Mastercam Setup

This tutorial will go through opening SolidWorks parts in Mastercam, machine selection, part positioning, translation and rotation and stock setup.

Exploring Mastercam's Interface
Start the MasterCam



Saving SolidWorks Parts as IGES Files

 * 1) With your part open in SolidWorks, select 'Save As', 'Save as Type', 'IGES(*.igs)'
 * 2) Now select Options.
 * 3) In the options tab, select IGES 5.3 on the left and make sure all of the boxes are checked.
 * 4) Select 'OK', then 'Save'.

Opening a SolidWorks Part in Mastercam

 * 1) Open Mastercam X7 from either the desktop or start menu.
 * 2) In Mastercam, select 'Open File', then switch from "All Files" to "IGES files" in the bottom right corner.
 * 3) Find the file you are looking for and then select 'Open'

Selecting Machine Type
If you are using Mastercam at the University of Idaho, odds are you'll be using the HAAS Mill in the machine shop. Start by clicking 'Machine Type' from the uppermost toolbar. Then select 'Mill', 'Default'. You will change this later to the HAAS Mill in the machine shop using a different method, but always start with the default mill.

Positioning Your Part

 * 1) Start by selecting 'Shaded View'(the blue sphere), 'Isometric View'(cube with no shaded faces), and 'Fit'(blue arrows pointing out of a grey square).
 * 2) Press F9 to display the X-Y-Z axes.
 * 3) Select your part by clicking and dragging from upper left to lower right. This should turn your part from grey to yellow.
 * 4) Click on 'Dynamic XForm'(Red and purple square separated by a lightning bolt and blue arrow).
 * 5) Select the corner of your part that you would like to move and rotate about.
 * 6) Now click and drag the origin of the X-Y-Z axes, and drag it to the origin of your part.

XForm Rotation
Once the origin is set, you can rotate your part to move the desired face to the top view. Holding the mouse over the X,Y, or Z near the origin will display a circle of tick marks. Click on the letter corresponding to the desired direction of rotation to rotate your part. The part will automatically snap to the displayed 5 degree tick marks.

XForm Translation
Translating your part is moving it linearly along an axis. To do this in Mastercam, click on the arrow along the axis that you want to move your part along. Dragging the arrow to either side will move the part by set linear increments, displayed as a set of tick marks along the axis.

When your part is correctly positioned, click on the green check mark in the upper right corner of the viewing window to confirm your changes.

Stock Setup
Once your part is positioned and the origin is set, you will need to create your stock in Mastercam.

From the Design Tree on the left side of the screen, open 'Properties' and double click on "Stock setup". From here, you can either select bounding box, which will set the piece of stock to be the largest size of your part in each direction, or you can click the desired origin on the red cuboid and input your stock dimensions in the X, Y, and Z directions. Click on the green check mark when you are done.

Now is a great time to save your part, before adding any toolpaths.