result = mr1 + mr2 + mr3 etc... if result > 1, do what you want

gcode, I run multiple versions, but the version I use (the latest version) is always installed into C:mcamx, older versions are then reinstalled into mcamx3, mcamx2mr2, etc... By doing this mmd/control/post/tool libs/defaults/etc... files work together seamlessly (not going to an unexpected directory) without any modification for the version that is used 95% of the time. HTH

I've used the same config file for quite some time, but I always run the latest version in the C:mcamx folder. I have no lag issues. I am interested to see what comes of sending the different configs in.

That is my fault, Mike seemed to want to work through his Mastercam issues here. I should have just called him instead of replying on the forum. Regards,

Two seats, twenty seats, it doesn't matter to me. As far as no interest in helping, I don't know what you are/were looking for. I spoke to you twice about your pc with an ATI RADEON card, a known issue. I gave you the same info I give everyone that calls in with that card with the same issues, both times. I can understand your frustration, dealing with crashing isn't fun, and the fact that you said your company doesn't want to buy a different graphics card doesn't make your life any easier. That being said, Mastercam X4MR0 should not crash, for all intensive purposes my laptop does not crash. I infrequently get into files larger than 100mb, so I may not be seeing the same issues others (Rickster for one) has been having. Regards,

This is the same info you were given over the phone for the ATI card. I did not know about a NVIDIA card until you noted it earlier in this thread. Regards,

I do not monitor these forums constantly, but it does appear there are some that have crashing issues, which look to be tied to relatively extremely large file sizes. That said, we have customers that work with extremely large files every day that do not have these problems, so it very well could be a driver/computer setting/hardware/etc... or even how someone goes about doing something. Example; X4 has some fields that require you to hit enter before changing a page for it to apply, in all my beta testing I never seen this as I used the tab function to tab between fields. My process did not show the same problems as how someone else does it. As I said when we spoke, there are a couple of things that we do know about, like dynamic xform causing crashing for some people. You did not mention a pc with a NVIDIA quadro card, lets adress these seperately: NVIDIA QUADRO: As far as your nvidia quadro card, you can reply here or call me with info, what card, what driver? This is a good starting point, but beyond the fact that it is a NVIDIA quadro you still need a good driver, and even proper settings once a good driver has been installed. Depending on the Driver version, typically selecting SolidWorks will cure most ills. But you may have to turn off the back depth buffer. If it is an older NVIDIA card there are only a couple of drivers that work well 77.56 or 91.36, everything in between those version was crap and caused a lot of crashing. ATI RADEON: On the radeon, this info is no different than what we spoke about on the phone, since they do not work well with Mastercam we have very few people running them, so I do not have much of a knowlege base to draw from. For the most part you must disable hardware acceleration. Other than randomly trying different drivers ( I don't have any info on a driver version that worked for more than an individual pc ) there probably isn't much that can be done. Your best bet would be to post your ATI card model and driver version on here and see if someone has had that same card and found a way to make it work, there are people that have gotten them to be fairly stable somehow. Again, let me know if there is anything we can do. regards,

Mike, the only thing you contacted us about was crashing. The fact that you have an ATI Radeon graphics card which doesn't work well with Mastercam means there is very little we can do to help. If you had a NVIDIA card we could recommend driver versions and specific settings to remedy the situation. Not liking the answer to a question is very different from not getting any help. Let me know if there is anything else we can do. Regards,

on most 5 axis posts you can also have it output code relative to the WCS origin. This eliminates the issue of making sure all of your t/c planes have the same origin as your WCS (especially when using a custom WCS). And you get the added benefit of seeing your plane display on the face you created it so you know what the plane was intended to be used for at a glance. JM2C

the name of the post should be: MILLTRONICS CENTURION_6 4X MILL.PST and it has two tap cycles, tap, and rigid tap which will give the G88. if you give a peck value other than zero it outputs the Q value for peck tapping. It also does cutter comp on/off correctly, but any post should do that. I've never heard of mpcent6.pst V9 had a mpcent5.pst.

what post are you using? there is a milltronics centurion 6 machine def available from your reseller ready to go.

