“Revolutionizing the Machining World with a Unique Patented Milling Technology”

The story of SolidCAM began in 1984 when Dr. Emil Somekh founded it, interested in bringing 3D CAD and CAM to the PC, starting relatively small and then branching out to the rest of the world. From the beginning, the company has concentrated on CAM, to be fully integrated into the leading 3D CAD products: SolidWorks and Inventor. SolidCAM company, its branches, affiliates, and resellers are customer-centric, with technical support centers around the world, staffed by experienced machinists. SolidCAM also has close relationships with major CNC machine and Cutting tools manufacturers.

Dr. Somekh, CEO at SolidCAM, has the right combination of engineering, manufacturing, software development, marketing, and sales expertise. More than 20,000 manufacturing companies and machine shops in the world use the SolidCAM product today.

SolidCAM’s unique 2D and 3D iMachining technology consists of two modules: an intelligent Tool Path Generator that calculates efficient, morphed spiral and trochoidal tool paths, that ensure constant spindle load; and the iMachining Technology Wizard that provides users with optimal speeds and feeds, taking into account the toolpath, stock and cutting tool material, and the unique specifications off the CNC machine performing the machining. “I established the company with the aim of developing an easy-to-use and to learn CAM system, fully integrated in the most popular CAD systems, SOLIDWORKS and Autodesk Inventor,” says the steadfast leader. “We also accomplished a revolution in machining by developing the iMachining toolpath, that saves 70% and more in machining time and extends cutting tool life dramatically.”

"SolidCAM's unique revolutionary iMachining technology saves 70% and more in machining time and extends tool life dramatically.”.

The key to achieving the highest possible metal removal rates is to generate optimized tool paths, with variable cutting angles and feed rates at every point of the toolpath, to ensure constant spindle load. This toolpath avoids the shocks that occur when material engagement changes abruptly, for example, when a tool hits the corner of a pocket. Without this capability, one must manage feed rates for the worst-case cutter load scenarios, making cycle times much longer than necessary. Moreover, maintaining a constant spindle load substantially reduces vibrations, thus yielding dramatic increases in tool life and better surface finishes.

The iMachining Technology Wizard removes practically all of the guesswork involved with setting how fast a machine spindle should spin, the feed rate of the cutting tool, stepover adjustments, and how deep to cut. With all the automation in iMachining, the only adjustment users normally have to make, is with the iMachining level slider, that controls how aggressive the operator wants the machine to remove the material. “Imagine putting the knowledge and experience of hundreds of CAM and CNC masters in the palm of your hand – Experience the iMachining Wizard and Tool Path!” says Dr. Somekh.

According to Dr. Somekh, with iMachining cutting tool life also can be increased 5-10 times, and the technology excels at machining hard materials and using small diameter tools. iMachining solves three major problems relating to standard tool paths – over-loaded tools (with controlled step overs), “cutting” air (with exact stock machining), and non-tangent tool paths (with smooth tangent tool paths for smooth machining). Unlike most competitors, SolidCAM iMachining cuts relatively deep with more contact points, thus minimizing tool vibration and prolonging tool life.

The SolidCAM product provides also today the most professional machining solution for the Advanced Mill-Turn and Swiss-type CNC machines niche. These multi-tasking machines can be fast programmed with SolidCAM, using advanced Multi-Channel synchronization. Full machine simulation enables the complete checking of the resulting toolpath, to prevent against potential crashes.

Summing up, Dr Somekh says: “The CNC machining market is advancing all the time, using more productive but more complex CNC machines, and SolidCAM always continues to provide the cutting-edge CAM programming for these advanced CNC machines”. IE