Geometry CreationGibbsCAM 2006

May 2006

ProprietaryNoticeThis document contains propriety information of Gibbs and Associates and is to be used only pursu-ant to and in conjunction with the license granted to the licensee with respect to the accompanying Gibbs and Associates licensed software. Except as expressly permitted in the license, no part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual or otherwise, without the prior expressed written permission from Gibbs and Asso-ciates or a duly authorized representative thereof.

It is strongly advised that users carefully review the license in order to understand the rights and obli-gations related to this licensed software and the accompanying documentation.

Use of the computer software and the user documentation has been provided pursuant to a Gibbs and Associates licensing agreement.

© 1996-2006 Gibbs and Associates. All rights reserved. The Gibbs logo, GibbsCAM, GibbsCAMlogo, Virtual Gibbs, Gibbs SFP, MTM, SolidSurfacer, and “Powerfully Simple. Simply Powerful.”are either trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of Gibbs and Associates in the United Statesand/or other countries. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in theUnited States and other countries. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of their respective owners. Contains Autodesk® RealDWG by Autodesk, Inc.,Copyright © 1998-2006 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Written by Will Gaffga

Thanks to Bill Gibbs, Bob Dune, Jeff Myers and Israel Klain for their input and assistance.

Printed in the United States of America

Gibbs and Associates323 Science Drive

Moorpark, CA 93021

Modified: May 31, 2006 9:07 am

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 1

How to Learn the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Online Help, Balloons and Prompting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

System Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Text Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

GEOMETRY REFERENCE 5

About Geometry Creation in GibbsCAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Geometry Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Free-Form CAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Geometry Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Combination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Extracting Geometry From Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Working with Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Shapes and Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Making Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Open Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Breaking Connections (Disconnecting) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Geometry Context Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Geometry Palette Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Palette Shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Sub-Palettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Smart Selection and Inferred Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Point Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Line Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Circle Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Shape Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Curve Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Blending Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Chamfer & Fillet Sub-Palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31Connect/Disconnect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Multiple Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Geometry From Solids Sub-palette . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Geometry Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Geometry Expert Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

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Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36How Geometry Expert Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Row Border Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Creating Shapes Using Geometry Expert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Creating Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Feature Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Geometry Expert Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Expert Aids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Additional Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Defaults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Point Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Half Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Floating Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41Inserting and Deleting Rows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Arcs vs. Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

-R Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Via Geometry Expert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Via Free-Form CAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Dimensioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Dimensions Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Workgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Workgroup List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Background Workgroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Workgroup Right Mouse Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Level 1 Interface and Workgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Workgroup Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Coordinate Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493D Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Printing the Part Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

FREE-FORM EXERCISES 51

Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Creating Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Part Set-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Geometry Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Axis Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Tangent Circle to Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Explicit Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Angled Line Through a Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Connecting Lines - 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Connecting Lines - 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Circle with Radius & Center Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Breaking Connections - 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

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Breaking Connections - 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Connecting a Circle and Line - 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61Connecting a Circle and Line - 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Reversing Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Terminating Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Setting up the Part. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Creating The Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Multiple Explicit Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Radius & Center Point Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Line Tangent to Two Circles - 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Arc - Tangent to Two Circles - 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Tangent Line from Point - Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Parallel Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Connecting a Circle and Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Duplicating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Line Tangent to Two Circles - 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73Arc - Tangent to Two Circles - 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Line Between Two Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Reversing Arc Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Arc - Tangent to a Line and Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Selecting a Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Boss Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Geometry for Lathe Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Setting Up the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Creating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Face. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80OD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Backface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92Explicit Connect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Closing the Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Adding Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Adding a Chamfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Exercise #4: Shuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97OD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Exercise #5: Text Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Horizontal Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Left Justified . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Centered. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Vertical Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

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Text On An Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Exercise #6: Gear Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Creating a Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Exercise #7: Overlapping Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Overlapping Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

GEOMETRY EXPERT EXERCISES 119

Exercise #1: Shaft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121Horizontal and Vertical Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Exercise #2: Chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Chamfers and Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Exercise #3: Shuttle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141Arcs & Angled Lines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146Lathe Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Implicit Angle Tangent Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Exercise #5: Doodle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Editing Free-Form Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Loading Free-Form Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Inserting a Row . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

COMBINATION EXERCISES 157

#1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Mill Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Changing the Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Lathe Tutorial. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Changing the Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162#2: Mill Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Mill Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165Extracting a Center Point of a Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Boss Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Exercise #3: Gear Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Advanced Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

About the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Outer Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177Inner Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

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PART PRINTS 179

APPENDIX 189

Interface Level 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Workgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192Not Included In Level 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

INDEX 193

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vi

INTRODUCTION

Introduction

CHAPTER 1

: I n t r o d u c t i o n

HOW TO LEARN THE SYSTEMCongratulations on purchasing the most productive programming system available! It isrecommended that the Getting Started Guide and this manual be reviewed before moving on to eitherthe Mill, Lathe, Mill/Turn, or any other GibbsCAM manual. The best way to learn the system is toread the reference information and complete the geometry exercises, then complete the tutorialsprovided in the module specific manuals.

This manual is intended for all GibbsCAM users. The information in this manual applies to the basicsof creating geometry (and the basics of a part file in general) across all of the GibbsCAM modules. Thetutorials found in the manual focus on basic milling or turning parts and should be completed beforeproceeding to the Mill or Lathe manual. Sitting down and reading the reference sections is likely to bedry reading and isn’t strongly recommended but we do strongly recommend you look through the“Geometry Reference” section to familiarize yourself with the manual and its contents.

ONLINE HELP, BALLOONS AND PROMPTINGFor simple explanations of items and their purpose, use Online Help, Balloons and Prompting. OnlineHelp, Balloons, Prompting and PDFs are built-in systems of documentation and training information.They are enabled from the Help menu. Online Help is a context sensitive Help system. When activatedthe online help will bring you to a web page that is relevant to the dialog you are working in. OnlineHelp can also be browsed or searched. Balloons (Ctrl+B) provide reference information about anyobject that the cursor is placed over. Prompting extends certain palettes in the system to provide usefulsuggestions about how to proceed based on the context or conditions. The PDFs are electronicversions of the GibbsCAM manuals. The PDFs may be browsed, searched and print well if you need ahardcopy. The Common Reference Guide will help you with items contained in the Menu Bar.

SYSTEM OVERVIEWThe workflow is designed to be extremely flexible and to allow the user the freedom to create parts inany way that comes naturally. The “modeless” interface allows the user to have geometry creation,tools, machining capabilities and post processing functions available at all times. However, there arecertain basic elements required to create a part. Geometry must be created. At least one tool must bedefined and toolpath must be generated before a part can be post processed. The Main palette is

3

Introduction

organized in a logical manner for building a part. A part does not have to be created in this order, itonly serves as a guideline.

TEXT CONVENTIONSIn this and all other GibbsCAM manuals you will find a number of standards used in the text, knownas conventions.

Screen text: Any text you see like this is referring to text you will see in GibbsCAM or on your monitor.Typically this is a button or text for a dialog.

Keystrokes: Words that appear like this refer to a keystroke or mouse action, such asright-click or Ctrl+C.

Term: Words that you see followed by a colon like this refer to a word or phrase used in GibbsCAM.

Documents

Geometry

Tools

Cam

View

Cut Part Render

Post

4

GEOMETRY REFERENCE

Geometry Reference

CHAPTER 2

: Ge ome t r y R e f e r e n c e

ABOUT GEOMETRY CREATION IN GIBBSCAMIf you have ever used a design CAD software package to design, draw, or create geometry the firstthing you will notice about GibbsCAM is that the geometry CAD tools are different. This can lead to anumber of different possible first impressions, including that different is “bad” especially when it isdifferent from what you have already learned how to use.

In the case of GibbsCAM “different” is not just for difference sake. Throughout our software we strivefor consistency in our interface and usage so that clients can be productive quickly without a biglearning curve. There are reasons why GibbsCAM CAD is different, starting with the fact that it is notintended for the same task or the same user as design CAD software.

There are typically several important steps in modern part manufacturing including Design CAD,Manufacturing CAD and CAM.

Design CAD: This is the creation of a new design performed by a design engineer using a design CADsoftware e.g. SolidWorks, SolidEdge, AutoDesk, Pro/ENGINEER, Catia, Unigraphics, etc. Thesoftware for this function needs to support the designer's creativity with a variety of freeform CADcapabilities.

Manufacturing CAD: At this point a manufacturing expert receives a design from someone else — anotherdepartment or another company. The manufacturing expert may need to redraw the file, import CADfiles or repair/correct the design for manufacturing. Additionally the manufacturing expert may needto create process models, tooling or fixtures from the part design. A key point is that this is usually notthe person doing the original design.

CAM: This is creating the NC program. Once the manufacturing expert has the geometry or partmodels ready to machine he can proceed with planning and creating the actual tools, toolpaths and G-code needed to make a good part.

GibbsCAM excels at Manufacturing CAD and CAM which is everything the manufacturing expertneeds to complete the job begun by the design engineer. The users and tasks of GibbsCAM are verydifferent from the users and the tasks of a design CAD software. GibbsCAM CAD is aimed at adifferent user and a different task and therefore is different.

In the infrequent case where the designer and the manufacturer are the same person he may chose touse GibbsCAM CAD just because he likes it or he may chose to use a design CAD for designing. Hewould then link his files to GibbsCAM for Manufacturing CAD and CAM.

Let’s look at some of the ways GibbsCAM geometry creation is different and why.

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Geometry Reference

Redrawing Time: When GibbsCAM was first released in 1993 a lot of CAD work was still sent to themachine shop by blueprint which required the manufacturing expert to redraw it. GibbsCAM set outto provide tools that allowed a shape to be redrawn faster and easier than design CAD systems could.GibbsCAM CAD tools achieve this, allowing redrawing to be done in a fraction of regular CAD time.Geometry expert pushes this advantage further by providing parametric capabilities for family of partscreation and interactive shape editing.

Just The Finished Part: You don't need to recreate an engineering drawing to make a program.GibbsCAM focuses on creating finished shapes to machine, not recreating an engineering drawing.GibbsCAM doesn't require that additional geometry be created for entry and exit tool moves, we justneed the finished part.

Chaining: Any CAM system using design CAD as the front end has a “chaining” step. Chaining attemptsto automatically connect one feature with the next into a machinable shape. This process stops andasks the user “which way?” when more than two features intersect on the screen. In a complexdrawing this can be a cumbersome process. The issue with chaining gets worse when the chainingfunction finds a small gap which is common with imported geometry. In such a case you must go backto the CAD, fix the problem, go back to chaining, find the next error and repeat the steps. GibbsCAMeliminates the chaining step by allowing the user to create linked/connected geometry. In effect, whenyou are finished drawing a shape you are assured that it is already chained and ready for machining.

Fast & Easy? There is a big difference between the best way to draw in GibbsCAM and the best way todraw in a design CAD system. GibbsCAM doesn't have a design CAD style “trim” function. Instead ituses “connectors” to link one feature with the next, automatically trimming the shape graphicallywhen a feature has 2 connectors. A machinist can think of drawing a shape like taking a tool around apart in G-code in a sequence of lines and circles.

A design CAD user frequently approaches drawing a part quite differently, creating a large number ofuntrimmed lines and circles, then going back through them “trimming”. The same thing withGibbsCAM CAD but this is not necessarily good because it is a poor way to use GibbsCAM CAD.Used this way GibbsCAM CAD can be inefficient, confusing and the connectors can work worse thandesign CAD trimming.

GibbsCAM CAD is always focused on drawing a shape to be machined. You simply need to define thelines and circles in some order around a shape. Going clockwise or counterclockwise doesn't matter;where you start making geometry and the direction you go has no effect on machining as you're justdrawing a finished part shape.

When you start defining your geometry elements in shape order a wonderful thing happens — thereare rarely more than 2 untrimmed elements on the screen at a time. Connecting and trimming areautomatic. You can draw a shape in fewer user actions and eliminate chaining all at the same time.This is a win-win situation which makes learning a different approach to drawing (or redrawing)worthwhile.

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Geometry Reference

GEOMETRY OVERVIEWGeometry consists of lines, circles, curves (splines) and points. Geometric features may beconnected into complex shapes in 2D or 3D. Connecting points (blue squares) are referred

to as a connectors while end points are called terminators and are drawn as yellow squares. Eachfeature has a reference number label in order of creation. Geometry may be used to create holes,pockets and contours for toolpath.

Geometry may be created using the Geometry Creation features of the system or imported from aCAD program. Additionally, imported geometry may be modified. There are four methods whenusing the system to create geometry:

• Free-form CAD

• Geometry Expert

• Combining Free-form CAD and Geometry Expert.

• Extracting geometry from a solid or sheet

This chapter details the different functions available for geometry creation and provides detailedexplanations of how shapes are created. To gain practical knowledge of the concepts outlined in thischapter, complete the exercises provided throughout this manual.

FREE-FORM CADThe free-form CAD tools included in the system are very powerful and easy to use. Creating pointsand features is as easy as clicking on buttons and entering values. Likewise, connecting features toform shapes that can be machined simply involves selecting the intersecting features and clicking on abutton. Several different options are provided for creating points, lines, circles, curves, fillets andchamfers, making it possible to create any shape regardless of how the blueprint is dimensioned. Thefree-form CAD tools are particularly useful with parts requiring construction geometry.

GEOMETRY EXPERTThe Geometry Expert is a means of quickly creating geometry of simple parts and the simplifiedcreation of more complex parts. The Geometry Expert is designed to create a single continuous shape.It allows the user to define, create and connect shape features while following along the path of thepart. The associative capabilities of the Geometry Expert make editing any existing shape a very easyprocess.

The Geometry Expert has a tabular format which operates much like a standard spreadsheet. Featuresare defined by entering data in cells of a row. Each row creates a different feature. The rows definehow the features are encountered along the shape path as if drawing a contour.

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Geometry Reference

COMBINATIONUsing both the Geometry Expert and the free-form CAD capabilities to create a part shape is a verypowerful combination. For example, a simple shaft with chamfers can be created in seconds by usingthe Geometry Expert to create the horizontal and vertical lines, and the automatic fillet/chamferoption in the Geometry Creation palette to create the chamfers.

Double-click any part of an existing 2D shape to load the geometry into the open Geometry Experttable (except splines). All features of the shape are listed and dimensioned in the rows of thespreadsheet where they can be checked and changed.

EXTRACTING GEOMETRY FROM BODIESGeometry may also be extracted from solids and sheets. Faces, edges and holes may be extracted froma model. Additionally there is a tool that examines a model and creates geometry for a parting line forthat model. A solid option must be available for these options to work.

WORKING WITH GEOMETRYSHAPES AND CONNECTORSThere are two types of shapes: open shapes and closed shapes.An open shape is a group of connected features. There is adefinite beginning and end to the shape. The two ends may ormay not be terminated. A closed shape is a group ofconnected features in which there is no beginning or end. Acircle is the most simple example of a closed shape. Double-click a feature in a closed shape to select all of the featuresand points in the shape.

There are two classifications of geometry used by the software – features and points. Lines, circles andcurves are considered features.

POINTSA point has three states. It can either be a plain point, a connector point, or a terminator point.

A plain point is used in constructing other geometry or for hole positioning. Plain points are drawn inyellow and are round.

A connector is used to connect two features together. It is drawn as a blue square.

A terminator is used to end a shape. It is drawn as a yellow square.

Open Shape

Closed Shape

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Geometry Reference

FEATURESA feature is either a line or a circle. A feature also has three states: unconnected, connected but notterminated, and connected and terminated. A feature can have a maximum of two connectors and/orterminators attached to it. When the second connection has been added to a feature, it will changecolors and become trimmed.

Unconnected features are yellow. They are used either for constructing additional geometry or can beconnected to other geometry to form a shape to be machined. Single features (one line or one circle,for example) that are yellow can be machined by the system without being connected to any otherfeatures or having any connection points.

Connected (but not trimmed) features are features that have only one connection to another feature.The feature will not be trimmed until a second connection is added or when it is terminated. Sincethis type of geometry has only one connection, it will still be yellow.

Connected and trimmed features are blue. They have been connected (or terminated) at both ends.Since they already have two connections on them, no additional features can be connected to them.

MAKING CONNECTIONSMost connections are made automatically by the software. If the Point button is chosen on theGeometry Creation palette and two features on the screen are selected, the software willautomatically create a connector at the intersection or tangency of the two features. If a connectioncannot be made automatically, a plain point will be created at the intersection or tangency of the twofeatures. Once a feature has two connectors on it, it is considered fully connected. A connection mustbe broken on the original shape before another connection can be added to it.

If a plain point exists at the intersection or tangent pointbetween two yellow features, that point can be turned into aconnector. This is accomplished using the Connect-Disconnect button in the Geometry Creation palette, whichis described in more detail on page 31, or you may use theright mouse menu (see page 13) to connect selectedoverlapping/tangent shapes. To change a point into a connector, use the Ctrl key to select the pointand the two features that intersect at the point. These should be the only items that are selected. Clickthe Connect-Disconnect button. The point will change to a blue square. If one (or both) of thefeatures is already connected to another feature, it will turn blue and trim with a square yellowendpoint.

The four descriptions listed below explain possible reasons why the Connect-Disconnect button willnot perform the desired function.

• One of the features already has two connections on it.• The point is not tangent to or is not exactly at the intersection of the two features.

