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

Right up there with "Teh" I'm assuming y'all mean "The" Maybe the Cimco typo was a freudian slip. hahahahahaha This will probably get moved to the O/T section, sorry. Steve

Not to stir the flaming pot any more here, but what if the seat he's trying to sell was never actually installed? I guess it's not like reselling a boat or car or ex-wife, huh?

Any new tips/tricks/basics? I'm VERY green on this 3d stuff and am having problems with my customer's cad files (IGES from Pro-E). I can manipulate the file to the right orientation, but can't find any endpoints or entities ...it's all surfaces. Can I make toolpaths from just these surfaces?? Do you always have to "contain" your toolpath? How do I make arcs & lines fom my file that is all surfaces? Will try above suggestions also. Thanks! Steve

That would be awesome Chris. Maybe I could buy you some conch fritters if I'm ever down that way...... [email protected] is my work e-mail. Thanks!!!!!!!!!

OK, it's a Deckel 63V (VMC) with a Siemens Sinumerik 840D Control. Thanks Chris, I'll try working with those variables and see what I get. How does the dgression work on R5?? R2 is the Initial Plane(hole-to-hole rapid) and R10 is where feeding starts, right? I've been using R11 for the rapid "gap" between pecks. I.E., the distance between the rapid back into the hole and when it starts feeding again. I usually use .010. I watched the Z's on my readout and it seems to work. The old Esprit post put the speed and feed on the same line just before the R's. I've been doing the same and will try to get all this into a post later. I want to get it right BEFORE that. I got what I could from the badly translated Siemens book. Is there another source for Seimens code help that was originally written in English? I saw a book on a tech book website that claimed to give Seimens info, but $65 is quite a gamble to me. I'm mostly a Fanuc/HAAS/Meldas guy, but the Siemens isn't as bad as I first thought it would be. Thanks again....will let you know how it goes. Steve

I watched a few minutes of the Mill video here at home and will watch the whole thing when I have time at work. Looks pretty useful. I wish I had access to all this stuff back in versions 3-9, but had employers who didn't believe in learning on company time.

I don't have firsthand HAAS lathe experience, but used a Mini Mill and a VF-2 for two years at my last job. LOVED them both. I didn't do a lot of heavy machining, but with the 700ipm rapid on the VF2, I could add more light cuts and not lose a lot of time.(Yes, did lose SOME time.) We were holding a true position on some small holes (.256") of .006, and roundness of about .0003 on an interpolated bore of 1.250" which I felt was pretty good for a "low end" machine. I agree, they're more suited for aluminum and other "easy" materials, but as far as bang-for-the-buck, you can't beat them. The control is VERY user-friendly too, especially compared to a FADAL. If you decide to sell the Mini Mill, let me know!! Steve from Jaeco O/T Lars, where do you work? I'm from Rochester!

My Siemens is ALL R's. R1 through R12 to define the drilling parameters. They all get defined before the execution of the G code(G83 has like7 different R's). Will update with a model # soon.

Thanks Jay, jmparis, Matt, Todd... I did not know about the right-click customization(wasn't covered in my "training"). Will now use and abuse it. As far as "class" goes, I've never been accused of having much and after reading four or five dozen threads BEFORE posting, didn't feel it was a prerequisite here, sorry. I don't actually think X sucks, was just looking for others who were equally frustrated with the changes. an "X-SUCKS" thread couldn't have been much more obvious. My thought is that we're here to help each other and if/when I can find some new info, I'll be glad to pass it along as opposed to just lurking and sucking the well of information dry. I'm new to this board, but the turnip truck passed by a while ago. Thanks again...... Steve

Thanks to those with the quick and helpful replies. As far as being "Randle XX Jr.", please do not compare me to someone I don't know. I did say "frustration" and tried not to resort to some kind of knee-jerk sophomoric terminology. Once I'm familiar with y'all, you can bust my onions all day long. Just bear with me for a bit as I'm sure almost everyone who went from 9 to X didn't exactly have a seamless transition. This thread just happened to be eye-catching when I did my first search and looked like an interesting place to add my first 2-1/2 cents. Elvis has left the building...........