In previous versions of CAMWorks, the functionality to select a solid body as stock was available only in Mill Assembly mode. From CAMWorks 2015 version onwards, this functionality has been extended to Stock Manager dialog box of Mill, Turn, Mill-Turn and Wire EDM. You can assign either a desired SOLIDWORKS part file or another SOLIDWORKS configuration from the current part file as the stock.

In previous versions of CAMWorks, multi-surface features could be interactively inserted by one of the following methods:
– By selecting part faces individually in the graphics area
– By selecting all the displayed faces
– By using an STL file.
From CAMWorks 2015 version onwards, multi surface features can be inserted by selecting faces of a particular color. This method is useful when you assign specific colors to the surfaces to be machined. When you select Faces by color as the Feature type in the New Multi Surface Feature dialog box, you can create a multi surface feature by selecting surfaces based on their colors. These colors and the number of faces with that particular color will be displayed in the Faces by Color group box. When the checkbox next to a particular color is checked, the multi surface feature will be created using faces with that color. You can select multiple colors, if required

Tool Crib Priority Option for Turn and Mill-Turn
CAMWorks is the ability to automatically assign tools to machining operations for each individual feature type. These rules are user-defined and are specified in the Technology Database under the Feature & Operation menu. When the Tool crib priority option in the Tool Crib tab of the Machine Dialog Box is selected, the automatic tool selection rules are modified to place a higher priority on selecting tools from the tool crib. CAMWorks will consider all tool selection criteria (TechDB ID, Tool Type and Holder Orientation) and major tool parameters while selecting the tool from the Tool Crib. If an exact match isn’t found, then certain rules of the tool selection process (such as TechDB ID, Holder Type, Nose Radius, Include Angle) are relaxed. If a matching tool isn’t found in the tool crib even after relaxing those rules, then CAMWorks will add the tool from the tool library.

Provide Rotary Axis mode options in TechDB for Mill operations
When the Machine type is set to Mill-Turn, for post processing and simulation, it is imperative to indicate the Rotary Axis mode i.e. whether for a mill operation will be Fixed (XYZ) or Free (C-Axis “XCZ”). In earlier versions of CAMWorks, the provision to define this method is available only in the CAMWorks UI (in the NC tab of the Operation Parameters dialog box) with “Fixed” being the default method.
Consequently, every time a Mill-Turn machine is used, if the user wants to assign “Free” as the default option, then he/she needs to change the setting for every Mill operation by opening the Operation Parameters dialog for each Mill operation and changing the Rotary axis mode in the NC tab. Such a task can get repetitive when Mill-Turn machine is frequently used. From CAMWorks 2015 version onwards, the provision to set the Rotary Axis mode is made available in the NC tab of the Operation Parameters Form for all 2.5 Axis Milling Operations. This enhancement will enable the user to set the preferred Rotary Axis Mode option as the default, thereby eliminating the need to change the setting for every Mill operation in the CAMWorks UI.