This announcement got me thinking. Though I have experience writing programs in Mastercam and running a Haas mill and lathe, I never felt I needed a third-party preview or verification tool.
So the biggest question for me was whether VERICUT is even necessary for CNC users?
Let’s take a look at what VERICUT is and what it improves with its new release.
First and foremost, VERICUT is software built to translate G-CODE into an animated visualization. Where other CAM software condenses its visualization to a zoomed-in view of a tool and the material it’s ready to rip, VERICUT has the ability to simulate the entire machine. This makes it useful for seeing machine-wide mechanical interactions.
In the 7.4 release, CGTech has taken that visualization technology and attempted to make it easier to use. For starters, VERICUT now comes equipped with a “Common Processes” display that immediately appears once the software has been initialized. Housed in this panel are frequently used first actions that can immediately immerse a user in their verification processes and modules. To expand 7.4’s emphasis on ease-of-use, the desktop can be customized to suit any user’s needs. If tools on the left need to be moved more centrally, VERICUT can now oblige.
Building on those improvements, VERICUT also features a new Tool Manager interface that improves user interaction. With an added toolbar, 7.4 users can navigate through icons and pulldown menus that bring tool libraries, tool assemblies and other critical features to a user’s fingertips.
“VERICUT is constantly refined to provide the flexibility and tools our customers require. We are committed to continually introducing technology to automate manual tasks and increase productivity and throughput.” said Bill Hasenjaeger, CGTech’s product marketing manager.
VERICUT has also debuted a new module named Force in its 7.4 release. According to CGTech, Force is a physics and math-based module that can be used to optimize machining rates. Using this new module, time can be chipped away from a program’s run-time and tools can be saved from unnecessary wear. Overall, Force looks to be a money saving tool.
Finally, CGTech also mentions more than 500 other improvements that were customer driven.
Which brings us back to my original question-- who would use this verification package?
The answer is engineers and machinists working in high-production situations such as automotive and aerospace, or precision instrumentation shops. In these environments, there is a premium placed on shaving every possible second from a program’s runtime, and more likely than not, there will be 5-axis machines performing precise manufacturing contortions. With VERICUT, extraneous movements, underperforming feed speeds and other factors can be brought to heel and whipped into the tightest possible configuration. Similarly, VERICUT gives a user a chance to view a machine’s motion as it twists and winds through a 5-axis program, allowing the correction of mis-choreographed motions before disaster strikes.
VERICUT might also be useful as a standard pass/fail filter for any hand-coded modifications made by machinists in a company. With software like VERICUT, any shop manager can send a program through VERICUT to detect errors or impending collisions that could shut down a shop, ruin an expensive blank or damage a machine and its tools.
For that reason alone, VERICUT seems like an excellent investment for serious machinists.