ONGAA CAM for Wood CNCs

With ONGAA CAM you can create all the required processes for applying edge trim to the goods you manufacture with your Homag BAZ or other HOMAG/Weeke edge banding capable machine.

• Cleaning / Air
• Edge Glueing
• Snipping
• Trimming
• Notching
• Corner rounding

Update #2:  ONGAA CAM Nesting for Biesseworks – has been released.

Nesting is performed efficiently directly from Solidworks.  Nest up to 99 sheets with optimization and automatic separation of parts based on material and thickness.

Update :  ONGAA CAM Basic for Biesseworks – has been released and is available today.

ONGAA CAM Basic includes Drilling (Vert+Horiz), Routing (Vert + Horiz), Pockets (Rect. and polygon) and saw processes.

Contact us to arrange a demonstration today.

See how ONGAA CAM for Biessworks can make your programming easy directly from the SolidWork Model without DXF imports .  Watch our Video preview

Work on creating an ONGAA CAM version for BiesseWorks is underway.  The target release date in mid 2014 after the Beta testing has been completed.

This version will integrate as smoothly with BiesseWorks as it does with Homag’s WoodWOP.

Just imagine a world with  ‘no more DXF … Read the rest

Optimizing Processes and Optimizing MPRs

Nesting – or combining multiple parts onto one sheet is a vital function for ‘Flat Table’ operators.

Until now, ONGAA CAM‘s ability to nest ‘complete assemblies’ has been received with both enthusiasm and a little reservation.

Users have ‘enthusiastically’ created all kinds of assemblies in SOLIDWORKS, combining nested assemblies, parts with multiple configurations and ONGAA CAM has created multiple sheet MPRs without a hitch.

Then came the next requests for improvements …

• How do I optimize the the processes? — the generated nested MPR made one part at a time — I want the number of tool changes to be reduced.
• I have a big assembly, how do I do more than 4 sheets.
• How do I tell ‘what part is what’ when looking at the nesting preview.
• How do I print the nest layout (with parts listed) so the ‘guys on the floor’

Since nesting is all about ‘optimizing’, we took another look at optimizing the nesting process to see where we could improve upon what we had.

Step 1, has not changed.  From an assembly click ‘Gen, Nested MPR’

With a single click, all ‘unsuppressed’ parts of the assembly will be listed, sized and initially laid out on as many sheets as it takes and that layout displayed.

The nesting process will take a ‘configured’ sheet size – width, length and thickness as well as a perimeter scrap dimension ans apply these while arranging the parts.

Grain orientation of part and board was available in the previous release as were the numerous layout options and these remain the same.

Step 2, Adjusting the layout options has new features added to help the process.

The first is a quick reset of the sheet thickness based on the thickness of the parts.  If … Read the rest

If you have ever needed to create a smooth, ‘arbitrary’, curved contour in WoodWOP from a SOLIDWORKS model you have probably been a little disappointed with the results.  ‘It’s not smooth!’.

The primary reason is in how the spline is converted into the WoodWOP contour and not how it is machined.

Most conversion programs will convert points on the spline to accurate contour points but they connect the points with straight lines.  Only by reducing the distance between the points can the contour be improved.   ONGAA CAM takes the connecting line into account as well and if it is curved, it supplies WoodWOP with the information to define an ARC.  This arc simulates the actual spline much more closely.

Take for example a perfect circle and imagine selecting 8 points along the circle to ‘guesstimate’ the contour.  This is of course exaggerated but it illustrates the point.  Now use those … Read the rest

We were recently asked to summarize the benefits of using ONGAA CAM over generating DXF layers to load machining into WoodWOP as MPR (MPRX).

To those using ONGAA CAM the benefits are clear:

• No need to create drawings and layers.
• No need to edit each process in WoodWOP to add the parameters that can’t be set in the ‘cryptic layer names’ – like tools changes
• No need to learn a new interface – ONGAA CAM provides access to all WoodWOP parameters.
• One click MPR load into WoodWOP – ‘visual verification’.
• Complex contours including lines, arcs and splines simply by selection
• Hole Wizard arrays and Linear Pattern arrays in one selection.

But the above lists does not fully capture all the benefits because as we all know ‘first time’ is not always right.  What happens if the model needs to be adjusted?   Lets say two features were moved by 2mm and … Read the rest

As with all thing,s a path is easy to follow when you can see it.  Toolpaths are no different.

The straight forward – follow these edges – toolpaths are a snap in current version of ONGAA CAM.  Click on a vertex, then an edge and another and so on.  The resulting toolpath is both simple and easy to visualize.

But what about surfaces? Those 3 dimensional curves than have no points or lines to click on.

Well, we are going something about those.  PLY file generation will allow you to select a surface and ONGAA CAM will map out a toolpath to machine the surface.  Files will be MPR compliant files able to be used both in ONGAA CAM as well as WoodWOP. With options like ‘Step Increment’, WoodWOP tool selection and path trace angle several ply files can be produced providing initial clearing, rough and finishing toolpaths.

 … Read the rest