Engraving - Selected surface is not valid?

[kumaichi]

Hi,



I'm trying to engrave some text on my part, which in the drawing mode works fine but when I try to do a manufacturing sequence (NC Sequence->Engrave) I get the following error while trying to select what to engrave.



Selected surface is not valid. Please reselect surface.



As you can see from the picture, I created my workpeice on the surface with the text on it so I'm unsure of what I'm missing in order to engrave the letters.



Thanks for any help,



Craig



View attachment 142

 

[Moroso]

If I'm not mistaken (haven't used engraving in years) don't you use just a datum curve of the letters for the cutter to follow. Start surface would probably have to planer etc...

I could definitely be wrong though.

 

[kumaichi]

Thanks for the reply Moroso. From what you said, should I then create a datum curve instead of creating the letters on the part using sketcher?



Just when I thought I was beginning to understand manufacturing, I run into this .



Thanks again for the reply,



Craig

 

[Moroso]

Again i'm going off of memory

Try creating a cosmetic groove feature in the part to simulate the text.

Then use engraving, sketch an engraving tool and maybe use a flat endmill for the parameters.

I'm sorry I'm not much of a help with this but it's been atleast 5 years since I used that.

 

[cncwhiz]

Craig,

Moroso is correct. You need to use a cosmetic groove to engrave. Depending your build if you are using a early version of 2001 or before you need to use font text style font newer versions of 2001 and above use most of the font styles in sketcher.

 

[kumaichi]

Thanks cncwhiz and Moroso. I'm currently using the Wildfire edition of Pro/E.



Just to clarify, I would do the cosmetic groove in the part design, I'm assuming using sketcher. Then, when I go to manufacturing, I would still choose the Engrave NC Sequence correct? Sorry for needing such detailed instructions.



Thanks again.

 

[peterbrown77]

Correct, you have to create the cosmetic groove in the part as ProE will not let you create it as an assembly-level feature. It would be nice if it were among the mfg geometry items you can create.



Once you have the cosmetic groove, you will just select the feature in your engraving sequence. It needs no depth as the depth of the engrave is a parameter within the engraving sequence. Also be aware that the engrave traces around the periphery of the font, so it will not remove material in its center; simple fonts like 'font' or 'cal_grek'are better than 'font_3d'



It is possible to 'engrave' a more elaborate font if you make it a cut and then create a mill window by selecting its edges. You can then do a rough & profile to remove the material. Note that changing the font is problematic after creating the window since edges selected may disappear from subsequent fonts, causing the window to lose references. Oddly, it won't fail, but if you go into sketcher..................beware! You're in for a huge performance hit as it tries to resolve the missing references.



Regards

 

[kumaichi]

Yep, that did it . Thanks peterbrown77 for the detailed instructions. Today was a good day, learned something new .



Thanks again to everyone who responded.