Don't focus on individual clicks, focus on what the functionality gives you as a whole. How many hundreds of "clicks" are eliminated by having the ability to copy a toolpath and switch a pocket toolpath to a contour, or a drill to a circlemill, etc... There are people that don't use 2d contour very often and for them the pictures are an advantage, everybody uses different toolpaths differently. For someone who uses curve 5 axis all the time (anyone doing 4 axis trimming) they may not like the pictures there...

ptlchg0$ checks to see if there is a work offset change, you would just need to edit it so the z is output on the line after the xy coordinates.

The silhouette boundary tool in X3 gives a profile that is usable for a containment boundary for surface toolpaths. It is not intended to give an accurate profile to be used for a 2d contour toolpath as it cuts corners and various other issues. the X4 silhouette boundary gives much nicer results, get it installed and I'm sure you'll be happy.

with auto sheet origins it automatically creates a "view" for each sheet, this is what allows you to see multiple sheets spaced along the X axis and still have the code come out correctly off the corner of the sheet. You can double side nest parts that require operations from both the top and bottom of the part. What is it you are looking to do with the newly created "view"?

a max stepover value would be effective How about dynamic restmill???...

When your roughing tool are roughing with tools 1mm or .5mm and finishing with as small as .1mm the little "tink" sound is easy to come by... 50-52rc 420 stainless is pretty common. If you haven't done much testing using "small" tools, that would be a good place to start. anything medical requires small tools, stints, pacemakers, defibs, hearing aids, bone screws, etc... regards,

There are two pages, one for editing the description, and one for editing the name in the dropdown and the field descriptions.

It appears the HFF has a couple of issues in X4 as it's not recognizing the material removal rate and it uses the air cutting rate for in material cuts. But it works well just using in "finishing only" mode as it will slow it down whenever there is direction change. This does require "tweaking" the machine dynamics away from what the machine is capable of and set them to what works for that particular operation. The end result is that you have a dynamic mill toolpath that slows down on a direction change so the tool load is much more stable on those first few passes on the outside corners. Regards,

quote: Great! The problem that I was having, is that when the path starts removing the material from the outside of the stock, when it reaches the corners of the material it changes the radial cut drastically. So much so that when I tried to run the exact same parameters as I had set in volumill, it would break the cutter as soon as it hit the corner of the material. Put a clearance fillet on the sharp corners of your outer profile geometry, this will get you a more consistent cut around the corners while still cutting the entire stock. If you are not familiar with it, you can also you the high feed filter to adjust the feedrate based on volume of material being removed, there's a small amount of setup but it works well.

I'm pretty sure your going to need to get a new dll file from your reseller.

is it an AMD XP series processor?

Dave C. good to see you in on this topic! The "issues" I've had with the cimco adaptive clearing in the past, which dynamic mill is very similar to, have to do with going around outside corners. While dynamic mill does a great job of keeping a consistent angle of engagement, that doesn't mean the tool load doesn't change. Example: 45 degree engagement on a .5" endmill (.0732 stepover) .200" move in straight line removes .0057 square inches of material .200" moves where the direction of movement keeps at ~45 degrees that same .200" move removes .0329 square inches, 5 times more material is removed as it moves around an outside corner. I know you don't have a 45 degree direction change consistantly over .200" but this is just an example to show how tool load changes. Of course we can use the high feed filter to modify the feedrate based on volume, but if this could be incorporated directly into the dynamic mill that would save time and complexity. HTH

If you check the box for open pocket machining you can "core rough" using the dynamic mill function where it starts from the outside and works its way in.

fillet chain, clearance fillet = tool radius, outside corners only. Pretty easy as in most core type situations it is the only part thay may need a little help. cimco's toolpaths and Mastercams dynamic mill are very similar, they both do a good job of keeping a consistant portion of the circumference of the tool engaged with the stock. That doesn't mean the tool load doesn't change based on direction change (on sharp outside corners). All that being said, you can easily run any toolpath through the high feed filter which will vary the feedrate based on direction change, and more importantly tool engagement. The high feed filter works wonders with the core rougher and area clearance, especially when using small cutters and/or hardened steel. Now incorporate the dynamic mill function... Just because we get new shiny tools don't forget about the old tools that still work and are sometimes needed. JM2C [ 07-01-2009, 05:43 PM: Message edited by: Roger Peterson ]