Piece Details tab in mastercam Machine Group Properties

• A name for the piece
• The material to be used for stock
• The wire type (material and diameter)
• The quality of the cut
• The machining strategy to be used

Note: Although you are not required to enter a name for the piece, we recommend that you do. Naming each piece will help you easily store, sort, and locate pieces for future work.

• Setting the stock view

Select a stock view to properly orient the stock model with respect to your part. You can align the stock model to any named view saved in your part file. When you choose a stock view, the edges of the stock model will be parallel with the axes of the selected view.

Select a stock view when you will be creating wirepaths in a work coordinate system (WCS) other than Top and want to align the stock model to your part. If you have several wirepaths in the machine group that use more than one WCS, Mastercam will use the stock view to keep the stock model constant when the WCS for each operation changes. Mastercam stores the stock view with the stock definition, independent of the WCS.

To select a stock view, click the Stock View button and select the view from the View Selection dialog box.

Note: If you change the stock view, you might need to reset the stock origin.

• Setting the stock display

There are several ways to create stock models depending on your needs.

• Choose Fit screen to have the stock boundary lines are included when you use Mastercam’s Fit to Screen function when in the graphics window.
• Choose Wire frame to display the stock model as wire frame geometry. The geometry isn’t actually added to your part file, Mastercam simulates it based on the dimensions in this dialog box.
• Choose Solid to display the stock as a solid model. The solid isn’t actually added to your part file, Mastercam simulates it based on the dimensions in this dialog box.
• Setting the stock dimensions

Mastercam gives you several techniques for setting the stock dimensions. You can type the dimensions directly into the X, Y, and Z fields, or use the following methods when you don’t know the exact dimensions:

• Choose the Select corners button to return to the graphic window and select the two opposing corners of a 3D rectangle.
• Choose the Bounding box button to have Mastercam calculate the furthest points in your part geometry.
• Choose the NCI extents button to have Mastercam calculate the furthest points in your wirepaths, based on just the feedrate moves.

Mastercam will automatically enter the stock dimensions in the fields. You can then edit them as needed.

• Setting the stock origin

Use the stock origin to locate the stock relative to your part. In the dialog box, the cross (shown below) designates the Agievision edge position (stock origin).

The edge position for Agievision piece setup (stock setup) is always the lower left corner of the stock. The stock position in Mastercam is based on the placement of the Agievision edge position to the XYZ location created by the values entered in the Edge Position fields, relative to the WCS origin.

To change the location of the edge position (and therefore the stock), enter the coordinates of the new location in the Edge Position X, Y, Z fields, or click the Select button to choose a point in the graphics window.

Note: Use the Verify function to perform gouge checking.