Hi Paul, This is just a quick note from Cimtech Inc. We are still waiting for you to send us some information so we can finish your post. I believe that you spoke with Steve Kidd the owner of Cimtech and he requested that you send us a sample G-code file so we can finish configuring your post, which we are happy to do. On a side note for everybody out there Paul is a legal owner of V 7.2 and we have several other customers who are still using versions that are older than that.... (V5 and v6). Just goes to show that even the older versions still work and work well. I happen to really like X now that I am used to it, but I am also a firm believer in using whatever is most comfortable to you. I hope everybody didn't rough you up too bad in here Paul. If you need more tech support we are always available to help you. Your Mastercam reseller should be the first person you contact when you need help, not the last. Best regards, Colin Gilchrist Cimtech Inc. www.multiaxis.com 253-922-8770

Hi Zoeper, Typically on an RS-232 connection you would need to use only three of the pins to do the actual communication. Pins 2 and 3 would be crossed (2 goes to 3, 3 goes to 2) and pin 7 would be straight through (pin 7 goes to pin 7). Just solder on some D-sub connectors and go. Cimcoedit comes with Mastercam V9, so if you are running V9, you have the cimco editor. Check here: C:/mcam9/common/editors/Cedit/CIMCOedit.exe In version 9 you could also set up mastercam to do DNC communications directly, but you would only be able to use your computers com port (a 9 pin serial port on the back of your computer). When doing this method you can also use a switch box to communicate to several different machines. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Try drawing your tool on the level to actual scale. I know it says to make your tool dia equal to one in the help file. This is only if you want to be able to scale the tool and I find that it really doesn't work. Draw your tool at 7.5mm (remember you are only drawing half the tool) and set your diameter in the custom tool dialog box to 15mm. When you look in the geometry box for the tool definition you should see the profile of the tool in blue and a dashed yellow line that represents the tool diameter. The edge of your blue tool and the yellow line should match. Be sure you measure your tool properly. Use an optical comparator or take the data from a tool catalog. When writing your toolpath you can either pick an entity (arc) or a point. If you pick an arc, Mastercam uses that arc diameter directly. If you enter a point, Mastercam will let you enter the major or minor diameter in the toolpath dialog box. I usually set the diameter .001 smaller than I need and use cutter comp set to wear. That way I can run the thread and adjust it into tolerance using the wear setting. That keeps you from cutting too big on the first shot -Colin

BillH, Try looking at the Keymapping section. Under View Manipulation you will find a button for "set motion controller rotation point". set a keyboard shortcut and it should work (the default is F12). That will let you rotate about a point when you are zoomed in. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

I think this is a result of not turning on "Standard Selection". If you select the drop down arrow for selection method on the General Selection Toolbar you can select one of six selection methods. For this example just click on the single method. When you pick a single there is a button with a white arrow that becomes active on the General Selection toolbar. This is just to the right of the selection method drop down menu. This is the Standard Selection function. Standard Selection is basically - Click to select an entity, Click on that same entity again to de-select it. It is basically a toggle option. Here is the catch: If you see the arrow, standard selection is off! Pressing the button activates standard selection(the button should be grayed out when it is active). If you are trying to put a fillet radius on a solid and you have Standard selection turned off, when you move your cursor over the model, no solid edges will auto-highlight. Same goes for toolpath depth selection from a solid. If you press any of Mastercam's toolpath depth selection buttons and go to your solid geometry, same story, nothing auto-highlights or auto-cursors. I personally think this is a bug of sorts. I think Standard Selection should be on by default all the time. If you use another selection method, i.e. chain or window, then the standard selection should be off only when doing that selection function. It should then default back to being turned on when accessing either a toolpath or solid creation option. Any comments from CNC software on this one? -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Its a really cool product guys..... Contact your local reseller to check it out. Its worth the money if you have a machine capable of using its power (i.e. High Rapid/Feed rates, High Spindle speeds, Helical Interpolation, High NC Block look ahead, ect.) it has great tools for both High Speed machining and Hard Milling. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Hey guys, This works for Changing attributes and colors as well. Just be sure your cursor is on the actuall word (level,color,ect.). You should see an icon of a mouse pop up next to your cursor when you are in the right spot. There is a difference between pre-selecting your entites for the function. If you pre-select what you want to change and right click on level for example, Mastercam displays the Change levels dialog box. Set your options and press the Ok button and Mastercam performs the function. If you right click on Level with no geometry pre-selected, Mastercam will open the screen prompt and ask you to select geometry. After you select your geometry, you then have to go and click on the End Selection button. If you pre-select you save yourself from having to press the End Selection button. Just my 2 cents, -Colin www.multiaxis.com

