Using NX CAM Templates

NX CAM are used as a master model technique.  You have a file that you are the owner of while the master geometry can remain untouched.  It is a one-component assembly.   Using a template has many benefits and can be customized for individual machines on the floor and can have fixturing, tools, operations, speeds, feeds etc. When you use the template, you will have access to all of the geometry and information defined in it.

If you have been creating manufacturing operations in the geometry file, you may be thinking that it will be painfull to copy all of the operations and re-select the geometry from the piece part up into a template.  Good News!  There is a command to do that for you.

Beginning in NX11 a command was added that may have slipped under your radar.  It is..

Here’s an example of its use:

Step 1.
I have opened a piece-part that has a couple of operations in it.

Step 2.
File → New  (To create a master model template file)

Step 3.
Choose a template from the list, change the file name if you wish. (By default it will be the name of the part with _setup_1.prt  i.e. piece-part-name_setup_1.prt)

Step 4.
Filter to a directory to save this new template file to.  It is best to save it in the same directory that the part was retrieved from.

The Part to Reference will assume that you want to reference the piece part you previously opened.  Here is an example of the lower part of the dialog:

Step 5.
Press OK.

A new template will open and you can see that it is an assembly and there are no operations in it.

Step 6.
Menu → Tools → Copy CAM from component.

It is easy to miss having seen this option before.  The Tools cascade is a very long window and you need to scroll down to the lower portion of it.

After selecting this option return to the operation Navigator.  You will see a new parent group has been created in the template and the operations were pasted into it along with the tools and other necessary geometry.

The MCS was duplicated and the part and blank geometry are set in new parent group.  Now you can organize the navigator to meet your need.