I am glad to see the power users finally speak up. I have been saying for a while that CNC has been "dumbing it down" for training purposes. I need speed and stability for what I do, not bells and whistles.

I have had this problem also. If you "save some" and "all entities" to another file then "delete duplicates" they will delete for me. Then just merge the surfs back into the original file in place of the original surfs. I have been using "regenerate display list" then "delete duplicates" to clear duplicates and ghost lines for 2D geometry, but doesn't always work for surfs. Hope this helps.

I would drop your depth of cut to .001 or to no more than .003. I would try to find some feed/speed info at the tool manufacturer's web site or look at a competitor's site that has a similar size tool. I think you should max the rpms but you need to keep a correct chip per tooth feed rate.

I just wanted to drop a bug in the ear of CNC Software. Please don't lose sight of the fact that simple is not always better that fast. Five clicks on the same page is faster than five clicks on different pages. I am coming around to the tree style toolpaths (hoping they get all the bugs out soon) and I am seeing some improved calculation speeds for toolpaths in X4. I also am concerned that with all the different pages inside the toolpaths more things are being missed by my programmers than would have been if they could see it all on the same or a couple of pages. I understand that Mastercam is evolving into the windows based environment, but I don't think it should take 20 years to get it right. I am a "true blue" Mastercam programmer with no intention of ever switching to another CAM software. I am sorry if I offended any of the Guru's with this , but sometimes this stuff needs to be said. Those of us who are not beta testers have no input into what we would like to see in the future other than forums like this one. I hope the old timers in here don't cause posts like this one to be ignored by CNC software.

I always thought the point of updating software was to be able to do the same job with fewer clicks or less hastle. I have said before it seems that CNC is "dumbing down" the software to make it easier for the beginner programmer. I might suggest 2 versions, one for beginners and one for advanced users. I don't need a picture of a cutter going around a part to know what a 2d contour is or what lead in - lead out is doing. I do like the pictures when doing something I don't use much like 5-axis work, but after a few runs they just use up valuable memory. Just my 3 cents.

I know this is not is not a bug but I wish it would be changed in the MU1 or later versions. I would like the first window that comes up after I pick geometry to be the tool selection page. I picked contour, I wanted to make a contour toolpath, so why ask me if I want a contour or a pocket or a slotmill on the first popup window. This is not worth sending to QC, but I hope it can be changed or customizable in future versions. If any of the CNC folks are reading this please send it to the proper department or the suggestion box for me. Thanks.

I think you will have to use a multiaxis toolpath to get the result you want. Curve 5-axis and set it to 4 axis output. I think you can use 3-d curves and select the edges of the slots for the geometry and use the vertical lines from top to bottom of the slots for axis contol. I don't think you can use transform rotate to get the output you want. I tried it on your file but I didn't select all of the geometry and it seemed to work. The curve 5-axis is a little different in X4 so you may have to play with it a little. I hope this helps.

Surface-Rough-Contour works best for me. If you need multiple passes I just copy the operation and add stock in steps. Make sure your tool is defined as a lolipop or dovetail or slotmill and your neck size and flute height are correct. If I am seeing your part correctly I think a slotmill with a full radius will work best. The calculation time is pretty long with slot and dovetail mills, but lolipop tools calculate pretty quickly. Also set your gap settings to 100% of tool diameter or more to keep your tool down and turn on optimize cut order. I have had some problems with entry/exit arcs so I don't use them, but make sure in gap settings that check transition motion and retract motion for gouge boxes are checked. I also always use one direction climb cutting because the tool deflects differently when conventional cutting. I hope this helps.

Today I did a two surface blend and got 10 copies of the two surfaces and the blend surface, but when I tried to delete duplicates it found no duplicates so I had to delete every surface manually. I had to turn off delete duplicates on file get in my config file as it was crossing levels and deleting same geometry on different levels. Each time I opened the file more duplicates were found until only the geometry that had associated toolpaths was left. I am still waiting for someone from CNC Software to put some info into this thread. I have not nailed down enough repeatability to send something to QC to check out. Thanks

The sizes stick for me, but not the sort order. I want to sort by diameter and tool type so I have to click "dia' and "type" at the top of the tool manager every time I go in. Otherwise the tools are sorted by most used I think.

