Shortcut for reverse chain

[Jespertech]

Time and time again I find myself getting sandbagged by the chaining direction while creating tool paths. Is there any sort of hot key for reversing the chain direction without having to physically click the double sided arrow in the dialogue box ( I know, how terribly lazy of me) .

[Leon82]

I hit the r button.

 

E ends chain also

[Colin Gilchrist]

Remember also that the chaining direction will always go "away from" the endpoint closest to where you click. So try and select your chains nearer to the side you want to start from.

Also, typically when you have a true "closed" chain (complete loop, where all endpoints are coincident, and the start point is the same as the end point, then Mastercam should display only a single green arrow. This is the visual indication that you have a single chain that is closed.

I see on your picture that you've got a green and red arrow. Typically this would indicate an "open" chain, where there is a gap or overlap between endpoints of your chain. I'd use some of the trim commands to make sure your chain is closed. (Also, look into the C-Hooks "ALT + C" on the keyboard, and run the "Find Overlap" command. See the help file for more info...)

[Leon82]

If you click the upper left arrow on the chain dialogue box you will get more options like being able to backup 

[Colin Gilchrist]

I think if you hover your mouse cursor over each button, without clicking, that you'll get a little "pop-up" tip. If memory serves, each button will have a single letter with an Underlined Character. That underlined character is the keyboard letter shortcut to activate that command.

Now, the caveat is that some dialogs/menus inside Mastercam must first be activated by pressing the ALT key. I don't know if that is true when chaining. I think when you are in the middle of the chaining function, the dialog is "live", which means it is already setup to respond to keyboard input. But I'm not in front of Mastercam, so I can't test it right now...

[Jespertech]

Thanks guys, this is already making my life easier.