Viking Yachts produces semi-custom glass fibre reinforced plastic yachts.
From the initial design to the finished product, Viking Yachts is committed to producing 90% of the boat in house. Except for components such as engines, transmissions, pumps, hoses, air conditioning units, electronics and entertainment systems, virtually everything else is produced by Viking.
Viking Yachts first added the Delcam software after it acquired an MR125 gantry milling system able to handle parts 50 ft long by 20 ft wide and 10 ft high. This machine can mill patterns as large as a vessel’s bridge and helm, as well as Viking’s smaller hulls, in one piece.
Delcam's PowerMILL NC CAM software is used for the manufacture of complex shapes typically found in the aerospace, automotive, medical device and toolmaking industries.
“When it comes to CAM for five-axis programming, Delcam’s PowerMILL is hands down the easiest and best I have ever used,” states Jason Taylor, five-axis CNC programmer at Viking Yachts, who has been programming with PowerMILL for over five years.
Viking machines all its parts with two five-axis routers. The parts range in size from a few inches, up to 50 ft in length.
"We also use some very unique tooling and materials," explains Taylor. "PowerMILL handles the big files without a hitch, and creating the custom tools is really easy. Even with parts that contain thousands of surfaces, creating boundaries, patterns, work-planes and toolpaths is fast and very simple. Most of our machined parts have very tight corners and difficult areas that the tools need to get into, so we rely heavily on PowerMILL’s collision avoidance and simulation tools prior to running the NC programs.”
Software support is provided by DM Solutions.