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Geometry Reference

• The wrong geometry is selected, either too much or too little in most cases.• There are multiple features on top of one another.

The best way to tell if there are multiple features on top of one another is to turn on View > Labels. Ifall of the numbers are clearly visible, there is only one feature at that location. If the numbers arejumbled, there are probably features on top of each other. Try deleting features and re-drawing untilthere is only one feature left. If the last feature is deleted by accident, use the Undo item from the Editmenu to back up a step. Refer to Cleanup in the Plug-ins Guide for an alternate way to remedy thisissue.

Open ShapesTo terminate the last feature of a shape and create an open shape, a point needs to be created at thelocation where the shape is to end. The feature to be terminated must be yellow to begin with. Selectthe point and the feature and click the Connect-Disconnect button. The point will become a yellowsquare. If the feature already has one connector or terminator on it, it will turn blue and trim.

CirclesWhen connecting circles, the shortest side of the circle will connect and the rest will be trimmed away.To use the larger portion of the circle, select the circle after it has been trimmed and use the ReverseArc choice from the Modify menu. An alternate solution for circles may be created using the –Rfunction. See page 43.

BREAKING CONNECTIONS (DISCONNECTING)It is sometimes necessary to break a connection. If the software automatically creates an undesiredconnection or changes need to be made to the original geometry, then the connection will need to bebroken. To break a connection, select the connector or terminator where the connection needs to bebroken and click the Connect-Disconnect button or use the right mouse menu Connect/Disconnectoption. The connector or terminator will turn into a regular round yellow point and the connectedfeatures will turn yellow and extend to their original size. The features can then be changed andreconnected to form a new shape.

GEOMETRY CONTEXT MENUSRight-click geometry to open a list of options in a contextmenu. These options are Change to CS, Change Feature From“Wall” to “Air” and Mouse Position.

Change to CS: This item will change the current coordinatesystem to the coordinate system of the currently selectedgeometry.

Mouse Position: When Mouse Position is selected, the standard mouse position dialog will be broughtup on your screen. This will save having to access the View menu to select this item. See the CommonReference Guide for information regarding Mouse Position.

12

Geometry Reference

Change Feature from “Wall” to “Air”: The context menu of geometry allows users to designate the selectedgeometry as “Wall” or “Air”. The dialog will always show what the geometry can be changed to. Wallis the default setting for geometry. Air changes the behavior of geometry when setting up machiningoperations.

When geometry is designated as Air it is changed from it’s normal color of blue to red. This red or“Air” geometry acts as a constraint similar to regular geometry except that the toolpath will overhangthis area by the amount specified in the machining dialog. See the Mill manual for informationregarding machining with “Air” geometry and Overhang.

Connect / Disconnect: This option will connect any two overlapping or tangential geometric features thatare selected. It works exactly the same as the Connect-Disconnect button. A connecting point will becreated if it is required otherwise if there is a point where the 8Rafeatures are to be connected thatpoint will be used. When disconnecting geometry you must select either the connecting point orselect the features to be disconnected; you do not need to select the point and features to disconnectthem. Please see page 31 for more information on the Connect-Disconnect button.

GEOMETRY PALETTE INTERFACEThe Geometry Creation palette contains all of the text creation tools including free-formCAD tools geometry from solids tools and Geometry Expert. The buttons in the paletteaccess sub-palettes and dialogs that allow the user to enter feature specifications and createshapes.

The Geometry palette is where all formsof geometry are created. Sub-palettescreate specific types of geometry. TheConnect/Disconnect button createsconnections, terminators or disconnectsfeatures. Geometry Expert allowsgeometry shapes and features to bedefined quickly with a table.

PALETTE SHORTCUTSAll nine buttons in the Geometry Creation palette can be accessed from the keyboard by entering thenumber of their position in the palette, 1 through 9. For example, type a (1) instead of clicking on thePoint button, a (2) for the Line button, a (3) for the Circle button etc.

SUB-PALETTESThe Geometry palette contains seven sub-palettes that create free-form points, lines, circles, shapes,curves, fillets or chamfers and geometry from solid features. Once a sub-palette is open a selection

1 - Point2 - Line3 - Circle4 - Shape

5 - Curve6 - Chamfer/Fillet7 - Geo From Solids8 - Connect/Disconnect

9 - Geometry ExpertA - Dialog ControlsB - Workgroup InfoC - Workgroup list

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Geometry Reference

mode is activated allowing multiple items to be selected without requiring the Ctrl key to bepressed.

Return: This button, contained in each sub palette will return to the main Geometry palette.Alternately you may press the Esc key within any sub-palette.

Descriptor Points: Some geometry dialogs which require point data have a P (Point) or CP (Center Point)button which allows users to enter the point data directly into the line or circle geometry dialog.When a Descriptor Point button is pressed, the geometry dialog extends so that coordinate for thatpoint can be input. Descriptor Points are not created, or drawn on the screen. In this way they don’tclutter the workspace with points that would later become deleted. Descriptor Points are used when acurrent point is not available to be selected for the particular geometry feature creation.

Dimension Labels: The dimension labels (XYZ) will vary depending on the machine type and/orCoordinate System. See page 49 for more information on Coordi0nate Systems.

Single/Multiple Feature: When creating features some dialogs have two buttons. Thesingle feature button will create the feature and return to the main Geometry palette.The multiple feature button will create the feature and keep the dialog open to createmore of the same type of geometry. Press Enter to activate the selected button, andpressing Shift+Enter will activate the Multiple button.

Smart Selection and Inferred FeaturesWhen you open a sub-palette the system looks at any selected geometry. The system assumes thatyou want to use the geometry that is selected to define a feature. If only one kind of feature can bedefined from the selected geometry the system will automatically take you to the dialog for thatfeature type. There are variations on this, Smart Selections and Inferred Features.

Smart SelectionA Smart Selection occurs when there is only one possible solution to the combination of selectedgeometry and the feature type chosen. Think of this as a shortcut.

Example 1: If you have 2 points selected and you click on the Line button the system will take you to theLine Between Two Points dialog with the point data already entered.

Example 2: If the same two points were selected and you clicked on the Circle button the system willtake you to the Radius and Two Points dialog.

Example 3: If three points are selected and you click the circle button then the system takes you to theThree Features dialog.

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Geometry Reference

Inferred FeaturesInferred Features are solutions to creating geometry that do not have a dialog. These are featurestangent to two other features. Inferred Features include a point tangent to two features, a line Tangentto a point and a circle, a line tangent to two circles, a circle tangent to two lines, a circle tangent to twocircles, a circle tangent to a line and a circle and a circle tangent to a line and a point. Each of theseitems are fully detailed in the Point Sub-Palette, Line Sub-Palette or Circle Sub-Palette sections.

POINT SUB-PALETTE

The Point sub-palette which containsa variety of options for creatingpoints in 2D and 3D space. Other

options for creating points are available iffeatures are selected prior to opening thePoint sub-palette.

Explicit: An Explicit point can be created byentering coordinate values for that point.Lathe dialogs will only contain two axiscoordinates as shown. The P value can beused to move existing points by enteringcoordinates and the point label, for instanceP21 and the creation buttons will modifypoint 21 to the coordinates entered.

Polar Point: Creates a point at some angle (A)and distance (D) from an existing point (P) orspecified coordinates.

1 - Explicit2 - Point Angle3 - Bolt Circle

4 - Matrix5 - Center Point6 - Mid-Point

7 - Point On Arc8 - Mouse Point9 - Return Button

Lathe

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Geometry Reference

Bolt Circle: Creates a circularpattern of points. When theFull box is checked, theDegrees Between Points textbox is not available. In thiscase, the system will evenlyspace the given number ofpoints to complete the circle.

Matrix: Creates aparallelogram pattern ofpoints. When the Outlinebox is checked, the systemwill only create the pointsthat define the outline ofthe parallelogram.

Center Point: Creates a point at the center ofan existing circle. You can also do thisfunction to multiple selected circles. Whenperforming this action be sure you are in thePoint Sub-Palette or the Center Point dialogbefore selecting all the circles you want tomake center points for. The Shift-Drag selection works with this feature. Please note that the dialogwill still display only the first selected circle’s label.

1 - Radius of Circle Pattern2 - Z Depth of Points3 - # of Points in the Pattern

4 - Y Coordinate of Pattern Center Point

5 - X Coordinate of Pattern Center Point

6 - Degrees Between Points7 - Angle to 1st Point

1 - X Coordinate of 1st Point2 - Y Coordinate of 1st Point3 - Z Depth of Points

4 - Side 1 Change in X5 - Side 1 Change in Y6 - # of Points in Side 1

7 - Side 2 Change in X8 - Side 2 Change in Y9 - # of Points in Side 2

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Geometry Reference

Point Tangent to Two Features: This is an inferred feature. If two features (two lines, two circles or a lineand a circle) are selected and you click on the Point button the system will attempt to create a pointwherever the features intersect. If the features do not intersect or are not tangent nothing will happenotherwise you will be prompted to choose the proper solution.

Mid-Point: This will create an unconnectedpoint at the mid-point of a selected line orarc.

Point on Arc: Creates a point along an arc. Theradius of the arc and one other value must beentered to calculate the point’s position. Thevariables other than the arc’s radius include theangle of the arc, the known X coordinate of thepoint and the known Y coordinate of the point.There is a radio button to switch betweenpositive and negative Y values.

Mouse Point: Create point using the mouse.Click to create the points. Points will snapto the specified Grid. The depth of the pointsmay be changed by modifying the value inthe Z box.

1 - X Coordinate of a known point2 - Y Coordinate of a known point3 - Toggle Between Y+ and Y- value

4 - Angle of Point on Arc5 - Radius of Arc6 - Center Point of Arc

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Geometry Reference

LINE SUB-PALETTE

The Line sub-palette creates varioustypes of lines. Lines may be createdbased on selections.:

Two Points: Creates a line through two points.The points may already exist or they may bemanually entered by clicking on the Pbutton(s).

Point Angle: Creates a line through an existingpoint at a specified angle. The point mayalready exist or it may be manually enteredby clicking on the P button.

Angle & Tangent Circle: Creates a line tangent tothe selected circle at a specified angle.

Parallel: Creates two parallel lines at aspecified distance from the selected line.

1 - Two points2 - Point Angle3 - Angle & Tangent Circle4 - Parallel

5 - Perpendicular6 - Axis7 - Mouse Line8 - Return Button

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Geometry Reference

Line Tangent to a Point and a Circle: This is an inferred feature. When a point and a circle are selected andyou click on the Line button the system will make a line that is tangent to the point and line. If thepoint and circle are coincident the line will be tangent to the circle at the point otherwise you will haveto choose which the proper solution for a line tangent to the circle through the point.

Line Tangent to Two Circles: This is an inferred feature. When two circles are selected and you click on theLine button the system will make a line that is tangent to the circles. As there is more than onepossible solution you will be prompted to choose the line you need.

Perpendicular: Creates a line perpendicular to aselected line through a specified point.

Axis: Creates a horizontal or vertical lineparallel to an axis at a specified distance fromthe origin.

Mouse Line: Creates connected lines using themouse. Click to create endpoints. Pointswill snap to the specified Grid. The Grid canbe modified while drawing lines as well asthe depth value. Lines may be designated asRapid geometry. Double-click to create aterminator point, or exit the dialog. Click the first point to close a shape. The interface is availableduring while creating lines.

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Geometry Reference

CIRCLE SUB-PALETTE

The Circle sub-palette containsoptions for the creating variouscircles

Radius & Center Point: Creates a circle using aselected point or entered coordinate valuefor the center point and a radius. You mayalso create circles of the same diameter frommultiple selected points. To use this functionbe sure to access the Circle Sub-Palette orthe Radius & Center Point dialog beforeselecting the points you wish to create circlesaround. The Shift-Drag selection works with this feature. The dialog will still only show the firstselected point’s label but clicking the Create Circle button will generate a circle around each point.

Center Point-Circumference: Creates a circle byselecting a point for the center point andanother as a point on the circumference ofthe circle. The center point may also beentered manually.

Radius & Two Points: Creates a circle using aradius value and two tangent points todefine the center point of the circle. Thepoints may be selected or entered manually.

1 - Radius & Center Point2 - Point & Center Point

3 - Radius & Two Points4 - Three Features

5 - Return Button

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Geometry Reference

Circle Tangent to Two Lines: This is an inferred feature. When two lines are selected you can create a circletangent to the two lines. You will be prompted to specify the circle’s radius. When determining thepossible points of tangency the length of the line is not considered; internally the system extends thelines out as far as is needed to determine tangency. If the radius is too small to create tangency nothingwill happen. As there is more than one possible solution you will be prompted to choose the line youneed.

Circle Tangent to Two Circles: This is an inferred feature. When two circles are selected you can create acircle tangent to the two circles. You will be prompted to specify the tangent circle’s radius. If theradius is too small to create tangency nothing will happen. As there is more than one possible solutionyou will be prompted to choose the line you need.

Circle Tangent to a Line and a Circle: This is an inferred feature. When a line and a circle are selected you cancreate a circle tangent to the two features. You will be prompted to specify the tangent circle’s radius.If the radius is too small to be tangent to the features nothing will happen. As there is more than onepossible solution you will be prompted to choose the line you need.

Circle Tangent to a Line and a Point: This is an inferred feature. When a line and a point are selected you cancreate a circle tangent to the two features. You will be prompted to specify the tangent circle’s radius.If the radius is too small to be tangent to the features nothing will happen. If the point and line arecoincident the circle will be tangent to the line at the point. There are two possible solutions to thistangency so you will be prompted to choose the circle you need. If the line and point are notcoincident you will have to choose which the proper solution.

Three Features: Create a circle by selecting anycombination of three points, lines or circlesfor the circle to intersect or be tangent to.

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Geometry Reference

SHAPE SUB-PALETTE

Text Creation: The Text Creation dialogcreates spline geometry from anyTrueType® font and allows the userto select the typeface, text size,justification, position, text flow,spacing between characters, wordsand lines.

Text Tab: The specificationsentered in this window establishwhat the text will look like andwhere it will be positioned on thepart.

Font List: This is a list of alltypefaces that are available tocreate the text. Only TrueType fonts (typefaces) can be used to create geometry from text.

Text Size: This value specifies the height (measured in either inches or millimeters) of a capital‘A’ in the selected type face. All other characters will be sized proportionally.

Justification: These buttons specify whether the text should be left-justified, centered or right-justified. If left justified is selected, all text is aligned so the left edge of each line is in the sameX location (or if radial is selected, the same angle). If centered is selected, the center of eachline of text is calculated and the text is positioned so the centers all share the same X locationor angle. If right-justified is selected, the text is aligned so the right edge of each line is in thesame X location (or if radial is selected, the same angle). Justification will only have an effect ifthere is more than one line of text. The longest line of text is used to specify the left or rightedge. All text is then aligned based on one of these locations.

Align. Pt./Center Pt.: The X, Y and Z values that will be used as the starting point for textcreation. The text, Straight or Radial, will be aligned at this point.

The Shape sub-palette can createvarious types of shapes includingtext, offset shapes, rectangles,polygons, ellipses, gears and cams.

1 - Text Creation2 - Offset3 - Rectangle

4 - Polygon5 - Ellipse6 - Gear

7 - Cam8 - Return Button

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Geometry Reference

Straight Text Alignment: Text can either be created in a straight line oralong an arc. This is designated in the Text Flow window which isdescribed later in this section. If straight text is created, a rectangulararea that will contain the text is used for positioning. The diagramspecifies how the text will be positioned within the rectangular textarea based on the coordinates of the Alignment Point. For example, if the positionhighlighted in the diagram shown above is selected, the text will be positioned in thelower left corner of the rectangular text area at the Alignment Point. The bottom of the textwill be at the Y value of the Alignment Point and the left edge of the text will be at the Xvalue of the Alignment Point. Clicking on the circular position points selects the differentpossible alignment locations.

Radial Text Alignment: If text is created along an arc, a radial areathat will contain the text is used for positioning. The radial textarea is created by entering an angle value that specifies wherealong the arc the text will begin and a radius that specifies the sizeof the arc. The Alignment Point coordinates specify the centerpoint of the arc. The diagram specifies how the text will bepositioned within the radial text area. Examples with the RadialText Alignment information and the resulting text are shown.

EXAMPLE 1: Inner Radius/Start on AngleThe picture shows the text as wellas the arc and line which designatethe radial text area and the startinglocation of the text. The positionselected on the diagram will createthe text along the outside of the cir-cle beginning at the line specifiedby the Angle (the circle and line are drawn only to better visualize the example).

EXAMPLE 2: Center Radius/Center onAngleThe picture shows the text as wellas the arc and line which designatethe radial text area and the startinglocation of the text. The positionselected on the diagram will createthe text along the centerline of the circle and the center of the line of text will liealong the line specified by the Angle.

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Geometry Reference

EXAMPLE 3: Outer Radius/End on AngleThe picture shows the text as wellas the arc and line which designatethe radial text area and the startinglocation of the text. The positionselected on the diagram will createthe text along the inside of the cir-cle ending at the line specified by the Angle.

Spacing Tab: These optionsallow the user to enterdistance between letters,words and lines of the text. Ifvalues are entered in thiswindow, the values enteredwill be added to or subtractedfrom the standard spacing.

Text Flow Tab : This sectiondesignates the text flow, lineflow and shape of the text.

