I've used the extrude cut tool a few times, but wouldnt I have to lay little 90 deg wedges in the Z plane at an end of my spar and extrude cut the whole spar distance? It just seemed there might be an easier way.

You guys are awesome Is there a way to make a rib, spar whatever and have the fillet cut the material you just extruded instead of adding to it? I would like to extrude a spar lets say .5 wide and tall. Then put a .25 fillet on either side so the spar rises to a point. Or should I just be drawing a plane somehow and filleting that to the perpendicular surface...?

Slepydremr thats EXACTLY what I'm lookin for. Thanks! I'll have to take a closer look at the file to see how you did it. WooHoo!

I should probably start over. Sorry, Im still really new at this, and I've found one of the most important parts is being able to see the process correctly. I am drawing my part to look like the finish product. We will be machining them from castings which are pretty close to the finished part. Maybe 1/8-3/16 extra material. Am I correct to be drawing the finished part and running the toolpaths on that?I am using a .250 sperical endmill, and various flat endmills. In my original post I should have asked, "How do I draw these fillets?" Merlin, that's exactly what I'm lookin' for. I recreated what you did on the example, thanks. It was my original part drawing that was flawed. Or the order was off I guess. Thanks for the replies everyone Oops, shoulda refreshed before posting.

Hey there. Im trying to cut some fillets on some ribs in a pan. There are four ribs coming together at a cylindrical boss. I would like to see the ribs filleted to the side of the pan as well as to the bottom and the boss. Here is a link to a small recreation of my part ftp://www.ppcadcam.com/Mastercam_forum/MCX_Files/ It is named 'Problems with fillets.' My biggest problem area is on the face with the .5 in fillet. Just look for the pink point in wireframe. I would also like the pan walls to be filleted to the pan bottom. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated. I got like 90% of my part done in just a few hours until I came to this junction..

quote: What kind of parts do you plan on making? I can't really elaborate at the moment as we have not started production yet and I am unsure of our patent situation. Once our products become publicly available I will be more than happy to direct you to our website (which is ready but not up). Mostly they'll be nice looking bits of one sort or another. Thanks, everyone.

It will be as soon as I'm competent enough we can make some parts, lol.

Thad, thanks. Got it I also used the base edge and it worked fine. I eliminated the cutter going throught the top of my part by switching the tool cutter compensation direction. Looks like a smooooth outline of the part now.

quote: Since you have the solids option and know about those you could look at skipping all the work of moving stuff. I guess I'm not really sure what you meant by 'moving stuff' either. Like extruding the surfaces? Also, I dont really understand the functional differences of wireframe, surfaces, and solids. Which to use where, why etc. I just made this out of a solid because I have an autocad drawing of the entire part (I jsut posted a small piece) imported into mcx and I was originally just trying to modify some bosses 23 deg but the solid cad image proved to be un-modifiable (I think). Thanks again everyone. My questions should cease for a little while as I just got the book 'Learning MastercamX Mill 2D.' It should keep me busy for a few days.

quote: Since you have the solids option and know about those you could look at skipping all the work of moving stuff. And use the solid toolpath options to pick the faces or edges of the solid geometry to create toolpaths with. I just tried to contour the outside vertical face (Toolpaths->Contour Toolpaths->in chaining box I select Solids and check Face then select the vertical outer contour of the part), but when I click ok, it says 'there are overlapping entities in the chained geometry' and 'cutter compensation unsuccessful'. The problem areas are located in the bottom corners of the vertical 4 holes, maybe elsewhere also. Also, when I try to just cut the outside contours on the ends of the part, it cuts the inside surface of the face(throught the top of my part!)as well as the outside (which I want cut). Any ideas?

quote: Isn't it amazing what you can learn by reading? Yes, yes it is. quote: new guy buys the first round of drinks right? Of course my friend. Next time you're in the Seattle area look me up. quote: welcome to the forum Thanks everyone!

Seriously, this is BY FAR the best forum I've ever been to. And this is just the beginning....

Totally freakin' awesome. I love you guys

Is it possible to move an etity from one level to another? I cant seem to do it at the moment...

Oh, duh. Shoulda thought of that. Thanks!

Hi Im very new to mc (like two weeks). I am using mcX m1/sp2 on win xp. I uploaded a copy of my part to cadcam's ftp. Its in the mcx folder and is called 'valve cover.' I am trying to get rid of some of the base geometry used to extrude solids. When I try to delete the entities I get a message that says 'error reapplying operation. Restoring model state.' Then I get question marks next to my solids in the solids manager. I dont think its totally necessary to get rid of these lines, but it would sure clean up the drawing some. If anyone has time to look at it I would be greatly appreciative. Cheers, Ryan p.s. the sun's shining in Seattle, woohooo!

Hi folks. I just got an answer to my first question in under 4 minutes I just wanted to introduce myself as I will be around for a while. My name is Ryan and I am a technical assistant at a newly formed motorsports shop. I have been teaching myself mcX mp1/sp2 for about two weeks now and think Im making good progress. I dont have ANY experience in anything related to mastercam or to cnc technology (we acquired a Mazak FJV-25 which is also my baby). I'm a total newb, but am eagerly sponging up all the info I can get. This site has already been a great resource to me. Thank you all very much.

quote: Welcome to the forum Thank you! And thanks for the replies. Works just fine now.

I tried to upload a copy of a valve cover to the ftp site, but it said I needed a password to log on. I tried logging on anonamously, but no dice either. Is there a password Im supposed to know, or am I doing something wrong?