It looks like we had other versions of Mastercam before X, and we had another CAM software other than MC. So those must have had solids capabilities somewhere along the line. We have to upgrade. Does it make sense to go from X6 or X7 to 23? I'm waiting for a quote from my reseller, but I'm looking for other opinions.

I found it in "selecting multiple holes of the same diameter". Hold down Cntrl key is the key.

I have a 2D geometry of a sheet with 6500 identical holes. I know there's a way to select all the holes vs selecting each individually, because I've done it before, but I can't remember how. I looked in help, no help.

Yes. I'm sure all (most) my problems will be solved with the upgrade. And maybe that will happen soon enough that I shouldn't worry about X6. But even though I might be getting a new truck, I like to fix the old one just in case.

I know we had solids option (prior to me), because we have so much work done with solids, including path routes and g-code. But if I try to do anything, even with geometry that has routes, I get the message. I have a ton of drawings that would make my life so much easier, but I can only look at them and create my own drawing. Way too much time.

Yup. It'll happen this year. Hopefully sooner than later. Thanks for your help.

We're planning on upgrading to a new Mastercam in the near future. However, in the mean time, I'm using X6 and no solids capabilities. My reseller says that I can not get solids for that version. There were 3 different engineers here before me and they were able to get by without solids. They were gone before I was brought on. I thought exporting from Inventor as a .stp file was the way to go, but in Mastercam I can't do anything with it. I get a message "Solids option not available. Contact your Mastercam dealer" Is there a different file format I should export as? Or is there a C-Hook or something that may help? Thanks.

That took care of the missing Y value, and so slipping back and forth from G18 to G17 doesn't matter, except: When using the aggragate in the C180 direction, the offset should be H43. However, in the C0 direction it's H42. The Post is only using H42. C180 has a 3 inch bit, where C0 is just over 1 inch. How do I get it to use the correct offset?

Thanks. I'll give that a try and let you know.

So this becomes a Post question. I don't need to change to G17 for any Y moves while in G18. Where would I look in the post file to change that? I'm not trying to take the easy way out. Just the quicker way at this point. I'm trying to learn post editing enough so I can be helpful on the forum, I'm just not there yet.

In the following g code, when in G18, is it necessary to go to G17 for a Y move and then back to G18? I wouldn't think so, but I'm looking for other opinions before I comment it out. N5840 G17 X74.0908 Y-6. N5850 G18 G44 H42 Y.001 N5860 Z.95 N5870 Y.775 N5880 G01 Y1.3 F25. N5890 X70.1533 F85. N5900 G02 X70.0783 Z.875 I0. K-.075 N5910 X70.1533 Z.8 I.075 K0. N5920 G01 X74.0908 N5930 G02 X74.1658 Z.875 I0. K.075 N5940 X74.0908 Z.95 I-.075 K0. N5950 (G17) G01 Y1.725 F25. (N5960 G18 G44 H42) N5970 X70.1533 F85. N5980 G02 X70.0783 Z.875 I0. K-.075 N5990 X70.1533 Z.8 I.075 K0. N6000 G01 X74.0908 N6010 G02 X74.1658 Z.875 I0. K.075 N6020 X74.0908 Z.95 I-.075 K0. N6030 (G17) G01 Y2.15 F25. (N6040 G18 G44 H42) N6050 X70.1533 F85. N6060 G02 X70.0783 Z.875 I0. K-.075 N6070 X70.1533 Z.8 I.075 K0. N6080 G01 X74.0908 N6090 G02 X74.1658 Z.875 I0. K.075 N6100 X74.0908 Z.95 I-.075 K0. N6110 (G17) G01 Y2.575 F25. (N6120 G18 G44 H42) N6130 X70.1533 F85. N6140 G02 X70.0783 Z.875 I0. K-.075 N6150 X70.1533 Z.8 I.075 K0. N6160 G01 X74.0908 N6170 G02 X74.1658 Z.875 I0. K.075 N6180 X74.0908 Z.95 I-.075 K0.

So, the reason (I figured out finally) for the Alarm 27 NO AXES COMMANDED IN G43/G44 G-code: N350 G18 G44 H42 was fixed by adding a Y position, Y0.001, after the H42. Where in the post file would this go?

I did ask my reseller, they will be looking into it, but it may be a bit before they get to it.

I have a couple machine definition files with all the aggregate specifications. I just don't know what I am missing.