Mold & Die Tooltab

You can work on your original geometry to create the electrode tip using the Electrode Feature command. Then use this command to complete the construction by removing all electrode geometry entirely from your original part and replace it with an instance of a component. The new electrode part can then be brought into a Drawing Sheet and an electrode table created.

A blank is a rectangular or cylindrical top for the electrode tip. This is what the tool attaches to. Rectangular blanks may have a "mark" to assist with correct orientation. A mark is either a chamfer in one of the four corners or half cylinder notch removed from the middle of the front or back.

Required Inputs

• Shape
  This defines the shape of the electrode blank.  Select from Rectangular or Cylindrical.  For Cylindrical electrode blanks, the larger of the x and y values of the bounding box is used to set the diameter.
  
  If your part is set to millimeter units, 1.0 mm is added to each side of the electrode bounding box dimensions.  For inch units, 0.10 inch is added to each side.
  
  
• Electrode
  Select the electrode geometry created using the Electrode Feature command or, as supported by the entity filter, pick any shape or face.  In Version 15 multiple picks will be supported.
  
  
• Datum
  Select a planar face or datum plane for orienting the blank.
  
  
• Length, Width
  Specify the length and width of the blank. These are measured perpendicular to the datum axis.  The default values for the length and width will be the same as the electrode length and width.
  
  
• Diameter
  When Shape is set to Cylindrical, specify the diameter of the blank. 
  
  
• Thickness
  Specify the thickness of the blank measured along the datum axis.  The default value for the thickness will be half the height of the electrode.

  Optional Inputs

Info

This tab displays information about the electrode blank.

• Component Origin, X, Y, Z
  The current X,Y and Z coordinates of the origin of the blank (refer to the figure above).
  
  
• Electrode Bounding Box, Length, Width
  The Length and Width of the bounding box surrounding the electrode tip (relative to current datum and rotation).

 

Origin

This tab controls the level and position of the point to be used as the origin for the exported electrode/blank component.

• Height
  This specifies the height position of the origin for the exported geometry.

 Top
This refers to the top of the blank

 Bottom
This refers to the bottom of the blank

 Z Min
This refers to the minimum Z location of the part used to define the electrode feature. This point may lie on or below the electrode feature itself.

• Position
  This specifies the position of the origin. Look at the preview echo to see the origin positions for each option.

Select from:

 Back-Top
 Back-Bottom
 Front-Top
 Front-Bottom
 Center (default)

• Reverse Z
  Use this option for inverting the electrode when it is exported relative to the selected datum.

 

Properties

This tab allows you to specify additional attributes for the electrode/blank component. They are as follows:

• Material
• Orbit
• Orbit Radius
• CAM Operation (Finish, Semi or Rough)
• Supplier
• Model ID
• Quantity

 

Mark

This tab controls the type and position of the locating mark.

• Position
  This defines the position for the mark. Look at the preview echo to see the origin positions for each option.

Select from:

 No Mark
 Back-Top
 Back-Middle
 Back-Bottom
 Front-Top
 Front-Middle
 Front-Bottom

• Size
  This controls the size of the mark.  For the chamfers, its the side height.  For half circles, its the width (i.e., dia) and that Size/2 would be the depth (i.e., radius).

 

Other Options

• Rotation
  This is used only when Shape is set to Rectangular (see Required Inputs  above).  This allows you to rotate the blank about the Z axis of the datum.
  
  
• Automatically Center Blank
  This centers the blank about the Z axis of the datum. Otherwise it is centered about the bounding box of the electrodes.
  
  
• Part Name
  This allows you to specify a name for the new component that will be created (default = Electrode.1). Automatic name checking and correction is used so you do not need to keep modifying this field for a part with multiple electrodes. (default = Electrode.1, Electrode.2, ...).

1. Mold Draft
2. Mold Parting Faces
3. Insert Mold Base
4. Mold Separations
5. Electrode Feature
6. Mold Cooling
7. Compare Parts
8. Create Extrude Stock