It was crashing in files with only 2D geometry though I did have the y step set to zero. It seemed to help when I reset that value to 1. I never had problems with it before though. Also, selecting surface geometry and changing surface normals is more difficult because it doesn't show up very well. Again, never a problem in the past...

From what I have heard, Volumill is like dynamic pocketing on steroids. It would probably be wise to discontinue maintenance with Mastercam and just spend it on the Volumill chook?

Mike, It is not the graphics card. I have a Quadro 1500 in my computer and it still crashes :-(

I would also say X2MR2 was the most stable

Pete, You guys have been creating this software for a very long time. Why are there so many bugs with every release? I am seeing features that worked fine before having issues with the new release and this has been the case with 'upgrades' other than X4. It is not a graphics or computer issue because I sit all day long and run ProE on this same computer and it is bulletproof. Who pushes this stuff out the door when it still has so many issues? I have to believe that the beta testers stumble across these bugs. It really reflects poorly on Mastercam when new releases have so many issues. I am a one man shop and I pay my maintenance out of my own pocket and often I really feel like I am getting bent over by you guys. I NEED to stay on maintenance because the current version has so many bugs and I am hoping that the next release is more reliable. For the most part the new releases have just as many bugs and features that worked before now have issues... I am really waiting for a good, stable version so I can drop this maintenance crap and be done with it. I am not much of a conspiracy theorist but I do wonder if you have a bug development department trying to make sure that never happens.

One thing I have noticed in X4 is that if I modify one operation of several that are transformed they all become dirty and need to be regenerated. It hasn't been this way in the past and I was curious if this was a bug. It susally isn't a problem, but every now and then I have a few surfacing toolpaths transformed so it can become really tedious to regenerate all of them for no reason.

Pete, It happens fairly often and usually after a large file has been open and worked on for some time. It is not reproducible but I do send the crash report when that window pops up sfter the crash. Another error I get on a regular basis: If I change one operation of several that are transformed I need to regenerate all of them. It wasn't this way in the past. Thanks, Bob

Anyone know what the hell the "unhandled exception" error is? I get this error message several times a day after Mastercam crashes. Is this a bug? Will it ever get fixed? I usually save my files after everything I do but every now and then I get bit in the @ss and the ensuing run of four letter words is not pretty.

transform crashes me all the time also. It seems to happen much more frequently if either the x or y steps are set to 0.

quote: I really hope CNC gets these paths working. Nope, they will be spending all of their time on new fangled features.

Just out of curiosity, how are the other CAM packages out there doing with the high speed toolpaths and reliability? There are tons of Surfcam truemill videos on Youtube and it really makes me wonder if I am still using the best CAM package, or if Mastercam is being surpassed.

I have given up on the HST rest mill roughing HST tool paths and I use a waterline finishing pass using rest material for my rest roughing. It is much more efficient than the rest roughing toolpaths and it doesn't bury the cutter in tight pockets.

DPRINT is the command but I'm not sure how Mastercam needs to be configured to listen for information from the machine. Saving to a file would be perfect.

I have a Haas mill with a Renishaw probe and I would like to know how to export points taken in real time. I can currently have the probe store values in the macro variables but when there is more than a few dozen points I run out of storage variables. Can I set up my mill to export coordinates directly to Mastercam or ProE as the points are taken?

What is the best source for off the shelf gears? I really don't know where to start for gear suppliers.

I need to have some holes drilled in a large surface plate and I don't know how to go about this. Are there shops, or a method to doing this? Thanks, Bob [ 08-10-2009, 05:21 PM: Message edited by: Bullet Bob ]

I need to have a precision worm gear made for a rotary table application. Does anyone know of a good supplier for this sort of thing? Thanks, Bob [ 08-10-2009, 05:22 PM: Message edited by: Bullet Bob ]

I am well into the job and things are going very well. I ended up using a .5" 6 flute high helix cutter recommended by my local tool supplier Western Tool and it is working great. I am using a shrink fit tool holder and a two tool strategy outlined by MotorCityMinion. Thanks for all the help. Bob

I am side milling to create a sharp vertical step where there is currently a radius. Very little material is being removed (~.040" side cut, .1" deep) but the resulting corner needs to be sharp, so no radiused end mills. I machined these parts and accidentaly left out this final operation and didn't realize it until the parts were heat treated so this is a one time deal, though there are 220 parts. The machine is a Haas.

I need a cutter to machine A2 at RC60. I need something in 3/8" diameter with a ~2.25" reach. Any suggestions? Thanks, Bob

I know from running my own shop that I look at the revenues generated and I'm like "Damn! this is great, I'll be retiring in a few years". A few weeks later after expenses, rent, tooling, machine payments, utilities, raw materials, it is all gone and the cycle begins anew...

What exactly are sub-programs and what are the applications? It sounds interesting and I would like to learn more about them. Could someone please give a brief description. Thanks, Bob

Time with X3: 6:40 Time with X4 2:52 Same computer :-) Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66 2 gig ram Windows XP Nvidia 1500

I just installed X4 and updated most of the folders (tools, posts, ops, etc...) using the update folder utility. How do I go about transfering the config settings? Is it just a matter of cutting and pasting the files from the X3 directory to the X4 directory?

"Paying for maintenance should be only for upgrades, not fixes to a release already purchased." +1 When we buy this software it should work, and yes, I mean ALL features. If not, it should be fixed free of charge.