I have a job coming up that requires six 4-40 helcoil tapped holes per part. The material is 303 stainless. The tapped holes are though holes and the material is .180 thick. We will eventually be making thousands of these parts. I don't normally tap holes this small. I am thinking of using Emuge spiral point taps. Can anyone offer any advice as to tap brand or possible feeds and speeds. Also the info I looked up on the drill size for a 4-40 helicoil says to use a #31 drill. Does this sound correct? Thanks

My monitors are not the same size. I'll have to check the resolution.

dolphin1, I have had this same problem since X2MR2. After that many operations I have to dock my operation manager back on the other monitor so I can scroll up and down and see the ops at the bottom. I guy who works with me has the same monitors as I do and he never has this problem.

I had a similar problem once and I think all I did was set G56 retract to 1 inch higher than G55. Then you should get only and XY move with no Z move when you switch to the second fixture offset.

Pelican, Mastercams standard pocket toolpath has an option for open pocket. Have you tried the open pocket option. I use it all the time without offsetting any geometry. Welcome to the forum

Chris, My settings are set to 3D. The strange thing is I have X4 installed on two computers and Dynamic Xform will not work on either of them. I'm wondering if anyone else is having this problem. If I get a chance on Monday I'm going to call my reseller and have them log onto my computer with remote assistance and see if they can get it to work.

Steve, Thanks for the info. I am doing exactly what you say and I get a preview that shows my geometry being moved the way I want it to. The problem is when I hit the green check mark none of the settings stick and the goemetry stays exactly as it was before I started the process. This is what I do: 1. Select my geometry 2. Select Dynamic Xform 3. Place my gnomon on corner of stock that I wish to be the origin 4. Press manipulte Axis button then rotate my gnomon about X by the desired degrees 5. Press manipulate geometry button 6. Select World Axis then Align with Axis 7. Select World origin then move to origin At this point my preview looks great and previewed geometry is exactly where it should be. Then I select the green check mark and my preview goes away and geometry is exactly where it was when I started the whole process. I have tired to both move and copy geometry but I always get the same result.

I have been trying to get Dynamic Xform to work since I intalled X4 but can't seem to figure it out. For the sake of simplicity let's say I want to xform rotate a square wireframe box 90 degrees about the X-axis using Dynamic Xform. What are the steps I should take? Keep in mind I only want to rotate the geometry and leave WCS and TC/planes set to top. I should also mention that I have already watched the Dynamic Xform video that is included in the X4 video link on the forum but still can not get it to work. Thanks

I forgot to mention when using this method you must turn off infinate look ahead.

Why do you have Plane 1,2,3,4 for WCS on all of your tool planes. Unless I misunderstand what you are trying to do you should have WCS set to Top on all of your operations and only your TC/planes should be set to Plane# 1,2,3,4. If you want rotation moves always leave WCS set to top and only rotate you TC/planes. Also I would download the free mpmaster machine def and post. It will give you the correct code if your planes are set up correctly

On second thought the easiest way is to filter your toolpath with the toolpath filter. Chain the spline then turn on the filter and set your tolerance to: Filter Ratio 2:1 Total tolerance .001

If possible convert the splines to arcs then rechain. If that does not work make your linearization tolerance smaller and you will get a smoother finish but your code will get alot longer. HTH

What method did you go with? To me chaining the geometry around twice is the easiest way. Set your chain to partial then check the box that says wait and chain one entity at a time and go around twice.

You would think but I have seen the actual feedrate not match the programmed feed rate on fadals before during heavy milling and drilling operations.

malibu, Many times fadals do not have enough power to get up to the programmed feedrate. So if you are plunging at F100. and seeing F50. it is most likely due to the fact that the machine does not have enough power to plunge that fast into the material you are cutting. Try the same plunge rate cutting air and see if it goes to your programmed feed rate.

You can also do it this way: 1. Open the file you want to copy the geometry from 2. Select the geometry to copy then select edit/ copy 3. Open the file you want to copy the geometry to in a new mastercam session leaving the old session opened 4. Select edit/paste If you make the level that you want to put the copied geometry on the main level I believe that is the level it will come in on when you paste it but check me on that.

Paul, How is everything going. We are still real busy at Folsom Tool. Do you have the correct Set Up Sheet Program selected in your config file. I think the one you want for the output you are looking for is GUI. I skipped X3 but have it working in X4 and I am using X4 mpmaster. Give me a call sometime

I have never had that problem. It always works fine for me also.

Jay, Sorry if I wasn't clear in my question. By connected I did not mean boolean added. I realize that he has several different solids that are different colors. However the solids could still all be contacting each other at certain points. I tried to get this to work today with a two vise set up using multiple fixture offsets. In my example the solids were not contacting each other. When asked if I wanted to use the solids as is I replied yes then recieved a message saying that I could not use the solids because there were too many errors. I was strapped for time so I did not get to try to figure out what the problem was. It's good to know that this works with unconnected solids. Thanks for the reply

Ron, Awsome I will try that tommorrow. Does it work with solids that are not connected. It is hard to see if the solids in your screen shots are connected.

I have been wondering how to do this for a while I will have to try it tommorrow. While we are on the subject is there a way to select what information is output on the X+ tool list.

I got a brief description of view sheets at the X4 rollout seminar and was curious to learn more. What exactly do view sheets do?

Don, In my opinion it is much better to verify from a solid than an stl. Do you have the solids option. If so instead of creating surfaces and saving as an stl just create a solid model to define your stock. When you go to verify your toolpaths select the radial button for solid. Then then press the white arrow button and you will be taken back to the grahics area. Now select the solid model you created as your stock and that will become your stock for the verification process.

I'm not sure what kind of parts you are making but I would standardize your tooling and workholding as much as possible. Leave your standard tools set in the machine and only return specialty tooling to the tool room.

All aerospace here and we can work unlimmited overtime. It's been that way for the last three years.