Soft Jaws Designer - Step-by-Step

Owned by Geoffrey Brennan
Oct 10, 2024
4 min read

This page contains step-by-step instructions on using the CloudNC Soft Jaw Designer to design jaws for a selected part.

Step-by-step instructions

1

With a part open in Mastercam, select the Soft Jaw Designer icon.

If you have not already logged into the CloudNC service, you will be asked to log in via a browser window.

 

Soft Jaw Designer in Mastercam.png

 

2

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, select the Part to define the soft jaws:

A. Select the Part button, then

B. Select the part in the Mastercam workspace area.

To re-select an item, use the Clear selection button.

 

 

Soft Jaws Part.png

3 (Optional)

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, select the Jaw stock bodies to modify:

A. Select the Jaw stock button, then

B, C. Select the jaw stock bodies in the Mastercam workspace area.

The Soft Jaw Designer can be used to modify existing geometry, or to create soft jaw stock bodies. Skip this step to have the Soft Jaw Designer create the jaw stock bodies.

 

4

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, select the Jaw Orientation values:

A. Select the Spindle direction button

B. Select the face on the part (or other geometry) that will define the orthogonal direction for the spindle.

C. Select the Jaw opening direction button

D. Select a face on the part (or other geometry) that will define the normal-to opening direction.

 

5

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, define the Jaw Geometry values:

A. Enter/edit values in the Jaw Geometry fields:

  1. Length - size of the jaw stock along the X-axis.

  2. Width - size of the jaw stock along the Y-axis.

  3. Height - size of the jaw stock along the Z-axis.

  4. Gap - distance between the two jaw stocks.

 

 

6

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, define the Jaw Position values:

A. Enter/edit Jaw Position values:

  1. X - in the XY plane along the X-axis, the displacement of the center of the jaw stock from the center of the selected body.

  2. Y - in the XY plane along the Y-axis, the displacement of the center of the jaw stock from the center of the selected body.

  3. Z - amount of height of the body plunged into the soft jaws, as calculated for the bottom of the selected body.

 

7

Within the Soft Jaw Designer panel, define the Cut-out Geometry values:

A. Enter/edit the Cut-out Geometry values:

  1. Corner Relief Drill Size - Corner relief drills holes in corners for part fit. Ensure the specified size is suitable for the tool library that will be used to machine the soft jaws; amend if required.

  2. All-around Clearance - ensure the clearance between the internal edge of the jaws and the part is suitable; amend if required.

  3. Interlock Prevention - considers the complexity of the part’s shape and how the part will be secured by the jaws as they close and when they are closed.

B. Multilevel - check the checkbox if the part needs a multilevel soft jaw design.

If ‘Multilevel’ is checked (optional):

C. Click the Select Z levels button then,

D,E. Select geometry on the part to define the Z-levels for multilevel geometry.

Hit Esc on the keyboard to complete geometry selection.

The Select button captions changes to reflect the number of Z-levels selected.

 

 

8

Click the Green Check button to produce the Soft Jaws.

 

 

Soft Jaw results may vary. For instance, additional features may be needed prior to machining the jaw stocks. Occasionally the cut-out process will require re-running the Soft Jaw Designer, using the produced jaw stocks again, and adding the cut-outs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Steps

Once the soft jaws have been created, try machining them with CAM Assist!