Uncle Dolan: I think you hit the nail on the head. I should not have assumed that Beta Testers only used 2D toolpaths. I should have assumed that Mastercam would not release a software until their beta testers have thoroughly tested it. GCode: I apologize for insulting beta testers. I should have clarified that a software released by CNC Software, should NOT be released until the beta testers signed off on it. If you've been doing this 13 years, then I'm certain you spotted the phantom "dirty geometry" errors and fouled uptoolpaths that worked in X5, but suddenly didn't work in X6 (rinitial release, MU1 AND MU2) - and I'm certain you reported them. Jeremy: "Getting my guys involved in beta testing..." This is what I have been doing since MCX was rolled out. INVOLUNTARILY. CNC Software has asked us numerous times to become involved with beta-testing, and my response has been, "That is what we do every time you roll out a new product prematurely." It's one thing to be a programmer who uses the tools your owner provides. It is quite another, to be the owner... who pays for the tools and discovers they don't work. (I'm not like the Government - I have to make money.)

I just finished reading these 5-pages of responses (to the Topic of"What do you expect to see in X7?"), and every page has some mention of "I hope they fix previous bugs" or "please fix bugs that have not been fixed in years..." Let me state up front, that I am not a MasterCam programmer. I do however, employ 4 (soon to be 5) of what I consider to be some of the best MasterCam users in the country. If there is an ugly, nasty, twisted, part out there - my guys can make it. And they do it using 3-axis machines. (They've been using MasterCam since 1988, so they are not noobs) So, here is what I'd like to expect as an "owner" of 4-seats of MC Mill w/Solids: I'd expect X7 to be released to current MasterCam Maintenance subscribers FREE OF CHARGE. Why? In the last 5 years every release of MasterCam has been so riddled with bugs, it hasn't been useable until the first service pack rolls out. And every year, it gets progressively worse. Take X6 for instance... My guys are just now "starting" to trust X6 because of MU2 being released. Solids that used to get dirty for no reason at all (even after MU1)... now magically don't get dirty - even though the same procedures and files were used. (And I was informed by CNC at IMTS, that "obviously your programmers are doing something wrong or out of order"). So almost a year after X6's roll-out, I finally have a program that appears to be useable. In other words, the $$$ I spent on maintenance last year, has allowed me to use a "useable" program for 1 month. And now they are talking about rolling out X7 - which we all know is basically a repaired X6. Or worse: another bug-infested, "wait until MU2 before you use it" software. (I still have the $12,500 steel compression mold that was scrapped by MasterCam in X1... and when everything was submitted to CNC -our MC files, order process, etc. - was told, "Oh yeah, that's a new bug. We've assigned it a number. Sorry." So, as an owner of a job shop, what do I expect of X7? I expect the bug reports to be fixed - going all the way back to X, before any new features are added. I expect X7 to not be released...EVER... until someone has run every toolpath option available in Mastercam, on a complex 3D part - without a crash, or fault. Or geometry construction that doesn't suddenly go "dirty" for no reason. (If it was clean when you exited, how did it get dirty when you start the next morning?) And I expect X7 to be released free of charge to life-long buyers of MasterCam - as a way of apologizing for wasting my employees time (which equates to my money) for releasing software that wasn't beta-tested... or worse, was tested by people who only perform 2D operations.

Thank you CJep. It worked good enough for him, so problem is solved!!!

Hello, I do some reverse engineering for a drag racing buddy every once in a while as a favor. Anyhow, long story short, he asked me to reverse engineer his logo, and put it in an IGES format so he could engrave his logo on the bigger racing parts he makes. I told him I didn't really have time to play with this right now, but I would put it on Mastercam's forums to see if someone does. (I'm guessing someone with Masercam Art could knock this out in no time?) And yes, he would be willing to pay for your time Ugh - can't figure out how to upload JPEG to this... email me at [email protected] and I'll email the JPEG to you for a quote.

Hi Brian - Did you get this solved? I ask because we have the same situation. Exact same error, about every 10 minutes. So maybe if you solved it, you can tell us how you fixed it? (crossing fingers - LOL)

Thanks a bunch Evil - very informative reading. (I guess I should have went there first) Now I have to follow that thread to see how your race against MurrayMold goes!!!

