM and CAMWorks lends well to advancing designing for manufacturing. Have a passion for cars? Ask him about our annual Fuel Fest car show! ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Expanding Your Reach ]]>
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      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/expanding-your-reach/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/16162</guid>
      <pubDate>Tue, 19 May 2020 15:00:00 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ SOLIDWORKS 2020 includes capabilities that will expand your reach with CAD-centric workflows…
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      <![CDATA[ SOLIDWORKS 2020 includes capabilities that will expand your reach with CAD-centric workflows by enhancing mesh body utilization and adding new features to SOLIDWORKS CAM.In SOLIDWORKS 2020 you can now edit, remove and add certain features directly on imported mesh files. No need to spend time translating it to a solid model first! With SOLIDWORKS 2020, front-end work with imported mesh files offer simple workflows for reverse engineering, shortened paths to Additive Manufacturing, and extended collaboration with industrial design tools.When you think about the back-end of the design workflow, the first thing that comes to mind is probably CAM. Verifying manufacturing steps is extremely valuable and it gets even better in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2020, with the probe tool. Machinists typically use a probe on a CNC mill to automatically find fixture coordinates and measure finished features. SOLIDWORKS CAM Professional 2020 incorporates probes, which speeds up setup and improves part quality.SOLIDWORKS 2020 is focused on doing more than just CAD design. Mesh body editing and the probe tool in SOLIDWORKS CAM help you become more efficient throughout your engineering workflow, from start to finish. ]]>
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      <![CDATA[ Machine Parts Faster with SOLIDWORKS CAM ]]>
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      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/machine-parts-faster-with-solidworks-cam/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/10183</guid>
      <pubDate>Mon, 21 Oct 2019 15:00:43 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ Did you know that SOLIDWORKS CAM can handle about 80% of your day-to-day CNC…
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      <![CDATA[ Did you know that SOLIDWORKS CAM can handle about 80% of your day-to-day CNC programming needs? It’s simple to learn, fully associative and saves CAM data directly within your SOLIDWORKS model. Best of all, it’s already included in your seat of SOLIDWORKS!In this video, we are going to show you just how simple it is to use SOLIDWORKS CAM to take your SOLIDWORKS model from conceptual design to machined product in a fraction of the time.
Bringing the Part to Life The process starts inside SOLIDWORKS with the CAD Model. Here we use SOLIDWORKS CAM to program the machining without leaving SOLIDWORKS.To start the CAM Setup, the correct Mill Machine must be chosen. Next the size of the Machine stock is set, and lastly the Machining Coordinate System is established at the Top Center of the Part Model.Once the setup is complete, we need to create SOLIDWORKS CAM Features. This can be done using Automatic Feature Recognition, which compares the Final Model Geometry to the machine stock and creates Machining Features that are linked to the SOLIDWORKS Model geometry. Machining Features can be created interactively as well. So 2.5 Axis or Multi-Surface Features can be created that way if needed.After the Machining Features are finished, Operations are generated based on the Strategies specified in the CAM Features. If the CAM Feature is setup with a Rough and Finish Strategy, Rough and Contour Mill Operations will be created. The Default Parameters used for those operations are stored in the SOLIDWORKS CAM Technology Database. Which is customizable database that can be modified to match the desired practices for machining.Once Operations are setup as needed, SOLIDWORKS CAM will generate the Toolpaths needed to machine the workpiece. These Toolpaths can then be simulated for review to make sure the workpiece is being machined correctly, and also to detect any collisions between the Tool or Holder. The final Machined Geometry can be compared back to the SOLIDWORKS CAD geometry for any differences to assure accurate final geometry.The last step before going back into the shop is Post Processing. SOLIDWORKS CAM will generate the G-Code program needed to run the Mill for both setups used to machine the workpiece.After everything is complete in SOLIDWORKS CAM, the Mill machine needs to be setup. The first step in that process is to Qualify each tool to the height of the stock.After all the tools are qualified, we need to set the machine zero to match our Setup Coordinate System in SOLIDWORKS CAM, which was set to the Top Center of the Workpiece. Once that is complete, the G-Code Program is loaded and it is time to make chips.Once the first setup is machined, the Mill will need to be re-zeroed to match the SOLIDWORKS CAM coordinate system for second setup. The reamed hole from the first setup was used in CAM. In doing so, the second setup references a machined feature from the first setup and increases accuracy. Now the second side of the workpiece can be machined.Now you see how simple it is to take your SOLIDWORKS CAD Model from conceptual design, to finished product using SOLIDWORKS CAM. ]]>
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      <title>
      <![CDATA[ Stump the Chump: How Can I make My Cam Follower “Roll” on the Cam Surface? ]]>
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      <link>https://blog-contrib-prd.itvpc.solidworks.com/products/solidworks/stump-chump-can-make-cam-follower-roll-cam-surface/</link>
      <guid>https://blogs.solidworks.com/guid/11527</guid>
      <pubDate>Fri, 19 May 2017 21:00:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <description>
      <![CDATA[ This blog explains how to make a cam follower roll on a…
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      <![CDATA[ This is the second installment of our new Stump the Chump blog series here at SOLIDWORKS. In this series we will delve into common SOLIDWORKS questions and/or problems that our users have on a day-by-day basis and will present various ways in which they can solve them. While we have a large team of seasoned CAD users at SOLIDWORKS available to answer user questions, we also have the most passionate and best CAD community in the world. So in this blog series, we are going to share advice, tips and suggestions from actual users.We are scouring the SOLIDWORKS User Forums for questions and/or problems that we feel are probably pretty common among our users. If after reading this Stump the Chump post, you have an alternative answer or simply have an additional question, please feel free to add it to the comment section below.
So without further ado, here is the question:Question: How can I make my cam follower “roll” on a cam surface?
User answer: I tried some things out, and I don’t think that it is possible using ONLY mates. I tried a combination of cam and RACK AND PINION mates, and it works, but only on the straight areas of the cam, if there are any.   But once the cam follower went around a corner, the rolling ceased and sliding started.SOLIDWORKS Expert Weigh-in: Yes, it is possible to make the cam follower roll on the cam surface.  I created a video and attached the models showing two ways to approach this solution.There are two ways to accomplish this. If you want to make something that looks good in a design review or video, you can accomplish it with a Gear Mate, and set the ratio to be close to the average diameter of cam. This will make the follower appear to roll on the surface of the cam. This works well visually, but if you are looking for the angular velocity of the cam follower, you will need to use SOLIDWORKS Motion, and choose a Motion Analysis study as opposed to an Animation study.Since the Cam Mate does not account for friction as does some of the basic mates, you will want to use curve contact to define the contact and set the coefficient of friction between the cam and follower to be 1, or very sticky. Apply a motor to the cam, and gravity so that the follower does not fly off the cam, and run the motion study. This will give you the precise angular velocity of the follower if that is the information that you are looking for.Thank you to John Bryjak for the question and to Dan Pihlaja for providing solutions in the SOLIDWORKS User Forum. If you have a question that you would like to pose to the greater SOLIDWORKS user community or to provide tips and tricks to your peers, our User Forums are a great resource. Access the SOLIDWORKS User Forums here. ]]>
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