quote: apparently if you make sure none of the sorting methods are depressed it should turn sorting off. That would be awesome if it let you choose "none", but what I just found is that if you choose the one in the lower left corner on the 2D sort page (Point-to-Point), it uses your "click order", but forces you to additionally choose your start point. It would make sense for this option to be the default, but it's not. Go figure. Hope this helps avoid more hair pulling. At least we're saving on barber bills!!! LOL

Again, THANKS!!!! Didn't mean to be so sarcastic, just at a high frustration level. I'm too damn old to be relearning all this stuff...LOL. Scratchy tickets go on sale TODAY....I'm there!!!

So, "Click on this button, click on this button, click on this button, click on this button, auto highlight the point (if it actually is the point you want)" is EASIER than "Break at midpoint"???? NOT Though I do appreciate the help on this one guys. "Still loving the X transition" Steve We're getting the lottery here in NC tomorrow....maybe I can win and be done with all this silliness!!!

Maybe it's not so much "Dumbing Down" as it is a widening of the gap between White and Blue collars. We Toolmakers, Machinists, etc. seem to be getting blue-er all the time and the $$$ gap gets bigger and bigger as well. Just to be clear, I'm saying that the white collars appear to be getting the big bucks and aren't even half as versatile as we are, nor do they directly add to the profit margin. How did this happen and gee, how come nobody wants to go into machining right out of high school any more???? Sorry to drift off from the original topic......

Thanks Hardmill The Robb Jack calculator is also pretty useful. Go to Robbjack.com and then you have to sign up with a user name, blah, blah, blah....

I will also be venturing into hard milling Monday morning. Any chance I could get that Makino spreadsheet? Any quick tips on my A-2 Rc58 part? I need to take .020 off a flat surface(am planning on using a 1/2" SGS V-Carb) and .020 from the sides of an open pocket with straight sides and a .188 inside corner rad. I'll be using a 3/8" ball for that one. Both tools have TiAln coating. Basically, my part looks like a "box canyon". I'm looking for the basics on surface footage and depth of cut and how much side cut to take per pass. Thanks in advance

Where I come from (Upstate NY), a "Machinist" is anyone who knows where the "ON" button is on a machine and might be able to operate a saw. "Precision" rarely gets used in the same breath. It even used to be rather an insult if someone called you a machinist and you had actually gone through the 4 year apprenticeship and gotten Toolmaker, Moldmaker or Modelmaker "Papers"(actually a state given certificate which officially makes you a journeyman in any of the above trades). Once you're a journeyman in any of the above, the term "Toolmaker" applies as a general catch-all. That certificate USED TO guarantee a lifelong job and a pretty nice paycheck. Nowadays, it doesn't seem to matter if you have papers or not. Most of the big companies want a two-year degree, apparently to prove that you can sit through two more years of school without falling asleep and flunking out. As far as a big difference in pay, I knew "machinists" that made nearly as much as me (I'm a state certified Modelmaker) and I'm still waiting for the $57,000 a year that the local community college is claiming a person will earn after TWO YEARS in the trade upon graduation from their Machine Tool Technology program. I've been in it for about 20 years now and might make that with an average of 20 hours of overtime a week, but I do have somewhat of a life outside of the job and do NOT work 60 hours. Anyone remember the late 70's/early 80's when we could actually make the same as our friends who went to college and got 4-year degrees??? How exactly DID the Blue/White collar divide become so HUGE??? How come nobody wants to compare Toolmakers and machinists to PROGRAMMERS???? LMFA By the way, the above comments are not intended to insult any Machinist, Tool maker, Programmer, etc. Just letting you know how it was when I did my time up in NY.

So I've been "creating curves" for 9 days now, when I could have been importing to V9 and then into X? Does 9 import the non-surfaces as lines & arcs or is everything a NURBS like when you create them in X? I feel like I've been stuck in an M.C. Escher drawing all week! Thanks Steve

I thought it was a dance in the 70's where you "bump" bottoms......hmmmmmmmmmmm Actually, to further explain(confuse??), any activity in a given post (new comments) will "bump" the thread to the top of the list, or did someone already say that????

quote: I'm using Cimco for now but you should be able to setup mcx com by going into machine definition manager, edit control definition, click communications and change settings there. It should work. hth Mark I found it and will try it today, thanks!

quote: BTW Steve, you have a knack for restarting old threads, don't ya Mark I've been on other boards and got scolded a lot for asking a question that's already been beaten like a dead horse. I do a search for any of my questions first in order to avoid being redundant and add my question to a thread on that subject. If y'all think it makes more sense to start from scratch, no problem. I checked out the Comm. process in the MC editor and may start using it instead of right from MCX. I'm already re-numbering there since that feature is still a little "Buggy" in MCX. Still don't understand where comm. defaults are set in MCX if someone did answer that question. Do I drag the icon to my toolbar AFTER changing the parameters?I'm still a bit confoosed on that one. Is there a way to make it work like the one in Version 9??? Thanks Steve (the thread dredger) Still don't get this "Teh" thing while we're talking about spelling.......

Awesome stuff, guys, thanks. Have been playing with some electrodes this week and seem to be getting the hang of it. Still not sure which method(s) are best for each application, but I'm betting that comes with time. Also discovered "Tapered Walls" in the 2D toolpaths which will come in VERY handy. I know, it was probably there in earlier versions, but never did 3D or mold work at my previous job. Steve

2 more cents and my tongue firmly planted in my cheek... I've never owned a car that cost as much as Mastercam(I'm a blue collar toolmaker, can't afford a new car or "newer" used car). If I bought a new car, I am 99% sure I wouldn't need a class, tutorial or book to operate it. No, MC is not a car. George, I thought the British humor was BRILLIANT!! I don't like SPAM!!! ...And now for something completely different.

Where do you set the communication defaults? I can't find it in the new config area on X MR1 SP2. Do I need to clean my glasses AGAIN??? LOL

I found the renumbering icon in my "customize" area and made a little toolbar for it. Looks cute up there all by itself. Problem is that it doesn't work, just gives an error message. Is this still a glitch or did I do something wrong again??? Thanks! Steve