Text: Text can either becreated horizontally orvertically. The first twobuttons create text(characters) that will flow along a horizontal line, either from left to right (right arrow) orright to left (left arrow). The last two buttons will make the text flow along a vertical line,either from bottom to top (up arrow) or from top to bottom (down arrow).

Shapes: These buttons designate whether the text will be created in a straight line or on an arc(these buttons will change in appearance when creating vertical lines of text, but theirfunctionality remains the same). The first button will make the text flow along the arcspecified in the Text tab window in a clockwise direction. The middle button creates text in astraight line, and the third button creates text on an arc in a counter-clockwise direction. Theselection made for Shapes will affect the Alignment Diagrams in the Text tab window.

Lines: These buttons only have an effect if multiple lines of text are being created (thesebuttons will change in appearance when creating vertical lines of text, but their functionalityremains the same). The first button specifies that the lines flow from bottom to top forhorizontal lines of text or from left to right for vertical lines. The second button specifies thathorizontal lines of text flow from top to bottom or vertical lines flow from right to left

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Geometry Reference

Offset: The Shape Offset dialog allows shapes to be offset by aspecified distance. Two offset shapes will be created. Offsetshapes will adjust to the exact distance entered by a radius, sofillets and corners are added to the offset geometry as shownillustrated in the image. The Accuracy effects splines only.

Rectangle: The Rectangle dialog creates rectanglesand squares and can automatically add Fillet Radiuscorners. Define the total length of each side of therectangle and the Center Position of the rectangle.

Original Shape

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Geometry Reference

Polygon: The Polygon dialog creates multi-sidedshapes (polygons). Specify the number of Sides,the Center Position, the Distance To Flat orDistance To Corner. There is also a checkboxwhich allows the user to specify a Fillet Radiuson each corner of the shape.

Ellipse: The Ellipse dialog creates vertical and horizontal spline ellipses.Enter the X and Y Radius, and the Center Position. A larger X valuecreates an horizontal ellipse while a larger Y value creates a verticalellipse.

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Geometry Reference

Gear: The Gear dialogcreates complex gears bydefining a single tooth ofthe gear. Using Modify >Duplicate And... > 2D Rotateto create the rest of thegear. For more informationabout creating gears seethe tutorial at the end ofthe Free-Form CADExercises.

Pressure Angle: This isthe angle between thetop of the tooth andthe point ofintersection betweenthe tooth and its PitchDiameter. Select Otherto specify a differentvalue.

Addendum: The radial distance between thepitch circle and the top of the tooth.

Dedendum: This is the radial distancebetween the pitch circle and the bottom ofthe tooth.

Top Fillet: This is the convex portion of thetooth where it joins the top of the tooth.

Root Fillet: This is the concave portion of thetooth where it joins the bottom of thetooth.

Calculate: The Addendum, Dedendum andfillets values may be calculated from thePressure Angle, Pitch diameter, DiametralPitch, Circular Pitch and Full # Teeth.

Orientation: Specify whether the gear isinternal or external.

Addendum

Dedendum

Top Fillet

Circular Pitch

Pitch Diameter

Root Fillet

Figure 1: Gear Definition

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Geometry Reference

Full # Teeth: This is the number of teeth that a gear will contain. This value will be automaticallycreated from the Diametral Pitch and Pitch Diameter values entered. Remember, although that thefull gear is not created until the user creates the teeth with the Duplicate And... feature. The Full #Teeth value minus one will be entered into the Duplicate And... text box for full gear creation.

Space Width: This value is a circular thickness. It describes the space between the teeth of the gear.The Basic value is calculated for users based upon other defined specifications of the gear;however, users may opt to bypass this value by defining their own value in the Desired text box.The value is calculated to a Basic or zero slope value. A tooth can be narrowed or a space can beenlarged depending on the gear to be defined.

Involute Curve: A profile of one side of a gear tooth. The system will translate this data into a cubicspline which is more readily machined since involute curves cannot be directly interpolated by aCNC.

Sample Points: The number of points along the gear's Involute Curve to take into considerationwhen calculating the spline.

Tolerance: How close to the Sample Points the spline must pass.

The system will very closely approximate the Involute Curve with the default values, buttighter tolerances may be used if needed. One thing that should be taken into account is theMachining Preference. To hold a 0.001" Tolerance to the Involute Curve, use a 0.0005" Toleranceon the gear creation and a 0.0005" Tolerance in the Machining Preference.

Gear Type: Select the type of gear to be created.

TIP

The Machinery's Handbook is an excellent source for information on Gearing. All of the calculations and formulas are based on this information (ANSI standard B6.1-1968).

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Geometry Reference

Cam: The Cam dialog createscams.

Motion Type: This selectionwill determine the shape ofthe cam. Depending on theneed of the user., themotion type may beselected from UniformVelocity, Harmonic, Cycloid, orModified Sine.

Tolerance: This is the greatestdistance allowed betweenthe points on the cam and the arcs generated to approximate the best possible cam. In general, alarge value here creates fewer arcs, but the deviation between the desired shape and the createdshape is large. A small value should result in a more accurate shape with significantly more arcs.

Start Radius: This is the smallest circle drawn to the cam shape. It is also commonly referred to asthe Base Circle.

End Radius: This is the largest circle that the cam shape will be drawn to.

Start Angle: This is the angle from which the motion of the cam will begin.

End Angle: The angle at which the motion will end.

CW & CCW: This selection will dictate the direction of the motion from the Start Angle to the EndAngle, either clockwise (CW) or counter clockwise (CCW).

CURVE SUB-PALETTEThe Curve sub-palette whichprovides three methods forcreating curves through a series of

pre- points. The curve will travel throughthe points in the order they were selected.Modify > Sort can be used to sort the pointsin the correct order to create the desiredcurve.

Control Point Fit: This method produces a B-spline curve using the selected points ascontrol points. When using control points, only the first and last point must actually lie on the curve.

1 - Line Fit button2 - Curve Fit button3 - Control Point button4 - Tolerance Setting

5 - Close Shape checkbox6 - Blending Method menu7 - Do It button8 - Return button

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Geometry Reference

The other points are used to specify the shape and direction of the curve. The Close Shape, Toleranceand Blending Method specifications are not applicable when using the Control Point method.

Line Fit: This method creates straight lines between the selected points. If a Tolerance is specified, anypoints that are co-linear within the specified tolerance will be approximated by a single line, ratherthan several small lines between the points. If Close Shape is turned on, the system will create a closedshape, meaning that the first and last lines will be connected. The Blending Method pop-up menu isnot applicable when using the Line Fit method.

Curve Fit: This method creates a B-Spline curve through the selected points. The Tolerance value isdesigned to reduce the mathematical complexity of the finished curve and should only be larger than0.00 when generating curves from a large number of points. When a 0.00 tolerance is used, the systemwill create a smooth curve that passes through every selected point. When a value larger than 0 isused, the system uses a different method to produce the curve, and any points that lie within theTolerance specified will be skipped. Even if no points lie inside the Tolerance, a completely differentcurve will be generated by the system than if a 0.00 Tolerance was used. The curve generated by zeroTolerance will be smoother than a curve generated by a non-zero Tolerance.

Close Shape: This will create a closed, continuous shape.

Blending MethodsThe blending methods control how the curve will be approximated throughthe selected group of points. There are an infinite number of possible curvesthat can be drawn between a series of points. The way the curve is calculatedbetween the points is based on the blending method. There are four optionsfor the Blending Method. They are Chord Length, Uniform, Foley’s andCentripetal. One way to explain the differences between these blendingmethods is to imagine a point traveling along the curve being created. The difference betweenmethods is how much time the point spends traveling along the curve between the points that definethe curve. The Chord Length and Uniform methods are general curve calculation methods. The Foley’sand Centripetal methods are based on the Chord Length and Uniform methods and attempt to create acloser approximation of the desired curve. Each blending method is described below.

Chord Length: This method creates a curve between points proportional to thedistance between points. That is, the farther apart two points are, the “longertime” it spends traveling between them, which is why it creates wider curves.The closer two points are together, the more the curve flattens out, because “lesstime” is spent traveling between the points.

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Geometry Reference

CHAMFER & FILLET SUB-PALETTEThe Chamfer-Fillet sub-paletteprovides options for creating filletsand chamfers. This sub-palette is

only accessible when a point(s) is selected.The options available in this palette will onlywork on fully-connected points. Multiplefillets and chamfers can be created at onetime by using this option when multiplepoints are selected.

Fillet button: Creates a fillet for selected connector points.

Chamfer-Side: Creates a chamfer based on a side value for selected connector points. GeometryExpert uses this type of Chamfer.

Chamfer-Depth: Creates a chamfer based on a depth value for selected connector points.

Chamfer-Length: Creates a chamfer based on a length value for selected connector points.

CONNECT/DISCONNECTThe Connect/Disconnect button is used to connect, disconnect and terminate geometry. Itbecomes available when either a point is selected or two intersecting/tangent features areselected, (this feature can also be accessed by pressing the 8 key on the keyboard). To connectgeometry simply click this button.

Uniform: This method attempts to create curves of equal length between points ofequal distance from each other.

Foley's: This method takes into account the angle between adjacent points. Thelarger the angle, the “more time” is spent between the points, causing the curveto be less pointed than the Uniform method.

Centripetal: This method is based on the Chord Length method. It uses the calculatedsquare root of the Chord Length method to blend the curve between the selectedpoints. This makes for a slimmer curve.

1 - Fillet button2 - Chamfer-Side

3 - Chamfer-Depth4 - Chamfer-Length

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Geometry Reference

Clicking on the Connect/Disconnect button will:

• Connect or disconnect tangent or intersecting geometry. The system will attempt to use anexisting point at the intersection or tangency to connect features otherwise it will create a newpoint to connect the features. Refer to the Shapes and Connectors section in this chapter fordetails.

• Terminate or unterminate open shapes.

A point may have three states:

• Unconnected (the point is yellow and round).

• Being used as a connector between geometry features (the point is a blue square).

• Connected to geometry and being used as a terminator (the point is a yellow square).

Multiple ConnectionsWhen connecting geometry that has multiple solutions,as with connecting a line to a circle, the Point Selectiondialog will appear. The Point Selection dialog asks forthe correct connection point(s) to be selected. You mayselect one or more intersection points. If only oneintersection is available, the system will disable theother connection possibilities. Press the OK button afterselecting the intersection to create the connection. Pressthe Esc key to cancel any connections.

Overlapping ConnectionsIf the Point Selection dialog comes up when creating a connection but no points are visible, the pointsmay be too close together to be displayed. You need to zoom in to reveal the points. This willgenerally happen with connections tangent to a circle. The following image illustrates two tangentpoints available in connecting two features. The line actually has two tangent points so close togetherthat the points overlap and become invisible.

Figure 2: An example of a possible connection that cannot be seen (left), and the points after zooming in (right).

(x2)

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Geometry Reference

Sometimes connecting points cannot be displayed, such as when they are in the samehorizontal & vertical position but at a different depth and the view is looking down the depthaxis. When the possible connections are overlapping the system displays the cross hair shownto the left. Simply change the view orientation until the points become visible.

GEOMETRY FROM SOLIDS SUB-PALETTEThe Geometry from Solids sub-palette contains a options forextracting edges and holes from solidmodels.

Geometry Extraction: The geometry extractionfunction creates geometry from both edgesand faces of solids and sheets. Your selection can include both edges and faces, i.e. a combination ofboth edges and faces are selected on a body. In order to view edges of a solid or sheet, the system mustbe in Edge Selection mode. Connected shapes will be created if the selected edges create a closed loop.Clicking on the Do It button in the Geometry Extraction dialog will create geometry from any selectededges or faces (in Face Selection mode).

Typically, this function will extract the selected edges as splines or curves. However, if the resultingspline edge can be converted to lines or circles within the specified tolerance, the extracted geometrywill consist of lines and circles. The Geometry Extraction dialog allows users to enter a tolerance valuewhich will be used to determine whether or not the selected edges will approximate lines and circleswithin the given tolerance. A large tolerance value will convert more of the edge splines to lines andcircles, while a tight tolerance will keep the entities as they are defined in the part model. A toleranceof zero is recommended when extracting geometry that is definitely a circle or a line.

Hole Extraction: This function is used to create circles from holes in solids or sheets. This is very usefulwhen a model contains drill holes. In order to create a drilling operation, points or circles must be

Figure 3: After rotating the geometry, the hidden connection points are revealed.

1 - Geometry Extraction2 - Hole Extraction

3 - Parting Line4 - Outline

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Geometry Reference

selected. This function allows the user to extract circles from the existing holes on a model in order tohave geometry to select for drilling operations.

When using this function, either a solid or sheet can be selected and the system will scan the faces ofthe selection and find all holes. A hole must have walls which are perpendicular to the current CS.Additionally, the edge loop of the hole must be either a circle or a spline — it cannot be a polyline (linesegments approximating a circle). When hole extraction is performed, the resulting geometry will allbe circles. Any hole edge loops which are splines but fall within the Circularity Tolerance specified willbe extracted as circles. Edge loops which are splines that do not approximate a circle within the giventolerance will not be extracted. The depth of the extracted geometry will be based on the bottom ofthe hole(s), making it easy for the user to determine the depth for the drilling operation.

Parting Line: This function creates a parting line curve from selected faces or bodies. The parting linecurve is generated where a face’s surface normals are parallel to the current coordinate system but noton an edge. Think of this as a unique point on a face where the normals transition to and acrossparallel to the CS. This parting line curve can be used to help create a parting line surface. Thisfunction will not work on many shapes, such as cubes. A cube has an infinite number of points wheresurface normals are parallel to the CS. There are other tools in the system that may be used to get theboundary of shapes such as a cube.

As previously stated, this function can be used to help you create a parting line surface - which is thesurface along which a mold pulls apart. Typically, a mold is pulled apart into two pieces, either twocavities or a cavity and a core. These two pieces must match and seal perfectly along the parting linesurface in order for the mold to produce the desired part. With simple molds, the parting line is oftena simple plane through the middle of the part. However, there are more complex situations where aplanar parting line will not work.

Before using this function your model should be fully prepared for making a mold model, includingadding any draft angles. To use this function, select all the faces that the parting line will be on orselect the entire solid. The parting line function uses the depth axis of the current coordinate system

Figure 4: A cube showing many parallel normals and a sphere showing normals (in red) that provide a unique solution.

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Geometry Reference

as the draw axis — the axis on which the mold will be pulled apart. The parting line curve is the curveon which the surface normal vector is parallel to the coordinate system (or normal to the draw axis) atevery point. The parting line function creates geometry which can then be used to create a partingline surface.

A good way to create a parting line surface from parting line geometry is to sweep a straight line alongthe parting line geometry, creating a sheet which will intersect the solid. The straight line is the drivecurve and should intersect and slightly overlap the parting line geometry which is the base curve.Once the parting line surface is created, the part model can be subtracted from a cube to create themold and then sliced with the parting line surface to create the two halves of the mold.

1 - Original model2 - Parting Line geometry is created3 - A sheet is swept about the

parting line geometry4 - The mold model is made using

the swept shape

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Geometry Reference

Outline: This function will create geometry that is an outline of theselected faces on single or multiple solids and/or sheets. Thegeometry is created at a depth of 0 in the current CS. This is usefulfor getting a profile of a shape where edges are not easily selectedor available, where you may want the profile of a shape for anextrusion or to get the profile of a selected area for solidmachining.

GEOMETRY EXPERT

The GeometryExpert buttonopens the

Geometry Expertdialog which looks andacts very much like aspreadsheet. GeometryExpert allows the user to create connected shapes by entering feature dimensions in the rows of thespreadsheet. This feature is fully detailed starting on page 36.

GEOMETRY EXPERT INTERFACEOVERVIEWCreating a shape using the Geometry Expert is analogous to contouring a shape, indicating such itemsas location, direction and the distance being traveled. As the shape is created, geometric contour logicprinciples are followed to allow automatically connect and assume logical geometric shapes to requirethe least amount of input from the user. The Geometry Expert, as its name implies, provides the userwith a built-in consultant on the rules and principles of geometry.

The Geometry Expert is a very powerful editing tool. Feature dimensions can be adjusted by simplychanging the values in the cells. Geometry Expert handles all of the calculations and adjustments tothe other features that are affected by the changes.

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Geometry Reference

HOW GEOMETRY EXPERT WORKSGeometry Expert is set up much like a standard spreadsheet. Feature specifications are entered intocells which are contained in rows. Each row of the spreadsheet defines a feature.

Row Border ColorThe current row is outlined in either yellow or black. Yellow indicates the row contains adequateinformation. Black indicates the row does not contain enough information to define geometry. Theprompt at the bottom will indicate the status of the row and define what is needed or what will becreated from the current data.

CREATING SHAPES USING GEOMETRY EXPERTWhen creating a part using Geometry Expert, the first thing that must be decided is the startingfeature and the direction to travel around the part—either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Featuresare defined in the order that they appear along the path of the shape. This process continues until thelast feature of the shape intersect the first feature of the shape or end points are defined. If the shape isa closed shape the last feature row will be the Close Shape feature type.

Creating FeaturesWhen a row contains enough information to define the feature press the Enter key. The next rowwill be highlighted and the feature type may change or the Angle/Rad will switch based on the last row.

