CloudNC announced that its Soft Jaw Designer plug-in is now completely free for all users of Autodesk Fusion and Mastercam.
"Soft jaws typically take machinists 30-60 minutes per set-up to model manually," noted a company spokesperson. "Soft Jaw Designer collapses that work into a few clicks: users position two blanks around the part model, select Generate, and seconds later receive complete soft jaw designs ready for machining."
Theo Saville, co-founder and CEO of CloudNC, said: "Fixture design should not keep a spindle idle. By making Soft Jaw Designer free, we are putting instant, machinable fixturing in every programmer's toolbox: accelerating their output and helping them focus on tasks that move the needle, while giving a small glimpse into how much time CloudNC technology can save machinists."
Once installed, the plug-in transforms fixture creation. Instead of multiple sketches, booleans, and clearance checks, programmers simply outline where the jaws should grip.
Soft Jaw Designer then creates the soft jaws: cutting negative geometry, adding precision allowances, and drilling corner relief: all while keeping the model fully editable. In real-world testing, this reduces the time spent designing soft jaws by up to 90%, the company reported.
Soft Jaw Designer pairs seamlessly with CloudNC's CAM Assist. After generating the jaws, users can hand the model to CAM Assist, which automatically creates toolpaths for jaws and part, pushing the assembly to the machine in minutes and further accelerating delivery.
For more information contact:
CloudNC
camassist@cloudnc.com
sales@cloudnc.com
www.cloudnc.com/soft-jaw-designer