I just saw this promotion from NVIDIA about the Tesla C1060 bringing the power of a super-computer to a desktop size: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/se...42-_-components But since I'm not a computer geek, I'm wondering if this is something that would work hand in hand with Mastercam? It would be awesome to post "benchmark" times of 5 or 10 seconds - but I'm not willing to spend the $10,000 to be the beta tester. I do know that Mastercam will not take advantage of dual processors (at least it wouldn't in "X" - dual core yes, dual processor, no), so I'm guessing the C1060 would also be worthless... Does anyone know?

Peon: I'm kinda shocked we don't have more users chiming in this topic. Is anyone besides Dave and I experimenting with the toolpath smoothing? This option does work very well! http://www.emastercam.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...ic;f=1;t=034970 We're experimenting too - patterns and mold building. And after peon's help, are getting very nice surface finishes!

I have a smoothing update: We ran the same toolpaths with smoothing turned off, and the part turned out perfect. We then ran the same toolpaths with the smoothing turned on, but turned off the XY, XZ, and YZ arcs per Peon's instructions, and the part turned out perfect. So note to all users: If using smoothing, make sure you turn off the arcs!!! Thanks Peon - it's nice that we get to scrap parts being the Beta testers for Mastercam!

Is anyone else having problems with gouging when turning on the "smoothing" option on the surface toolpaths in X4? We've tried 2 different jobs and had gouging on both when smoothing was selected. Of course, none of the gouges showed up in verify, or anywhere else. We ended up re-machining them in X3 with no problems. Just for ***** and giggles, we are now going to run the same X4 programs in a block of wood with smoothing turned off, to see if the problem goes away. We were just curious if anyone else had run into this?? (X4 Solids, Intel Quad Core, Vista Ultimate, 8GB RAM, DNC'ing to Fadal CNCs (2004 vintage))

Hi everyone, Thank you for the quick responses. I have submitted a quote to my customer, so now it's just wait and see. Josh - I didn't see your post until after I submitted the quote. I don't know if he would approve EDM or not - I'm sorry about that. Thank you again everyone!

6.625" round x 5" tall

If the link does not work, please email me and I will email you the file.

My customer sent me a STP file of a prototype aluminum part he needs made (just one piece). So I'm hoping someone might have some open 5-Axis time and could give me a quote for this part. He would need it about a week from the purchase order, but as with most large corporations, it may take 2 weeks for the "higher ups" to authorize the purchase. I can do it on our 3-axis machines - but of course it would take me longer. The file is called heatsink.zip and is located here: ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_forum/Drawings/ The file contains 1-STP model, and 1-PDF. Please note, the PDF is only to show drilled hole sizes. The STP model is drawn as a "casting" so it has draft - but they don't care if the final part is drafted or not. I would think you would want to cut to the model, so you don't have to re-draw the part, but if you prefer straight walls on the ribs, that's fine too. The holes are drilled, so ignore "draft" on the center hole if you want. The holes are drilled, not reamed, but if you want to ream for set-up purposes, that is fine also. And no, there are no tight tolerances - they just need a prototype to see if this will work. If you have any questions, you can call me at (563) 284-6060. Please email your quote to [email protected] Thank you! Jake Worden

We did not have any problems, until we installed the MU1 update. Now we have scrapped two molds due to gouging. Needless to say, we have uninstalled MU1 - and surprise surprise, the gouging went away. (It appears to be looping outside arcs instead of inside - and is visible only if you zoom in really tight) But why - we didn't have these problems before MU1. You verified, and you machined. Now you have to verify each individual toolpath line, zoomed in to the nth degree. So the question begs to be asked: Why am I paying for Maintenance Releases? We've been using Mastercam for 20 years - and we perform complex 3D mold work. If I'm being a BETA tester for Mastercam, they should be paying me to find these bugs. And of course, we get the standard "Oh, we'll assign that a bug number" - that's just great! What about the 80 hours of programming time I've lost... or the 80 hours we have to reprogram using X3 without the MU1 update? Or the scrapped piece of steel, and scrapped piece of iron? Or the possibility that I just lost a customer because I'm going to be late on this job thanks to Mastercam's MU1 update. So if you are doing complex 3D mold work, please be sure to warn others about this MU1 update. Vista64 Ultimate - Quad Core Q6700 - 4GB RAM - 1 GB Video running 10-Fadals (hardware is definitely not the issue, but I put it here just so someone wouldn't ask)