If you use XMD-S (Expert Mold Designer), you’ll want to keep informed.
Did you know we have a mailing list just for users of the latest software? We use it to let our customers know when bugs get fixed, features get added, and to teach designers better ways to use our software.
Next week we are beginning a new series of of instructional messages on Getting Started with XMD-S. Learn what’s changed, and what hasn’t, and what you need to know to take full advantage of our tools.
So if you’re using XMD-S, or planning to use it soon, you need to get signed up! To sign up, just email me,alanb@corintsoft.com and I’ll add you to our users list.
It’s common in manufacturing custom mold bases that steel mold plates deviate from designed thickness by slight amounts. Which of course means your pins must also be adapted to match. This can involve a lot of error-prone manual calculation. Or… you can just use the automated pin charts that XMD-S generates for you!
The Ejector Pin Chart's secret hiding spot revealed!
Over the past couple of months, we’ve found that a number of XMD users were in the dark when it came to the Ejector Pin Chart feature of XMD. Some didn’t realize its capabilities, whereas other didn’t even know it existed! Hopefully, this post will shed some light on one of XMD’s best kept secrets, and show that this quick and easy tool can be a huge time saver!
What does it do exactly? It automatically creates a chart of all ejector pins in the job, as well as a chart indicating the actual plate sizes. The ejector pin chart includes the cut-off lengths, actual lengths, catalog #’s, detail #’s, and more. Scroll to the bottom to see a picture of the final result.
For years, the Ejector Pin chart command has been “hiding” in the XMD Tools menu. Assuming you have some ejector pins in your job, running the command brings up the Actual Plate Sizes dialog, pictured below.
Enter the actual plate sizes from the shop floor into this dialog
We all know that when it comes to ordering steel, you generally get plates a little bigger than the design calls for. When you finish up the plate, the actual size is often different from the designed size. In order for XMD to properly calculate the ejector pin length, you need to tell it how big the plates actually are. So once you have that info from the shop floor, enter it into the Actual Plate Sizes dialog, and hit OK (XMD will save this information so you won’t have to enter it again).
Next, enter the amount of stock that should be left on each pin, and hit OK.
All that XMD needs to know now is where you want to draw the charts, and voila! A complete ejector pin chart is automatically generated for you, ready to send to the apprentice mold maker (I remember those days!).
The XMD-generated Ejector Pin Chart
Finally, you can place a table that indicates the actual plate sizes that were used in the calculations.
Next, enter the amount of stock that should be left on each pin, and hit OK.
