Generate ready-to-machine soft jaw designs in seconds, saving an extra 40 minutes from CAD to first cut.
The CloudNC Soft Jaw Designer is feature of the CloudNC CAM Assist add-on for certain integrations.
Soft jaws are a type of workholding device used in CNC machining processes where a delicate grip (or complex shape) is required. They are typically made of a softer material than ‘hard jaws’, such as aluminum or mild steel.
The CloudNC ‘Soft Jaw Designer’ feature uses built-in intelligence to efficiently design customized fixtures for your part.
The Soft Jaw Designer is smart enough to create clearance allowances for sharp corners, avoid interlocking geometry, and enables your part to be positioned securely from multiple directions.
The Soft Jaw Designer can be used to design jaws from:
- Existing pair of jaw stock bodies.
- Automatically generated pair of cuboids.
How to use the Soft Jaw Designer
Before using the Soft Jaw Designer, you must have a part open in your CAM package.
You can start with cuboid bodies that will define the soft jaws, or create them from scratch using the tool.
- Open a model/part in your CAM package.
- Open the Soft Jaw Designer from the CloudNC Ribbon.
- Configure the parameters for the soft jaw design (for details, see Soft Jaw Designer - Step-by-Step Instructions).
- Click the run button to create the Soft Jaws.
- The jaw bodies will be created in a new level named ‘Soft Jaws.’