I wonder if he could get his solidworks guys to model that into things? or have a base template....something along those lines. I know it is a far cry easier to move anything in Solidworks than it is in Mastercam. Possibly if he worked with his solidworks guys to just toss it in after the part is all modeled up. There is probably already a model for every vice up on 3d content central. Just a thought, but yeah, I understand that other end of things. I also know that not everyone likes to use the WCS stuff due to it not seeming "convenient" (not saying this is either of their case, just from what I've seen at the places I've been). Andrew

mcpgmr and Jpage, Do you guys not use the WCS stuff? You can setup your pickup points and all that, and never have to worry about re translating or moving or anything of solidsgeometries. You can also pickup different faces and whatnot even if you Don't have solids option in Mastercam. Eliminates the need for moving entities. Andrew

I was just suggesting for so far what appears to be a cleaner toolpath to use the HST scallop. only downside is that it's been regenerating on my computer for about 20 minutes or so and its only at 80%. That is with a .001" stepover. It may take the next 3 hours to process the leftover path, but might come up with a nice one if you use the same type of operation. I'll see how this comes out, but I have some other goodies I gotta cut up for my brother tonight. I <3 cutting plastic in the mikron. Andrew ps I'll post up the file when it finishes.

Ok, from what I see, I would suggest so far using instead of a waterline operation with your 1/32" tool, use a scallop operation. The reason your toolpath is 11 hours long is because the tool is skipping all over the place, cause with the waterline, it always wants to be at the highest point. With the scallop operation, it will do a nice constant stepover for this part. I will see what I get for a final finishing operation with the .5mm tool, but I forsee using the same type of toolpath. Question for you. what material are you cutting here? I know you can only push a 1/32 and .5mm ball end mill so far, but the speeds and feeds seemed a little bit off. I could just be used to getting to use up to 42k RPM on the mikron though Andrew

I've got it regenerating right now. I'm giving it a try where I lie to it and say that my roughing tool was a .030" tool and the radius on it is .015". It looks like since the first tool is a .0156" radius, mastercam wants to make the .5mm tool clean up everything else since the radius at the top is .015". I'll see what it does. it's at 30% regen now. Andrew edit> hopefully i'm understanding properly what you're looking for. Too many things going on at once here

Set a minimum and maximum Z depth in conjunction with the restmill. Not only should that take care of your situation, it should also drastically reduce computer processing time. Hope that helps. I'll check the FTP file in a bit, gotta get some other work done here real quick. Andrew

quote: After all, ISN'T THAT WHAT WE PAY FOR? Don't you know we are just paying to cover the Mastercam seat(s) the OCC guys use? PS, has anyone sent to QC the problem with operations going randomly dirty? I've even had where I've "x'd" out of a toolpath parameters page, and the op still goes dirty. If no one has sent something in, I'll send asap. Course maybe not everyone gets response cause we fill their inbox with so many QC emails? haha, I kid (1 too many energy drinks today) Andrew

With Skype You can view each others screens, do video conferencing, and a slew of other things with it. I'm not positive on if you can manipulate other peoples screens though. It is free though, and works really well. Andrew

gcode, I guess it has changed then. I had a problem in the past with that, but it could have also been to do with the tool holders. It has been a few weeks since I've used custom defined tools in verify. I'll check it out here, but most of my work is ballbull nose so I'm usually OK as far as tools go. I will add this though: When you do a HST core rough operation, and you tell it to stay X amount away from your toolholder, you can still have a collision with stock left on your part. How does Mastercam not recognize stock left on the part and avoid the collision with the bottomside of the toolholder? Andrew

1.+18000 on fixing things that don't work as they should. A.Verify that is actually a good picture of what my part will look like....And in a timely manner (even 10 minutes is unacceptable IMO. UG, WorkNC, solidcam have these figured out) B.Verify that can use "true solids" with custom defined tools. C.No more corrupt files due to sudden power loss in computer. D.True utilization of Ram, video card, CPU/dual core/64 bit, etc. E.CNC Software to stop blaming THEIR software problems on everyones computers. F.Surface to surface trimming couldn't be any more of a pain that it is. G.All of the above to not be "fixed in the next release" I would have a list of things to add, but at this point these things hinder our daily operation so directly that they MUST be addressed first. My question is this: How is the "#1 CadCam software company" falling behind in such crucial areas and still for the past X amount of years, everyone just deals with it? Especially now that there are just as if not more powerful other packages out there? Andrew

