I tried pocket but the cutter wouldn't go through some of the line gaps.

That sounds easy, but look at the font. it is always changing width. Seems to me there should be a easier way to do this without having to do a bunch of offset and trimming. Even if I do offset and trim it still want flow from entity to entity smoothly. Here is a look at what I'm trying engrave.

Need some help with fonts. I have decided to engrave a piece of graphite, then sink letters into my stencil. The problem now is the type of font that the customer wants engraved. They want me to use "English 111 Vivace BT". I can change font style ,but it needs to be close the above mentioned. They want a fancy style lettering. The problem is I want a single "stick" instead the double lines that is produced. I want to program with cutter comp off. This is very small letters(.1875 in height)cut .03 deep in graphite. The tool I'm using is .015 tip diam. with 10º taper. Can someone tell me how to change this to a stick type letter or a different font that uses stick type letters. Thanks Robert

Ref points it shall be. Thanks to all

We have a guy here that is going to school to program Haas lathes. He wants me to tweak their post to output code so he's comfortable with it. He wants the machine to leave home and make a direct move in Z to Z.5, then move to the X,Z coordinates per his lead-in lead-out. He doesn't want to come from home with the X,Z move, because he say this could crash the tailstock. I do know that a Haas will travel from home to the face of the part and if it has a shorter distance in X than Z, it will move to the X position and then finish making the Z move(basically they move at the same speed, completing the shortest distance first). I don't think all lathes do this, do they? So how can I change the post to get it to post this Z move after the toolchange and before the lead-in position. I have put code in the post so it will hard post out to G54Z.5, but this doesn't show up if he tries to do a backplot or verify. I don't know if this is actually a problem or if he's blowing smoke wanting this done. I don't have a lot of MC lathe experience. So maybe some of you lathe guru's can help me with this. X2 MR2 SP1 Thanks Robert

I have been ask if we can duplicate a stencil for a local company. The stencil marks the name on a piece of hard plastic that is very small. The text for the stencil is .1875 in height and some of the spacing is only .012 wide. The outside of the letters are tapered about 3-5°. Remember the letters are protruding upward in order for the stencil to work. This means I will have to cut around the outside of the letters and leave a small flat at the top of each letter. Also, the wording has the letters "N" "O" "P" & "A" in it. As for the "N" when you get closer to intersecting lines, it appears there cutter has begun to retract as it gets closer to the intersection of the vertical and angled lines. I will try to upload picture shortly. My question is how is this done. I have never made a small stencil. I don't know if they make tipped small tapped end mill. Thanks Robert

I will try this soon. Thanks Rob

Its not only on this file, its every file.

Let me try the pictures now!! Can't figure why the black boxes have started??

I've gor other problems for now. I will upload pic later this afternoon. Rob

Give me a few minutes.

In my MGP the area around my switches are blacked out. If I toggle the switch on I can faintly see the font under the blacked out box. I hope you can understand what the problem is. It has only been this way for a couple of days. I don't know what I have done to get the blacked out areas. Thanks Rob

I called motion yesterday. waiting for a reply. Also googled before asking. No luck there either. Thanks to all.

I have a housing that has a radial bearing in it. We are having to reproduce the housing. I need to know what the outside radius that the bearing sets in. The bearing # is FAFNIR RA100. Anyone know of any websites that might have this info. Thanks Robert

How can I reload only tools and machine def from my start up disk. I don't want to lose my MC setup as is. How do I go about this. Thanks Robert

I have a part from a customer that has to be reverse engineered to make the part. The part has a OD worm thread that needs to be cut. I'm not exactly sure what the thread is. The major diam. of the thread measures .931, the lead angle is 21 deg. the pitch is 4mm from CTC on the thread. I have a Kennametal threading tool but don't know what insert that I need. My local KM dealer wasn't much help. Anyone have any input? Here is image of the part Thanks Rob

I ran Mazaks for 12 yrs before changing jobs. All I can say is -40% on everything you try to cut on a Haas. SFM, Depth of cut, everything period!!!! Smaller depths of cut, slower feeds and speeds = less parts out the door. Less parts out the door = less money in the door. The last new Mazak we bought was 510 with a 4th axis. What I would give to have it tomorrow when I clock in. Just my 2¢ worth.

I need some tech info on metric worm gears. I have a part that I need to duplicate. I know everything about the part is metric. It has a small worm gear in the center that I can measure to compare to tech info to figure out exactly what size thread I have. Does anyone have a webpage or info that might help me to figure what the gear is. Thanks Robert

We'll see if this works thanks Rob

Del I will be cutting 2-11 ext.

What is the angle that these threads need to be cut on? Does any one have a web page with this info. Thanks Rob

GVM, We're a small shop and can't afford to spend a get deal of cash. We do lots of break down jobs that have no prints. They bring a part and say we need this made. Just trying to get our feet wet.

Thanks Storky!!!

We are looking to buy a small CMM. We would like to find a BS Reflex 343 used but in good shape. Does anyone here have one for sale or know where I might find one. Anybody got any idea what the price range would be? Does anyone know if you can use MC to do digitizing, or will we have to buy special software to do digitizing. Thanks Rob

I'm using Mastercam and swiss as username and password. what is the site location and what port