Feature TypesThere are several feature types including lines, circles, fillets, chamfers, and post. Each feature isselected by changing the feature type button in the first cell of the row. For arcs, the selected featuretype indicates the direction—either clockwise or counter-clockwise. For lines, the angle value alsoindicates the direction. For example, a horizontal line can either be defined with an angle value of 0°or 180°; both will draw the same line, but in opposite directions.

Fillets, Chamfers and tangent arcs will be draw when the features surrounding them are completelydefined. These are called “floating features”. When the feature is created a reference number (Ref )such as L1 (line 1) or C4 (circle 4) is entered in the row. This is the actual geometry’s label (View >Labels).

1 - Feature Row 2 - Cell 3 - Scroll Bar

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Geometry Reference

In some cases, no information is required for the feature to be defined and the row will be yellow. Thisis because it is still possible to add information in subsequent rows that will fully define the feature.For example, a circle with a start point defined using a previous features end point and tangent to thefollowing feature.

GEOMETRY EXPERT TABLEThe Geometry Expert allows the user to create connected shapes by entering featuredimensions in the rows of the spreadsheet.

Feature Type: There are six options available for the feature type. Theyare: Line (1), Chamfer (2), Fillet (3), Clockwise Arc (4), Counter-clockwise Arc (5), and Close Shape (6). Each row must have a featuretype selected. To select the feature type, click the feature type button which will access the possibleselections. Drag the mouse to the desired feature so that the button appears depressed, and let go ofthe mouse button. That feature will now appear as the feature type for that row. In some cases,depending on the previous feature, some of the feature type options may be disabled to indicate thatthey are not valid selections. Also, depending on the feature type selected, some cells may be disabled,indicating that the selected feature type does not require that dimension. The feature type can also beselected using Alt+ the corresponding number.

Ref: This is the features reference number. The letter indicates what type of feature it is (L for line, Cfor circle) and the number indicates the creation order. Also displayed with View > Labels. Thesereference numbers may change during the course of geometry creation but will not affect the shape.

EP (H): The horizontal endpoint of the feature. When a feature is defined with an endpoint, the systemwill draw the feature and trim it at the specified endpoint. Endpoint specifications are required if thenext feature needs a start point in order to be correctly defined.

EP (V): The vertical endpoint of the feature.

1 - Current Row / Cell2 - Feature Type3 - Prompt4 - Reference #5 - Horizontal Endpoint

6 - Vertical Endpoint 7 - Line Angle/Arc Radius8 - Chamfer Side or Line Length9 - Horizontal Line point or Center Point10 - Vertical Line point or center point

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Geometry Reference

EXAMPLE: The row shownwill create a 140° line withan endpoint drawn at Xr1.651. The next feature thatis defined in the spreadsheetwill start at the endpoint ofthis feature.

Angle/Rad: The number entered in this cell is dependent on the feature type selected. If the feature typeis a line, this number specifies the angle of the line. The angle value for a line defaults to either 90°/270° or 0°/180°, allowing for the creation of vertical or horizontal lines. The system toggles betweenthese angle values, which makes the creation of intersecting horizontal and vertical lines a very quickand easy process. The user can change the default values by simply entering the new numbers in thecells. If the feature type is a arc or fillet, this number specifies the radius.

EXAMPLE: This row willcreate a fillet between theprevious and next featurewith a radius of 0.28.

Length: The line length orchamfer side height.

LP/CP (H): The horizontal line point or center point. A line point is any point tangent to the line.

LP/CP (V): The vertical line point or center point.

EXAMPLE: This row willcreate a 90° line at X4.When defining eitherhorizontal (0°/180°) orvertical (90°/270°) lines,only one LP coordinate is required. Refer to the section on Half Points in this chapter for moreinformation.

EXAMPLE: This row willcreate a circle with a radiusof 2 and a center point atX2, Y3.

Prompt: The information contained in the prompt indicates the status of the current row. The promptalso indicates if the system has automatically deleted a cell value because the feature row containedtoo much information that overdefined the feature. This aspect of Geometry Expert is referred to asthe Auto Delete function, which is explained in the Expert Aids section of this chapter.

39

Geometry Reference

Close : When Geometry Expert is closed, all information is cleared.

Expert AidsThere are several items built into Geometry Expert that are designed to guide the user throughgeometry creation. They include Prompting, Auto Delete, and Error Balloons.

PromptingThe Prompting information appears across the bottom of Geometry Expert. The prompt tells theuser what actions are being taken by the system based on the information provided by the user. Theuser should be able to follow the prompts through the creation process to get a good idea of what ishappening.

Auto DeleteThe Auto Delete function of Geometry Expert is intended to reduce errors resulting from featuresbeing overdefined because too much information has been entered into the feature row. GeometryExpert is designed so that the user needs only to enter the minimum amount of information to definea feature. The system will automatically delete the first entry made in the feature row when thefeature is overdefined. Auto Delete is necessary in order to facilitate the associative capabilities ofGeometry Expert. Note that the default values, such as the line angle, are considered the first entryrather than any information entered by the user. The prompt will indicate what information is beingdeleted.

Error BalloonsGeometry Expert also contains Error Balloons which appear on the screen whenever a problemoccurs. The most common error messages appear when the system requires more information for afeature being entered. For example, if a line needs another value for an endpoint, an Error Balloon willcome up indicating that a V or H value is needed to calculate the endpoint. The Error Balloons use theletters V and H (Vertical and Horizontal) rather than X and Y (for Mill) or Xd/Xr and Z (for Lathe.)This way the error messages remain the same regardless of what module is being used.

Another common error message indicates that the feature being defined cannot intersect with theprevious feature. The non-intersecting feature can still be created, but the message indicates to theuser that the continuity of the shape has been broken and subsequent features created will notconnect to the existing shape.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATIONDefaultsGeometry Expert has defaults for the feature type and line angle. The standard feature type default isa line. When Geometry Expert defaults to a line, it also enters an angle value, either 90°/270° or 0°/180°, depending on the angle of the last line entered. Sometimes a line is not a possible feature typeoption, in which case the system defaults to an arc. This only occurs when the previous feature is afloating line. Geometry Expert dimensions the line according the preceding and subsequent feature

40

Geometry Reference

specifications. Floating features are not drawn on the screen until the system contains the necessaryinformation.

Point SelectionDespite all of its expertise, Geometry Expert can’t always know the correct intersection point to usefor a connector. When there are two or more equally valid points of intersection, the system will drawboth points and the point selection dialog will ask to select the appropriate point. Once the user hasselected the desired intersection point, Geometry Expert will make the appropriate connection andcontinue along in the spreadsheet.

Half PointsIn some cases, only one coordinate (either the horizontal or the vertical) is required to define thefeature. This is referred to as a half point case. Half points are valid when Geometry Expert is able tocalculate the other half of the coordinate value from information contained in the spreadsheet.

When a valid half point is entered, the row will be highlighted in yellow, allowing the user to enter thefeature row. If the half point entered is not valid, the row will be highlighted in black and the promptwill indicate what additional information is necessary to enter the row. If an incomplete row isentered, an Error Balloon will come up indicating what additional information is required. There arethree cases where half points are valid. They are listed and explained below.

Half Line Point: A half line point is valid only when creating either a horizontal line (angle value = 0°or 180°) or vertical line (angle value = 90° or 270°). If creating a horizontal line, a Y coordinatemust be given for a valid half line point. If creating a vertical line, an H coordinate must be givenfor a valid half line point. Line points are not part of the shape, but are only used to calculate theposition of the line.

Half End Point: A half end point is only valid if the line is otherwise completely defined. Given eitherthe vertical or horizontal coordinate of the end point along with the other information thatdefines the line, the system can calculate the other half of the end point. If a half end point is usedin the case of 0°/180° or 90°/270° lines, the half end point will function like a half line point, inthat an end point will not be drawn, although the correct line will be created.

Half Center Point: A half center point is valid when a circle has a radius value and is tangent to thepreceding feature. (There must be a preceding feature.) Given the radius and the vertical orhorizontal component of the center point, the system can calculate the other half of the centerpoint by the assumed tangencies.

Floating FeaturesFloating features are features whose defining row does not contain all of the information necessary todraw the feature. Floating feature rows are different from incomplete feature rows. With floatingfeature rows, the information contained in the current feature row and the preceding rows isinadequate to completely define the feature and draw it. However, subsequent features should provide

41

Geometry Reference

the necessary information to define the floating feature. Floating feature rows are outlined in yellow,indicating that the row has enough information to proceed.

Incomplete feature rows do not contain enough information to create the feature, and no amount ofinformation entered in the following rows will make the feature definable. Incomplete feature rowsare outlined in black and indicate that more information is needed for a valid feature.

Inserting and Deleting RowsChoose Edit> Insert row to insert a row into the Geometry Expert. New rows are created above theselected row. When an inserted row is entered, the system will recalculate the shape and attempt toincorporate the new feature into the existing shape, if possible.

Choose Edit > Delete Row to delete a row. Only rows with created geometry can be deleted. Deletingrows can also be done with the keystroke Alt+K.

Arcs vs. FilletsArcs with only a radius value and fillets appear to be very similar at first glance, but actually use twocompletely different methods for calculating the circles. A fillet takes a sharp point produced by anintersection between two other features and changes it into a radius. It is created after the intersectionbetween the two features is completed. Because of this, it is dependent on the intersection of the othertwo features to exist. This means that the system cannot use the fillet to calculate features that followit in the spreadsheet. Fillets are not used to calculate the features that surround it.

An arc with only a radius value is created tangent to two other features. These two features do nothave to intersect. The arc is treated as an actual feature and can be used when calculating otherfeatures of the shape.

This is particularly important when dealing with floating lines (lines with limited information) thathave specific tangency requirements. Geometry Expert assumes that floating lines are going to bemade tangent to the preceding feature. In most cases this is adequate, but sometimes a floating line issupposed to intersect the previous circle and be tangent to the next circle. This is called a “forward”tangency.

In the case of forward tangencies, if there is a radius between the previous circle and the floating line,then an arc (rather than a fillet) must be used to allow for the necessary tangency calculation. The linewill be made tangent to both the arc used as a fillet and the next arc. A fillet cannot be used in this casebecause the fillet will be ignored by the system until the intersection is completed, and the correctintersection cannot be created without the arc. If there is no fillet, an arc with a radius of zero willneed to be created. This will allow the system to create the line tangent to the following circle, whilecreating a sharp point at the intersection of the previous feature. For a practical example of forwardtangencies, refer to the Gear Housing tutorial.

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Geometry Reference

-R CREATIONGeometry Expert has –R (large arc) functionality thatprovides the ability to toggle between two possiblesolutions for an arc between two features. This iscompletely different from the Reverse Arc (Ctrl+T)feature, which changes the direction of the arc. -Rprovides access to opposite tangent points on the circle.Normally the smaller radius will be used when creatinggeometry, -R offers a way to override that default.These features may be created in Geometry Expert orvia free-form CAD. Figure 5 below illustrates thedifference between Reverse Arc and -R.

Via Geometry ExpertWhen using Geometry Expert the –R function may beapplied to an arc defined in one of two ways. First, the arc may be defined by being tangent to theprevious feature (a line or arc) and a specific endpoint. Second, the arc may be defined by a radius andan endpoint, and the feature previous to the arc must be defined by an endpoint. The previous featuremay be a line or an arc. To apply the –R functionality simply place a “–” (minus sign) before the arc’sradius. Figure 6 provides an example of this.

Via Free-Form CADGeometry created by standard CAD functions (free-form CAD) may be loaded into Geometry Expertand modified to a use the larger arc solution. For this to work, the free-form arc must be an arc that istangent to a previous feature (line or arc) and a given end point. To apply the –R functionality, simply

CW

CCW

Default Arc with –R

Reversed Arc with –R

Reversed Arc

Default Arc with R

43

Geometry Reference

place a “–” (minus sign) before the arc’s radius once the geometry has been loaded into GeometryExpert.

Figure 5: Examples of –R use in Geometry Expert

Example of an arc defined by a radius and endpoint with a previous feature defined by an end point.

Example of an arc defined by a radius and endpoint that is tangent to the previous feature.

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Geometry Reference

DIMENSIONINGDimensions Palette

The Dimensions palette isaccessed from the View >

Dimensions Palette or from the Mainpalette in the Level 2 interface. TheDimensioning tool gives the ability toplace text and show part dimensions.Dimension values are calculated fromthe current CS and visible based on thecurrent workgroup. Any part of thedimension line, (line, arrowheads ortext) may be dragged to reposition thedimension. Selection mode is activewhile the Dimensions palette is active.

Text: Enter a note on the part. Placethe cursor where you want the note toappear and enter the text.Align: Gives the distance between twoselected points.Horizontal: The horizontal distancebetween two selected points.Vertical: The vertical distance betweentwo selected points.Horizontal From Origin: The horizontaldistance of a point from the origin ofthe current CS.Vertical From Origin: The vertical distanceof a point from the origin of thecurrent CS.Point: The explicit coordinates of a point in the current CS.Angle: The interior angle of two lines. The exterior angle may be determined by selecting thedimension and choosing Modify > Reverse Arc (Ctrl-T). This button will also determine the anglebetween three points.Radius: The radius of a selected arc or circle.Diameter: The the diameter of a selected arc or circle.

1 - Text2 - Align3 - Horizontal4 - Vertical5 - Horizontal From Origin

6 - Vertical From Origin7 - Point8 - Angle9 - Radius10 - Diameter

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Geometry Reference

WORKGROUPSAll created geometry is placed in the active workgroup. Workgroups are separate layers used toseparate different groups of geometry, including custom stock. One or more workgroups may beviewed at a time, however there may only be one active workgroup. The viewing, selection andcreation of workgroups is accomplished with the Workgroup list. Workgroup information andselection can also be performed through the Workgroup dialog, accessed from the Main palette.

WORKGROUP LISTThe Workgroup list controls the workgroups. Click New WG to createadditional workgroups. The active workgroup is highlighted. To switchworkgroups, click the name of the desired workgroup. The eye iconshow and hide the workgroups. Click the column header to sort thelist. Right-click or a workgroup entry in the list to open a contextmenu which accesses basic Workgroup functions and some Modifymenu items. The right mouse menu is described in the “WorkgroupRight Mouse Menu” section.

Background WorkgroupsTo see inactive geometry contained in other workgroups double-click the eye to make it visible.To select multiple workgroups to be viewed as background workgroups, use the Shift key to selecta contiguous group of workgroups and the Ctrl key to add or remove a single workgroup from theselection. Double-click to change the status of an eye from visible to invisible.

Workgroup Right Mouse MenuThis list contains functions commonly applied toworkgroups.

WG Info: The WG info dialog specifies the behavior ofgeometry in the selected workgroup. Geometry may helpdefine a part or it may be used as a stock shape. When used asa stock shape for rendering and can adjust machiningoperations to take this stock into account. Mill parts may berevolved or extruded.

Part Stock: If Part Stock is selected, the geometry drawn inthe workgroup will be used for any calculations that needto look at the stock dimensions, such as Auto Clearanceand Material Only. Additionally, the custom part stockwill be used when the part is rendered. Extruded

46

Geometry Reference

geometry in the Lathe will only extrude along the depth. Part Stock definitions are fully coveredin the Mill and Lathe manuals.

New WG: This option creates a new, empty workgroup in the next available number slot. That is, if youhave WGs numbered 1, 3 and 4, creating a new WG will make WG #2.

Delete: This option deletes the current workgroup. Any geometry contained within the workgroupwill also be deleted. You may also press the key to delete WGs.

Duplicate Visible WGs: This option will duplicate all the geometry within currently visible workgroups.New workgroups are not made, only geometry within each workgroup is created. This is functionallythe same as pressing to duplicate geometry but the function is applied on a larger scale.

Duplicate And… This option will duplicate geometry and apply atransformation to the geometry in the current workgroup. This option isfunctionally identical to the Duplicate And… command found in the Modifymenu except it applies the modification to all geometry in the workgroup.Please see the Common Reference Guide for more information onDuplicate And….

Force Depth… This option will move all geometry in the current workgroupto a specified depth. Please see the Common Reference Guide for moreinformation on Force Depth.

Mirror… This option will reflect or flip all geometry in the currentworkgroup about a specified point. Please see the Common ReferenceGuide for more information on the Mirror function.

2d Rotate… This option will rotate all geometry in the current workgroupabout a specified point. Please see the Common Reference Guide for more information on 2D Rotate.

Scale… This option will magnify or shrink all geometry in the current workgroup by a specifiedamount. Please see the Common Reference Guide for more information on the Scale function.

Figure 6: Mill and Lathe Workgroup Info dialogs

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Geometry Reference

Translate… This option will move all geometry in the current workgroup by a specified amount. Pleasesee the Common Reference Guide for more information on the Translate command.

Segment Spline… This option will break all splines in the current workgroup into line segments. Pleasesee the Common Reference Guide for more information on the Segment Spline command.

Sort… This option allows you to sort all points in the current workgroup. Please see the CommonReference Guide for more information on the Sort command.

Reverse Arcs in Visible WGs: This option will toggle the direction of all arcs in the current workgroup, i.e.clockwise arcs become counter clockwise and vice versa. Please see the Common Reference Guide formore information on the Reverse Arcs function.

