HSMWorks support for Configurations

[al.whatmough]

I was asked to help show how HSMWorks support configurations in SolidWorks by an AE.

Time didn't line up, so I recorded a video.

It may or may not be a help to others.

Here is is if you want:

[keith_clausen]

Thanks for sharing Al,

Something additional worth noting is that the use of configuration are also super useful outside of how it may morph the resulting tool path generation as Al has shown in the videos but also as having multiple iterations of the same model with suppressed or additional features that aid in programming. There are a mirada of examples that I encounter on a regular basis on how configurations can be leveraged. I've been at this a while as Al knows and I'm still learning new ways of leveraging this tool....its not always the same.

Thought: it would be really nice feature if we could add the ability to define/lock in the configuration at the Job Setup level as well as something I would find super useful is the ability to define a particular display state in the job setup so as you change your Job Setup default the appropriate model/s, stock and fixtures change. Something I come up against regularly.

[Eli_Dexter]

Very nice videos. Thanks a lot.

There is one feature that I would like to see. What if multiple configurations have features that requires different tools (i.e. holes have different dia and would require different drills, or cavity has different radii and would require different mills to to machine it). Does HSM has support for these kind of changes in geometry?

Thanks

[al.whatmough]

This isn't something that we support today.

It is something we would like to add support for.

[keith_clausen]

---

@Eli_Dexter wrote:

Very nice videos. Thanks a lot.

There is one feature that I would like to see. What if multiple configurations have features that requires different tools (i.e. holes have different dia and would require different drills, or cavity has different radii and would require different mills to to machine it). Does HSM has support for these kind of changes in geometry?

Thanks

---

Hi Eli,

Yes and No....

The system will not reselect tools based on feature changes this is something that the programmer would have to build contingencies into the programming to deal with this. While this may not work in an automatic sense, the system does allow for multiple iterations of the drive model (configurations) to be used in an assembly file so whether you are programming the different iterations using different Job Setups or using a singular Job Setup and defining the model to be used on a per-operation basis it can yield some benefits. There is more flexibility than what I will elude to in this reply and it really comes down to how or why you need to do things in a certain way....intent dependent.

Suffice to say that while automatic reselection of tools assignments are not available in the system the use of configurations can be used in many different ways and based on your intent that can aid you in your programming. I've been programming with SW/HSM for over 10 years and I still pick up new ways of utilizing configuration whether it is exclusively with drive models or with, stock and/or fixtures.

[Eli_Dexter]

Thanks. I would greatly appreciate that feature.

[lenny_1962]

@al.whatmough yes nice vids! couldn't live without configs or display state in SW for machining.

@keith_clausen in 2012 when I first started to use HSMWorks the phone conversation we had really helped me get my head around using configurations, I first tried in a part file and struggled untill you explained that in a part file configs don't holed onto the toolpath do to that they were like never there.

then you explained that using them in an assembly and loading all the configs of the part and then using display states to hide and show, NOT SUPPRESS the instances was a life saver.

Thanx again for your support as a dealer and now still as a customer aka user or more accurate "an abuser" 

that how we figure stuff out......

lenny