Thanks for the reply, will look into buffers and see how they work. Thanks Again

First, sorry if I have not followed the rules for posting, this is my first one, so go ahead, beat me up. My question is, I have a 4 axis vertical Jig Bore. It has X,Y,Z,C and in addition a W axis which is the rail that travels along the Z axis, basically moves the spindle along the Z axis. There is also a Z axis quill which is the primary movement of Z but has only 12.0 of travel, if you need more then you move the W axis to get it, hope that makes sense. At any rate, I have finished the post and all of the strange codes required for the machine except for one thing, which is where I am hoping one of you post wizzards can help. For the Quill (Z), you need to unclamp it, move Z, then clamp it. Where the challenge comes in is when to do it. If you have a G0 X Y then a G43Z you would want the Z to be unclamped during the G43 move. Oh, this is a Fanuc 11. But, you would not want to clamp Z until it has made all of its Z moves to depth, once depth has been reached then you want to clamp it. Remains clamped until it has made all of the X/Y moves, then unclamp to retract Z. Also, no clamping during cycles. Hope I explained that OK. I have been writing posts quite a while but mostly for APT and Pro-E. I have done 5 or 6 now for mastercam but this problem is a new challenge that I am not sure is the best way to approach in Mastercam. In APT or PRO-E I would basically store previous, current and next XYZ values and use an IF statement. To get the next XYZ I would turn off posting, read ahead and get the values and then rewind the posting position and turn back on output. I am not sure how to read ahead to get the XYZ values or store previous values in Mastercam. So, do any of the wizzards have a suggestion. Thanks in advance.

The machine has full dynamic offsets, G54.3 and tracks excellent, and that is exactly what I have done and it is working. Problem is that I work at one of these places where you have to draw pictures for everything, setup, tool drawings, you name it, and with out a doubt they are going to want the program updated and the offsets removed. I have done this with other programming software I have used and just thought it would be simple in Mastercam since it does everything else so well, and I guess for the guys that have used it for a while and understand all of the terminology it probably is simple, as for me, I am simple minded and still struggling, but do not give up easy. Thanks

Nope, did not use incremental. So, to make sure I have the process down you have described. Sorry if I am completly off path here but have never had to do this in Mastercam yet. I would first go into WCS and create a new one with my Z vector at the new rotation that will be B0. If that is correct, please explain how I assign ALL of the toolpaths to use that WCS. Sorry if this is pretty basic stuff for you guys, have done this 100s of times in other systems, but never Mastercam. Thanks for your help.....

Hi john316, Thanks for the suggestion, I think I know where to create the WCS, will have to play with this a bit and figure out how to make all of the rotations use it, but it does give me some ideas, will just have to figure out how to do what you are talking about. Thanks agin for the suggestion.

I am a little new to Mastercam, a long time APT and Pro-NC programmer but only been using Mastercam for a year or two. Pretty much learned on my own so I may be doing something wrong that has created the problem I am having. At any rate, I have a Mitsui horizontal 5axis trunion, new machine and this is the first program for it. I am hitting all 4 sides of the part, front, right, back and left, also some compound angles around the part. Also hitting the top and some compound angles up there as well. The program is written, all rotations and tool path look good and have run on the machine. We have run into some problems with reach and clearance with the pallet hook which is forcing us to shift the setup 2.5 in X and rotate the fixture and part 90 degrees on the pallet. So, I have tried Xform, Translate 3D making the Front the Left, and from the Top have tried a Rotate. Both of these methods move the part and geometry to the correct location. My big problem is that the toolpath stays in the original location. So, HOW do I make the toolpath follow the part with the rotation and shift. Do I just need to go through all of the cuts in the program and select the planes, create new ones for the compound angles, and adjust all of the Z values. My hopes are that one of you guys are going to say, HEY, did you ever think to do this because it is a big program with a lot of cuts. If it matters I am running X4 MU3 (13.3.0.22). If any of you guys can set this newbee straight, I am hoping that one of you have the Silver Bullet that is at least going to minimize the effort to move the program. Thanks in Advance for any suggestions, CTRP