Paul, you could try Harvey Tool.I don't have there catalog handy to see if they have the size you need but they have alot of long reach stuff. They also do custom carbide cutters too.HTH

Way back when, in tech school, we made hammers (knurled handles), vise stops, sq. bench block (using a 4 jaw chuck on a lathe after milling sq to bore the big center pocket and thru hole), drill/tap guide block, paper punch. Also made sine bar, v-blocks, angle plate after we got good enough to grind with tenths. Heck, my teacher even had me build a mold (it was a coaster with the school logo milled into it) in a Roundmate insert.

Dosman! Thanks. It worked for me. Murlin, Don S, My file name had numbers and it still worked. It as a 2d lettering I did called 1950Ford.nc . Made the cdl file, no problem. jm2c

From my experiences as a wire edm operator from a few years ago, conductivity is a big factor as is wire tension. I agree completely with Toolman, Bosto and del. I can also tell you I had a machine that had bad ground cables and that created alot of headaches. My best advice would be get new cables (you said you had them on the way), clean all contact surfaces on everything, make sure your DI water is clean and good(when was the last time you had the bedding or bottles changed). Conducutivity of the work piece and non-conductivity of the water is majorly important. Picking up on a pin is tricky if you can't get close but you should be ok with the higher wire tension. Just my .02

I think it's more about budget tahn anything. Are you looking to go flat screen (is that what you had before or a CRT)? If you go flat screen lcd, get something with a low response time. We're tied into Dell here so we had to go with them. I think the 20" lcd I have was around $380 but you can find other brands cheaper.HTH

I had that same problem in X when it first came out but it was fixed after mr1. I haven't installed X2 yet (waiting for update release) but you might want to send a zip to go to CNC's qc department. That's what I did before. Sure hope this isn't an issue again as I use that toolpath alot too.

Being that we're a prototype/model shop and I'm the only guy that knows how to program and operate...it's all on me. Can you say "job security "?

Here's an example of what I usually run OBO Modulon (similar to ren)at: 1/4 carbide Ball 9000 rpm 200 ipm It also depens on what density the material is too. We use some fairly dense stuff i.e. 500-650kg/cubic meter.

Pro-e is powerful stuff. I've been using it off and on since ver 16. The Pro-NC has come a long way from where it use to be but me....well, I'm still using Mastercam...and my bosses have no problem with that. I've used Pro-NC here and I've found (given the nature of what we do) I can get it done quicker with Mastercam. Granted, there are situations where Pro would do just as well but then again there are situations where it won't. If your doing family type, parametric parts, where all you do is change a few dimensions and regen and re-post, it's great. Just my .02 I'll stick with MC as long as I can.

quote: gavetta, Dos'nt your big paws get in the way when trying to program? Naw....but I have to put the martini glass down on ocassion

quote: We are such Mastercam nerds!!!!! Hey!! I resemble that remark!!

http://www.mastercam.com/support/downloads...X2/Default.aspx Who wants to be first??

Yup, ya can't have a boundary inside a boundary. I usually put a surface over the feature(s) and put it on another layer so I can turn it on and off to select.HTH

Only have a 3 axis post for a Fadal myself but post it and go right to machine. I have also helped our tool room guy set up posts for Mitsubishes with Meldas control and a Monarch with Fanuc so that he can post and go. I do owe kudos to the good folks here for helping me better understand how posts work (and a few other things too).

Dave, Thanks for the link. Dan, I still have some fun without having art. I use Wintopo and then a little imagination from there.

I'd go with the Makino also. I've seen them in action and their SGI is great. Just my .02

+1 Murlin, I've been using iges files from Pro since '95 and have never seen many issues at all especially if the config in Pro is set right to export to MC. I beleive there is info available on that from PTC's site.

from what an old german fella here tells me (and it's not real clear) you guys are correct with "NOTE: Welding pins position 5 and 6 are weld with a=3" He wasn't sure what the a=3 ref was but that's as best as he could do

Thanks Rob. I'll pass this on to our guy. I did a forum search on meldas and saw a few posts by you. Thought you might have some input. I'm not at all familiar with those machines as they are in our tooling dept and I'm in the model shop (stuck with a Fadal VMC4020 88hs....but it does what I need it to). Thanks again.

Oops! I noticed I got the machine name wrong. It's a M-V5Cn-L. I'm hoping somebody has one and can tell me something. I've done a google and found a little info but not alot. Anyone???

This question isn't for my sake but for the sake of our guy in the tooling shop. He has 2 Mitsubishi V5Cn-L with Meldas 600m machines and is try to get the machine to do a helical entry on a hst area roughing toolpath. The control puts out an alarm #PR0072 but when you go to the manual to look up the alarm, that # isn't there. The manual skips from PR0071 to PR0073 Does anyone know if this machine/control supports helical moves? The code for the line the alarm is on is something like: G3X **** Y***** Z***** R****** and thats it.Is there another G/M code that's misssing? Any help here would be appreciated. Thanks

Btw, I've ran Agies before but didn't have MC to program with so I'm not sure how the post outputs the file types or where it gets the info from. Is it possible that a data path for a library in your machine def/control def might have gotten changed or something....??? just a thought

quote: thought we were all here for the same reason, problems with mastercam...Not me....here to learn and share experience...ask questions about machines, etc., etc.,... not 'cause I just have problems and want to b**ch about things and put down a particular software. All software has it's problems. I haven't seen any that are trouble free. How you handle your problems, your attitude and how ask for help is up to you but don't assume everybody's here 'cause of "problems" with MC.

I think having that for a screen name shows nothing but disrespect....after all this is a "Mastercam" forum. right? IMO starting out right off by showing no respect and then saying "oh..btw....can you help a brother out" probably isn't the best way to go. To me it seems like your just trolling.

quote: Consiering what monitors now cost, everyone should have two monitors. Hey...can you tell that to my bosses...and the bean counters....I'd love to have dual 20" in flat screens.