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Tool Manager

The Mastercam Tool Manager application is designed used to create and manage tool libraries databases (TOOLDB files) that can be specific to a job and/or machine. These tool libraries can be used as part of a job ‘kit’ that resides on one machine, or travels with the part.

The recommended workflow is to set up your tool libraries databases using the Tool Manager, and then use those libraries databases (as the ‘Tool library’) in Mastercam to apply to specific jobs, parts, and machines. This means that system allows a single tool in your carousel can to be programmed for multiple materials and applications.

The Tool Manager is used to apply material (see Supported Materials) and operation (see Supported Supported Operations) properties Material, Tool Assemblies (Cutting Tools and Holders) and Cut Parameters to a tool: . CAM Assist uses these properties to appropriately automate toolpath operations.

CAM Assist makes use of the Cut Parameters configured in the Tool Manager specifically (as shown in the following screenshot).

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Materials

The following table shows the materials that are supported by CAM Assist.

The table uses the following columns:

• Material - name of the material.

• Abbreviation - abbreviation of the material, as used in the ‘Allowed Materials’ column of CAM Assist’s ‘Tool use’ table.

• Alternative names - alternatives names for the ‘Material’ that are supported by CAM Assist.

Material

Abbreviation

('Tool use' tab)

Alternative names

(You can use these for the material aspect of a Cut Parameter Name field)

Aluminum

Al

Aluminium, Alu, Ally, Aly, Al

Brass

Br

High Carbon Steel

S_H

HighCarbonSteel, HighCarbon Steel, High_Carbon Steel, High_Carbon_Steel, HighCarbon_Steel, HCS

Low Carbon Steel

S_L

LowCarbonSteel, LowCarbon Steel, Low_Carbon Steel, Low_Carbon_Steel, LowCarbon_Steel, LCS, Mild Steel, MildSteel, Mild_Steel, MS

Stainless Steel

SS

StainlessSteel, Stainless_Steel, Stainless Steel, SS

Titanium

Ti

Super alloy, SuperAlloy, Super_Alloy, Super Alloys, SuperAlloys, Super_Alloys, Ti

Operations

The following table shows the operations that are supported by CAM Assist:

The table uses the following columns:

• Operation - name of the operation.

• Abbreviation - abbreviation of the material, as used in the ‘Allowed Operations’ column of CAM Assist’s ‘Tool use’ table.

• Tool type - associated tool type.

• Toolpath type - associated checkboxes in the Advanced tab.

• Alternative name - alternatives names for the ‘Operation’ that can also be used in Fusion and are supported by CAM Assist.

Operation

Abbreviation' Tool use' tab

Tool type

Toolpath type ‘Advanced’ tab

Alternative names
You can use these for the operation in the Cutting Parameter Name field

Ball finishing

Ba

Ball mill

Finishing

BallFinishing, Ball_Finishing

Chamfering

Ch

Chamfer mill

Deburring
Finishing

Chamfer

Drilling

D

Drill

Hole making

Drill

Face finishing

Ff

Face mill

Face milling

FaceFinishing, Face_Finishing

Face roughing

Fr

Face mill

Face milling

FaceRoughing, Face_Roughing

Finishing

F

Finishing

Finishing

Flat finishing

Fl

End mill

Finishing

FlatFinishing, Flat_Finishing, Floor Finishing, FloorFinishing, Floor_Finishing

Helical boring

HB

End mill

Hole making

HelicalBoring, Helical_Boring

Roughing

R

Roughing

Bulk roughing
Detailed roughing

Spot drilling

SD

Spot drill

Hole making

SpotDrilling, Spot_Drilling

Tapping

Ta

Taps

Hole making

Tap

Threading

Th

Thread mill

Hole making

Thread

Wall Finishing

Wa

End mill

Finishing

WallFinishing, Wall_Finishing

Smart Keywords

Smart keywords can be used to assign one Cut Parameter to multiple operations within CAM Assist.

For example, you could use the cutting data preset “Aluminum - Side milling” to assign it feeds and speeds to the Roughing, Wall finishing, Flat finishing, and Helical boring operations of a tool.

For more details, see Smart Keywords.

Materials

The default materials used in a tool database file need to align with CAM Assist in order to be recognized. For new tool database files, simply copy all of the Materials from one of the demo libraries, and paste them into your target file using the Tool Manager application.

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The materials in this list populate the list used in the Material ISO Group in the Cut Parameters database (see below).

Tool Assemblies

Cutting Tools

The Cutting Tool field in the Tool Manager defines the core properties of the tool.

Holders

Holder geometry is required by CAM Assist in order to produce safe and gouge-free strategy output.

Setting up Presets with Cut Parameters

CAM Assist makes use of the Cut Parameters configured in the Mastercam Tool Manager specifically for differentiating tool use between different materialsand applications. For example, the same tool assembly can be configured to rough Aluminum, or to Flat Finish Stainless Steel via Cut Parameters.

Each Tool Assembly can reference multiple Cut Parameters.

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For each Cut Parameter the following properties are used by CAM Assist:

• Name

• Material ISO Group

• Surface Speed

• Feed Per Tooth

Naming and Linking

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In order for CAM Assist to associate the Cut Parameters (Presets) to the Tool Assembly, the Assembly Name and the Cut Parameter Name properties have to have matching entries.

In this example, the Tool Assembly Assembly Name and the Cut Parameter Name both use a matching number, “22101“:

In this example, the Tool Assembly Assembly Name and the Cut Parameter Name both use a matching name, ““:

Along with this, the Supported Operation can also be used. (See Supported Operations for more details).

The Name is entered in the General Properties area:

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Material ISO Group

The Material ISO Group will be selected from the Materials database (see above).

The Material ISO Group is entered in the General Properties area:

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Surface Speed

Surface speed is the cutting speed in surface feet per minute or surface meters per minute depending on the setting of the Metric checkbox. T

This value is entered in the Properties > Operation space:

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Feed Per Tooth

Feed Per Tooth is the amount of feed per tooth, based on the number of flutes in the tool definition.

This value is entered in the Properties > Operation space:

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It is not required that Surface Speed and Feed Per Tooth be set up for each tool. If these properties are not set, CAM Assist Cutting Parameters will be used to generate the feeds and speeds for the operation.