Hi Monty, There are some bugs in X2, but nothing that is earth shattering. MR1 does address many of those bugs. We (26 of us) use X2 on a daily basis with no problems. It did seem that X MR2 handled splines better on our Curve 5 axis toolpaths, but thats about it. Look for X2-MR1 soon. Thanks,

The nice thing about the Version 9 tutorials is that it taught you Mastercam as you went, not trying to sit and read a whole chapter on something makes it easier on the learner. The tutorials in the V9 books also took the average programmer all the way through full 3D surface machining. This was a great way to teach anyone who was new to Mastercam. The only thing that might actually be better than a physical book would be some video tutorials with the same lessons from the V9 book. Some really good example videos covering Surface Rough Pocket, Surface Rough Parallel, Surface Rough Contour and Surface Rough Restmill would be great. For finishing, Parallel, Flowline, Blend, and contour. It would be really nice if CNC could find a part that would need multiple toolpath operations to complete (a nice mix of 2D and 3D machining) and multiple setups on a 3 axis mill. Then there could be videos showing how the part is programmed from start to finish. The point of the tutorial would be to show how to create the toolpaths, but it would also highlight some of the other functionality in Mastercam. Another idea would be to do a V9 to X Transition Video. Take a fairly simple part from V9 and go through the entire part in X showing how you do things differently in X from V9. Things like, Changing colors/levels, Selection options, the new keyboard shortcut commands, ribbon bar shortcuts, the posting process, using the help menu, ect. That might really help all the people who still haven't upgraded to the latest and greatest.

Thad, You should email yourself the SIM number for future reference... What about being able to list your reseller's name or company name in lieu of SIM number? Just a thought.

Yes Monty, you can load X2 in a seperate folder and have it be seperate from X MR2. Be aware though that X2 MR1 is about to be released, so it might be worth it to wait a little bit. I can't say how long... But it will be real soon.

You would need a 1.5 mm or smaller endmill for that hole size.

Check to see if "keep tool down" is turned on in the multi-passes and depth cuts dialog boxes (there is an option in both places).

That is why they are doing a survey guys. CNC Software has always sold additional copies of their V9 Mill tutorial and it was worth every penny. Please take a moment to fill out the survey and ask CNC to update the old V9 mill tutorials. These were very well done and extremely useful for training.

Christine, We really need CNC Software to update the Version 9 Mill/Router tutorials. These books were invaluable to learn and teach version 9. The tutorials being offered for Mastercam X do not go into enough detail. We need tutorials on surface machining. HTH,

What is really interesting is that X has been out for years now (thats right, years!) and you still don't know how to run it. Sounds like a learning disability to me. Of course if you were to ask questions nicely then you might get some constructive answers.

Mastercam is a great product, what is your point?

Woah, I joined this one late. Kota, Mastercam is far more superior now than it ever was in V9. Way faster, way more powerful. You just have to learn how to use it. Learning how to type, spell, and speak english fluently would be a good first step for you. Taking some classes would also help, but at 51 with a horrible attitude, I don't see much in your future. From the way you act in here I certainly wouldn't want to teach you and I'm a pretty patient guy. HTH,

I just gotta say... I love being a beta tester. Get on board with the program. Nothing like having your toys earlier than the other boys.

MC, You really should ask your dealer for a demo on this. It is totally automated. You chain the shapes that you want to nest, and Mastercam rotates/moves the shapes into the best fit on the sheet. You have to break up the shapes manually first and "chain" them, but it is automatic from there. Just chain your shapes and nest. HTH,

Look at the Romer arm too. It is cheaper than the Faro and just as good...

MC, You will have to place the breaks manually with Mastercam before you break the counters up. Once you are comfortable with Mastercam you should be able to break up the countertop, nest the shapes, write the toolpaths and post the code to your machine in less than 10 minutes. Nesting is awesome for what you need to accomplish. Now you just need a CNC router. HTH,

That is what the forum is for Romer

Eric, If you want faster, change the moves per step and moves per refresh to a higher value. Or better yet, turn on Collision detection and press Fast Forward. Do you really need to physically watch every tool movement?

That is the reason that most people get the APT2NCI Chook. Note that you can also reverse post the APT Code into NCI and import that NCI into Mastercam. This will allow you to Backplot the APT source against your geometry. HTH,

You are quite welcome. I've worked with Steve for many years. His Chook will actually output 4 different APT formats.

Note that when you set it up this way you will also see your spindle in a horizontal orientation just like it is on the machine.

If it is a Horizontal then Back is automatically set up correctly for B 180 output. You only have a problem when you are trying to post for a vertical with a rotary. John is right though. Top WCS. Front Tplane is B0. Right Tplane is B90. Back Tplane is B180. Left Side is B270. Starting with your Planes set to Front, you can also do Planes - Rotate and create a new Tplane at any angle 0-360. Just make sure you rotate "about Y". HTH,

Steve Kidd sells the Chook. Steve Kidd Cimtech Inc. 253-922-8770

You could also use Mastercam's High Feed function to alter your Gcode in the future. The high feed function would decelerate as the tool approached the corner, then accelerate out of the corner. There is lots of information in the Help menu and the Reference guide on the High Feed function. Good luck,

Two other things to note about the Mastercam X Control Panel Utility. 1. It has an option to let you reset the dialog box positions to the default. This is very useful if your backplot dialog box goes off the screen. 2. It has an option to use the "new" or the "old" toolpath offset. This lets you change the algorythm that Mastercam uses for the contour toolpaths. The "old" offset is the V9 contour offset and can help when you are having contouring problems. HTH,

Jim, When you do a merge/pattern Mastercam will import all of the new geometry and it will also create a "group" down in the groups manager. Very useful if you want to select all of the imported geometry, without grabbing any of the current file's geometry. HTH,