My problem is intermittent as well. Sometimes I can input "1mm" and it'll output the .03937". It seems to depend on the dialog box, but then again, it'll work in that box sometimes, but not always. I've tried the "fix" above there. more 64 bit woes? If anyone is running vista with X2MR2, let me know. I'd be interested if vista 64 would do this. I'd like to update my work computer soon Andrew

Mike, If Seco has a pretty wide selection of tapered end mills. 1 through 45 degrees, with more options from 2 through 15 deg. I use their tools almost exclusively on our Mikron with incredible success. if you give 1-877-908-3726 the guys there will be able to offer up very good insight into their product line. Bill Bogue there has been a huge help to me when it has come down to choosing the right cutter. On top of that, their books provides awesome speedsfeeds for almost every application. I don't work for them in case anyone is wondering, just love their tools. Amazing how an almost 1" long 1mm tool will last in hard steel. Hope that helps you. Andrew three r plastics inc ps. since you are in illinois, tools will get to you rather quickly too.

Verifybackplot to see where it's adjusting to not hit the holder. Careful with this though. Watch your Z depths. The holder collision detection does not compensate for the bottom of the holder. So if you do a core roughing with a .25" stepdown with .025" stock left on part, and there is a section that didn't get cut, the bottom of the toolholder may collide with the leftover stock. So make sure you verify with the toolholder on. This has bit me many times. HTH Andrew

I've been having this issue as well. It's been intermittent. When I first setup this computer, my math worked just fine. Then after a week or so, it just went away. not sure what the deal was. I tried to register the DLL, but to no avail. I'll try restarting mastercam here after my toolpath finishes regenerating. Frustrating not being able to put in ".5mm" for radii and whatnot. Andrew ps. all our machines that have this problem are 64 bit.

I asked about this before even in non high feed machining. Plunge rate and feed rate need different spindle RPM's if their feed rates are different. I've usually just ended up editing the gcode when I need to do this. Course, people thought I was crazy when I brought this up. lol. Maybe I am, but then again, I don't think a sparkingchattering tool is crazy; Nice light show yes....fun,...no. Andrew ps, I will send another request to qc. I might have just brought it up with my reseller in the past. Can't remember

JJ, I don't have to regen my screen really at all. I'm using probably the cheapest quadro card from NEWEGG.COM I even have running on monitor #2 Firefoxaimzuneexcelcalculator or whatever else. A good little workhorse of a card imo. That might help you out. Andrew

I remember seeing his name on here before. I'm just curious what you don't agree with in my method of problem solving with mastercam. If I have a problem, I search on here first to make sure it's not a common problem. If I find it's a unique problem, I contact my reseller and QC at mastercam. I send them a z2g file or whatever. If I find a recurring problem that doesn't seem to be addressed, I ask on here if anyone else is having an issue with said problem in hopes that someone might be listening. The hasp thing was just in case someone felt I was trying to cause a ruckus or I didn't follow forum guidelines. Time to meet with a customer and drink some more coffee Andrew edit: Quick edit about the computer prices. I still don't understand why people are buying up dells and 4k$ prebuilt machines. Any halfway decent IT guy could put together a custom computer. For that price, goodness you could probably take over the world

