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Software slices golf-club manufacturing time

June 30, 2005
Today's golf clubs combine aesthetics with practical features for controlled and long-distance play.

The PowerMill CAM-system module reduces Dynamic's golf-club mold-manufacturing time by 35%.

Today's golf clubs combine aesthetics with practical features for controlled and long-distance play. Such a combination involves complicated mold shapes made to exacting accuracies, which is why Dynamic, a Taiwanese golf-club manufacturer, relies on a special CAM-system module from Delcam.

Called PowerMill, the module reduces the shop's mold-manufacturing time by 35% and improves machining accuracies on its DMG DMU five-axis machining center. In addition, Dynamic can use short tools for improved surface finishes when machining mold areas that would otherwise require long cutters if done on a three-axis machine. Software features like comprehensive gouge prevention, flexible toolpath editing, and high-speed calculation further slash machining times.

Dynamic does shop-floor machining, which is not as common in Asia as it is in Europe or North America. PowerMill lets the shop's operators quickly respond to workpiece changes by generating fast, efficient toolpaths. This joining of machine operator and CAM programmer further reduces manufacturing costs.

The company initially purchased Delcam's PowerSolution CAD software for reverse engineering, core/cavity splitting, high-speed machining, and 3D artistic relief designing. That software included PowerShape, a hybrid modeler that reduces the shop's design time 50% by reliably reading customer CAD data so Dynamic can quickly fix model defects and do fast core/cavity separations, even for extremely complicated golf clubs.
delcam.com