Change CS (XYZ) of Visible WGs: This option will change all geometry in the current workgroup fromwhichever coordinate system it is aligned to the current CS. The geometry stays in its currentlocation. Please see the Common Reference Guide for more information on Change CS (XYZ).

Change CS (HVD) of Visible WGs: This option will change all geometry in the current workgroup fromwhichever coordinate system it is aligned to the current CS. The geometry will move to be in thesame relative position within the CS. Please see the Common Reference Guide for more informationon Change CS (HVD).

LEVEL 1 INTERFACE AND WORKGROUPSAccessing workgroups is slightly different inthe Level 1 interface. Workgroups and theWorkgroup Info are accessed through theGeometry Creation palette. Clicking theWorkgroup List button opens the WorkgroupList, which functions identically as in Level 2,while clicking and holding the Workgroup listbutton accesses a menu which allows quickswitching of the active workgroup. A newworkgroup may also be created from this menu.

WORKGROUP SUMMARYA Workgroup Summary is available from the Window menu which provides information about thepoints, lines and circles contained in the current workgroup. When the Workgroup Summary is visible,the File > Print > Workgroup Summary command becomes active as well as the File > Save Special > Work

1 - Workgroup Info2 - Workgroup List

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Geometry Reference

Group Summary information to either save the summary as a text file or print it. More information onthe Workgroup Summary can be found in the Common Reference Guide.

COORDINATE SYSTEMSGeometry may be created in, or moved to, different coordinate systems. The Advanced Millingmanual is the best place to get more information about this type of geometry. Geometry can bedefined using these other planes with the Advanced Milling module. The image is an example of threedifferent coordinate systems. The circle in each coordinate system is at the same horizontal, verticaland depth position relative to each coordinate system.

Geometry is not contained in a coordinate system the way it is with workgroups. The coordinatesystem used to define geometry can be thought of as an attribute of the geometry and its orientationto the rest of the part. Coordinate systems are used for 3D geometry creation, rotary part orientationfor machining, multiple work fixture offsets and as a basis for solid modeling. Coordinate systems areonly available in the Level 2 interface.

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Geometry Reference

3D GEOMETRYCreating non-planer geometry is the same as planar except you would use connectors that lie indifferent coordinate systems.

PRINTING THE PART GEOMETRYAfter the part geometry has beencreated, it can be printed.Geometry can either be printedin black and white or in color.When the desired geometry is onthe screen, choose Drawing(Ctrl+P) from the Print sub-menu under the File menu. Toadjust the way the image will print, choose Printing from the Preferences sub-menu in the File menu.The Printing Preferences dialog shown allows the user to specify how the software will handle thebackground color. If the printer being used is black and white, choose the Black on White option toensure that all portions of geometry, including those that are of a light color, can be seen in theprintout.

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FREE-FORM EXERCISES

Free-Form Exercises

CHAPTER 3 : F r e e - Fo rm Ex e r c i s e s

CreatingShapes

The exercises contained in this chapter are designed to introduce the basic concepts of geometrycreation using the Free-Form CAD tools contained in the Geometry Creation palette. Dimensionsfor these exercises can be found in the “Part Prints” section on page 179. These tutorials are createdusing the Level 1 interface for simplicity (File > Preferences > Interface...).

The first few exercises give very detailed step-by-step instructions for creating part geometry, whilethe later exercises become less detailed. Exercises 1, 2, and 5 are done using the Mill module, whileExercises 3 and 4 are done using the Lathe module. Because these exercises deal with onlygeometry creation (and not machining), they can be created using either module. The onlydifferences will be in the setup of the document. It is recommended that the user read through theGetting Started manual before attempting these tutorials.

EXERCISE #1: SHAPES AND CONNECTORS

This first exercise creates a very simple shape to demonstrate how the Free-Form CAD tools createand connect geometry. This exercise does not have a part print at the end of this manual.

CREATING SHAPESPart Set-up

Click the Documents button in the Main palette.

This dialog contains file managementoptions as well as general informationabout the part, such as the type ofmachine being used, stockmeasurements and materialinformation.

Click the New button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

CreatingShapes–

PartSet-up

Type Shapes in the File name text box.

Save the tutorial parts in aconvenient location. The partscreated in this manual will beused in the other manuals.

Click the Save button.

The first thing we need to do isset up the part file. This includesthe type of machine and the sizeof the stock.

Open the Machine list.

Select the 3 Axis Vertical Mill.

Select inch for the measurement type.

Input the value shown.

Type “This is the first tutorial part” in the Comment text box.

If a comment is entered in this text box, it willappear in the Open dialog when a part is selected.This comment will also appear in the G-code. Apart comment is not necessary but is oftenhelpful in identifying parts.

TIP

The options available in the Machine list are dependent on the modules installed. The selection made for the Machine Type sets the MDD (Machine Definition Document) for the current part. Selecting the correct MDD is important because it affects how the part will be drawn and machined.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

AxisLines

The Materialinformation isfully covered inthe GettingStarted manual.Clearance Planevalues and ToolChange Position areexplained in theMachiningchapter and tutorials of the Mill and Lathe manuals. Because machining processes will not becreated in this exercise, the stock and clearance values input into this dialog are merely toprovide a stock outline to contain the shape we will create.

Close the Documents dialog. You can press + if you wish to use the keyboard shortcut.

A stock outline is drawn with a cross-hair or“+” that signifies the origin of the part. Theorigin is located at X0, Y0.

Choose View > Unzoom ( + ) to fit the

workspace in the window.

You may also accomplish this with the Viewpalette.

GEOMETRY BASICSAxis Lines

Open the Geometry palette. or

Open the Line sub-palette.

Please note that all buttons in thepalettes may be selected by pressingthe number on your keyboard thatcorresponds to the button’s position in the palette. For example, the Line sub-palette can beaccessed by pressing as the Line sub-palette is the second button.

55

Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

TangentCircletoLines

Select Axis line.

Select the vertical line mode.

Click the Multiple Lines button.

The Multiple lines button tells the systemthat you wish to create more of this type ofline.

Switch to the horizontal line mode.

This will change the X value to a Y.Since the value for the horizontal lineis the same, nothing needs to change.

Click the Single Line button.

If you accidently press Enter or the Multiplefeature when you are done, you can press theEsc key or Return button.

Tangent Circle to Lines

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select the two lines.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

ExplicitPoint

A modifier key such as Shift or Ctrl is not required when sub-palettes are open. Theselection mode is designated with the white arrow pointer.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

All possible circle tangencies will bedrawn, allowing the user to selectwhichever circles necessary to create the required part geometry. If more than one feature isselected, no automatic connection will occur.

The four possible circle tangencies to thelines are drawn.

Select the upper right circle shown.

Once a feature is selected, the OK buttonbecomes active.

Click the OK button.

When any button is active and selected youmay alternately use the key or thespace bar rather than using the mouse.

The circle trims to an arc creating 2 bluesquare points called connectors.

Connector points are used to designate atools movement around the shape. Thesystem will create trim, or connector points(blue squares) rather than plain points(yellow round points) whenever possible.Each type is interchangeable as we willdemonstrate later on in this tutorial.

Explicit Point

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Explicit point.

An Explicit point requires you to define the point’s location.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

AngledLineThroughaPoint

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

Alternately you may press the spacebar or when the button is

highlighted. Pressing + or

+space will change the mode tomultiple and create the feature.

Angled Line Through a Point

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Select the point we just created.

Input the values shown.

Click the Multiple Lines button.

Alternatively you may press + .

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

ConnectingLines-1

Change the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

In this case a connector point is notcreated. We will need to manuallyconnect the intersection of the angledlines.

Connecting Lines - 1Ctrl+click the angled lines.

The Ctrl key activates the selectionmode (white arrow).

Click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The plain point is converted to a connector. Neither of the lines that intersect at that point trimbecause each has only one connector point.

Connecting Lines - 2

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select the two lines shown.

We are again in selection mode.

Selecting two lines while the Point sub-palette is open will open the line-lineintersection point dialog that willcreate a point and connect the lines.

Click the Multiple Points button.

! A line must have a start and end point to trim, or change to blue.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

CirclewithRadius&

CenterPoint

The lines become blue and trim becausethey now have two connector points.

Select the last two unconnected lines.

Click the Single Point button.

The shape is now closed.

Circle with Radius & Center Point

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point.

Select the point shown.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

The circle is yellow and untrimmedindicating there are no connections thelines that it intersects already have twoconnector points each.

We want this circle to be the corner of ourshape. Therefore, the point at theintersection of the lines (the center point ofthe circle) must be disconnected.

TIP

A quick way to enter data into a text box is by using the interrogation cursor. If there is a reference value, Alt-click the reference geometry to load the data into the selected text box. Additionally, all the usable data for the dialog may be loaded with a Shift+Alt-click. This is helpful when you only want the X value from a reference but not the Y etc.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

BreakingConnections-1

Breaking Connections - 1Select the center-point of the circle we just created.

Click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The point changes from a blue square toyellow round point. The lines also becomeyellow and are no longer trimmed.

Choose Edit > Undo. +

This will reconnect the lines. We won’t needthe center point.

Breaking Connections - 2Delete the center point of the circle.

The same disconnection happens but there is no longer a center point. We could easily recoverthis point using the Line-Line intersection point.

Connecting a Circle and Line - 1

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select the line and circle shown.

Click the Single Point button.

When a circle is intersected and not tangent to a line, the 2 intersectingpoints will highlight for you to select the features necessary for the part.One or both of the points may be selected for incorporation into the partgeometry.

Select the left point as shown.

Click the OK button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #1: Shapes and Connectors

Geom

etry

Basics–

ConnectingaCircleandLine-2

The point becomes a connector, and the topline trims

Connecting a Circle and Line - 2Select the unconnected circle and line and click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The two points of intersection are displayed.

Select the bottom point.

Click the OK button.

Reversing ArcsBy default, all circles trim to an arc of lessthan 180° when they have two connectorpoints. In this case, we want the arc that isgreater than 180°.

Select the arc.

Choose Modify > Reverse Arc (or + ).

Terminating PointsThere is a third type of point called a terminator. Aterminator is graphically shown as a yellow square. Aterminator is similar to a connector point in that itconnects a feature to itself. Terminators are useful infinishing an open shape.

Delete the arc.

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Basics–

Term

inatingPoints

The two lines untrim.

Select the point shown and Ctrl-click the line that intersects it.

In order to create terminators, a point and thefeature that goes through that point must beselected.

Click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The point becomes a yellow square, indicating aterminator point. The line turns blue and trimsto signify that it is fully connected.

Select the other point and untrimmed line.

Click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The geometry is now a fully-trimmed openshape.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

SettingupthePart–

Term

inatingPoints

EXERCISE #2: MILL TUTORIAL

This exercise creates the geometry for the part we will machine in the Mill manual. Refer to PartPrint 1: “Mill Tutorial” at the end of this manual.

SETTING UP THE PARTOpen the Documents dialog (F1).

Click the New button.

Type “Mill Tutorial” in the File name text box.

Save this file where it can be easily accessed inthe future. We will machine this part in theMill manual.

Click the Save button.

Ensure the Machine list has a 3 Axis Vertical Mill.

Select the inch measurement type.

Input the values for the stock size shown.

The information contained in the dialog may bechanged at any time.

Close the Documents dialog.( + )

The preferred process to create the geometry for aparticular part is to choose a starting location and work in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction around the part. By using this method, features will become connected atthe first opportunity which simplifies geometry creation.

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–M

ultipleExplicitPoints

CREATING THE GEOMETRYMultiple Explicit Points

Open the Geometry palette.

We will now create five Explicit points.

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Explicit point.

Input the coordinate values shown.

Click the Multiple Points button.

Change the values and press Enter.

Change the values and press Enter.

Change the values and press Enter

Change the coordinate values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

If you accidently press Enter or theMultiple feature when you are done,you can press the Esc key or Return button.

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–Radius&

CenterPointCircles

You should now have the five points shown.

Radius & Center Point CirclesWe will now create circles around each of thepoints.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point.

Select the point at the origin.

Input the value shown.

The CP text box displays a labelidentifying the point selected as thecenter point of the circle. The systemassigns a label to all geometry created.Geometry is defined by a letter (P for point, C for circle, and L for line) and a number indicatingthe order of creation. These labels are displayed with View > Labels or Ctrl+L. Many geometrydialogs display the label(s) for selected geometry.

Labels

Choose View > Labels( + ).

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–Labels

All the points created are labeled. Labels can be turned on at any time without affectinggeometry creation, and are especially helpful if there are any connection problems.

Choose View > Labels again, to turn them off.

Click the Multiple Circles button.

This button functions in the same way as theMultiple Points button. It allows for thecreation of more than one circle using thesame method (in this case, selecting anexisting point to act as the center point, andthen entering a radius value).

Select the point shown.

Input the radius value shown.

Press the space bar.

This is the same as pressing Enter orthe Multiple Circles button.

Select the point shown and press Enter.

The radius is the same for the next threecircles, so there is no need to change thevalue.

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etry

–LineTangenttoTwoCircles-1

Select the point shown and press Enter.

Select the point shown and click the Single Circle

button.

We could have easily have defined the circleswith descriptor center points, however wewill be using some of the center points.

Line Tangent to Two Circles - 1

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the two circles shown.

Click the Single Line button.

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etry

–Arc-TangenttoTwoCircles-1

All four lines that are tangent to the twocircles will appear.

Select the line shown and press the space bar.

The line is added in blue and connectedbetween the two yellow circles.

Arc - Tangent to Two Circles - 1

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select the two circles shown.

Input the radius value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

The eight circle tangencies between the twocircles are displayed.

When the arc desired is larger than both theselected arcs there are eight possibilities. Thiscan look confusing so we will zoom into thearea we want.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

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–Arc-TangenttoTwoCircles-1

Drag a marquee around the tangencies to zoom in.

Select the circle shown.

Click the OK button.

Click the View Control button.

The View palette is also referred to as theTrackball because of the trackballcenterpiece. The surrounding buttonschange the view to standard views and otherView menu options. It also contains anUnzoom button, which will redraw the screen to its original scale.

Click the Unzoom button. ( + )

Click the View Control button again.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point circle.

Select the point shown.

Input the radius and press Enter.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

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etry

–TangentLinefrom

Point-Circle

Tangent Line from Point - CircleThere are two possible lines when choosing thetangent line from a circle to a point.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the point and circle shown and press Enter.

Select the left line and click the OK button.

Parallel Line

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Parallel line.

Select the line we just created.

Input the value shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

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etry

–ConnectingaCircleandLine

Click the Single Line button.

Select the left line and press OK.

Connecting a Circle and Line

Connect the circle and line shown.

Select the bottom intersection point.

Click the OK button.

The circle will trim to an arc and become bluebecause it now has two connector points.

Connect the circle and line shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

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etry

–DuplicatingGeom

etry

Duplicating GeometrySelect the arc shown.

Choose Modify > Duplicate ( + ).

Duplicate will create a duplicate of theselected geometry.

Click somewhere off of the part to deselect the geometry.

Geometry sub-palettes must not be open fordeselecting in this manner. If you have awhite arrow you are in selection mode.

Line Tangent to Two Circles - 2

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the two circles shown.

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etry

–Arc-TangenttoTwoCircles-2

Click the Single Line button.

Select the line shown and click the OK button.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Arc - Tangent to Two Circles - 2Click the two circles shown.

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

In this case because the tangent radius issmaller than the largest circle and larger thanthe distance + diameter of the smaller weonly have two circles to choose from.

Select the bottom circle as shown.

Click the OK button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

CreatingTheGeom

etry

–LineBetweenTwoPoints

Line Between Two Points

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the two points shown.

Click the Single Line button.

The vertical line is drawn.

Connect the circle and line shown.

Select the top intersection point.

Reversing Arc DirectionSelect the arc shown.

The smallest arc is the default.

Choose Modify > Reverse Arc.

We have chosen to use the larger arc.

Click somewhere off of the part to deselect the geometry.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

CreatingTheGeom

etry

–Arc-TangenttoaLineandCircle

Arc - Tangent to a Line and Circle

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select the line and circle shown.

Input the radius values shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Select the bottom right circle shown.

Click the OK button.

Selecting a ShapeDouble-click the line shown.

This will select all connected geometry tothe line.

Click the Trash button.

Boss Geometry

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Polar point.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

CreatingTheGeom

etry

–BossGeom

etry

Select the point at the origin as shown.

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

This creates a point one inch from theselected point at an angle of 15°.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point circle.

Select the point at the origin as shown.

Input the radius value shown.

Click the Multiple Circles button.

Select the point shown.

Input the radius value shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #2: Mill Tutorial

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–BossGeom

etry

Click the Single Circle button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the two circles shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Select the two outside lines shown.

Click the OK button.

Select the arc shown.

Choose Modify > Reverse Arc.

The geometry for this part is now complete. Make sure that yousave this on your computer where it can be conveniently accessed.We will machine this part in the Mill manual.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

Geom

etry

forLatheParts–

SettingUpthePart

EXERCISE #3: LATHE TUTORIAL

This exercise creates the geometry for the part we will machine in the tutorial of the Lathe module.If you don’t have the Lathe module. Refer to Part Print 2: “Lathe Tutorial” at the end of thismanual.

