ONGAA CAM for Wood CNCs

New with ONGAA CAM – for Homag, V 1.3.44 is the PNX file export capability during Nesting and Assembly level MPR generation.

PNX files are intended for integrating Panel Saw Optimization with CutRite / MagiCut.

As stated in the PNX format specification, the file contains the following fields with comma separators:

• Part Code
• Material Code
• Length
• Width
• Quantity
• % Over
• % Under
• Grain
• EdgeCode
• L1 Edgeband
• L2 Edgeband
• W1 Edgeband
• W2 Edgeband
• InfoBox1
• InfoBox2
• InfoBox3
• InfoBox4

Fields from L1 Edgeband to InfoBox4 are filled from Solidworks Custom properties, where all other fields are filled from ONGAA CAM data properties.

The actual format including which fields to shown is configurable (order and whether shown or not) which allows ONGAA CAM to integrate with other applications / process streams using only one format.

The intended usage is as follows: 

A model is created in Solidworks … Read the rest

Do I model with edgebanding included in the parts or do I model the raw parts and add edgebanding are parts to my assembly?  Do I have to make two models?

Modelling parts which may or may not be edge banded (depending on materials) pose a challenge when it comes to other software which may be part of a production flow.  This is particularly challenging when both sets of programs / files  are always sent to the shop and the flow is chosen on the floor.

Take for example a shelf which may be made or oak or  a plywood of some kind.  In the case of the plywood the 2 visible edges would need edgebanding, in the case of oak however it would not be.

Ideally the model of the part would be the same and therefore so would the program IF all possible production streams are equal.  But … Read the rest

MPR creation is often only one step in the overall manufacturing process.  The flow from ERP to program generation to ‘production’ to post production steps often relies on filenames to connect the steps.

In ONGAA CAM MPR names are traditionally based on the model name.  This poses a challenge when ‘other software’ cannot read a longer filename or when the programs need to adhere to a specific naming convention that is not related to the SolidWorks part names.  This situation is particularly relevant when MPR programs on the shop floor come from a library rather than generated each time they are needed.  Orders arrive on the floor with product codes and quantities.  For example:

86400-02 QTY 30

86300-04 QTY 30

With properly created barcodes on the orders, these are efficient and accurate for loading jobs.

For this reason, ONGAA CAM has a new feature to read SOLIDWORKS custom properties to … Read the rest

INCHES for Operators

Although the ‘underlying’ Units of measure of both SOLIDWORKS and WoodWOP are metric, this does not help operators accustomed to units in Inches.

Since one of the 4 ‘Guiding Mandates’ of ONGAA CAM is ‘ allow the operator to perform all operations as before’, we felt we should do something about this.

As of version 1.3.34, ONGAA CAM generates WoodWOP programs in Inches.  This is independent of the Units of Measure of the model or programming units.  Simply turn the option ON and ONGAA CAM creates the MPR with the WoodWOP Inch indicator ON and values in inches.  All ‘geometric measures’ are converted to Inches as the MPR is generated.  This includes all X,Y,Z locations, distances, radii and depths.

It should be noted that, at this time, programming in ONGAA CAM is still in metric (expected and displayed).  This ensures that all programs (old and new) will … Read the rest

Making ONGAA CAM easier to use and save even more of your valuable time has been the focus of the design team over the past few months and it has paid off. ONGAA CAM now provides an even easier and faster way to add machining to models.

• Drill all vertical holes on a FACE with a single ONGAA CAM process.
• Create all vertical pockets on a FACE or SKETCH with a single ONGAA CAM process.
• Create all polygon pockets on a SKETCH with a single ONGAA CAM process.

Vertical drills and Vertical pockets both provide Min/Max criteria to allow smart WoodWOP process creation when using faces as the source of the geometry. Simply select the FACE, click All Holes and ONGAA CAM generates a vertical drill process in WoodWOP for each hole that meets the min/max criteria. As with all ONGAA CAM processes, the ‘instructions’ to expand a face

Making ‘spline’ contours is a time consuming process in WoodWOP but with ONGAA CAM, smooth contours are simple and fast.

In WoodWOP the process usually starts with a list of points that came from a drawing or by manual calculations.   These points are then entered, if done correctly, as ARC segments or LINE segments.  The result should be a smooth approximation of the curve.

Unfortunately many other programs that generate MPR contours only generate straight line segments.

In this image we show the difference between a straight segment ellipse (lower half stating with the blue segment) and an arc segment ellipse (upper half).

In each case, the segment lengths are the same.  The segments are easy to see in the lower half but the upper half required a square mark to identify the end of segment #2.

And If you can see it here, you will definitely see it in … Read the rest

Decorative panels in millwork are not new but they can be expensive.  Sometimes the quantity required just does not justify the cost and time to order it.

If you have  ordered and used some (and also have a Homag/Weeke CNC machine) you have looked at it carefully and said I could make that if I had enough time or the right software.

Well the right software is now available.   WaveGenerator, by ONG Solutions,  creates ready to machine MPR files to create waveboards.  Since the MPRs are 100% WoodWOP compliant all options are available to the operator.  The application is standalone and requires no additional software.

So why should you make your own?  Here are just some of the reasons.

• Cost:  At $600 a sheet purchased vs.   a 4 X 8 sheet of standard material machined in 17 minutes.
• On Demand: Final materials are not never held up in

As many of you already know, just because you can draw it does not mean its easy to create a WoodWOP contour to match — well at least not by hand or using DXF…

With ONGAA CAM it is as easy as selecting edges and whatever machining parameters WoodWOP wants to know. (Direction of travel, tool number ,  Tool compensation etc.)

Take for example the outline of the state of Indiana.

In ONGAA CAM (SOLIDWORKS), simply select a starting point, the first edge and then select tangency. Then with a couple more edge selections to close the loop we are done with the now 51 edges including straight line, arcs and spline curves.

Now launch WoodWOP from within ONGAA CAM to see the result.

It really is that simple.

The contour delivered to WoodWOP is 831 lines and arcs that fall within the 0.5 mm default approximation setting.

 … Read the rest

Auto-Nesting is a vital time-saver for any cabinet manufacturer.

ONGAA CAM now offers a basic auto nesting function that works directly from the assembly.

Options include:

• auto rotate of part (here grain does not matter)
• fill horizontally or fill vertically
• align to grain (each part to the current sheet)
• sorting options which may alter the part arrangements.
• multi-sheet output

Contact us today to see how ONGAA CAM can increase your productivity (and possibly quality of life).  We will arrange an online demonstration your parts and assemblies so you know it will work for you.

It is not often that a customer is so pleased with a product that they take extra time to say ‘thank you’.

In this case the thank you came as ‘The First Part’ the customer produced with ONGAA CAM.

The part was modeled in SOLIDWORKS 2011 and used ONGAA CAM V1.140 for the HOMAG series CNC machines.

Once processing was applied,ONGAA CAM produced the MPR file  (compatible with WoodWOP 5 and 6) used to NC Gen the final instructions.

The only issues we ran into was getting the part drawn accurately.  The beauty was as we corrected the drawing,all our processing moved with it.  ’No recalculations required!’.

This view of WoodWOP provides a glimpse into how it could have been created manually with each calculation done by hand. (and drawing changes need to be recalculated)

The part required machining on all 6 sides.  With the … Read the rest