mmead, you got mail.

yogesh, since you are trying to blend to the curved surface, i don't think you want any tangent extension. but you probably would still keep the tangental arc and radius. if you do, make sure that the cutter is leaving in a sharp enough radius as to not dip into the bigger radius surface. as a less desirable alternative, you could do some construction that would include a part of the bigger radius surface so the cutter would follow that as well. hth

quote: x and it's female like mind!!!! venus or mars, either way, it's in outer space!!!

the one thing that seems to be part of the crashing problem for me, is associated toolpath. maybe this is common knowledge, but moving geometry or wcs or anything related to the toolpath seems to bring on crashes. i save to a different name just before i make any toolpath related change and if possible, i delete any toolpath that is tied in before i change something. just my 2 cents.

quote: could someone please give me some kind of idea how to import an igs file to get the best possible result? there is a real nice help file associated with the import box. using it and learning what you can do with it is probably better than someone giving you their settings which might not suit your purposes. as far as the 'dupes'(im assuming you mean duplicates.), mcX has a 'delete duplicates' icon which works great and should take care of that. hth

quote: So how I can get only lines and arc as it was doing in v9 so eassy way. if you still have v9 on your pc, open the file in v9, create your geometry and 'save some'(just what you want to keep). then merge the appropriate v9 file into your X file. it's a workaround, but i think it will give you what you want.

i don't think you will be able to do it with mirror. when it reverses the dimensions, the mirror function is only doing what it's supposed to do. however, if your parts are symmetrical, you probably can make some use of a simple transform between points. for example if a box has a dim. on the left of 2.000 and you want it on the right as well, transform it from the left corner to the center. hth.

can you upload one of the questionable stl's to the ftp mc9 folder. i can check to see if i get the same problems. also, why import stl when you can import x_t if you are trying to surface anyway? sorry if i'm not understanding.

quote: It is happening with all the stl I have made. how, and with what, did you make them?

quote: wonder if there is a bogus tool or something causing it to crash? maybe just an item in the tool info., but a pretty good guess imo.

i don't know if this is what you are asking, but to import mc9 tool files to mcX, goto the top dropdown FILE/import directory/... select V9 toolfiles as the type of file to get from the dropdown options, and then specify where to get and where to put. hth.

amc, for the type of contours you might want between the body and neck, check out the help in v9 or the tutorials for v9 regarding coons, lofted and swept surfaces. as bruce suggested, users can help, but as you may not want your designs put up on the ftp, maybe you could put up some kind of example with similar requirements. hth

one way i use stl's that's kind of related. after saving a verification file, it is available for import into another file. when pulling geometry for electrodes, this can be handy because you can import the stl back into the oringinal part file (different color of course), and see if it's what you really wanted. for example, if you machined enough z-level clearance to avoid some steel that may be tagged if you don't. and nicely, the stl reflects any applied overburn if that is of interest. if you have re-oriented your electrode to get it on zero, this won't work. you need to use wcs so that it gets imported in the proper location. one more reason to use wcs.

that's why i didn't answer it, but since i'm trying to up my post count...

haven't noticed it. thanks for the heads up.

if there is, i have never heard of it. what is it that you are trying to salvage? time? is it a long program? there may be some methods to economize even though you are changing toolpaths, such as using previously selected geometry or parameters. [ 04-12-2006, 10:27 AM: Message edited by: bellyup ]

worked with pro-nc for a couple of years. as i got better with it, it cooled down a couple of pretty serious skeptics. but at least as far as the main cut package, it was extremely limited in 2d paths. pro has an add-on but it seemed kinda strange that 3d was standard and 2d was more money(which my employer wasn't willing to spend).

quote: i delete them and then undelete the entities, then i could move them and analyze them... worked for me.... should add that to the mc tips if it isn't already there. good one nick. but he did say that he can't delete them.

if the file in it's current state is behaving like that, then in those type of cases i have had, you probably won't be able to do anything with those entities, and will sadly lose data. but it's worth trying to 'save as' and see if some combination of old and new or 'saved as' will let you back in. you can also send it to cnc and see if they can be of assistance.

i've got it marked on my calendar already!

so it seems like...anytime in the somewhat to not so near future, give or take a while?

yeah, i wanted to ask too. but there's no way i'm going to be the one.

not sure if your'e asking for help or just lettin off a little steam, but i think that even with some of the confusing changes to wcs and plane functions, a good way to see what is going on is to open the view manager, and see what boxes have been checked for toolpath and/or views. this should let you know if you have mistakenly created toolpath on a different plane than you intended. hth.

quote: which folder should i put the file in? never uploaded anything before. whichever one seems appropriate to you. ('mcx files' probably.)just let us know, so we can find it.