So you're trying to get him booted because of the possibility of not being a licensed user? Ok, so maybe his method of trying to change things with mastercam is a bit unorthodox. Who cares if he is for another company. Is anyone here going to honestly tell me that Mastercam couldn't handle some vast improvements? Maybe if the bulk of the people are doing 2d or 2.5d work, it may be fine, but try doing something in Mastercam that has .0001" stepdowns. Enjoy your white screen, and drink your coffee. I look like a bum at work because of how long I am sitting here in front of a white screen. I know every cadcam package has its own issues. mastercam is no different. It was the same for WorkNC and UG when we tested that stuff out. However, both of those programs had things that I wished Mastercam would have. Yet they had certain downfalls that we weren't so hot on. Not only that but yes, we've got a lot of money invested into Mastercam. The problem is that you watch all these other companies making greater improvements over less time, and with less errors. My question is this. If mastercam is as they say...The most sold cadcam package in the world. Then why they heck don't they invest in more people for development instead of putting it on resellersend user to findhelp fix their problems? Pony up and show that you (mastercam) is actually trying to keep with the times. Honestly, this is why I still keep an open eye for other packages on the market. Look at what happened when the now solidworks guys split off from Pro-E. Great things happened. I do not doubt for a minute that the same thing will happen for cadcam setups. Enough frustrationspassion will lead to a better product. So lets stop turning this into a glorified pissing match. Like I said before, let's post up our exact problemsgriefs with something to support our claims. It worked with Nasioc (subaru forum for those that don't know). Enough of them were in agreement about stuff and wouldn't you know it...subaru changed some stuff en lieu of this. This will also help people that are struggling with certain problems that are maybe not getting a quick response from QC at Mastercam. Create a sticky on the board. Something along the lines of "Common problems....Solutions". Work together guys. Andrew ps, if any questions my mastercam license, i'll gladly post up any one of our 5 or 6 hasp licenses for them

I'll just add. I turned my toolholder gouge setting to stay away from holder .75" and it seems to be working now. Kind of ridiculous, but I guess it'll have to do for now. Andrew

I'm roughing down an electrode. I'm at .400" stepdown with 50% stepover (12mm bull nose). Running at 1000ipm. My dilema is this. I am leaving .005" on wallsfloor. I have toolholder collision detection on. The tool if hung out at 1.375" out from bottom of holder, reaches everything fine and dandy. Problem is that when running the .4" stepdown. For some reason mastercam can not recognize that this roughing operation doesn't clean up all the stock on the part. No matter what I do, I end up with a collision from my toolholder from this leftover stock. Any suggestions here. I've already toyed with minimizingmaximizing my stepdownadd cuts and all that to no avail. I've had this problem basically the entire time with HST's, but no solution. PS, I've even tried lying to the thing and said my tool was hanging out moreless and it still will gouge the toolholder. I have also tried telling to stay from .010" away from holder, all the way out to .25" and I still get problems. Thoughts? Suggestions? Thanks Andrew

Everyone gets defensive because they dropped oodles of money, and who wants to say that something sucks when they coughed up all that $? JJ is right though, it isn't helping things get changed with mastercam. Would it hurt for mastercam to strive for better graphics quality? No, it wouldn't. Would it hurt for mastercam to come out with bug proned releases? No. Would it help if Mastercam did a lot of things...No, but when everyone just gets on the defensive, nothing gets accomplished. Maybe if everyone banded together instead of sounding like a bunch of jackasses, we could accomplish something. We all payed the money for what we're using here. It is our lively-hood. Lets help push mastercam for a far superior product. Lets make this product loyalty actually be for something other than just because we dropped the coin! Andrew

Yeah, ran the patch. At least I remember installing it, Double clicked the install deal. maybe i'll do it again for kicks, but im 99.999999% sure I did. It appears to be more of something to do with containment and solid model. I believe it had more to do with the linking parameters and how that related to my containment. I've gotten it sorted out for the most part I believe. Andrew

I found the deal with the first "gouge". basically since with HST's, you can't set your stock to leave on the floors different than on the walls, it is leading in at -0.002" in a section. I usually compensate for this in my offset in the machine. The other gouge is just out of control how far out of the zone it is. I have containment set to Inside. I'm sending z2g to qcmy reseller. Never enough fun in the day Andrew

Yup, I've tried almost every method. Doing the actual math. Typing in 1.2mm (used to work, and sometimes does). I've tried hitting ENTER instead of TAB, and everything else. I'm at a loss, but now ran into my HST waterline path gouging into my part, so I gotta work on that first. haha. Let's hope I don't lose anymore tools on this one. Quick questionsriddle..... What has a containment set to INSIDE and still gouges the part outside of said containment? Andrew

I'm still running into the issue of not being able to do math in my dialog boxes in X2MR2. It's not just me either. All 3 seats in the one room here have the same problem. Weird thing is, is that this problem is somehow intermittent. Sometimes when I edit a tool lengthdiameter, I can put in 1.2mm and get the 0.047" that I need. Other times, it just refuses to work. All 3 computers in the room here are latest windows 64 bit xp. Everything is all updated in regards to windows as well. Any thoughtsideas here? Andrew