Mastercam ProDrill
Mastercam ProDrill is a Mastercam add-on for feature-based hole programming that automates CAM programming for parts with numerous holes and multi-stage hole geometries. It recognizes hole features from the CAD model and can use them to generate the required tool planes, tools, and toolpaths.
ProDrill is suitable for both simple drilling applications and parts with holes involving multiple diameters, machining stages, or operations performed from different directions. Drilling strategies can be generated automatically or defined according to the company’s own tools and machining methods. ProDrill works with Mastercam Mill, Mill 3D, Router, and Router 3D configurations.
Mastercam ProDrill for Automatic Programming of Holes and Multi-Stage Hole Geometries
Programming parts with a large number of holes can involve numerous individual operations, tool changes, and tool planes. Mastercam ProDrill recognizes hole geometries from surface or solid models and helps centrally create the machining operations required for them.
ProDrill can be used to program operations such as drilling, counterboring, reaming, boring, chamfering, countersinking, threading, and circular milling. Custom drilling forms can also be created for hole geometries that cannot be handled using individual standard operations alone.
A custom machining sequence can be defined for a multi-stage hole, with operations such as drilling, counterboring, reaming, and chamfering performed in a specified order. When the same hole geometry occurs multiple times in a part, the same drilling strategy can be applied to the recognized features without programming each hole individually.
ProDrill is also suitable for parts with holes located on multiple surfaces and oriented in different directions. The rotation and order of tool planes can be optimized to prevent unnecessary back-and-forth machine indexing between different hole orientations. Toolpaths can be created for all recognized operations or only for selected holes and machining steps.
Hole Recognition, Drilling Strategies, and Automatic Tool Plane Management
Mastercam ProDrill can automatically recognize the hole features in a part and associate them with predefined drilling strategies. Users can take advantage of automatic recognition or define themselves how different hole geometries should be machined.
The required tools, machining operations, and tool planes can be assigned to each strategy. When ProDrill analyzes a part, it can create the necessary planes, tools, and toolpaths based on the recognized holes. This reduces repetitive programming work, especially for parts with many identical or similar holes.
ProDrill also allows users to define their own multi-diameter drilling forms and the drilling strategies associated with them. This makes it possible to create a custom machining sequence for stepped, counterbored, or multi-stage holes and reuse it for similar geometries.
Toolpaths can be grouped and the order of tool planes optimized so that holes facing the same direction, along with their associated operations, can be processed in an efficient sequence. This reduces unnecessary indexing, tool-plane changes, and machine movements, especially when holes are located on multiple surfaces of a part.
Contact us if you want to automate hole programming with Mastercam ProDrill.
