Woo. Sorry about the spelling. musta been in a hurry.

the customer in this case wishes to utilize cutter comp for finishing passes. Thay allow mcam to generate the compensation for all of their rough cycles, but on the finishing paths they want to be able to use multiple tools with different radii at the machine. thay've asked me to modify the programming to suit this functionality.

Thanks, Zaphod. I'll give that a shot.

it's already there. The post was based on mplfan. I guess the real problem is seeing that it's turned off before rapid moves. Plinout prapidout, pcircout all have the pccomp call in them. is this the way it should be? how does a post cancel the cutter comp?

the main thing I'm worried about is how to use Mcam to program it. I can prolly track down a close enough post to do it. I just don't know much about the machines.

a Post I'm working on currently turns on cutter comp in a rapid move after the toolchange, usually with the G54. The comp then remains on until the tool end. What I need to do is change this post so that the cutter comp is turned on with a feed move into the part, and turned off when feeding out of the part. any Ideas? I'm guessing I'll have to change the post to hold onto the value so that I can call it up in plinout$, and then put the cancel in ptoolend$, if the next move is a rapid. Any ideas?

Hey all, A customer of mine just bought a Star Screw machine with a fanuc 18tb control. I am very unfamiliar with this type of machine and was wondering if anybody is using mastercam to program it. If so, I was wondering which product, and how they're posting. I am afraid this one will be a posting nightmare, but before I start fooling around I thought I should consult the forum to see if it's even worth the effort. Thanks,

Whatever you do, don't lie. We've had some guys at previous employers who have told one thing in interview, another in presentation. The truth always comes out. I've always heard that if you wear a watch, do NOT look at it, and to answer the ever present what are your faults question with positive answers like "some times I have trouble accepting my own failure when I mess something up" or "I tend to be too critical of myself" or "I'm an incredibly active people person and sometimes have to catch myself or I'll chat it up" HTH

J, You can also use any available text editor, like word or notepad or wordpad. Cimco is really nice because it has the post separated and color coded. it makes it much easier to navigate. The thing you're looking for as far as learning the MP language is the V9.1 post reference guide, which your reseller should be able to get for you rather easily. This site is also one of the best references I use for postwork. HTH,

Del, Great to see you're using the forum. You'll find that the users here are both helpful and a riot. Call me if that printing problem continues or with any questions on X. I know it takes some getting used to, but you'll get it. Thanks,

Result: Got it. The output call was not following syntax. I moved it inline with the rest of the postblock and printed fine. what a waste of time. Thanks anyway guys.

actually, I just had the wierdest thing happen... It just printed the G84 for me. No clue why. I'll have to dig for a while to track it down.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I get the correct output with fastmode set to 0. Sorry.

Trying to edit a V7 post to do a g84 in tap cycle. currently I get a G80 and no variables. codes like this: ( M16 X P2 R.H.TAP TOOL - 3 DIA. OFF. - 3 LEN. - 3 DIA. - 16. ) G21 G0 G40 G49 G80 G90 T3 M6 T1 G0 G90 G54 X0. Y0. S200 M3 G43 H3 Z10. M8 M7 M29 G80 M5 G91 G28 Z0. M9 I need it to code like this: ( M16 X P2 R.H.TAP TOOL - 3 DIA. OFF. - 3 LEN. - 3 DIA. - 16. ) G21 G00 G40 G49 G80 G90 N1 T3 M6 T1 G00 G90 G54 X0. Y0. S200 M3 M7 G43 H3 Z10. M8 M29 G99 G84 Z-20. R10. F400. G80 M5 G91 G00 G28 Z0. M9 I'm about to pull my hair out, and I know it must be something stupid that I'm missing. Here's the tap cycle in the post: ptap #Canned Tap Cycle pbld, n, "M7" pdrlcommonb pbld, n, "M29", e pbld, n, *sgdrlref, *sgdrill, pxout, pyout, pfzout, pcout, prdrlout, pffr, e pdrlcommona Any Ideas? Much obliged.

Dave, What you are seeing there is coming from the box in your Control def under NC output. it's the button to enable post debug information. The specific output can be switched within the post under the bug 1-4 settings to tell you different things for example, the pcomment$ is the post block being executed calling for this line of the program to be printed. this is set by bug 2, which when set to a number above 0 calls for the exact collumn to put this in, say collumn 30. other outputs can include the postline no. and the line number from the NCI file. you can also turn this off by de-selecting the "enable post debug information" button, or set the fastposting to yes from within the post, as the post in fastmode disables the reading of the bug values. HTH

Hey all, I'm workin on a post with c axis stuff and I need to enable and home the c-axis before it's used. Any Ideas on how to program that in an X post? Thanks,

For something like this I would recommend using the art library that installs with art. lots of mz9 files to get you a boost. If you'd like, e-mail me the picture you want to cut and I'll work it up in my spare time. Thanks,

oooh, sorry guys, should have read a little further.

In toolpaths go to "planes" and enter a work offset. Mp.exe adds 53 to whatever you enter. Also, make sure MI1 is set to 2. work offset = 1, output = G54 work offset = 2, output = G55 work offset = 3, output = G56 And so on. I am assuming that this is what you're refering to. HTH,

Woo hoo!

I almost always make all changes through the machine group properties. I had the same problem as you Oppiz, and actually called CNC about it. I was told that this is one of those things wqith a dozen different locations and that the control def was the only place to go for it. You may want to re-load the machine utilizing that control def.. Or if you renamed your control def before altering it you may want to make sure the new control def is selected for use with that machine. BTW, What's it like workin for a light source? I collect them when I have time)

Doyleg, Welcome to the forum! As a Mastercam instructor for a reseller, I can only tell you that I use the IHS books for all of my training. I have found the X Mill tutorial to be wonderful in instruction. I have personally learned and taught on these books so I have seen it from both sides. Aside from that, the mastercam user's guide is very helpful, though sometimes I've seen beginners have trouble with it. Hope that helps. BTW... You may want to read the "new users read this" area of the forum. It helped me avoid a great deal of faux pas, like typing in all caps.

Joel, I found the installed reference guide very helpful on the WCS. At least, it gave me a good direction to go in to figure most of it out myself. The reference guide installs with mcam X and the topic regarding tool planes and wcs starts on page 192. I'm sure there are people here on the forum that can also help as you learn to use this mastercam tool. HTH,

Thad, I think the idea is that it's there. Like the MRU bar, it's there in addition to the levels manager. it may not automatically grab all the levels used, which could easily be too many to fit in that space, but it does remember all the ones you've worked on within this session. I think it's kind of nice. Now I don't have to bring up the levels manager just to switch between working levels. What I don't like, is that it only remembers levels you type in. Merely switching levels does not apply that number to the MRu function. HTH Thanks

Thad, I'm always afraid to underestimate the amount of time before a release, as I don't really speak for CNC software. However, perhaps someone at CNC could post a reply with a more for sure date? Sorry if my initial post was misleading. All I know is that it's supposed to be out before year's end. Thanks,