NCG CAM Solutions Ltd, UK officially released NCG CAM v19.0 on 22nd May 2023. This major release sees the addition of new 2-axis Turning functionality.
Other new features include: Trim Surfaces to a Boundary, a new option to specify a final Profile Pass within the Adaptive Clearance Dialog, User Editable Toolsheets, Surfaces can be used to create a Swept Stock Model, Default Macro Folder added and the use of Transparency has been added during Cutter Simulation.
Significant Improvements have been made to Rest Waterline Passes, Radial and Spiral Passes, Rest Finishing Linking, Shallow Area Boundaries and Cutter Contact Boundaries.
The Drilling functionality has also been enhanced further by supporting Slocombe Style Drilling Centre Drills, a new option to define shank profiles on drills, detect holes by colour, Min and Max Angle added to Detect Holes, as well as improvements to dialogues and the Operation Tree display.
Geometry Improvements such as Significant Import Speed Increases, 3D Trimming for IGES Files and Changing the Colour of Triangulated Surfaces are included.
Multiple Significant Improvements have been made to the Graphics, Enhancements to the 3D Tool Guide and a few other General changes.
Additional developments will follow in NCG CAM v19 point releases to enhance the Pencil Passes, which will improve the Theoretical Rest Boundaries, Cutter Contact Boundaries and Rest Corner Finishing. Rest Area Clearance Linking will also follow in a v19 point release.
A demonstration version of NCG CAM v19.0 is now available to download:
https://www.ncgcam.com/demo-download/
Long awaited 2-axis Turning has been added to the Basic module of NCG CAM and is included in the price; there is no additional charge for this module. This adds value to existing Users with active software maintenance and opens the door new Users who have a requirement for Turning, as well as Milling.
The 2-axis Turning includes:
- Facing
- Rough Turning
- Finish Profiling
- Grooving
- Centreline Drilling
- Parting Off
- User definable Chucks
2-axis post-processors are included in Macro format with customisable Turning Tool libraries.
- Facing can be achieved using predefined Stock or using the finished part with pass extensions. There are options available for Rough facing using multiple passes or Finish facing in one pass.
- Rough Turning includes Undercut protection and can be used for roughing side or front contours.
- Finish Profiling also includes Undercut protection to avoid Tool Holder collision on the trailing edge whilst turning.
- Grooving can be achieved in single or multiple passes with chip-breaking or full depth cut options.
- Centreline Drilling now supports ‘Slocombe’ Style centre drills with all available sizes pre-defined. Centreline Drilling includes Peck Drilling and Chip Breaking.
- Parting off options include single pass or multiple pecks to clear the swarf.
Surfaces can now be trimmed to a Boundary; this new feature provides additional modelling capability and can be useful where additional features need to be added or surfaces corrected after import.
A new option to specify a final Profile Pass within the Adaptive Clearance Dialog has been added. This option will hold the cutter off the finished part whilst creating the clearance passes and can be performed either after each depth of cut, or at the end of the clearance passes. Any specified thickness allowances will be respected leaving the cut size as required. This option will provide a better surface finish where required.
The Drilling functionality has been enhanced; ‘Slocombe’ Style Centre Drills are now supported in both Turning and Milling. New Cycles for Centre Drilling will automatically select the correct tool shape with pre-defined options for all standard sizes.
A new option to define Shank Profiles on Drills has been added (with the exception of Slocombe Centre Drills ).
This will help when using Micro-Drills as the defined shank is also gouge protected.
When detecting holes and creating drilling data, it is now possible to use Colours for easier identification and as a search criterion. This will avoid duplication of hole selection and works in conjunction with size to precisely identify the required geometry.
The default colour of Blind holes has been changed in Hole Detection from Brown to Orange to make them easier to identify.
Additional options for Min and Max hole angle have been added to the Detect Holes dialog. This option is used in conjunction with the Restricted Axis to avoid the selection of unwanted holes when using a combination of filtered A,B and C axes with the Restricted selection.
New graphics have been added in the Drilling Cycle Dialog, with the drill overlaid over the hole for depth checking. Also, the colour denotes Blind or Through holes for easier identification.
The Operations Tree display of depth adjusted Drilling operations will now be displayed correctly. Depth adjustment is used for Through Holes to allow the tip of the drill to pass the bottom face leaving a clean edge; this additional depth will now be displayed for easier identification.
A New option for User Editable Toolsheets is now available from the drop-down Toolsheet Menu. Toolsheet image options now also include Ordinate Dimensions for Multi Views. A new Dialog is presented to the User and automatically populates the required data information. User-defined Templates can then be selected from the Template Folder; 3 samples are included with the Software Installation.
The accuracy of Rest Waterline Passes has been improved; NCG CAM V18 Rest Waterline Passes could sometimes appear ‘Stepped’. NCG CAM V19 shows much smoother and more accurate passes resulting in a better toolpath.
It is now possible to set the Centre points of Radial and Spiral passes using the Left Mouse clicked into the Graphical area. Also, improvements have been made to the quality of Spiral passes generated with tighter Tolerance values, giving a better surface finish.
Rest Area Clearance and Rest Finishing toolpaths have been improved to reduce the Rapid Retracts. The effects of the improvements can be seen more clearly on Vertical walls. Rest Finishing Linking is included in NCG CAM V19; Rest Area Clearance Linking will be included in a V19 Point Release.
The use of Transparency has been added during Cutter Simulation and is activated using the Rendering Style buttons in the View Menu. This option will allow greater visibility of the Stock removal during machining whilst having a visual background of the finished part.
The option to add Comments to a Tool’s Advanced Pages has been included. These comments can also be stored in the Tool Database and can optionally be output into the Post Processed Tape File. This additional feature will provide greater accountability for important tool information as well as continuity between the Tool Library, Tape file and the Machinist.
A new folder has been added during the installation of the software for the User to store regularly used Macros. Any folder can be specified in the Options > Defaults settings allowing for quicker access of personalised macros with less searching.
Loading Geometry files is now much quicker with the use of multi-Threading in the loading phase. This increases the number of available processors used during the operation and speeds up the process significantly.
