If you're going to PROJECT "draft" such as a note, you'll first have to MODIFY, BREAK, DRAFT TO LINE.

Thanks to all for posting on this issue ! Crazy, I have downloaded the MPMaster post from this forum's post section... No contact required. I am going to cautiously fool with it and see if it works out for me. I should at least be able to run it on our Fanucs if not modify it for the Fadal also... Thank You In House Solutions ! For the post and this awesome forum. Steve, Thanks for the thorough support call. You answered all my questions and many I had not yet thought of.

Hi all, I have an old highly trusted post that was extensively edited by my predecessor. I am TOTALLY CLUELESS about posts. Today while running a 2-d pocket operation, the machine alarmed out because cutter comp was not turned off before the tool change. Any easy way to make sure it turns off comp before tool change ?

Trode Man, Thanks for the ideas. That sounds so simple it makes me wonder why I've been doing it the hard way...

Well, yes... But will it break the bank ? I do this type of activity maybe a couple times / month...

Hi all, When EDMing complex mold cavities / cores, we sometimes need to get an accurate measurement of 3-d contoured areas (shutoffs). I have had good success by projecting curves onto the surfaces and drawing in an arc (same size as probe tip) tangent to the curves. I am aware, however, that since these surfaces are contoured I may not be 100% accurate. Is there a c-hook or other trick available to easily create some probe dimensions at various points along a funky surface ? I am imagining being able to click in a general location and having a spherical 3mm (probe) surface appear with a "point" at the very bottom and the edge of the sphere just touching the surface I clicked... Ideas ? or

I've been using Moldplus for 6 months or so now... I can't really comment on design features as I mostly deal with electrodes and cutting mold plates. Most of our designs are purchased. I have probably only tried half of the features but mostly I like what I've used with only a couple complaints. 1. save often. If you know what you're doing it works perfectly but if you are new to moldplus, you'll find it crashes Mastercam if you confuse it. 2. The electrode maker is not as good as it could be. I wish I could customize it more. I have to say, though, that the surface trimming tools are handy enough to justify the cost of the whole package !

Forget the electronics... unbolt the "key" that fits into the safety mechanism from your door. Then the door can move and the machine thinks it's still closed. But if anybody asks, you didn't hear it from me.

Tada, In Lead-in/out parameters, you can limit the length of lead outs. I'll often specify a "thread distance" instead of a thread point.(I can't remember exactly which parameter tab this is on but it's not under lead-in/out button) In your example, my thread distance would be 1" and I would restrict lead-outs to about .05 This would result in threading the wire at center, roughing out to contour, roughing around contour, drop slug, leadout .05... Then without cutting wire, moving right into skims and never leading out more than .05 from contour. There's even a switch as to whether or not to truncate final lead-out if memory serves... If I had lots of different size holes all drilled on center, I would make different ops for each hole size with appropriate "thread distance". The only thing I don't understand is why your machine is rapiding back to start point... Maybe something with your thread points ? I think if you get rid of thread points altogether and try my way, you'll get what you're looking for.

Thanks for all the replies ! In case anybody cares, the job went great. It consisted of .09 x .14 slots with .06 start holes in center. I actually may have ended up with 2 slugs per slot if I cut this with CONTOUR. I programmed the job at 50% stepover.

I know this isn't exactly what you are looking for but could you have just trimmed out the first one and then XFORM, TRANSLATE,(COPY 200 TIMES) ?

Mr. Anderson, Nice avatar !

What do you guys/gals use for stepover with .01 (.25mm) wire when pocketing a "no core" wirepath ? I started at 50% but I have no idea what's best...

Chris, Thanks for the explanation. No relation to the esteemed salesman.

Pardon my ignorance, fellas... What is a porting tool ? Are we talking about engine heads here ? Just curious...

Let's just hope there is at least one great candidate next time around...

A while back somebody posted a link to a neat shareware program that automatically answers repetitive questions. I've never experienced the problem you describe but If no other solution presents itself, maybe you can search for and try that program...

Bush is still way better than the alternative.

Wow Ron ! I guess you needed to blow off a little steam back there eh ? ROFLMFAO

El Scotthead, No, using the "dummy" operation group has never had toolpaths trying to start at the bottom. It works really predictably for me. I don't ever try to change coordinates or anything, though. I just do a simple mirror about x or y axis.

I don't have the sim here at home and I won't be able to lead you through the section view feature of "solid layout" from memory... I do have one suggestion, however. If you make a copy of your solid and create a line to trim to, you can cut the solid and then do a normal SOLID, LAYOUT... That gives a nice section view. I've found that this way often gives much nicer results than the automated way...

I never felt bad about paying my United Steelworkers of America dues. Not too expensive really... However, previous posters have accurately stated that they protect the lazy and I never felt that they did anything for me and that company will not survive. I avoid buying ANYTHING that comes from China but until the BIG 3 make a quality product for a reasonable value, all my automotive dollars will go to Toyota.

I am no expert on posts but I would be surprised if that has anything to do with it... I use mirror a lot lately making electrodes and it works awesome... Only one complaint though... That reverse toolpath option only seems to work out for 2-d paths. I end up creating a dummy group for 3-d toolpaths with everything set to "conventional" and then when I mirror it, it all comes out "climb"... Whatever works, I guess... But anyway, back to your problem... Does it show the toolpaths mirrored when you backplot ? If your mirror settings are correct, backplot should be mirrored...

I usually use absolute cut depths. That takes out any confusion for me... Set minimum cut depth to what you want for first pass(-.025). Set maximum depth to whatever you need. First cut will be Z-.025 and the rest will be less than/equal to your step-downs specified in toolpath parameters.

When we are drip feeding a program to the CNC (DNC) I've found that File, Get takes MUCH longer... That's using a totally separate program for the drip feed too...