thanks tyler.....i'll be waiting

joe just so happens a Cimco DNC tech is in my shop today.

call him (glenn sharp from Sharper Solutions) at

740-284-1822 x303.....it will fwd to his cell.

hth.....

What type of tolerances can that setup hold?

I explored using a robot as well as robotmaster about a year and a half ago. +/- .005" was the tolerance anyone would guarantee. I need to hold at least +/-.002" to consider it. I'd be using it for larger parts.....6"od x 8" long up to 36"od x 20" long.

JP, i would like to turn on G5 P10000 also. My MV page doesn't look anything like yours????

I'm using a surface finish contour toolpath.

What MV page should I BE LOOKING AT?

Just to be safe......before starting MCAM make sure the Mcam(your version)commontemp folder is empty.

Your uninstall/reinstall should've taken care of any corrupt files.

IMO it would be best for you to create the test file using your standard tooling and operations that you use most often.

"new arc filter".....what version of mcam are you running?

Gene your Xeon E5420 is that dual core or quad core?

Why would this setup be faster?

I'm buying a new computer and would like to plan ahead for X4.

Any input will be greatly appreciated.

I have a shortcut in my taskbar to the mastercam temp folder.

I routinely look at it (to see it is empty) before starting mastercam especially after a lock-up or other non normal mastercam function.

No i'm not kidding. X4 is in the final process from what I understand....so why not plan ahead.

If this suggestion is part of the X4 release.... great, if not it could be the first suggestion for X5. You have to start somewhere.

I figure X4 is already rolling along.....let's get a head start for the future.

What I would like to see is during verify you could setup a parameter for tool wear. This way

you would be able to see tool wear/steps/mismatch

during verify.

For example.....finishing a complex multi surface part with a .250 ball.

After 4000 inches of path length subtract .0001 from tool diameter. After 7000 inches of PL subtract another .0001 from tool diamter....and so on and so on. Or use run time as a factor or combination of both.

Something that is customizable for all the different shops, materials, machines etc....we all use.

We would set parameters from our own experience.

I realize this would not be perfect but some visual help is better than none. A color change each time the tool diameter changes might be useful also.

any thoughts on the new quadro fx580?

this one is being pitched to me as a nice mid-level card.

If purchasing a new workstation with X4 in mind. what should i look for in processor?

intel quadcore?

i assume multithreading must be taken advantage of.

thanks for the guidance

We have 8 users here.....all of us use our own post. (7 different machine styles x 8 )....gets a little crazy.

We'd like to have 1 post/CD/MMD for each machine stored on the network....then post from there. (not locally)

1)is this advisable?

2)what if 5 users access post at same time?

any other thoughts/concerns????

While a bad adware update was a contributor to my issues....I removed all adware software from both my pc's but something still wasn't right.

My pc/mastercam was still acting sluggish. The file I'm working on is complex 81 mb in size. I noticed that in the shade settings the "outline shaded edges" was turned on....I was messsing with different settings to determine what my issue was....anyway, once I turned this setting off Mastercam is running %100 better with no errors.

It's wierd how 1 little check mark can make such a huge difference.

as far as the pc locking up i beleive a bad update from lavasoft/adware was the culprit.

i updated just before all this started. i checked online (love the internet) the adware update has been known to change "service" settings to auto start at bootup and run in background.

it was running in the background spiking between 50% and 98% cpu usage.

i changed setting to manual start only.

mastercam has not locked up on me in the last 1.5 hrs.....i'll get back to you all on the compatibilty issues sometime tomorrow.

now i'm getting "machine compatibility warning" when selecting.....mill toolpaths- surface finish-

contour-

i have 2 tool groups.

1st tool group has ops in top and front plane

2nd tool group has ops in front plane only

also while using mastercam my pc locked up 3x in the last 15 minutes. i rebooted 2x. nothing else running.

any thoughts?

i've done that. there are actually 5 files in this folder. all contain compatible toolpath. all produce this error.

When importing ops from other MCX files I get this error.

1)I never saw this error before.

2)I copy ops all the time.

3)The file does contain compatible toolpath.

I searched and found nothing on this subject.

the regen worked. i closed mastercam 2x

both times i opened file with no warnings.

thanks for the advice.

saved as jack suggested....iowajima this model does have boolean ops in it and i've also moved geo from 1 level to another.

i will try the regen now.

I found a few topics on this, nothing that stated

what caused this or how to fix it.

This is a good size solid model with a lot of hours into it already with plenty more hours still to go.

My concern is that tomorrow morning or Monday morning I'll go to open the file and it won't open.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I use it all the time.....works as promised.

yes......rad value was the trick.....seems to verify correctly (no collisions).....the big test will be when we cut material tomorrow.

thanks to all.