Drilling Holes Normal to the Face of a Contoured Surface

[billstorrs]

Drill Normal to Surface at Points

 

Overview

NX CAM's automated holemaking method now uses the surface normal vector at each selected point on a face as the tool axis to drill holes normal to the face. This enhancement is useful when the centerline of the drill is required to follow the contours of a surface. Prior to this enhancement, holes made with automatic methods were drilled parallel to the Z axis of the Absolute Coordinate System.

 

Created with NX CAM 10.0.3

Details

To drill holes normal to the face, points must be created using Point on Face or Face Points. Any other point creation method will result in the tool axis being parallel to the +Z axis of the Absolute Coordinate System.

Video

(If you have problems with the embedded player, you can download the attached .mp4 file.)

Self-Demo

Save the attached part file locally and follow the instructions in the .pdf document.

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About the Author

Bill Storrs is in the CAM Product Management Group at Siemens PLM software, Cypress California. His main focus is on CAM usability and learning support. He currently leads the CAM Learning Initiative Team whose mission is to provide users with a comprehensive collection of reference and training materials. He has an M.A. in Corporate Training and Development and has been in the industry for over 20 years.