GEOMETRY FOR LATHE PARTSSetting Up the Part

Open the Documents dialog. or

Create a New file called Lathe Tutorial.

Select a Horizontal Lathe from the Machine list.

Select the inch measurement type.

Input the values shown.

The stock size will be used todraw the workspace outlineand origin marker. Theworkspace is drawn round.The Clearance options andTool Change positioning arenot important now and aredescribed in the Lathemanual.

Select the Diameter option for the X Dimension style.

Enter a Comment.

Close the Documents dialog.

In this example, we will begin on the face of the thread, and work counter-clockwise. Turningparts are symmetrical about the X axis. Therefore, we will only need to draw the top cutawayprofile of the part.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–Face

CREATING GEOMETRY

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Explicit point.

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

This will be our start and end point. Itis created for reference only.

Face

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the vertical line mode.

Input the value shown.

Click the Multiple Lines button.

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–OD

ODSwitch to the horizontal line mode.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

The horizontal line is drawn.

Select the two lines shown.

Choose View > Labels.

All geometry will now be defined by a letterindicating the type of geometry (P for point,C for circle, L for line) and a numberindicating the order of creation.

Shift+Drag a marquee to select the two lines and click the Connect-Disconnect button.

The point (P2) is created as aconnector point.

Turn off Labels.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

This area allows you to create adescriptor point which the angled lineintersects.

Click the Single Line button.

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–OD

Using the Connect-Disconnectbutton, we will connect the two linesat the point where they intersect.

Connect the two lines shown.

The line will trim because it has twoconnector points.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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–OD

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the two lines shown.

TIP

Angle values follow the standard Cartesian coordinate system, as shown. Negative values are acceptable as input.

0˚180˚(-180˚)

(-270˚)90˚

270˚(-90˚)

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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–OD

Connect the next two lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode.

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the two lines shown.

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–OD

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the two lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–OD

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select the lines shown.

Remember the Ctrl key is notneeded because a sub-palette isopen.

Input the radius value shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–OD

Click the Multiple Circles button.

The four circle tangenciesbetween the two lines selectedwill be displayed.

Select the upper left circle shown.

Click the OK button.

Select the lines shown.

The radius should still be definedas 0.2; therefore, no editing isnecessary.

Click the Single Circle button.

Select the upper right circle as shown.

Click the OK button.

Select the line shown and choose Modify > Duplicate.

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–OD

Connect the lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Multiple Lines button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–OD

Change the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select horizontal line mode

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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–OD

Connect the lines shown.

Select the lines shown.

Connect the lines shown.

Select the line shown and choose

Modify > Duplicate ( + ).

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–Backface

Connect the lines shown.

Backface

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the vertical line mode.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–ID

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

ID

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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–ID

Connect the lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

Select the line shown and choose Modify

> Duplicate ( + ).

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Explicit point.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–ID

Input the values shown (Z = -1.1, Xd = 1.4).

Click the Single Point button.

Select the point and line shown.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Select the right circle as shown.

Click the OK button.

The circle selected will be drawnand a connector point will becreated between the circle andthe line. When tangent featuresare created they will createconnector points when possible.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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–ExplicitConnect

Explicit Connect

Connect the circle, point and line shown.

When using a point and two features to make connections themultiple features dialog is bypassed because the point is specifying theconnection position. This is usually the case when connecting non-tangent circles with other features.

Closing the Shape

Connect the lines shown.

Notice the point has now beenreplaced by a connector eventhough we didn’t select it.

Adding FilletsNow we will create the fillets andchamfer specified on the print.

Ctrl-click the 4 points shown.

Open the Fillet-Chamfer sub-palette.

Select the Fillet mode.

Input the value shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #3: Lathe Tutorial

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etry

–AddingaCham

fer

Click the Single Circle button.

Ctrl-click the 2 points shown.

Open the Fillet-Chamfer sub-palette.

The Fillet mode should still beactive.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Adding a ChamferSelect the point shown.

Click the Fillet-Chamfer button.

Click the Chamfer-Side button.

Input the side value shown (Side = 0.2).

Click the Single Line button.

The geometry for this part is nowcomplete.

Save this part

We will machine this part in theLathe manual.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #4: Shuttle

CreatingGeom

etry

–OD

EXERCISE #4: SHUTTLE

Refer to Part Print 3: “Shuttle” at the end of this manual.

ODCreate this horizontal lathe part shown.

Select the Radius and Inch options.

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point circle.

Click the CP button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #4: Shuttle

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–OD

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Connect the circle and line shown.

The two possible points of intersection between the selected line and circlewill be drawn, and the dialog shown will come up on the screen asking theuser to select the desired features.

Select the right point as shown and click the OK button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the vertical line mode.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

Open the Point sub-palette.

Select Explicit point.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #4: Shuttle

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–OD

Input the coordinate values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

Zoom in on the area shown.

Because some of the points are very close together, we will zoomin on the area to make the necessary geometry selections mucheasier.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

Select Radius & Center Point circle.

Click the CP button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select the circle and point shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Select the bottom line shown.

Click the OK button or press .

The point created between the line and the circle isa connector point. However, the point that wasused to create the line remains a plain yellow point.We will need to manually connect that point.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #4: Shuttle

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–OD

Connect the lines shown.

Open the View palette and click the No Zoom button.

This will fit the workspace stock in the window.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Angle & Tangent Circle line.

Select the circle shown.

Input the angle value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Select the line shown and press .

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode and

enter the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Open the Point sub-palette.

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–OD

Select the two lines as shown.

Click the Single Point button.

The point created is a connector pointand the angled line is trimmed.

Select the horizontal line and click the Trash button.

The point will change to a plain point and the angled linewill change to yellow and become untrimmed.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Point Angle line.

Click the P button and input the values shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Zoom in to the area in the upper left corner as shown.

Open the Circle sub-palette.

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–OD

Select the point and line shown.

Input the radius value shown.

Click the Single Circle button.

Select the upper left circle as shown.

Click the OK button or press the key.

One of the points created is a connector point. We will need to manuallyconnect the other plain point.

Connect the point, line and circle shown.

The point will become a connector point and the line and circle shouldtrim and become blue.

Choose View > Unzoom.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the vertical line mode and enter the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

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–OD

Connect the lines shown.

Open the Line sub-palette.

Select Axis line.

Select the horizontal line mode and enter the value

shown.

Click the Single Line button.

Connect the lines shown.

Connect the line and circle shown.

Select the right point shown and press .

103

Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

HorizontalText–

LeftJustified

The geometry for the part is now completeand fully connected. If you have not alreadydone so, you should create this part usingGeometry Expert as outlined in “Exercise#3: Shuttle” on page 141 of the GeometryExpert Exercises Chapter starting on page119 to note the differences in geometrycreation using these two methods.

EXERCISE #5: TEXT CREATION

In this example we will create text geometry.We will use the same text to show the differentmethods of alignment, spacing and text flow.

HORIZONTAL TEXTLeft Justified

Create a new mill part with the following stock specifications:+X = 5, -X = -5, +Y = 4, -Y = -4, Z = 0, -Z = -1. Leave all other items at their default settings.

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Shape sub-palette.

Open the Text Creation dialog.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

HorizontalText–

Centered

Input the values shown into the Text Creation dialog.

The font list contains all theavailable TrueType fonts.Moorpark is an installedTrueType font specificallydesigned for centerlineengraving. If you have manyfonts in the list, type the firstletter of the name of the fontto navigate to it faster.

Click the Do It button.

The lines have been added tothe at X-0.75 and Y-2.0 to show howthe text aligns.

Choose View > Draw Points.

This will make the text easier toread. The lines on the screen aredrawn at X = -0.75 and Y = -2 toillustrate the text alignmentaccording to the align point and theposition selected on the AlignmentDiagram. The text starts in theupper left corner of the rectangulartext area.

CenteredCreate a new Workgroup 2.

Switch to Workgroup 2.

Open the Text Creation dialog.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

HorizontalText–

Centered

Enter this information in the Spacing tab.

The values entered forspacing are added to thedefault spacing.

Enter this information in the Text tab.

Click the Do It button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

HorizontalText–

Centered

Again, lines are added at X = -0.75and Y = -2 to visualize the textalignment.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

VerticalText–

Centered

VERTICAL TEXTCreate a new Workgroup 3.

In WG:3 open the Text Creation dialog.

Enter this information in the Text Flow tab.

Enter this information in the Spacing tab.

Enter this information in the Spacing tab.

The text is aligned in the upper rightcorner of the text area as specified bythe alignment diagram.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #5: Text Creation

TextOnAnArc–

Centered

TEXT ON AN ARC Switch to WG4.

Enter this information in the Text Flow tab.

Enter this information in the Spacing tab.

Enter this information in the Text tab.

Note that the alignmentdiagram is different. TheRadius specifies the size ofthe arc and the Angleindicates the position on thearc that the text will begin.Also, a center point for thearc must be entered (ratherthan an alignment point).

Create the text.

The arc and line are drawn to illustratethe radial text area specified with theAngle, Radius and Center Pt. valuesentered. The text is positioned along theoutside of the arc and is positionedalong the center of the line as specifiedby the angle.

109

Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #6: Gear Creation

CreatingaGear–

Centered

EXERCISE #6: GEAR CREATION

CREATING A GEARIn this exercise we will create an involute spur gear. We will walk through the steps. The gear hasthe following known metric dimensions.

Outside Diameter: 11.666mmPitch diameter: 10mmInside Diameter: 7.916mmPressure Angle: 25˚Number of Teeth: 12

Typically, the Pitch Diameter and the Number of Teeth are known values. We will use these valuesto obtain the value for the Diametral Pitch.

Diametral Pitch = # Teeth ÷ Pitch Diameter

(Diametral Pitch: 12 ÷ 10 = 1.2)

Create a new part.

Open the Shape sub-palette.

Open the Gear dialog.

Set the Pressure Angle to 25˚.

Set the Orientation to External and the Gear Type to Gear.

Input the Diametral Pitch value.

Input the Full # Teeth amount.

The other Pitch setting are automatically calculated.

Input the Involute Curve settings as shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #6: Gear Creation

CreatingaGear–

Centered

Click the Calculate button.

The formulas for calculating the Addendum andDedendum:

Addendum = (Major Diameter – Pitch Diameter) ÷ 2

Dedendum = (Pitch Diameter – Minor Diameter) ÷ 2

Click Do It to generate the shape of a single tooth.

Do not deselect the tooth geometry.

From the Modify menu select Dup And...

The 2D rotate is automatically selectedand has calculated the number of times torepeat the geometry to create thecomplete gear. Additionally, when youcreate the duplicated geometry isautomatically connected for you.

Click the Do It button.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #7: Overlapping Features

OverlappingConnections–

Circles

EXERCISE #7: OVERLAPPING FEATURES

A good understanding of connections and connector points is necessary to become proficient.While connecting a shape is a simple process, this exercise details how to create a connected shapewhen individual features overlap one another.

OVERLAPPING CONNECTIONSCircles

The part is a simple shape. It consists of six circlesand no lines. There are three 0.5" radius circles andthree 2.0" radius circles. Each circle (or line) onlyexists between its two connection points. While thethree 2.0" circles have the same center point andradius, they are still three separate circles in thesystem.

Most importantly, each of the three 2.0" circlesmust be fully connected (have two connectorpoints) before the next 2.0" circle can be drawn (thefollowing pictures have the Labels function of thesystem turned on in order to make things moreclear).

Set up the part and workspace size.

Create P1 (point 1) at X0Y0. Use the Bolt Circle button to create the other three points on a two-inch radius.

Create three 0.5” circles around P2, P3, and P4.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #7: Overlapping Features

OverlappingConnections–

Circles

Create one 2.0” circle around P1.

C4 is one of the three 2.0” circles needed. Putting two morecircles on top of C4 makes it difficult to tell which one you areclicking on. The best approach for all shapes is to work aroundthe shape in a specific direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise), adding features and connections as you go. In thisexample, you can use C4 as any one of the three circlesegments (or arcs). The key idea is to fully connect C4 beforeadding another 2.0 circle to the workgroup. Starting with C1,we’ll proceed clockwise around the shape.

Let’s connect C4 between C1 and C2. Use the Point button orthe Connect/Disconnect button (or press the number 8) tofind the intersections between C4 and C1. Select the pointshown.

P5 is drawn at the selected intersection of C1 and C4. Nowconnect C4 to C2. Use the Point button again.

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OverlappingConnections–

Circles

Connect C4 to C2 by selecting the point shown.

P6 is drawn at the selected intersection of C2 and C4,completing the connection for this feature.

Add the next 2.0” circle around P1 or duplicate C4.

C5 now overlaps the arc C4. Selecting C5 where it overlaps C4will only select C4. The system will always select the lowest-numbered circle in the overlapping area. The selection orderof geometry that overlap are as follows: points, lines, thencircles. If you click C5 where it does not overlap C4, C5 will beselected and highlighted as a full circle.

Connect C5 to C2 using the point shown.

P7 is drawn at the selected intersection of C2 and C5. It isthe second connection for C2, therefore completing thisfeature. Use Reverse Arc (Ctrl+T) if necessary.

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OverlappingConnections–

Circles

Now connect C5 to C3 using the point shown.

P8 is drawn at the selected intersection of C3 and C5.

Create the last 2” circle around P1.

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OverlappingConnections–

Circles

Connect C6 to C3 using the point shown.

P9 is drawn at the selected intersection of C6 and C3.

Connect C6 to C1.

Connect C6 to C1 using the point shown.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #7: Overlapping Features

OverlappingConnections–

Circles

P10 is drawn at the selected intersection of C6 and C1,creating fully-connected geometry. The shape is nowcomplete. Choose View > Labels for a clearer view.

Remember that the directions and methods used in thesystem to create a shape have no effect on how the shape ismachined. The cut can begin anywhere, stop anywhere, andcut in any direction. The tool can cut outside, inside, or on theshape. This will be covered in more detail in the Lathe andMill manuals.

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Free-Form Exercises – Exercise #7: Overlapping Features

OverlappingConnections–

Circles

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GEOMETRY EXPERT EXERCISES

Geometry Expert Exercises

CHAPTER 4 : Ge ome t r y Exp e r t Ex e r c i s e s

CreatingShapes

The exercises contained in this chapter are designed to introduce you to the basic concepts ofgeometry creation using Geometry Expert. Part dimensions for each of these exercises can befound in the “Part Prints” section on page 179. Lathe examples can be completed with Mill, andvice-versa.

EXERCISE #1: SHAFT

HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL LINESIn the first exercise, we will create a simple shaft containing only horizontal and vertical lines.Because of the feature type defaults and automatic angle toggling, the creation of a simple shaft canbe done very quickly with Geometry Expert. Refer to “Shaft” on page 185 for this exercise.

Open the Documents dialog.

Create a Horizontal Lathe MDD part with the following dimensions.

Select inch and Diameter for the dimension style.

Define the workspace stock as shown.

The stock valuesentered areslightly larger thanthe partdimensions,making all of thegeometry visiblewithin the stockoutline.

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Geometry Expert.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

The first row (current row) is highlighted in black because the row needs more information inorder to define the feature.

Notice that when Geometry Expert opens, the feature type selected is a line, and the angle valueis 90°.

The feature we will start with is the vertical line at Z0.

Input the value shown.

When defining eitherhorizontal or verticallines, it is only necessaryto enter a half point (avalue for one axis) for theline point.

Once enough data to create a feature is entered the row is highlighted in yellow.

Press Enter.

This will createthe line and a newrow, highlightingthe most logicalcell to enter datafor the featuretype selected.

The second row isa line feature typeand the angle isswitchedautomatically to ahorizontal line.

TIP

When only one coordinate value is entered, it is referred to as a half point. In certain cases only a horizontal (H) or vertical (V) coordinate value is needed in order to define the feature. For more information on half points, refer to “Half Points” on page 41.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Since the purposeof GeometryExpert is to createa single shape,connections areassumed.Therefore, whenfeatures do nothave a point ofconnection anerror message willbe displayed.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Notice that theline angle hasagain switched toa vertical angle.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Once a feature hasbeen drawn onthe screen, areference numberis assigned andentered in the Refcolumn.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #1: Shaft

HorizontalandVerticalLines–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Close Shape feature type (Alt+6).

The Close featuretype connects thefirst and lastfeature at theirpoint ofintersection.

The shaft iscomplete andfully connected.

Save this part.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

EXERCISE #2: CHASSIS

CHAMFERS AND FILLETSIn this exercise, we will introduce adding different feature types such as fillets and chamfers. Referto Part Print #2: Chassis for this exercise.

Open the Documents dialog.

Create a 3 Axis Vertical Mill part with the following workspace stock dimensions.

Select inch for the measurement type.

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Geometry Expert.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Change the feature type to a Fillet (3rd button) as shown.

The feature type can beselected using keyboardshortcuts. For examplepressing Alt+3 is thesame as selecting Filletfeature type.

Input the value shown.

Only a radius value isrequired when creatingfillets. Notice theprompt. “This row willcreate a Fillet between

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

the preceding and following features.” Fillets and chamfers are entered between the two featuresthey connect with. Fillets and chamfers can only be created between two intersecting features attheir point of intersection.

Press the Enter key.