I'll have to look into it on Monday as well. I need to bring home a demo copy so I have something to work with at home. I read the Roger Martin thread and it looks like the .ft file controls the display of the Mastercam interface. If anyone has some more info on this I'd love to hear it. Thanks for the welcome Thad, Its good to be here. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

You can actually set Raster to Vector to do manual tracing yourself. It might be an add-on option to Mastercam though, I can't remember. Thats what happens when you work for a dealer and are using a dealer key. Everything is enabled so I always forget what is an add-on. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Hi Guys, Thad - Are your config files on a network or local on the hard drive of your computer? I had a similar problem the other day. Let me explain what happened: I do Tech Support for the Washinton State Mastercam reseller. A customer of ours was having a problem with his file. I already had Mastercam SP1 installed and it was running fine. The customer sent me his current MCX file, along with his .config, .mtb, and .kmp file so I could simulate his situation. It apparently also loaded a .ft file which I have know idea as to what Mastercam does with this. As soon as I switched the files, I got the same error messages that you guys are. I checked in the Configuration,Files section and all of the data paths for the different files that Mastercam uses had been reset to some bogus location (I think it was the root directory mcamx). The only way I could fix it was to uninstall Mastercam completely, re-install it of the CD, and re-install SP1. I think it might be a network issue..... Any comments from other users/resellers/CNC software would be appreciated. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Hi guys, In the past I have been using the Mastercam GUI for a setup sheet. What is the ncdatasheet? I looked in the help file and I guess you guys are using a .Set file.... If you go into Configuration you will find an option to set Mastercam's setup sheet back to GUI. Then if you select operations in the Toolpath Manager and right-click, choose the setup sheet, you will get the V9 style GUI and you can click on the big tools button on the left side of the dialog box to get a tool list. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Hi guys, I think there is a bug in SP1 with using a printer over a network. Try (I know its a pain) hooking up a printer to your local computer if you can. Several of our customers have called us Friday and had similar issues with Printing. They were all trying to print over a network. With SP1 all of our computers that have local printers attached worked fine, but over the network we are getting the same printing issues: Dimensions appearing but no lines, no shaded geometry only wireframe, Symbols and garbage instead of a print, ect. I will write to Tech Support at CNC software and ask on this. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

sorry guys, I should proof read better. (installed) -Colin

Hi Everybody, For people having issues with Backplot: Try doing a fresh installation of both the .NET Framework and the DirectX 9.0c from the Mastercam installation CD. We have been taking tech support calls from many users who have been having graphics problems. A majority [notice I didn't say all ] of them have the same problem: They have an older version of Direct X installes (such as version 8 or 9.0(a). If this is the case, when these customers go to the main installation screen, the two installation buttons for Direct X and the .Net 1.1 Framework are grayed out. To install these products you must explore the CD contents in Windows Explorer and go to the Data folder. You will find seperate install programs for both .NET 1.1 and Direct X 9.0c. A final note, after the install of SP1 I also had to go to Mastercam's website and re-install the HASP drivers for Windows XP. -Colin www.multiaxis.com

Hi Matt, I taught a night course here in washington state for three quarters. I really enjoyed it, but doing the grading/testing was kind of a drag(not enough hours so I had do it on personal time). I was paid in the low 30's which was really decent for part time work. Don't expect any benifits though. Definatly a labor of love, but I would do it again if the opportunity arose. I am currently the full time instructor for Cimtech Inc. the Washington State Mastercam reseller. For a college course I highly recommend Dr. S.C. Johnathon Lin's book, Mastercam Version 9 Mill and Solids. I'm not sure when the X version will be out, but he does a great job of including good explanations with actual tutorial examples. The Handbook series by Charles Davis is a great book for doing explanations/lectures, but I found it to be a little lacking in the step-by-step tutorial department. Just my 2 cents. -Colin