James Wakeford, president of Mastercam reseller Barefoot CNC, has consulted extensively with the Stewart-Haas shop to refine postprocessors so that all machines behave similarly and optimize workflows.
Post and Go—Since everyone in the shop uses the same
equipment, the shop team only has to deal with two controllers. To further simplify matters, Stewart-Haas Racing has done a lot of work with Barefoot CNC, its Mastercam Reseller, to fine-tune the postprocessors so that there is very little that has to be done at the CNC machines aſter the manufacturing program has been posted. “We just adjust the center of rotation to suit the machine we will be using and post it out and it’s good to go,” Harris said. Untended Reliability—Once the programmer has used
Mastercam’s simulation to verify that the program has no clearance issues, the users will set it up on the machine, push the start button, and walk away to begin working on some- thing else. One of the reasons he can do this is because many of the programs Stewart-Haas uses today rely on Mastercam’s dynamic toolpaths. Because these toolpaths adjust feeds and speeds in anticipation of encountering additional material (e.g., a corner), the program will not allow a tool to be buried and break. Tis safety factor provides the user with lots of uninterrupted time to get all of his other work done. 3D and 3+2—Stewart-Haas is scheduling more and more
of its work on its five-axis equipment. “Every job seems like it is headed more in that direction,” said Harris. Te engineers have multiple objectives in improving the part designs. Tese include better functionality, performance, and reliability along with reduced weight. Tey don’t hesitate to move out of the 2D world and into 3D to add features that will fulfill any one of these objectives. Tis is particularly true of weight reduction, which is measured by the team not in ounces but in grams. Dynamic
toolpaths allow the tool to work in close areas without creating undue stress on the part or the tool to remove every last gram of material possible without compromising the part’s struc- tural integrity. Aluminum Speed on Hard Metal—Mastercam’s dy-
namic toolpaths are also helping the shop to blaze through hard materials at unprecedented speed without burning up tools. Harris said, “Most recently we did a job with the Peel Mill toolpath. It gave us tremendous savings in tool life. Te part was machined from a 4140 heat-treated material (Rockwell 32) and its second operation called for peeling off a flange—we call it a hat—all the way around the part. By us- ing Mastercam’s Peel Mill dynamic toolpath with a half-inch (13-mm) carbide end mill they were able to run at aluminum speeds and feeds. Te tool was engaged along the full flute but the step-over was only 0.04" (0.1 mm). We were running at almost 3500 rpm and 75 ipm (1900 mm/min) and getting tremendous tool life.”
Season Begins In November Ironically, the racing season is a relatively normal time
for the Stewart-Haas Racing Team. Aſter the last race of the season on Sunday, November 17, at Homestead-Miami Speed- way, things will really heat up at the shop. Te shop team will then be back to 10-hour days racing to manufacture new part designs for next year’s racing cars.
Edited by Yearbook Editor James D. Sawyer from information provided by CNC Software Inc.
Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing 83
Photo courtesy CNC Software Inc.
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