Custom VISE in Import_Vise Add-in

[Anonymous]

Hi,

It´s possible to customize the Vise library in the Import_Vise Add-in ??  

Regards,

[Anonymous]

I dont think so.  I had put in this feature requests 2 times already.  Apparently, it is not important.

[abhishek.juvekar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Anonymous,

It seems to be not possible to add our own vice to the library in the Import_Vise Add-in. We have already raised this as a feature request to the development team to allow user to add their own vise to the list of available vises.

Thank You.

[Rick.Merryman]

If you have Solidworks you can download a vise model right off the Kurt website. import it into a FeatureCam program, clean it up and use that.

I have attached a FeatureCam file, I hope it works

[Anonymous]

Yes that technically works, but not as simple and effortless as the import vise macro that adds the correct parallels and position of the part in the vise as well as automatically collision checking against it per what setup it is used in.

[brian_p1]

Just want to bump this old thread as I found a video on YouTube at the weekend explaining how to add vices to the add vice macro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8IEgsN39FM

[dames99]

Great find. I forgot we could do this.

I added a new Lang vice to the add-in but I get an error when importing the vice. What could be wrong? I copied the exact structure of the other Lang vices in the addin.

[brian_p1]

It took me a few goes for it to work properly, you have to rename your solids from "vice" to "vise" must be an American programmer who wrote it.

[dames99]

Oops!! yep, American here!

In my defence it works perfectly in PowerMILL!

Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

[michael.grenier4GVTU]

Hi Everyone, just to clean up this thread a bit, I wrote this addin few years ago and the ability to add custom vises to it either for PowerMILL or FeatureCAM has been there since pretty much day 1.  The only reason why I never really made it official is because it's not that obvious as stated by few people before.  One of my colleague recorded a video as you probably all saw to explain how to do it for FeatureCAM.  The steps to follow in PowerMILL are similar except all pieces of the vise must be saved as seperate dgk files and the model called vise_bottom needs to have a workplaen called "Simulation" in the dgk.  Only that model has to have the workplane.  This workplane is used to position the vise during machine simulation.  Also note that FeatureCAM 2020 now allow you to position the vise in more orientation around the Z axis to "support" double vises in a multiple fixture document.  There is nothing to change to existing vises to support that option.

Hope it helps!

[jonathan.hornblower]

I have been trying to follow the instructions from you YouTube vid, but not having much luck.
Works fine for a vice, but not so well for a chuck.

On the add in window the settings/options change depending on if you have a selected a vice or chuck, but I cant seem to replicate this for the one I have created. Also, I have no way you create (or even view) the .dgk files that are only in the folders for chucks.
I can only assume the procedure is slightly different for a chuck, but this isn't covered in the video.

[michael.grenier4GVTU]

Ok, here is how it works.  About the DGK files, they are there for every standard vises/chucks supplied with the addin because it was meant to work with FeatureCAM AND PowerMILL.  FeatureCAM will only use the fm files where PowerMILL will only use the dgk files.  So, if you are running FeatureCAM only and want to add a new vise, you don't need to worry about the dgk.  All you need will the the pictures and the fm file.  Now, about addin a chuck, there is not much different between a chuck and a vise in the sense that the models needs to be positioned in the right place.  You can open an existing one to see where and how.  Make sure the jaws 1-2-3-4 are also aligned/nammed the same way in your file as they are in the original one.  One last detail, in order for the addin to make the difference between a chuck and a vise, you MUST have the word CHUCK and "3 JAWS" or "4 JAWS" in the name.  I've had discussion about that recently and agreed it should have been a parameter in the ini file but I never had time to change it so for now you'll need to make sure CHUCK and "3 JAWS" or "4 JAWS" is part of the name and it should work fine.

[innovatecno]

Thanks, your advice has been very helpful
I just have one more problem.
the jaws move in a strange way
I attach image and FM file.
The configuration in visi.ini is

[DMC385 -3 JAWS CHUCK]
Standard_Y_Offset=0.0
Alternative_Y_Offset=0.0
Is_Autocentering=0
Allow_Reverse=0
Vise_Center_Offset=0.0
Import_Parallels_Support=0
Remove_Solids=0
Turn_Jaw_Type=0
Back_Plate_Support=0

Thanks

[michael.grenier4GVTU]

Hi,

I think the problem is simply because of the original orientation of your jaws.  Original positioning and name are really important as the addin is taking into account they are always positioned the same way.  I'm joining a picture of where they should be.  If you name and position your model the same way, they should move correctly.  One last detail, since FeatureCAM 2020.3, the addin doesn't require you to keep the 3 Jaws chuck name in your vise name.  There are two new parameters in the ini file to specify if this is a vise or a chuck.

IsTurningChuck=1
Is3JawsChuck=1

Hope it helps!

Michael