Thanks for everyones help, Brendan solved my problem very nicely. Keith

That's the other problem. I'm waiting on a previous order for replacements to my parting tool. As such, I effectively have none.

Actually the groove isn't very deep at all. It's only 0.05 in. deep. I've tried using the left and right but when I do, the toolpaths don't come out correct. In my attempts, I usually end up with warnings that the tool will collide with the stock. I'm very new at working with MasterCam for a lathe part so I'm not familiar enough with how to accomplish this. Keith

Ok, here's the deal. I need to cut a groove in aluminum round stock (1.25 inche dia.). The groove is 1 inch wide. The problem is that I don't have a groove tool for my lathe and need to cut this groove as quickly as soon as possible. Unfortunately ordering a tool won't arrive soon enough. Is there any way to use a right or left OD cutting tool to cut the groove? Even if it were in multiple steps I wouldn't care. I've been wracking my brain trying to come up with a good way to do this in Mastercam 9.1. So far (many hours) I've come up with nothing that works. Any help will be extremely appreciated. I wasn't able to access the FTP site (again) otherwise I would have uploaded the .MC9 file. If anyone can help and needs the file, please let me know and I'd be happy to email it to you. Thanks in advance. Keith

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try each and see how it turns out. Keith

I have a general question regarding milling aluminum. I'm currently using a 2-flute HSS 3/8" ball endmill to mill out a half-circle. I'm not having any problems doing this. My speed and feed rates appear to be just fine. After tweaking the speed, feed and plunge some chatter that I was getting appears to have gone away. When I'm done milling the piece, I notice that the "finish" of the milled out aluminum is not as smooth as I expected. I was expecting the finished surface to be much smoother. Should I be using a 4-flute HSS 3/8" ball endmill for the smooth finish that I'm interested in? I'm still a newbie in this world, so be gentle. Thanks in advance.

Metal Flake (Dan), I wasn't able to log into the FTP site. I don't know why. Instead I emailed you my IGS and MC9 files so you can take a look at what I'm trying to mill. Any help is greatly appreciated. Keith

Thad, The part that I'm interested in milling will look like the impression of the "nose cone".

Hi everybody. I'm new to the MasterCam world (MasterCam 9.1) and I've been trying to figure out how to "mill" a 1/2 diameter cone into a block of aluminum. I have a small block (aluminum) that is 4" x 2" x .75". I used SolidWorks 2005 to design the piece. Picture a rocket nose cone (1/2 of it) cut into the top of the small block. The problem I'm having is trying to figure out how to use MasterCam to mill the cone shaped cut out. I thought I could use the Curve5ax functionality, but nothing I've been able to do with it has worked. HELP! Any assistance would help me enormously. Thanks in advance.