Since there isn’t enough information to define the complete Fillet nothing is drawn. When thenext feature is completely connected and trimmed the Fillet will become complete and becreated. Fillets, Chamfers and tangent features are completely dependent on the features thatthey exist between and can only be seen once the features they are created from are completelydefined.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

The two lines drawn areconnected.

Change the feature type to a Chamfer (Alt+2).

Input the value shown.

Chamfers created inGeometry Expert aredimensioned according tothe Side length. To createchamfers that aredimensioned differently, use the Chamfer palette in the free-form CAD tools.

Press the Enter key.

Again, the chamfer will be drawn when the features it exists between are fully connected.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3).

The radius value for thefillet will default to theprevious radius entered fora fillet. Therefore, youdon’t need to enter aradius value.

Press the Enter key.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

The chamfer is now drawnbecause the preceding andfollowing lines are fullyconnected.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+2) and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

The fillet is now drawnbecause the preceding andfollowing features nowhave two connectorpoints.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+2) and press Enter.

The length value for thechamfer also defaults tothe previous valueentered.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

While we could continuemaking fillets andchamfers in this manner,from this point on, we willonly create the horizontaland vertical lines. Then,we will use the free-formCAD tools to create theremaining fillets andchamfers.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #2: Chassis

Cham

fersandFillets–

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Close Shape feature type for the last row.

Close Geometry Expert.

Ctrl+click the outside corners as shown.

If you accidentally click somethingthat you didn’t want to and itbecomes selected, click it again todeselect it.

Open the Fillet/Chamfer sub-palette.

Select the Fillet mode.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Fillets are created at all of theselected corners.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #3: Shuttle

Cham

fersandFillets–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Ctrl+click the inside corners as shown.

Open the Fillet/Chamfer sub-palette.

Select the Chamfer - Side mode.

This is the mode that GeometryExpert uses when creating chamfers.

Input the value shown.

Click the Single Line button.

The Chassis is now complete.

Save the file.

EXERCISE #3: SHUTTLE

Arcs & Angled LinesIn this exercise, we will create a slightlymore complex shape containing arcsand angled lines. This exercise will alsointroduce how the Select Feature dialogworks in Refer to Part Print 3: “Shuttle”for this exercise.

Create a horizontal lathe part with the following workspace stock dimensions.

Select the Radius option for the X dimension style.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #3: Shuttle

Cham

fersandFillets–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Mill UsersIf you want to create this as a Mill part, input thestock values shown. The images shown inGeometry Expert will be slightly different. Thehorizontal values shown are entered as Zcoordinates and the vertical values are entered asXr coordinates. If you are working in Mill, thehorizontal values are entered as X coordinatesand the vertical values are entered as Y coordinates.

Open the Geometry Expert.

Select Counter-Clockwise Arc or press Alt+5 for the first feature.

Remember, the feature type can also be selected using keyboardshortcuts [Alt+(1-7)].

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

There are two possible points ofintersection between the line and thecircle. When this is the case, the SelectFeature dialog will appear.

Select the right point shown and click the OK button.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #3: Shuttle

Cham

fersandFillets–

Arcs&

AngledLines

You can now continue creating connected features inGeometry Expert.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Delete the angle value and press Enter.

Notice the prompt.Although this rowcontains no data otherthan the feature type,following features will provide the system with the required information to define and draw thisline. It will not be created until all necessary information has been entered. This is an example ofa floating feature.

The next row’s feature type will default to a clockwise arc.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

The previous line and the arc are drawn.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #3: Shuttle

Cham

fersandFillets–

Arcs&

AngledLines

A half end point is valid in this case. As the prompt indicates,the system will calculate the other endpoint coordinate withthe information it has and draw the endpoint on the screen.An endpoint is necessary on this line because the followingarc is not tangent to this line. The end point of the precedingfeature will be used as the start point of the circle. Note thatit is important the angle value entered indicate the propervector direction of the line because the next feature is an arc.

Select Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+4).

Input the value shown and press Enter.

This is another example ofa floating feature, thistime a circle. The circlewill be drawn once wedefine the next feature. The system uses the information from the previous row (in this case theendpoint) and the information from the following row (which will provide a tangency point) todraw the arc.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #3: Shuttle

Cham

fersandFillets–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Select the Close Shape feature type (Alt+6).

There are two possibleintersection points, so the system will ask you to select which intersection point should be used.There is an option in the Edit menu which allows you to change the intersection point chosen inthe select features dialog once the connection has been made. This Edit menu item togglesbetween Use Intersection #1 and Use Intersection #2.

Select the right point shown and press Enter.

Resize Geometry Expert so all rows are visible.

Select the cell shown.

Notice that the rowbecomes highlighted andis the current row. Also,the arc that is defined bythis row is now selected.

Change the radius value to 0.4 and press Enter.

The radius is adjusted and maintains the connections.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Arcs&

AngledLines

EXERCISE #4: LATHE TUTORIAL

Make sure that you save this file in a place where you can easily access it, because it will be used inthe machining tutorial found in the Lathe manual. This part is also created in the Free-Form CADExercises.

LATHE TUTORIALCreate an inch lathe part with the following workspace stock dimensions.

Choose Diameter for the X Dimension Style.

Open the Geometry Expert.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Chamfer feature type (Alt+2).

Input the value shown and press Enter.

This chamfer will bedrawn when we close theshape.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3).

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Input the value shown and press Enter.

This Fillet will be drawnwhen the next feature isdefined.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and press Enter.

The radius defaults to thelast entered value.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Both fillets are createdbecause the preceding andfollowing features are fullyconnected.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and press Enter.

Enter the angle and line point value shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and enter the radius value shown and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and press Enter to accept the default value shown.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Arcs&

AngledLines

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3)

Change the radius and press Enter.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Select the Fillet feature type (Alt+3) and press Enter.

The radius defaults to thelast entered value.

Input the values shown and press Enter.

This line must be definedwith an endpoint becausethe next feature is an arcthat not tangent. Anytimean arc is not tangent to theprevious line, the arcneeds to have a start point.

Select the Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+4).

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #4: Lathe Tutorial

LatheTutorial–

Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

Input the value shown and press Enter.

Notice the prompt.

Implicit Angle Tangent LineInput the values shown and press Enter.

An angle value of 0° mustbe entered for this linebecause it is connected toan arc, and we mustindicate the exact direction of the line. Line direction is determined by the angle value. Since wedefined this line in the counter clockwise direction of the shape the direction. We could havedefined the part in the clockwise direction and the angle value would have been 180°.

Selecting the Close Shape feature type (Alt+6).

Notice that the chamferwe created at thebeginning has been drawnbecause the lines it isbetween are now fullyconnected.

Save this part.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #5: Doodle

EditingFree-Form

Geom

etry

–Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

EXERCISE #5: DOODLE

In this exercise, we will show how the Geometry Expert can aid in fixing a rough sketch of the partgeometry using the mouse line tool. Refer to Part Print 7: “Doodle” at the end of this manual.

EDITING FREE-FORM GEOMETRYAgain this part can be done with either the Mill or Lathe workspace stock definition.

Create an inch lathe part with the following workspace stock dimensions.

Select Diameter for the X dimension style.

Open the Geometry palette.

Open the Line sub-palette. (2)

Select Mouse line.

We will start sketching the part fromthe vertical line at Z -6.25. Don’t worrytoo much about the coordinatesshown in the Mouse Line dialog, the dimensions will be adjusted using Geometry Expert.

DO NOT draw the chamfer on the part. We will insert that in the spreadsheet.

Click near the location of point 1.

Click near the location of point 2.

Continue creating the part following the part print until the shape is closed.

This is a very quick process because we aren’tconcerned with proper dimensions. We onlyneed an approximate shape or have the samenumber of features (excluding the chamfer).

Open the Geometry Expert.

1

2

34

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #5: Doodle

LoadingFree-Form

Geom

etry

–Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

LOADING FREE-FORM GEOMETRYDouble-click the first line we created as shown.

All connected features will be loaded into thespreadsheet with dimension values. The firstfeature listed in the spreadsheet will be thefeature that you clicked on to load the shape.All the other features will be listed in creationorder from that first feature.

Scroll to the top of the Geometry Expert.

If you selected the lineshown above, the firstfeature should be a linewith an angle close to 90°around Z -6.25. If your reference numbers don’t exactly match those shown in the pictures, don’tworry about it.

Click in one of the cells in the first row.

Change the values as shown and press Enter.

The row can also beentered by moving toanother row in the withthe arrow keys or themouse. Once the geometry matches the selected row the Enter key won’t select the next row.

The feature will change according to the new dimensions. To move down to the next row in thespreadsheet you must use the arrow keys or click the cursor in a cell of another row. The

Change the second feature as shown and press Enter.

Continue to adjust thepart dimensions in thismanner. You may selectthe geometry or the rowand edit the values to match the part print.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #5: Doodle

InsertingaRow

–Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

Because of the existing connections andlocations of points, when you make some ofthe adjustments it may look like something iswrong; the features and overall shape may notlook the way it should. Don’t worry, keepgoing through and changing the dimensionsand Geometry Expert will adjust the shapecorrectly. You may find that editing allhorizontal lines before going on to the verticallines may be faster. If somehow the Geometry Expert fails in some way, you may have to fix thegeometry with the mouse line and connect button. Geometry Expert will not be able toregenerate some broken connections.

When finished theGeometry Expert shouldappear as shown. Noticethat the close shape row isalready in the spreadsheet.It was entered in thespreadsheet when weloaded the shape becauseit was a closed shape.

Your part should nowhave accurate dimensions.

INSERTING A ROWSelect the line at Z = 0.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #5: Doodle

InsertingaRow

–Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

Choose Edit > Insert row (Alt+I).

A row with noinformation other thanthe feature type, which isa line, will be inserted inthe spreadsheet above the current row. Notice the new row is now the current row.

Select the Chamfer feature type (Alt+2).

Input the value shown in the inserted row and press Enter.

The chamfer will immediately be drawnbecause it is being created at the intersection oftwo features that have already been connected.

Try sketching any shape and adjusting thedimensions. If any problems occur, the ErrorBalloons and Prompting information shouldindicate what needs to be done. You may alsocombine Free-Form tools with the GeometryExpert, which we will cover in the next section.

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Geometry Expert Exercises – Exercise #5: Doodle

InsertingaRow

–Im

plicitAngleTangentLine

156

COMBINATION EXERCISES

Combination Exercises

CHAPTER 5 : Comb i n a t i o n Ex e r c i s e s

CreatingShapes

The exercises contained in this chapter use both Geometry Expert and the free-form CAD tools tocreate part geometry. In the first exercise, we will demonstrate how to change shapes created inFree-form Geometry. In the second exercise, we will re-create the Mill Tutorial part using primarilyGeometry Expert, but we will need to use the free-form CAD tools to create some constructiongeometry. “Exercise #3: Gear Housing” is a more advanced example, and should be done once youfeel comfortable with both Geometry Expert and free-form CAD.

#1: USING GEOMETRY EXPERT TO MODIFY SHAPES

In Part A of this exercise, we will load the Mill Tutorial part. If you did not create the Mill Tutorialpart, skip to “Lathe Tutorial” on page 162.

MILL TUTORIALChanging the Shape

Open the Mill tutorial part.

Choose File > Save As...

Save the file with a new name.

Open the Geometry Expert.

Double-click the large arc shown.

TIP

A part file can be opened in several ways. The most simple method is using the Open command in the File menu or in the Documents dialog. More advanced methods include the shortcut Ctrl+O or drag and dropping files. A file can be dropped in a running version of GibbsCAM or on an icon (including a shortcut icon). See the Getting Started manual for more information on the basics of using the system.

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Combination Exercises – #1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes

MillTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

The exterior shape isloaded into the GeometryExpert. Note the featuresof the boss are not loadedbecause the boss was notpart of the shape selected.

Select the first row, the 2” circle.

Change the radius and press Enter.

The features connected to the arc havechanged. The features tangent to the archave adjusted accordingly.

Select the line as shown.

Change the angle value as shown and press Enter.

The feature changesaccording to the newdimension entered.

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Combination Exercises – #1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes

MillTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

Both of the changes we have made here havemaintained the continuity of the shapewithout breaking it into individual geometry.Shapes are broken when features do not haveany points of intersection or tangency.Geometry Expert will display an errormessage to indicate that the feature has nointersection with the previous feature.

Select the arc shown.

Change the radius value and press Enter.

When you attempt toenter the row, an errormessage will come up inthe spreadsheet indicatingthat the previous featurecannot intersect.

The circle will be re-drawn with the new radiusin yellow, indicating that it is not a fullyconnected feature.

Undo the change (Ctrl+Z).

The shape will re-connect.

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Combination Exercises – #1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes

LatheTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

LATHE TUTORIALChanging the Shape

Open the Lathe tutorial part.

Before changes are made to the part, we will make a copy of the file. Because we are going touse this part geometry for the machining tutorial in the Lathe manual, we need to keep a copyof the file that will not be changed.

Choose File > Save As...

Save the file with a new name.

Open Geometry Expert.

Double-click the line shown.

Select the first row.

The first row is a 270° lineat Z -4.9.

Change the Z value as shown and press Enter.

The geometry willchange according to thenew dimensions entered.The features connectedto that line are alsochanged to maintain theproper connections.

Select the arc shown.

This row now becomes the selected row. Inversely, selecting the row would highlight the featurebeing defined on the screen.

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Combination Exercises – #1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes

LatheTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

Change the radius value as shown and press Enter.

Again, the shape willchange according to thenew dimensionsentered.

Both of the changes wehave made havemaintained thecontinuity of the shape.

Click the arc shown.

Change the radius value as shown and press Enter.

When you attempt toenter the row, an errormessage appearsindicating that theprevious feature cannotintersect.

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Combination Exercises – #1: Using Geometry Expert to Modify Shapes

LatheTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

The arc will be re-drawnwith the new radiusvalue even though itcannot connect. Noticethat it is now yellow,indicating that it is not aconnected feature.

Undo the change (Ctrl+Z).

The shape will re-connect.

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Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

#2: MILL TUTORIAL

MILL TUTORIALRefer to “Mill Tutorial” on page 181 for this exercise.

Create a new vertical mill part with the following workspace stock dimensions.

Open the Geometry Expert button.

In this exercise it is important that the direction ofthe lines and the circles that we create follow thepath of the shape correctly. We will start with the 0.5 radius circle in the upper right corner andproceed around the part in a counter-clockwise direction. Make sure that you pay closeattention to the feature type selections made and the values entered.

Select the Counter-Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+5).

Input the values shown and press Enter.

The only informationprovided on the part print about thenext line is that it is tangent to thecircles it is connected to.

Delete the angle value and press Enter.

When this floating line isentered the next row willdefault to a clockwise arcfeature type however weneed a counter clockwise arc.

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Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

Change to the Counter-Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+5).

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Both the circle and the line are drawn.

Select Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+4).

Input the radius value shown and press Enter.

This circle is a floatingfeature.

Select the Counter-Clockwise Arc feature type (Alt+5).

Input the values shown and press Enter.

166

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ChangingtheShape

A centerpoint must be entered for thiscircle because the preceding feature is afloating arc and depends on this circlefor its creation. Therefore, this featuremust be fully defined.

At this point we need to use the free-form CAD tools to create the next linebecause construction geometry isrequired. We will create the geometrynecessary using free-form CAD, andthen reload the shape into GeometryExpert to complete the shape.

Close Geometry Expert.

Open the Point sub-palette. (1)

Select Explicit point. (1)

Input the values shown and press Enter.

Open the Circle sub-palette. (3)

Select Radius & Center Point. (1)

Select the point shown.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

167

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ExtractingaCenterPointofaCircle

Extracting a Center Point of a Circle

Open the Point sub-palette. (1)

Select Center Point.

This option creates a point at thecenter of a selected circle.

Select the circle shown and press Enter.

Open the Line sub-palette. (2)

Select the point and circle shown and press Enter.

Select the line shown and press Enter.

Open the Line sub-palette. (2)

Select Parallel line.

Select the line we just created.

Input the value shown and press Enter.

168

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ExtractingaCenterPointofaCircle

Select the left line as shown and press Enter.

Connect the circle and line shown.

Select the bottom point and press Enter.

Double-click the circle shown.

Click the Trash button.

Now we will load the shape backinto Geometry Expert to create theremaining features.

Open the Geometry Expert.

Double-click any feature.

169

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ExtractingaCenterPointofaCircle

Because this shape wascreated using GeometryExpert, it will be reloadedin the same order as whenit was created.

The line we just created isthe last feature.

Create a counter-clockwise arc (Alt+5) with the values shown.

Delete the angle and press Enter.

This will create a tangentfloating line.

Create a counter-clockwise arc (Alt+5) with the values shown.

170

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

ExtractingaCenterPointofaCircle

Create a clockwise arc (Alt+4) with the values shown.

This will create a tangentfloating arc.

Create a counter-clockwise arc (Alt+5) with the values shown.

Create a line with the values shown connected through the point shown.

171

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

BossGeom

etry

Create a clockwise arc (Alt+4) with the default value.

Close the shape. (Alt+6)

In order to create thecenter boss, we will need to closeGeometry Expert and start a newshape because the boss is notconnected to the outside wall ofthe shape. The boss will also becreated using a combination offree-form CAD tools andGeometry Expert.

Boss Geometry

Open the Point sub-palette. (1)

Select Explicit point. (1)

Input the coordinates shown.