I am also getting the dirty ops and the locked ops with repaired nci notes. My box for disable front buffer was not checked, but I am using open gl. I am using the nvidia solidworks driver. I don't understand why CNC software does not work with nvidia and get us a certified driver for Mastercam. They recommend nvidia cards but don't give any settings that work best with mastercam software. I haven't tried the regenerate display list I will try that, but I did not have this problem with any other X version. I did change the temp folder with no change in software behavior. I have changed my config file to delete duplicates on file open and it has saved some headaches. I also tried to turn off xform preview with no change. Thanks for the help.

Let me say first that I am not crashing, I just have some glitches that cause me to have to close and reopen X4. I am using imported autocad geometry so part of the problem may be with the translator. Most every time I xform translate or mirror I get duplicate entities that do not delete with delete duplicates until I save the file and reopen. Even then I sometimes have to save some to another file and then delete duplicates and then reimport the goemetry back in to the original file. Most every time I delete geometry I get ghost geometry that will not go away until I save then reopen. Sometimes when I copy geometry to another level it does not copy until I save and reopen. I also have a problem when I start a 2d toolpath I get a blank pop up window and then " A required resource was missing" box and I have to save and restart. I will stop there but I am having some other minor problems are not as time consuming. My system is: Dell Precision Workstation 690 Xeon dual core 5160 @ 3.0Ghz 2gb ram XP Pro SP3 32 bit Nvidia Quadro FX4500 I would blame the system, but X3MU1 was the most stable version yet. I am back to pulling out what is left of my hair with X4. I will check the Temp folder setting to se if this is a problem. Some of the problems seem to be graphics related, so I will look into some settings changes that may be affecting Mastercam. Thanks for the help.

I am restarting X4 or Save/Reopen a file between 40 and 50 times a day because of glitches or bugs. I just wonder if everyone is having the same trouble. Maybe we can start a poll? I will wait a little longer for the anouncement of a service pack or maintainance update, but if it is not soon I will go back to X3. I am losing at least an hour a day because of bugs.

I guess no one else is seeing this. Thanks anyway

Thanks for letting me know I am not alone.

I cannot get the "Use X3 fillet surface creation" check box to stay checked. Every time I close Mastercam and reopen the box is unchecked. The X4 fillet surface is not creating all the fillets I need, so I need the box to stay checked until CNC gets this fixed (??). Is there a trick? Thanks

I am wondering if there is a setting somewhere that I have missed to have X4 drills default to the geometry depth and not to the depth of the previous toolpath. This is the first version that I have had this problem with. Thanks.

They are brought in as a group. Go to group manager and delete the group and they will go to original color. Or in config there is a setting somewhere to use group color but I am not sure where it is.

Look under your control definition and under Arc on the left tree. Check that all of your Arc settings are the same as your X3 settings. Also check under cutter comp and make sure the setting are the same. I had a similar problem when I updated to the X3 version MPMASTER from the old Update post from version 9 that I was using in X2. The machine and control definitions control a lot of the post output now.

I am very unhappy with the new tree format for 2d contours and drills. I have to navigate through several pages to do what I used to do on 2 pages (tool, cut parameters, linking parameters, lead in lead out, coolant(very stupid), depth cuts, and path type). I also had to check the X3 fillet style right away as several fillets would not create in X4. X4 looks like they are trying to "dumb it down", but experienced users are stuck with extra mouse clicks. Just my 2 cents.

Bump

ME TOO

I am not getting a level 1 any more when I bring in a DWG file. I never got a level 0 before, but level 0 came in on level 1. Now in X4 level 0 comes in on level 2 and all other levels are one number higher. All of my template files are on the wrong level. Is there a fix?

I use a lot of lolipop cutters. I have the best luck with surface rough contour. I set the gap settings to retract if stepover is greater than 100% of tool diameter to get it to work correctly.

I am just wondering what is prefered for X4 by CNC Software. I am using XP pro now, but I have an upgrade for Vista business we ordered with the computers we have now. I would prefer to get the OS installed before Mastercam X4 if I need to upgrade. Thanks