Needing The Very Basics For Mill, Please

[YARGNAIRB]

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

This is my first post, so I apologize for my ignorance in advance. I am new to Mastercam, and my boss is expecting me to start being able to machine (Mill) SOMETHING with our newly purchased X4 very soon. I'm trying to machine out a small coupling half today(something simple just getting my feet wet). I have it drawn correctly (I believe)in 3D solid form on my X4. Can someone give me some VERY basic step by step instructions, on how I go about taking my drawing and actually get it to our HAAS to machine? I've had a beginners class for X4 and everything seemed fine in class, but now class is over and I'm struggling with using in the real world. How do I set parameters for our particular Mill? We are using a 2007 Model Haas TM3 with HAAS version M15.03D programming. How do I begin with Binding Boxes, Tool Paths, etc. to the point of actually loading what I have on my Flash Drive and plugging into the HAAS? I can't figure out how to attach my drawing to this post to give you a better idea of exactly what I am needing to machine today. So Again... Any help is GREATLY APPRECIATED! And just might save my rear end. Thank You in advance, Brian

[Chri]

Hey Brian, I'm in Dallas. Did you take the class at MLC, with George?

[Chri]

Start by clicking on "Machine Type", mouse over the mill tab, and select your machine. That should add some stuff to your "operations manager". Then you can start going through the "stock properties" and define you stock with the "bounding box". Now you can add some toolpaths.

[MotorCityMinion]

Welcome aboard. You have a long journey ahead. Most of us have been exactly where your at right now and know how you feel but your asking for too much info in one post. Unfortunately, there is no quick and easy answer. Narrow down your inquiry some. This is not the place to be for total MC training for beginners.

 

1st. Find the search tab at the top of the forum and use it to filter your questions one at a time. This very well may eliminate the need to post a question that has been asked over and over again and will allow you to pick up tips for related topics. It's an excellent learning tool.

 

2nd. Learn to upload pic's in a 640 x 480 screen resolution. Photobucket is a favorite file hosting site around here.

 

3rd. Learn to upload the actuall .MCX to the FTP.

Retrieving files from the FTP and going through them will be valuable lessons. At the very least, you can E-mail the file. Most peeps in here will be glad to help you with it.

 

4th. You will have received documentation with MC. Read it. Use the help button often. Go to the MC website and download the sample files.

 

5th. Although they are not responsible for training, your reseller should have set you up with a good post and showed you how to transfer files to the machine. There would be no excuse for anything less than this kind of service considering the sizable investment your company just made. No customer is going to pay maintenance on a product like this if they can't use it effectively, your reseller knows this and should be glad to help you out.

 

The default Haas Machine def/post should be ample enough to post good code for simple parts. I use the MPmaster Machine def/post for our Haas machines with excellent results.

 

6th. Home schooling.

 

Eapprentice. The sample videos here are a good indication of what these folks have to offer.

 

http://www.eapprentice.net/index.php/sample-videos.html

 

http://www.eapprentice.net/index.php/tip-o...and-tricks.html

 

Youtube. Start here and keep going. Plenty of good videos here.

 

 

Too many years of Email abuse so I do not make my address public. Email me through Emastercam and I'll do what I can, when I can.

 

HTH, MCM.

[Rocketmachinist]

There tends to not be too many things you need to change on your Haas Generic 4X post. The biggest problem that people run into when first using this one is Mastercam will post A0. which the machine will error out on.

 

Try taking it one step at a time and I would highly recomend taking a class from the reseller.

 

It comes down to remembering your basics of CNC programming and then working from there forward. If you have any questions you can shoot me an e-mail also and I can try and help you.