Cycle Shop Streamlines Startup with Mastercam

Company: Lucas Cycle
Problem: Get operations rolling with new part models and processes
Solution: Mastercam software
Results: Production targets achieved within 1 year of startup

“It’s a show bike with a twist,” is how Brownsburg, Indiana-based Lucas Cycles describes one of its custom production motorcycles.

The start-up motorcycle manufacturer is an offshoot of Lucas Oil, a private oil marketer that supplies truckers, auto-racers and bike racers with oil formulations that are designed to offer protection while enhancing engine performance. Having already attended bike shows and racing events with its own promotional motorcycle, the company says it felt that introducing its own line of bikes and apparel seemed like a logical brand extension.

Robert Crain, Lucas Cycle’s chief designer and manufacturing engineer who runs the machine shop, joined the five-person staff early in 2006. At that time, Mr. Crain says he outlined a mission: design five models and manufacturing processes that would get the new company up to what he refers to as “respectable levels” of production and profitability as quickly as possible. To accomplish this, the start-up team drew heavily on industry experience, a solid work ethic and CAD and manufacturing equipment.

Shortly after Mr. Crain signed on, the company took delivery on its primary piece of manufacturing equipment, a four-axis VF3 machining center from Haas Automation Inc. (Oxnard, California). That same day, the company acquired Mastercam software from Mastercam/CNC Software, Inc. (Tolland, Connecticut)

“In the beginning, I practically lived on the CAD/CAM system, designing bikes, fixtures, tooling and individual parts,” Mr. Crain says. “Within 3 months, we were manufacturing bikes.”

According to the company, Mastercam Version 9 has substantial design capabilities. Lucas is able to use one program to accomplish parts design and create tool paths, thus eliminating the need to go back and forth between different CAD and CAM packages.

About halfway through the first year, Mastercam X arrived. This software has advanced user interface features that improve design productivity, the manufacturer says. For example, the design system monitors the user’s work patterns. It places icons for the most commonly used functions on toolbars that load up and display automatically. Functions previously buried under several layers of menus can be accessed with just one click. Mr. Crain estimates that this one feature saves him at least 1 hour of design time each week. While a majority of the parts created for the first three models are still in Version 9, he can call up the files in Mastercam X and use them nearly immediately without any translation.
Read the full story here: http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0307bp3.html

Mastercam Announces Winner of 2nd Annual Educational “IOF” Contest

The winner of the Mastercam IOF (Innovator of the Future) contest for the 2006 academic year is Bernie Sievers, a student in the Advanced Manufacturing Program at Vincennes University (Vincennes, IN). This is the second year that a Vincennes University student has been the winner of the contest, thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of their instructor, Doug Bowman.

Mastercam IOF promotes real-world manufacturing projects by challenging students to produce a specific part that will be judged by a special guest from the manufacturing industry. Mastercam IOF required entrants to design and build ¼ scale shock absorbers for monster trucks, without the aid of springs.

Celebrity judge Paul “Pablo” Huffaker, owner of RaceSource, Inc., and driver of the Grave Digger XVI and Captain’s Curse monster trucks, was incredibly impressed with the parts submitted by the students. Pablo is a user of Mastercam himself. Bernie Sievers’ winning entry was a gas-charged shock designed to look like a gun barrel and scope. Bernie is a race car enthusiast and is interested in applying his skills to 5-axis CNC machining.

A ceremony is being held at Vincennes University on May 31, with Pablo showing off the Grave Digger truck and presenting Bernie with his $1000 scholarship. For complete details on the Mastercam IOF competition, please visit http://www.mastercamiof.com/.

Have You Made the Switch to X Yet?

If not, here are some resources to help make your move as quick and painless as possible:

In-House Solutions Tutorials:
In-House Solutions tutorials are comprehensive, step-by-step curriculum courseware for all your Mastercam training needs. The tutorials contain projects with instructions that guide you from geometry creation to G-code generation. Helpful hints, tool and material libraries, as well as toolpath parameter descriptions are included. Each tutorial has additional drawings that will challenge you to practice what you have learned. Tutorials are available for Mill, Lathe, Wire, Multiaxis, Router, and many more. For more information, visit www.inhousesolutions.com/training/books.php.

Streamingteacher Courseware:
Streamingteacher Courseware makes Mastercam X training available on-line. Get up to speed at your own pace and fit learning in when you have the time. With Streamingteacher, you can learn anywhere where Internet access is available. You learn using powerful streaming videos that are designed to be followed in Mastercam. Downloadable files allow you to work along with the projects being shown in the videos. You can pause, rewind, and replay each video segment as many times as you like during your learning experience. And, you have access to training 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, from anywhere. To learn more about Streamingteacher, go to www.streamingteacher.com.

Mastercam Handbooks:
The Mastercam Handbooks “courses-in-a-box” are designed by machinists and deliver complete, real-world examples using Mastercam. These handbooks teach computer basics, CAM concepts, and Mastercam applications for the industrial workplace. They are created to provide not only applications but also background and insight into why and when to apply certain functions and techniques. Their goal is to prepare a well-educated and skilled NC programmer who is not only immediately employable and productive but is also equipped to learn and grow as technology changes. For more information, visit www.thesolacegroup.com/.

Industrial Press:
Learning Mastercam X Mill presents a thorough introduction for students with little or no prior experience. It can be used in virtually any educational setting – from four-year engineering schools to community colleges to industrial training centers. It can also serve as a reference for on-the-job use or as a self-study manual. The book comes with a demo CD, along with examples and exercises for practice. Features include numerous examples with step-by-step instructions, explanations on the same page as the examples to eliminate flipping between pages, exercises at the end of each chapter, as well as an in-depth presentation on how to customize Mastercam X for user applications. For more information, click here.