Thanks everyone, James, The parameters are write protected. Would you be able to tell us how to turn the write protection off so we can make changes to the parameters. Is the write protection on/off a mechanical switch or is it a setting in the 11M control. Justin

The machine

We have a 4-axis Makino vertical mill with a Fanuc 11M control. The problem we are having is that the rotary axis is designated as "B" when it should be "A" since it is rotating about "X". Would anyone know how to switch it to "A". I apologize for the off topic subject we are in a bind with this one. Justin

Ocean and newchsmcam, Thanks for the info. Justin

freza, Are you programming from a solid model or 2D geometry, horizontal or vertical mill. A little more info would help us help you. In general what you are going to need to do is set you origin at the center of rotation, leave WCS set to top, then create a new toolplane using one of several options. It is the new toolplane that will give you the rotation move when you post the toolpath. Justin

Those are good examples. This now leads me to ask if the machine will stop at a forced tool change if the optional stop is not turned on. For example does it post an M01 or an M00 at the tool change. If it does post an M00 then it seems very simailar to a regular M00 or am I still missing something. I am in no way critcizing this technique I just want to understand it more. I guess my question is couldn't all this be accomplished with an M00. Justin

I have been wondering about this feature. Can someone give me some examples of why you would want to force a tool change. Forgive my ignorance on this subject. Justin

doyleg, We try to do the same when running a program for the first time as long as a single toolpath is not to big to fit in the control. I also totally agree with making all the changes in Mastercam and re-posting. It is much better for the final program to match exactly what you did within Mastercam. Justin

Ron, Thanks, the machine is pretty old. Not exactly sure what year. Right now the computer we use to DNC is too far away from the machine to see. Maybe a laptop is the solution. Other than the fact that it is "nerve racking" to prove out a new program when you can't see the code the other main issue we have is with "M00". The operators can't see the instructions during a program stop. I can however still see the distance to go on the program check screen which helps when running a program for the first time. I guess we will call the manufacturer. Justin

We are using CIMNETDNC to drip feed. We have a Makino with a Fanuc OM control. When we drip feed we can not see the program on the screen at the control. There is just a blank screen. The program will still run but we would like to be able to see the code on the screen. If we run a program from memory we can see it on the screen. Has anyone had this problem or can anyone offer any advice. Thanks, Justin

Aside from the drawing is there any way to purchase a Mastercam sweatshirt or T-shirt. I think a lot of people would be interested. Justin

Ocean, Thanks for the quick reply. Thats good to know auto cursor is larger in X2 MR2. Justin

In MCX or MCX2 is there a way to resize the auto cursor and if so what version did this feature become available. I did a search and all I could find out was that it was not possible in earlier versions of MCX. Justin

The 4 and 5 axis tutorial from In House is a great book, however all the lessons are set up on veritcal machining centers. I know for V9 and MCX there was a tombstone tutorial book. I have not seen this listed yet for MCX2. That would probably be the most helpful to you. Maybe someone could let us know when that will be out for MCX2. Justin

bmilford, Are you filtering your rough parallel toolpath. Verify works much faster with a filtered toolpath. For roughing I usually use the following settings. Ratio 2:1 Total tolerance .010 create arcs in XYZ Justin

Thanks everyone for your replies. Sounds like mostly positive input. We will probably end up buying a few and see how they work out, then buy some more if we like them. Justin

We are thinking about purchasing some keyless chucks for our CNC mills. They will only be used for spot drilling, drilling and reaming. We use 40 and 50 taper tool holders depending on the machine, and cut all types of material. Max RPM's range from 3500 to 1200. Every time the keyless chuck subject comes up at work there are always some skeptics. I was skeptical about using them also, but the last company I worked for used them all the time with little or know problems. I would appreciate anyones opinion on this subject, and if anyone has experience using keyless chucks on CNC's could you please let me know brands etc... Justin

Mike, Go to the FTP site and download the WCS tutorial zip file. It's in the unspecified folder. Read through it and do the tutorials and you will have a good understanding of WCS and how it works. There are many advantages. Once you use WCS you'll never go back. Justin

Thanks for all the replies everyone. I will let him know. He said he might be confusing this feature with another cam system. Probably Gibbs like Thad said. Justin

A co-worker asked me to post this question. He said he thought there was a way to make a closed contour toolpath switch back and forth between a rapid move and a move with a feed rate if the geometry for the contour was different colors. For example G1 on all red geometry and G0 on all blue geometry. I have never heard of this feature. The only way I know to do this is change at point. Has anyone ever heard of this? Justin

Terry, Have you tried the hole-axis c-hook. Justin

Thanks for sharing the differences.

Glad to hear you have it working.

Gcode, I had a similar problem with the mpmaster vertical post. Read the second paragraph in this thread. I did what Dave Thomson suggested and now I always get an M11 A0 and an M10 even if working in the top plane. I assume the advice should work for a horizontal as well. link Justin

Thanks Jim, I will give that a try. Justin