Good luck.

I think you control that on your job setup page. Select alt+j then under "Tool Offset Registers" select the radial button in front of add and then change length to "zero" and diameter to "zero". Then when you post it you should get T1,H1,D1. There may be a way to change it in the Post, but this way works for me. I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you how to change it in the post if it is possible.

Do you mean you are trying to define your stock size so you can verify your toolpaths. If so I can tell you how let me know if that is what you are trying to do. I can't believe that I am the first to answer this where is everyone?

We use a water soluable and I have noticed that we only get rust if there is too much water in the mix. It is very important to use a refractometer to keep the mixture at the correct level. A skimmer also helps to keep the coolant cleaner and nicer to work with in general.

You can also download a 3D model of most threads from mcmaster.com and then do a boolean remove but I have to agree with the experts here and advise against incorporating threads into your solid models. It's not worth the time, effort, or memory.

I am just starting to mess around with X doing the Mill Tutorial from In House Solutions and I must say that I like it a lot. I love V9 as well but you gotta keep up with changing technology. The last guy I want to become is the guy who is still using V9 ten years from now.

Just curious what happens if you hit the screen statistics button when your geometry disapears. Does mastercam still acknowledge it is there.

Go to www.mcmaster.com. I think you will be able to find what you are looking for. Once you find the screw you are looking for you can download a 2d technical drawing or a 3d model by clicking on the download icon.

You can also search on the internet. In the search field try typing in the control type and "g-code list". Most g-codes are the same no matter what control you are using although their are also some specialty codes.

I think that the programmer always has the final say in how the job should be programmed. Thats why they are the programmer. They should be open minded enough to listen to the operators and set up guys when they have valid reasons or good ideas. Set up guys and operators need to be more flexible than the programmer because their job is mainly just to keep the machine running. If they want to program their way they should get a job as a programmer. Most people in this industry think they know everything and that their way is always best from the guy who sweeps the floor on up to the owner. I have learned many different ways to do things because I have an open mind, but if something worked before with one operator there is no reason to change things around just because there is a new operator.

Dave That gives two passes but if you watch the numbers when it backplots it doesn't leave any material in xy for the finish pass to clean up. If you wanted to finish with a different tool you would need two operations. The first leaving .01 in z and .01 in xy with tool number 1. Then you can copy and paste that operation and leave 0 in z and 0 in xy but make sure you select a new tool in your pasted operation. Maybe I am still missing something.

This should be an easy one. This is what I am trying to accomplish. I want to do a simple contour tool path .300 deep with one rough pass leaving .01 in Z and .01 in XY and then one finish pass leaving 0 in Z and 0 in XY. for a total of two passes. When I use depth cuts with max rough step =.5 #of finish passes =1 finish step =.01 combined with multi passes roughing passes/number=1/spacing=.1 finish passes/number=1/spacing=.01 finish pass only at final depth mastercam wants to make three total passes The only way I can accomplish what I want is to disable multi passes and depth cuts, do one contour leaving .01 in z and .01 in xy then copy and paste that toolpath leaving 0 in z and 0 in xy. It seems to me this should be able to be accomplished with one toolpath. I hope this makes sense.

"have you notice that you have a g40 right after the line with g41." I'm Not sure why its posting like that. I can't get it to Post like that no matter what I do. I would make sure you climb cut, set cutter comp to wear, and select your lead in/ lead out button

Thanks gcode and John for all your help. I switched to "best performance and "windows classic", that seems to have really helped. I'll let you know how it works out.

John I should have been more specific. I am using V9 and I can't seem to find disable front buffer from screen/configure/screen. Maybe it's not a V9 option. Also my video card is a Nvidia Geforce G0 7600 and I can't find Unified back depth buffer under performance and quality setttings. The graphics are great but sometimes I get "artifacts" or trails from popup menus and sometimes when I backplot the tool doesn't always refresh in other words the wireframe tool won't disapear. Let me know if you can help. Thanks

John I have a Nvidia GO 7600 could you tell me how I can change the same settings on mine. I want to have it work as best as possible.

I have to agree with gcode. We have a haas and we always program with wear. Having to input a value in the geometry column for every tool is just one more thing that can go wrong. Our Haas is set to work off the radius so if the job is programmed for a .500 endmill and my tool measures .480 I put -.010 in the wear column and it will cut on size. If you want to know how your machine works watch the tool cut, then look at the X or Y numbers in your program and compare that to the actual position of the cutter on the position screen. Then you can see how much the tool is actually compensating and you will know if it is working off the radius or the diameter. When you do this make sure G41 or G42 are in effect.

Yeah V9 thanks for the reply.

On parts that require multiple operations I normally create the first operation, verify it, and then save it as an STL file. When I want to use that SLT file to verify my second operation I always have to select "file" under stock shape becuase it defaults back to "box". This only happen when I end my mastercam session and restart it or switch back and forth between MC9 files. Is there a way to save my settings so the STL file is automatically selected when I verify my second operation.

I picked up the HP it works great I am more than happy. Thanks everyone for your input.

Thanks guys that makes me feel better about buying it.

Thanks for the info. I am looking at an HP but not from Circuit City. I took the Toshiba back for "almost" a full Refund. Now I am looking at an HP Pavillion dv8330us with the following: -Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology -Intel Core Duo Processor T2250 (1.7GHz) -533MHz Fronside Bus -1GB Ram Upgradeable to 2GB -Dual 100GB hardrives -NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 video card(256MB) -window XP Media Center Edition I am going to get it at MicroCenter and if possible I am going to have them change the graphics card to an NVIDIA Quadro 7600. If any of you experts have anything else to say on this matter please let me know before I go buy it. I will check back before I go to MicroCenter. Thanks.

I turned down the acceleration but it still doesn't work the way I want it to. I think I will take it back and get an HP with a better graphics card. It must be bought at Circuit City because that is where I have to return this one.

Also is this a problem that a better video card would fix if that is possible. In other words besides the video card what do you think about the rest of this system. I have 13 days to return it. Anyones opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the info What would you recommend? I told them I would be bringing it back if it didn't work the way I wanted it to. The reason I got it was because it got good reviews for the price and it is upgradeable to 4049 megs of ram.