We use Quintax 5-axis routers here and they've done everything we've needed.

Thanks for the info. I finally got around to doing the benchmark and it's definitely time to upgrade. As for graphics cards, all the nVidia cards in Solidworks recommended list are Quadro FX. Other choices are ATI FireGL and FirePro. Dell seems to be popular, but I think we are leaning towards an HP workstation. Any issues with HP?

I finally got around to doing the benchmark. This is where I'm at now: Dell Precision 690 Workstation Intel Xeon CPU 3.20GHz 2GB RAM XP Professional 2002 8min 16sec S E E M S K I N D A S L O W New system coming soon...I'll benchmark it when it gets here, whatever it is.

It's time to upgrade a couple of computers here, geared toward Mastercam/Solidworks, and our IT guy has a few general questions. 1. Is it worth it to get Windows 7 64bit so we can use more RAM (ie, more the 3.5GB)? 2. Hard disks: Does it matter if we get SATA or SCSI interface drives? 3. Can Solidworks/Mastercam take advantage of multicore processors? 4. Is it worth it to get a high performance graphics card? If so, how much video ram? Thanks for any advice or other suggestions

Has anybody used one of these - TechnoShrink II model 00300? techniks

Thanks guys, I fixed the plunge rate and applied highfeed and it looks good when posted. Hopefully we get the job and I can see it on the machine. Hey Chris, if you can program highspeed on this then I should have no problems here

No hardmilling or steel here, but I've got a part I'm using to learn high speed surface toolpaths. Material is renshape and the part is basically a bowl shaped cavity with a flange and a small boss off center towards the bottom of the bowl. I like the way high speed is setup...no "gap settings" or "roll tool" options for example. I never know for sure what to put there. The only thing I don't like so far is it takes forever to regen when experimenting with different settings. A couple of questions: 1. When would you use high speed vs regular surface toolpaths? 2. In the highspeed finish scallop op for this part, the transition is set to tangential and backplot shows each transition drops to the plunge rate even though the tool doesn't leave the part. Does it really need to slow down here? Should I change the plunge rate same as feed rate? 3. Also, does it make any sense to apply Highfeed to a highspeed toolpath? Thanks for your help

nice!....hook, line and sinker

In Solidworks, you can also use Ctrl+Q to force regen and then save. That should clean up the model. Although, I still use the exact method gcode does for importing solidworks to mastercam.

Never mind.....I just found the "expand" arrow in the dialog box.

Had to rotate about the origin in Mastercam and now the Slot Milling op doesn't like my geometry. I need to recreate a slot using rectangle/obround option. How? Where?

Just start a new thread "Wanted, Free Post" and you'll get lots of help! j/k quote: I have just been sent the Post for it from In-House. Keep after them they will make it right. Maybe they sent the wrong post??

Problem solved! A couple days ago I installed Autodesk Design Review 09 and DWF Writer. I just un-installed both and now all is well. I guess they don't play well with Mastercam? Thanks Justin, that was the weird part cause I've had auto highlight checked the whole time.

Auto highlight is what I've lost. A simple function you take for granted until it's gone. I tried turning the Unified back/depth buffer back on, off, on and off again with restarts in between....nothing. It still works for surfaces, but not lines, arcs, splines. How do I get it back? I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks

For some reason, all of the sudden when selecting entities, they don't highlight until after I rotate the part slightly. Any ideas? Also, in an existing toolpath, when clicking on the chain name in the chain manager, it doesn't highlight the chain on the screen. And when clicking on a toolpath in the op manager, it doesn't highlight geometry on the screen like it used to. X2 MR2 SP1 with a Quadro FX3450 card and nothing's changed as far as I know. So far I've tried restart, lowering the hardware acceleration, and updating the driver with no luck. Anyone else seen this?