AWESOME !

Hardmill, Maybe it's time to give the birdy a break in your sig. Randle might be a good fit down there with Mo, Larry and Curly...

Harry, Beware..."plotting" in "X" is not precise at the moment. If you are trying to make exact scaled layouts you will find that they are a small percentage off. If you are just trying to make large blueprints you should be O.K. but if you were trying to plot a layout to view in a comparator you'd have a problem.

Here's what I ended up with. Toolpaths were a PITA this way but at least I'm getting it done instead of spinning my wheels. Thanks to all who tried to help.

Yeah, Black on black. Same as it ever was. I can't get used to that gradient thing...

Kannon, You've got mail. I am going with Murlin's idea. Y'all don't waste too much time on this. Just if you're curious...

Murlin, Actually, you got me thinking outside the box. I am looking into machining half the surfaces at a time. I'll post back here with the results...

The rest of my plan is to cut each diamond out of the solid individually so I can have say 4 different trodes with each one having alternating diamonds I can cut all the way around. To just machine the surfaces doesn't get me where I need to be. This is "checkering" for a gun and it needs to be sharp.

Hardmill, You've got mail !

Well, It seems I can only trim to one surface, right ? Or did I miss something... There are a couple hundred surfaces involved in the complete cut I want...

Hi all, I really need some help here...I wasted 8 hours already trying to make this work. I am beginning to wonder if Mastercam can handle this task... I searched everything I could think of and couldn't come up with anything that works... I have tried 9.1 and X. In my file there are 2 sheet solids and one regular solid. I need to trim the "electrode" solid by both of the sheet solids. I have tried solid trims, boolean remove, and many other things. The best result I've gotten is trimming or removing one pattern or the other but then the second cut fails. The end result I am looking for is raised diamond points on the electrode. The trimming solids were created in Mastercam by offsetting curves and projecting them onto surfaces and offset surfaces then creating ruled surfaces from the curves. The ruled surfaces were then stitched into sheet solids. Thanks in advance for any help. On Cadcam's FTP : MC9_files/MATT solid.zip

Maybe you can get a nice ASUS motherboard and a new video card to fix up your current box instead of starting all over ? I would think that would save a pile of dough...

Actually, I believe the geometry doesn't need to be flat to any particular or current plane. I could be wrong about this but I believe as long as all entities in the particular chain are in any flat plane relative only to that chain, you will be able to modify solids from them... Is this helping or confusing ? I think I am confusing myself a little...

quote: X is not your kids new bike and you cant just trash the instructions and go at it with you channel locks and screwdriver. amen

I am not sure what Mike Mattera was getting at but personally I've gotten the impression that most people who are resistant to the new features of "X" are also aggravated by auto-cursor(X and 9.1). I am sure there are people who will object to my generalization and to them I apologize. My preference ? I love the new auto-cursor. I would like some options for the display of which entity type is being "snapped" but for now it's a great start.

To display an image you need to upload it to an image host. There are free ones available. I use image shack You just browse for the image on your computer, upload it to image shack, copy the "direct link to image", and paste it into the dialog box you got by pressing the "image" button in the "full reply form" of this forum. Here's yours. It may get better responses if it's displayed here.

try this FROOGLE (sorta like google but better)

Oh no, I've been "X"ing for over a week now... I just didn't bring the hasp home with me tonight...

I have not had any speed problems or any real problems with 9.1 since installing "x". The only difference I've seen is the new style level manager being used for both versions.

Well, I was going to copy and paste from the MCAM X "documentation" but couldn't get it to copy from the PDF... On Page 18 of the "getting started guide" it talks about "locking" fields. If you click the button next to your arc diameter box, the box goes red which indicates a "hard lock" condition. You should then be able to create as many .125 holes as you like... I don't have the hasp here right this minute so that's the best I can do...

You don't even have to ask. He's autocursor OFF.

I have heard that 5 axis will be given to all maintenance customers free(this release only). New Mastercam X customers will have to pay extra for 5 axis. When version 11 comes out, everybody will have to pay for 5 axis.

It is obviously totally different and it makes my brain hurt to try to learn it all but I've come a long way in 1 week of playing with it in my spare time. By the time SP1 comes available and I actually start using "X" for work I fully expect to be as fast as I am with 9.1..... I see enough good in the new interface to make it worthwhile to learn. If you pay attention to this forum, you'll see that most users think a new feature sucks until somebody explains that they've been going at it the hard way and the light goes on and now that feature is really impressive...

I've already used a 1.25 mits insert mill to blast out most of the material and now I am using a restmill routine with a 3/4 insert mill to pick out stock that couldn't be reached with the larger tool. So if I use another pocket routine I'll be cutting all kinds of air. Thanks for all the posts. We actually got an existing tool working today but I printed out some info on those Mits AQX tools. Look nice.

Hi all, I often find myself trying to use Surface, Rough, Restmill and since I can't specify a minimum helix diameter in this type of operation I find myself forced to use a tool that can survive plunge entry. Has anybody found a nice 3/4 dia carbide insert tool that will cut p-20 and plunge but also mill normally (not plunging)? I've got to get a better tool for this...