Click the Single Point button.

Open the Point sub-palette. (1)

Select Polar Point point.

Select the point at the origin as shown.

Input the values shown.

Click the Single Point button.

Open Geometry Expert.

172

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

BossGeom

etry

Select the Clockwise Arc feature type and input the values shown and press Enter.

Delete the angle of the row and press Enter.

We will enter thecoordinates of thecenterpoint of the next arcby using the Interrogationcursor. Clicking on a feature or point while holding down the Alt or Shift+Alt keys, theappropriate value for the active cell will be entered in the spreadsheet. The Shift+Altshortcut will interrogate all the properties of a given point. The Alt key alone will interrogatethe properties for just the active cell.

Input the radius value shown and then place the cursor in the CP X cell, making it the active cell.

Alt-click the point shown.

173

Combination Exercises – #2: Mill Tutorial

MillTutorial–

BossGeom

etry

The X coordinate for thatpoint will be entered.

Move to the centerpoint Y coordinate. While holding down the Alt key, click the point again and press Enter.

By using the Shift+Altinterrogation option, this step couldbe bypassed. You may delete thevalues and redo the last steps usingthe Shift+Alt modifier to seehow using each method may beuseful.

Delete the angle of the next row and press Enter.

Close the shape. (Alt+6)

The geometry is nowcomplete. You may useeither Mill Tutorialgeometry for the Millmanual.

174

Combination Exercises – Exercise #3: Gear Housing

AdvancedTutorial–

AboutthePart

EXERCISE #3: GEAR HOUSING

ADVANCED TUTORIALAbout the PartThis is a rather complex part as far as geometry creation is concerned. You should only do thisexercise after you have completed the exercises in both the Geometry Expert and free-form CADchapters. Step-by-step instructions are not provided in this exercise. Instead, some very generalguidelines will be outlined, and problem areas will be highlighted and discussed. If you find thisexercise to be too difficult, we recommend that you go back and create either the Mill or Lathe partagain, but don’t use the step-by-step instructions. Instead, work from the part print and use thetutorial text as an aid if you get stuck.

This part provides a good example of determiningwhen Geometry Expert or free-form CAD shouldbe used to create certain shapes depending on howthe part is dimensioned. This exercise alsohighlights the differences between arcs and filletsand the issues involved with forward tangencies inGeometry Expert.

Refer to “Gear Housing” on page 188 for thisexercise. This part print has four areas that arecircled and labeled. These are the particularlydifficult areas that will be highlighted in thisexercise.

This part is composed primarily of three closedshapes—the outside wall and two inside pockets.

175

Combination Exercises – Exercise #3: Gear Housing

AdvancedTutorial–

AboutthePart

The outside wall, shown, can be created mostefficiently using Geometry Expert. The entireoutside shape can be created with GeometryExpert, except for one point that must be createdusing the free-form CAD tools. The centerpoint forone of the outside arcs must be created in CAD; thedimensions of that point can then be interrogated.

A combination of Geometry Expert and free-formCAD is the best method for creating the larger insidepocket shown. The line labeled D must be created inCAD because it is defined as being tangent to a circlethat is not part of the closed shape that contains line D.

The smaller inside pocket shown is best created usingonly the free-form CAD tools because most of thefeatures that compose this shape are dimensioned withconstruction geometry.

For the outside shape, you should begin with thedesignated Start Feature (1.466" R arc), and proceedaround the shape in a clockwise direction. In this exercise, it will be very important to read theprompting information, and to also make sure that the directions of the arcs and lines are correct.Remember, line direction is indicated by the angle value.

‘D’

176

Combination Exercises – Exercise #3: Gear Housing

AdvancedTutorial–

OuterShape

Outer ShapeArea A is highlighted as a difficult sectionbecause this portion of geometryrequires that a floating line (line definedwith only an angle) be tangent to thefollowing feature, but not the previousfeature. This is an example of a forwardtangency.

After creating the first arc, the secondfeature (0.2" radius) must be created as acounter-clockwise arc rather than a fillet.A fillet cannot be used in this casebecause the system cannot calculate thefillet until the intersection between thepreceding arc and following line iscomplete.

Because we only know the angle value ofthe following line the 0.2" radius must be defined as an arc so that the following line has thenecessary tangency points for its calculation. An arc with only a radius value will be created tangentto the preceding and following features. These two features do not have to intersect, and the arcwith a radius value can be used to calculate following features. If there was no radius between thefirst arc and the floating line, it would be necessary to enter an arc with a radius of 0 in thespreadsheet in order for the system to correctly calculate the tangency of the following line.

Area B is highlighted because thecenterpoint for the arc must be createdusing the free-form CAD tools and thenloaded into the Geometry Expert. Theonly information that we have on thatpoint is that it is rotated 60° to the rightof the center point of the top circle. Wewill need to create this point usingModify > Duplicate And... > 2D Rotate.Note that the Modify menu is disabledwhen Geometry Expert is open.

In order to draw the center point of thetop circle, you will need to extract thecenter point. Reload the GeometryExpert and load the shape. Interrogate the coordinates of the point as the centerpoint of the nextarc.

0.187 DIA (TYP)6x

1.466 R

0.200 R (TYP)37.5˚

75˚‘A’

Start Feature

30˚

‘B’

177

Combination Exercises – Exercise #3: Gear Housing

AdvancedTutorial–

InnerShapes

Inner ShapesAreas C and D are interrelated in thatthe line designated in area D must betangent to the arc in area C.

It is recommended that the largerinside pocket (of which line D is acomponent) be created using acombination of Geometry Expert andfree-form CAD. The reason the entireshape cannot be created usingGeometry Expert is that line D isdimensioned as being tangent to anarc that is not part of its shape, thecircle contained in area C. It is best tocreate the shape in Geometry Expertstarting with the 1.340 R arc, andproceeding around in a clockwisedirection. When you get to line D, you will need to close the spreadsheet and use the free-formCAD tools.

0.500

‘C’

‘D’

178

PART PRINTS

15

R 0.

25"3"

1"

3"

0.15

"

0.15

"

0.15

"

2"

R 0.

5" x

5R

0.35

"

fl 4"

fl 0.

25" x

4

2"

R 4"

X0,Y

0

R 1"

Part

Prin

t 1:

Mill

Tuto

rial

181

.015

R

5 Typ

.

451.

100

0.97

52.

200

2.50

03.

800

4.00

0

4.15

0

4.90

0

1.40

01.

600

2.25

0

2.25

0-8 Th

read

45 x

0.20

0

0.20

0R 7

Plac

es

1.00

0

48

0.80

0

1.60

02.

520

4563

2.60

0

Part

Prin

t 2: L

athe

Tuto

rial

182

0

40

.875

R .50

0

1.621

R 1.0

.5158

8

R 0.18

7

0.938

1.5

45

2.0

1.651

Part

Prin

t 3: S

huttl

e

183

Part

Prin

t 4: G

ear

184

7.25

4.0

5.0

6.07.0

7.5

3.25

1.5 x

3

3.02.5

2.0

1.0

3.0

3.75

Part

Prin

t 5: S

haft

185

2.25

0

7.00

0

6.25

04.

750

4.25

0

2.75

0

.280

" r Ty

p 16

Place

s

.10

x 45

Cham

fer Ty

p 12

Place

s

.750 .7

50

3.25

0

4.00

0

3.75

0

.250

.250

Part

Prin

t 6: C

hass

is

186

2.00

0

80

.3 x

45

5.00

0

5.00

04.

250

1.00

03.

000

1.75

0

2.50

0

2.00

0

2.50

03.

250

3.75

04.

500

2.00

0

30

6.25

0

Part

Prin

t 7: D

oodl

e

187

'B'

1.41

0

2.34

0

.770

R

.896

R

1.46

6 R

.187

DIA

(TYP

) 6 PL

ACES

1.62

51.

340

R

45

.250

'C'

'A'

Star

t Fea

ture

.190

R (T

YP) 4

PLAC

ES

.250

R

.250

R (T

YP)

.250

R (T

YP)

.880

.750

.500

1.91

0

.200

R (T

YP)

.250

.125 2.

200

10

.625

1.05

0

.375

DIA

30

2.00

0

75

37.5

'D'

10

.250

1.87

0

Part

Prin

t 8: G

ear H

ousin

g

188

APPENDIX

Appendix

CHAPTER 7 : App e n d i x

INTERFACE LEVEL 1GibbsCAM has two interface levels, Level 1and Level 2. Level 2 is the default and providesa more complete, feature-rich environment.Level 1 is a simpler interface that some usersmay prefer if they do not need all the optionsor flexibility that Level 2 offers. You may thinkof Level 1 as a training interface that hides themore complicated features. This section detailsthe different interface options found in Level 1.

INTERFACEThe interface is different in Level 1. The Taskbar is not present, the Top Level Palette is simpler, andthe CAM and Machining palettes do not have as many options.

191

Appendix

Workgroups To access different workgroups in Level 1 theWorkgroup list and information dialogs arelocated on the geometry palette.

NOT INCLUDED IN LEVEL 1Level 1 can be displayed with any MDD but is truly only useful with generic lathe or 3 axis mill MDDs.All other MDD’s require access to items not present in Level 1. Additionally, there are several thingsthat cannot be done in the Level 1 interface.

• Any surfaces or solids manipulation as described in any of the solids manuals which includes

• Global Tolerance settings

• Surface Machining

Solids will not be visible or selectable until switching to Level 2.

• Rotated Coordinates as used in Advanced Milling, Mill/Turn or Multi-Task Machining

All Coordinate system options are hidden in Level 1, including the grid, lists and palette.

• Advanced Contour and Roughing options

• Stay In Stock

• Material Only

• Advanced Entry And Exit

• Hit Flats

• Open Sides - limited to fixed parameters based on tool size

• Access to some workspace context menus are disabled

192

INDEX

Index

NUMERICS2d Rotate: 4730676: 14

AActive Workgroup: 46Air Geometry: 13Arc, Alternate Solutions: 43Auto Clearance: 46AutoShape

Curve: 29Ellipse: 26Gear: 27Offset: 25Polygon: 26Rectangle: 25

BBalloons: 3Bolt Circle Creation: 16B-Spline: 29–30Button

AutoShape, Cam: 29AutoShape, Ellipse: 26AutoShape, Gear: 27AutoShape, Offset Shape: 25AutoShape, Polygon: 26AutoShape, Rectangle: 25AutoShape, Text Creation: 22Cam: 29Circle, Point & Center Point: 20Circle, Radius & Center Point: 20Circle, Radius & Two Points: 20Circle, Three Features: 21Connect/Disconnect: 11–12, 31Geometry Expert: 38Line, Axis: 19Line, Between Two Points: 18

Line, Mouse Line: 19Line, Parallel & Offset: 18Line, Perpendicular: 19Line, Tangent-Angle: 18Point, Bolt Circle: 16Point, Center Point: 16Point, Matrix Point: 16Point, Mid-Point: 17Point, Mouse Point: 17Point, Point on Arc: 17Point, Point-Angle: 18Point, Polar Point: 15Return: 14Workgroup Selection: 46

CCAD

Combination: 10Free-Form: 9–10Free-form: 13Geometry Expert: 9–10

Calculate Gear Values: 27CAM: 7Cam

CW or CCW: 29End Angle: 29End Radius: 29Motion Type: 29Start Angle: 29Start Radius: 29Tolerance: 29

Cam Creation: 29Center Point Creation: 16Centripetal (curve): 31Chamfer: 146, 155

defined by Depth: 31defined by Length: 31defined by Side: 31

Chamfer Creation: 31Chamfer-Fillet sub-palette: 31Change CS (HVD) of Visible WGs: 48

195

Index

Change CS (XYZ) of Visible WGs: 48Change to CS: 12Chord Length (curve): 30Circle

Connecting: 12Point & Center Point: 20Radius & Center Point: 20Radius & Two Points: 20Three Features: 21

Circle sub-palette: 20Circle, Tangent to

a Line and a Circle: 21a Line and a Point: 21Two Circles: 21Two Lines: 21

Circles: 12–13Circularity Tolerance: 34Closed Shapes: 10Comment, Part: 54Connect & Disconnect Geometry: 11–13, 31Connect / Disconnect: 13Connect/Disconnect button: 31Connect-Disconnect button: 13Connecting Features: 11Connections, Breaking: 12Connections, Multiple: 32Connector: 9Construction Geometry: 9CP (Center Point): 14Crosshair, connecting points: 33Curve

Blending Method: 30Close Shape: 30Control Point Fit: 29Curve Fit: 30Line Fit: 30

Curve sub-palette: 29Curve Type

Centripetal: 30Chord Length: 30Foley’s: 30Uniform: 30

DDelete, workgroup: 47Descriptor Point: 14, 81Descriptor point: 68Design CAD: 7Dimension Labels: 14Dimensions: 45Disconnecting Geometry: 12, 31Duplicate option: 73Duplicate Visible WGs: 47

EEdge Loop: 34Explicit Point Creation: 15

FFeature

Connected: 11Definition: 11Terminated: 12Trimmed: 11Unconnected: 11

Feature Type: 37Feature Type, Geo. Expert: 38Features: 11Fillet button: 31Fillet Creation: 13, 31Fillet Radius on Rectangle: 25Floating Feature: 144Foley’s (curve): 31Fonts: 22, 105Force Depth: 47

GG-code: 54Gear

196

Index

Addendum: 27Dedendum: 27Full # Teeth: 28Involute Curve: 28Involute Curve Sample Points: 28Involute Curve Tolerance: 28Pressure Angle: 27Root Fillet: 27Space Width: 28Top Fillet: 27Type: 28

Gear Creation: 27–28Geometry

Chamfers: 9Circles: 9Connections: 11Connector: 9Curves: 9Definition: 9Fillets: 9From Solids: 33Lines: 9Points: 9Printing: 50Terminate: 31

Geometry Creation palette: 9, 13Geometry Expert: 9–10, 36–37, 39–43

Angle/Radius: 39Arcs vs. Fillets: 42Auto Delete: 40Close Shape: 128Defaults: 40EP Xd/Xr (Y): 38EP Z (X): 38Error Balloons: 40Feature Type: 38Fillet: 42, 147Floating Features: 41Half Points: 41Inserting and Deleting: 42Length: 39LP/CP Xd/Xr (Y): 39LP/CP Z (X): 39

Point Selection: 41Prompting: 39–40Reference #: 38Rows: 42Using: 37

Geometry Expert button: 38Geometry Extraction: 33Geometry, Part Geometry: 9

HHalf Point: 122Help: 3Hole Extraction: 33

IInferred Features: 15

LLabels: 66–67, 81Layer, see WorkgroupLine

Between two points: 18Mouse: 19Parallel Offset: 18Parallel to Axis: 19Perpendicular: 19Tangent Feature at an Angle: 18Through Point at an Angle: 18

Line sub-palette: 18Line, Tangent to

a Point and a Circle: 19Two Circles: 19

MMachine Type: 54

197

Index

Material Only: 46Material Selection: 55Matrix Point Creation: 16MDD (Machine Definition Document): 54Mid-Line Point Creation: 17Mirror: 47Moorpark font: 105Mouse Point Creation: 17Mouse Position: 12Multiple Points button: 14

NNew WG: 46–47

OOffset Shape Creation: 25Online Help: 3Open: 159Open Shape: 62Open Shapes: 10, 12Orientation, of gear: 27Outline: 36Overlapping Connections: 32

PP (Point): 14Palette

AutoShape: 22Geometry Creation: 9, 13Line: 18Point: 15Top Level: 3

Part Creation: 3Part File: 159Part Stock: 46Parting Line: 34PDFs: 3

Point on Arc Creation: 17Point Selection dialog: 32Point sub-palette: 15Point, Connector: 57Point, Tangent to Two Features: 17Points: 9–10, 13Polar Point Creation: 15Polygon Creation: 26Printing Preferences: 50Printing the Part: 50Prompting: 3

R–R function: 12–R Geometry: 43Reference # (Label): 38Return button: 14Reverse Arc: 12, 43Reverse Arcs in Visible WGs: 48

SScale: 47Segment Spline: 48Selection Mode: 13, 45, 57, 59Shape button: 22Shape Offset: 25Shape sub-palette: 22Shapes

Cams: 22Ellipses: 22Gears: 22Offset: 22Polygons: 22Rectangles: 22Text: 22

Single Point button: 14Smart Selection: 14Solids: 13Sort: 48

198

Index

Splines: 10, 22, 34Stock Size: 79, 121Sub-Palettes: 13

TTangent Features, creation: 15Terminating Lines: 19Terminators: 9Text

Along an Arc: 23Flow: 24Flow Tab: 24Justification: 22Multiple Line Direction: 24Radial Alignment: 23Setting position of: 22Shapes: 24Size: 22Spacing Tab: 24Straight Alignment: 23

Text Creation: 22Text Spacing: 106Text tab: 22Top Level palette: 3Translate: 48TrueType: 22, 105

UUniform (curve): 31Use Intersection: 145

WWall Geometry: 13WG Info: 46Workgroup: 46

List: 46Workgroup Info: 13, 48

Workgroup List: 48Workgroup Selection: 13Workgroup Summary: 48Workgroup, duplicate: 47Workgroups

Background: 46Workspace Stock: 121

199

Index

200