quote: The intent of X4 demo is to provide potential customers with a working copy to evaluate and mastercam students a copt they could use at home. CNC Software did not create it to give industrial users a free tool. It might be a good idea to actually read the X4 demo licensing agreement. G-code, With all due respect that is not what CNC Software told me. Take my advice and find out for yourself. In my opinion the HLE is a great idea for home learning. There should also be an industrial viewer available to anybody with no licensing. This is a common feature of nearly all CAD/CAM software.

Anybody with concerns regarding acceptable usage of the new X4 Demo/HLE version and the lack of an official Mastercam Viewer would be wise to contact CNC Software directly. The reply from CNC Software is much different than what is being said here on the forum.

It might make more sense to change the color format so that stickied threads really stand out from the rest... Then they are easy to ignore on a daily basis but are still right there if you need them...

Hey Rick, If you still want to learn how to do it in Mastercam you can send it my way.

If you have a strategy like this that works but is taking too much time to tweak properly I would suggest exporting it to save it and then import it next time a similar feature is required. I also have to wonder why you wouldn't just "pocket" out any area large enough to have a "waste piece"... When you say "helix" I assume you are using the Helix bore toolpath... Why not add some "rough passes" to the helix bore toolpath ? This would allow you to get rid of the waste piece then step out progressively larger until the hole is properly sized... And finally a 4th item to consider would be using the new 2-D High Speed toolpaths (I am guessing they would be available in router 1). I haven't used these much yet but from what I understand they would be really good for clearing and finishing your larger holes. Hope this helps.

What are you guys all fired up about ? There is a link to Streaming Teacher right on Mastercam's website and some people seem to really like it... http://www.mastercam.com/Support/LearningTools/Default.aspx It seems like Bronco60 was just trying to share something helpful with this community

Guru, for Mill Level 1 you should just get an $800 laptop like I described above and take your wife on a nice vacation someplace with the rest of the money you didn't have to spend on that Dell. Starting at over $3000 and only 2GB of memory is .

Yeah, I know. I just don't have any way to plug in the parallel hasp (I know... ) and X4 demo isn't out yet so I used what was available. I was just testing to help somebody out on another forum.

I don't recall seeing too many laptops so I wanted to add this result... 8min59sec using X3 demo version... Not bad for an $800 laptop ! Acer Aspire 6930G Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit version (rated 4.8) Intel Core2Duo T5800 @ 2.0 Ghz 4.0 GB RAM Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS video

I renamed my config file to force MC to create a new one and the problem persists... I am thinking if it was hunting for something on the network renaming the file would solve the issue... MC is starting in design mode so it's not looking for a machine def. Could it be the huge hard drive with a single partition causing the trouble ? It does seem like there is a lot of HDD activity during this delayed startup period...

It's a parallel hasp. We do access our .mcx files over the network but everything else is stored locally...

We have a newer pc here that loads MC most of the way but then hangs for 20 or 30 seconds before we can do anything. Otherwise, performance is great but I'd like to eliminate the delay if possible. Any ideas ? quote: > CPU: (Quad-Core)Intel® Core 2 Quad Q9650 @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 12MB L2 > Cache 64-bit [+164] > HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD) > MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5N-D > MEMORY: 8GB (4x2GB) PC6400 DDR2/800 > OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista Business > (64-bit Edition) > VIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 16X PCI

Sometimes reducing the "quality" slider in verify can be helpful.

Supercar 2006, Es difícil entender sus puestos. Estoy adivinando que Inglés no es su primer idioma. Para hacer esto más fácil para usted le sugerimos probar un traductor como el que aquí ... Google language tools Supercar 2006, It is difficult to understand your posts. I am guessing that english is not your first language. To make this easier for yourself I would suggest you try a translator like the one available here ... Google language tools

OMG ! I can't believe there was actually a person who finds it in their way... Maybe they just accidentally clicked the wrong selection in the survey... I bought my own (refurbished) Space Pilot for work and it is some of the best money I ever spent. I don't really want the new one. I don't think I'd use it's improved features... In fact, I think I'd be just as happy with the Space Navigator...

toddm, I'd be interested to hear some info about your computer... What processor, how much ram, operating system, video card, etc, etc...

This is something I've seen before. MC doesn't like the solid so it cuts wrong. It doesn't happen often but it can (has) cause(d) serious problems. I no longer cut surface toolpaths directly from the solid for this exact reason... The solution is easy though... Create surfaces from the solid and use that for "drive" instead of the solid. I just tested it out and it fixes the problem you describe with this file. You may like to send it in to [email protected] as well so it can maybe get fixed some time. It really baffles me that MC can create and cut the surface correctly (from the same solid) but the direct solid toolpath is junk...

quote: What really sux is only having mill level 1, I cant even run this just to benchmark my comp. If you're only using Mill Level 1 the test would be irrelevant. It would most likely not be worthwhile to spend money upgrading any computer used only for mill level 1... If you really must test it I recommend getting a demo version from your reseller. I think that would allow you to try the benchmark.

When I have run into this problem in the past it has usually been more efficient to cut in 2 or even 4 side operations (depending on how difficult the shape is instead of machining so deep from the top... We have modified insert tooling for cutting graphite by welding a shank extension and then grinding the extension true to the original tool. Works OK for graphite but I wouldn't try it with anything else... 13 inches is awfully deep.

Instead of code: if mr1$ = 2, #AI-NANO 2, AI(nano)CC output (Artificial Intelligence Contour Control) - G05.1 Q1 Try this... code: if mr1$ = 2 & mr1_flg <> 2, Disclaimer: I am not very good at post edits but this is something I had to change at one time...

We purchased our machine and all service from these guys. Machine & Electrical They've always gotten the parts to us quickly.

Neurosis, If you're going to take the time to make detailed reports like this, do everybody a favor and e-mail them to [email protected] The QC department is excellent about logging e-mailed isues but often items posted online are missed.

I don't know if this will help but it's where I'd start... Try the newest version of that post (included with X4) to see if it works... code: [post_VERSION] #DO NOT MOVE OR ALTER THIS LINE# V13.00 E1 P3 T1232650431 M13.00 I0 # Post Name : Generic Fanuc 4X Wire.pst # Product : Wire # Machine Name : Generic # Control Name : Fanuc # Description : Generic 4 Axis Wire Post # 4-axis : Yes # Executable : MP 13.0 # # WARNING: THIS POST IS GENERIC AND IS INTENDED FOR MODIFICATION TO # THE MACHINE TOOL REQUIREMENTS AND PERSONAL PREFERENCE. # # Associated File List$ # # GENERIC FANUC 4X WIRE.control # # Associated File List$ # # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Revision log: # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- # CNC 10/27/05 - Initial post setup for Mastercam X # CNC 10/14/05 - Modified parc, changed do_full_arc$ to full_arc_flg$ # CNC 06/23/06 - Initial post update for Mastercam X2 # CNC 02/14/07 - Modified pcantxt$ to remove forced M60 when sof # CNC 04/08/08 - X3 release - no changes made # CNC 01/26/09 - Initial post update for Mastercam X4

Just guessing here... We've all known for some time that MC requires Microsoft .net framework to run... My current box (Vista 64 bit) has version 3.5 SP1 Another thing that seems important for my CAD/CAM software in Vista is to have Microsoft Visual C++ installed... Actually I have 4 versions of that one installed... 32 bit and 64 bit in both the 2005 version and 2008 version... Any less and I start having problems with either Mastercam or Topsolid... I can't say I've ever had the same error as you but perhaps something is missing ?

I would call the applications dept. at your local Methods Machine Tools office. Their support has been outstanding from the Sudbury,MA office.