Mastercam at the 2010 Olympics
Date Posted: 2010-03-22
Authored By: In-House Solutions

The 23 podiums used in the Vancouver 2010 Olympics were made using Mastercam software!!! Click image below to view video

Built by a team at the University of British Columbia’s Center for Advanced Wood Processing (CAWP), the raw lumber was sent to a millwork company, where it was dried and fabricated into panels. The panels were then sent to the manufacturing area at CAWP, where, utilizing Mastercam and machining centers, they cut more than 250 unique parts required for each podium.

Have you ever wondered if it were possible to save certain tool settings or specific toolpath parameters you find yourself using frequently? Mastercam allows for various settings to be specified as operation defaults so you do not have to re-set them every use. You can also save multiple default files so different users can use different defaults. This video explores how you can edit these defaults and suggests various settings you could change to take advantage of this feature.

We are big fans of anything that can save us time and the tip we have for you today does just that by showing you how you can speed up the verification process in Mastercam.

Instead of setting up the stock as a rectangle or cylinder, Mastercam has the ability to let you establish a custom stock setup. This not only gives a more accurate visual representation of how toolpaths would run on more complex parts but acts as a time saver as well since there is less stock to watch your virtual tool chew through. (You don’t have to verify the roughing toolpath every time.)

This video will demonstrate two different ways of specifying a model to represent your stock setup. It also demonstrates how you can save a verified model to use as a stock model. Be sure to grab the MCX files to go along with this video if you want to give it a try yourself! (Grab the MCX files here)