Free isn't unheard of. AutoCAD Fusion 360 is free (I have been told) and HSM works is free for the limited version. I'm not aware of free inspection software however, doesn't mean it isn't out there.

What is the current price of carbide? I am sitting on about 150 lbs of carbide end mills right now. Just haven't got around to sending them in.

1 66004 Additional 300 Work Offsets Allows for 306 total work coordinate systems simplifying multiple part fixtures. . $890 RETROFIT $890

I just looked up my old Makino quote (12/16) and the offset cost was $890 (300 additional) plus $450 for the tech. I'd give your dealer a call and let them have it, someone is screwing you and over charging by a mile, whether your dealer or Mori.

I keep buying them and that says a lot. I have only owned two brands of machine tool, Haas and Makino. Haas gave me a good reason to test the waters with another brand and Makino hasn't. I have nothing but good things to say about Makino and each machine I have bought was better than the last, rather than cheaper due to cost saving measures. Little inconveniences fixed, issues improved, etc... It is impressive because you don't typically see that these days. There are only a few other brands I would even look at and these include Matsuura and Okuma. Not to say there aren't others, but these fit the work I do the best.

Yes, very handy and the uses and combinations are almost limitless. I know Mastercam has its issues, although I believe they have been getting better but one of the things I really like about it is there are so many options available to tackle a problem. Create a 2D toolpath (peel mill, contour, pocket, etc...), project onto a surface, then convert to 5-axis for tool axis control. Almost an infinite number of combinations there and extremely versatile. I use it often for challenging 3D chamfers (with ball mill) where I need to wrap the tool around the part a little.

I am projecting a number (Create/ letters... in Mastercam) onto a mold surface for labeling via a 3D contour. In one instance I recreated the surface in Mastercam as well. I tried projecting relative to view, to plane, etc... I transformed the curve to within .2" of the surface, nothing. This has worked in the past but with no reliability, I just felt really lucky... It sounds like people have found tricks to make this work reliably and that is my point. It should just work with no hocus pocus because it is a really basic feature. I can design complex assemblies in CAD, program 5-axis, create some pretty complex surfaces in Mastercam but I can't project a label onto a mold surface so I can cut it with a 3D curve... UGH! I ended up chaining the label in 2D, cutting with a 2D contour and projecting the toolpath onto the surface to get it to work. I can do all that but I can't project a simple curve.

This is still an issue, for me at least. EVERY SINGLE TIME I try to project a curve onto a surface I get the "No projections found" error. This is dead simple stuff but it doesn't work. I know if is just utility and it isn't a sexy project for the programmers at CNC to work on but it needs attention and it will make my job easier and faster, which is why I pay maintenance. This is REALLY low hanging fruit SO PLEASE FIX IT SO IT WILL WORK RIGHT! I get SOOO pi$$ed off when a no brainer that should take one minute ends up taking 30 minutes, creates a crapload of frustration and culimates with a rant on the forum. This has been going on for years.

I have 10 of the Toolex Vises (4" & 6") and they work great. Zero complaints about them and the quality is good.

My BS meter is pegged. If I received a vise that hadn't been ground I'd send it back. Even the Chinese crap is ground...

We have had one of these for a few months and here is what I have done. We create a coordinate system for each project and so the probe has a good starting point. The first thing the CMM does is establish the datums then probes the part completely. We also have a calibration program in the part directory that will calibrate the appropriate angles required to inspect the part so if it hasn't been run in months, run the calibration program, then execute the part program. When we probe parts we install the fixture according to the picture at the beginning of the program, then everything is 100% automatic except the operator putting their name on the inspection report.

I do this all the time. If I am in a hurry I will save a copy of the file under a new name (to leave the original intact), replace the machine for the operation groups in question, and dynamically rotate the planes to coincide with the VMC layout. If the VMC needs to be programmed to COR you will need to translate the plane origins and reassign the depths in the operations otherwise the offset location delta can be calculated and the machine's DFO settings populated accordingly.

So is it working?

Not when it is quotes. As written the op_number variable will be posted with "#760=" ahead of it so if op_number = 21 it will post as: #760=21 So it stores the value of 21 in macro variable 760. 760 is an arbitrary variable I picked but it could be whichever variable you wish.

Here it is: format op_number (variable format section): fmt "#760=" 2 op_number post op_number to macro #760 in psof, ptlchg0, and ptlchg" op_number = opnum, e$ pbld, n$, op_number, e$ In ptlchg0 and ptlchg this is posted only if opnum<>prv_opnum There might be a sexier or sleeker way to do it but this works and it is bulletproof.

We ran a TR160 on a VF2SS and a VM3. On the VF2 it was a really tight fit and the tool setter had to be on a riser. When tilted at 90 degrees, Y-axis travel could also be an issue but for smaller work it wasn't a problem. On the VM3 we biased the rotary toward the front of the machine and did all of our work with the rotary tilted away and there was a ton of room. We could also use the tool setter without needing a riser. The only downer was it was SLOOOOW! We were porting some heads at 55 minutes where a faster setup (Makino/ Koma) got it done in 20 with a better finish.

Complex part: Optirest and stock model Simple part: 2D HST, dynamic facing, and contour Mold finishing: HST hybrid, surface finish parallel, hammer and chisel

Get a bigger face mill and cut it in one pass.

I figured the material would be steel but whether it was steel, stainless, or aluminum it wouldn't change my approach for 1-2 pieces.

That's why some guys make $35/hr and some make $20/hr. If he were to use the tools at his disposal correctly there is no need to dry run. We never dry run and I always expect the first part to come off the machine good. We don't bank on the first part being scrap ever. We use the overlay in verify to check programming errors or oversights and if there are tight tolerances the tool wear is set to zero so that dimension can be crept up on.

Start to finish I'd say a project like this would take 60-90 minutes (if I did everything) or so including programming, setup, machining, and deburring. Any thoughts?

I would start with stock that is +.275" on the thickness, do the counterbored face first and I would machine all features on that side (center cole, step, profile, and four mount holes). Then flip it over into aluminum soft jaws, face off the .275" excess, and surface finish the angle using parallel surface finish toolpath. If an order comes back for 1000 of these I would make 3-4 dedicated, palletized fixtures that could be swapped out in seconds and where the angle is set and no surfacing would be required.

Well the cell has been running for a week now and we have logged 114 machine hours on it in that time. Pretty happy with that since it is the first week and we are still in the process of moving work over to it. It is pretty simple to run and definitely meeting my expectations. Once we get a few more projects moved over we should be getting a full 24 hours a day out of it, maybe in another week or two. Two things really stand out with this system. First there is a lot more time to plan and set up projects as it will currently run around 5 hours before stopping. Second it is a lot more work to make sure there is raw material in front of the machine to run. Overall it just hums along in the background making parts and we make our way over to reload when time permits.

Do I sense some sarcasm/ attitude? I have never used Productivity plus but I can assure you I'd figure it out in a day or two and have it running like a top. It would take several hours though and a lot of thought. Have you played with it much? You could do it long had quicker than you could do it through Mastercam? That reminds me of some people I knew that said they don't need CAM for their CNCs, they could program by hand quicker. Never heard anything so ignorant in my life. If you are versed in macros this should be a no-brainer. I would guess the custom macro is required to run this and it is typically required to run a probe on the machine as well so that option should be in place, but that isn't a Mastercam option it is a Fanuc option. Do I get the sense that you feel like you are owed some help by the people on this forum?

Yes, I've done it with molds on my Makinos manually. Vector surface probing (9521).