Does anyone have some typical cutter parameters for using this style of machining? I'm trying it for the first time as I type this. Iscar 3/4dia. with 3 inserts .300 depth of cut 3000 rpm 52 ipm. It seems to be working good. Any other suggestions that might be helpful? Thanks to whoever might have some more insight on this type of machining.

We recieved tutorial books with the v9 we purchased. Do they still publish the reference manuals along with the tutorials and should we have recieved them with v9?

I have put the file on the ftp site. It is called 4C2H_8A062B Die insert.zip. After more investigation I have found all my files make the "current ram allocation" increase after going into the operations manager, then going back to screen config. but most of them only make it increase a small amount because their nci file size is much smaller. They increase about .2 meg per time I go onto operations manager then back to screen config.

I am also having trouble with a job as far as toolpath processing time. Iwould like to put it up on Jay's ftp site so Jay or any one else could offer me some suggestions.It has about 1800 surfaces over a piece that is roughly 2.50inches by 25inches. Is it ok to just put it up on Jay's site? Jay please reply. Thanks.

I have a file that when I go into the operations manager then go back to screen configure the current ram allocation has increased.I have not changed my allocations. I can do this several times and every time it increases my current ram allocations by 17.8meg. I originaly allocated just less than 50% of my ram to mastercam.I am running on a brand new compaq 1.8ghz,512ram, windows 2000,service pak 2, version 9 fresh install. I did enough times and my current ram allocation on screen configure went beyond 600meg. What gives? Am I doing something wrong? Please offer any advice on why this may be happening. Has this happened to anyone else? Thanks in advance. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give as much info as I could.

Could someone please explain in detail how the stock resolution in v9 surface restmill works. I looked at the help file but it was not all that clear to me. Best I can tell it looks like it is a cut tolerance for what the "roughing tool " cut to. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

We are going to be upgrading one seat from v8.1.1 to v9 and installing a new seat of v9. Is there going to be apatch to fix it?

The amount of memory required will mostly depend on the size of the surfaces being machined, the amount of stepover, also if the part has free form surfaces or geometric surfaces. For example if the part being cut is 1inch x 2 inch x 3 inch that won't take much memory, but if the part is 1 foot x 2 feet x 3 feet it would probably require much more memory. But you never have to much memory. (Kind of like beer you can never have to much on hand.)

Does anybody have some "rules of thumb when using ball end mills for roughing or finishing? I have heard 10% stepover and 10% depth of cut.(10% meaning 10% of cutter diameter. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My prior employer purchased version 7 level 3 at an auction and payed to transfer the license. As I remember either cnc or our reseller was somewhat reluctant to do this. In the end though everyone seemed to be satisfied. I think the charge was approximently 30% to 40%. This was still cheaper than sticker price. Prior to this we had purchased a level 1 seat. This is where I learned all the basics of mastercam. They have since upgraded at least one seat to version 8 level 3 w/solids.

Another option might be to save one set of operatioins to a library then import operations from that library through the operations manager.

Maybe you could make a tool that would fit into a boring head. You would be able to adjust the boring head to the right diameter. The down side is depending on the width of the groove you might have to make a tool for each groove width. Just an idea.

Our local area career center is having trouble. Does anyone know if the MPROT3MX3 post will work for the age 3? Will this post, or machine allow us to do surface machining? Anyone with experience using mastercam with the age3 control? Sorry for so many questions. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

Does mastercam have any plans for providing a post or a filter as standard or optional equipment in the future. I have heard Metcut offers software for doing this. Is this software expensive? Is this just one piece of sotware or does it come as a package with other abilities?

Anyone have any experience using this function? We are a rapid prototype stamping company and I would like to use this for flattening our 3d geometry so we can laser cut a blank then bend it up. We do not have the "unfold" c-hook and was wondering if by using transform - roll/unroll we might be able to accomplish the same thing. From what I understand, some of the other cad systems have unfold commands to, but I've heard they don't work very well unless the bends are straight and fairly geometric in nature. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

This is just a helpful little hint for figuring the hole size before tapping a metric thread. Take the nominal screw size then subtract the pitch. The resulting answer is the size of the hole needed. Example: M12x1.75=10.25 M10x1.5=8.5

The only way I know of obtaining this type spec is by lapping. I would check the Thomas Registar for a local or regional companies that do lapping on a regular basis. I believe a popular method for checking flatness in this tolerance range is done with light waves, check to see if they have this ability. See if they can provide certification traceable to NIST.

If you are new to highspeed machining there is a magazine called Modern Machine Shop they have published several articles on it. They also have a very nice website with lots of information on different machining methods.They also have forums on machining, and they have an area on their site called The Highspeed Machining Zone with lots of technical information.There web address is mmsonline.com.