Rickster, If you have a spaceball or space pilot you can program the buttons to launch a series of commands. I set mine up for Top Gview + fit, Front + Fit, Right + fit, and Iso + fit. It really helps with the last zoom issue. HTH,

The FX 1500 should give you excellent performance for the money. Check and see if you can get the 1500 with dual DVI outputs (vs. 1-DVI and 1-RBG). It is an available option according to Nvidia's website. That way if you want dual screen in the future it is easy with LCDs. HTH,

In the "Total Tolerance" dialog box there are two different filters tha run on the toolpath. There is a "Filter tolerance" and a "Cut tolerance". Both of these tolerance values combine to define the "Total tolerance" of the two filters. The most important filter is the CUT tolerance. The Cut tolerance determines how closely the toolpath must follow the chain, surface, or solid. This is the setting that can make your toolpath appear to "Facet" a surface you are trying to cut. The "Filter tolerance" setting is used to remove tool positions in the toolpath itself. This is the setting that attempts to reduce the amount of G code you are creating. I highly recommend that you use a Filter Ratio of 1 : 1 and set your Cut tolerance to .0005 and your Filter tolerance to .0005 as well. This will make the backplotted toolpath as accurate as possible. You should also enable the "create arcs in the X,Y plane" as well. These settings have given us the best results so far.

Hi Dave, You can make the modification in the pretract post block. Add the following line before the home position retract move: pbld, n$, scoolant, e$ code: pretract #End of tool path, toolchange sav_absinc = absinc$ absinc$ = one sav_coolant = coolant$ coolant$ = zero # if nextop$ = 1003, #Uncomment this line to leave coolant on until eof unless [ # explicitely turned off through a canned text edit if all_cool_off, [ #all coolant off with a single off code here if coolant_on, pbld, n$, *sall_cool_off, e$ coolant_on = zero ] else, [ local_int = zero coolantx = zero while local_int < 20, [ coolantx = and(2^local_int, coolant_on) local_int = local_int + one if coolantx > zero, [ coolantx = local_int pbld, n$, scoolantx, e$ ] coolantx = zero ] coolant_on = zero ] ] #cc_pos is reset in the toolchange here cc_pos$ = zero gcode$ = zero pbld, n$, sccomp, *sm05, psub_end_mny, e$ pbld, n$, scoolant, e$ <---------------ADD THIS LINE OF CODE TO THE (pretract) POST BLOCK pbld, n$, sgabsinc, sgcode, *sg28ref, "Z0.", scoolant, e$ <-----------YOU CAN DELETE THE [ ,scoolant ] HERE IF YOU WANT AS WELL if nextop$ = 1003 | tlchg_home, pbld, n$, *sg28ref, "X0.", "Y0.", protretinc, e$ else, pbld, n$, protretinc, e$ absinc$ = sav_absinc coolant$ = sav_coolant

There is no way around using an STL file. You can get utilities that will let you heal and modify the STL though. Try turning up your Toolpath memory allocation, running RAM saver, and shutting down all other applications when Mcam is running.

Nevermind, I got it. For anyone looking for VB info: X editor - Help, VB Script Or Look in the Mastercam install folder, help folder. There is a VB script word doc, and the SCRIPT56.CHM help file.

Don, that list is good but I remember something like a word document that listed all the available VB functions with a short description of each. David, I didn't get your email. Try: [email protected] The Boeing email server will strip out any .zip file attachments, so please name any zip file to ".IRC" Thanks,

Hymen, Why don't you set up your posts correctly for all your different machines and post programs to all of the machines at once? Then you have a program that is ready to go for every machine. HTH,

GeoGirl, Who is your Mastercam reseller?

Hi Geo, Open the contour operation parameters from the operations manager. Click on the Contour Parameters tab at the top of the dialog box. There is a "Lead in/out" button. Make sure there is a check in the check box to enable the lead in/out settings. Click on the Lead in/out button. This will launch the lead in/out dialog box. You can change the feedrate here. You need to upgrade to the latest copy of version 9.

how long is the name you are inputting? There is some kind of character limit. Check your manual.

You should be able to see the position of your cutter using backplot. Backplot should show you if your cutter is correct or not. Is your thread mill created as a seperate MC9 file or is it on a level in your part file? Pay no attention to the wording in the help file about your tool being drawn at 1". Just draw it actual size and put the correct diameter value in the tool definition dialog box. The profile should show the yellow dashed line tangent to the tooth profile in the custom tool dialog box. By the way, any thoughts on upgrading to version X2? There are options now for multiple passes on thread milling for X. Just a thought. V9 is dying slowly... I'm excited for the days when V9 is no longer supported by CNC software. Thanks,

+1 on change at point. Go into your geometry manager for the operation. Right click on the chain you want to modify and use the "change at point" option. There is lots of good info on "change at point" in the help file. Welcome to the forum. HTH,

If I remember right, you might have to enter a program number before you start the download. If that is true you would go into communications on the HAAS, find the receive page, type in the new program number (O0500) for example, then press the receive rs-233 button. The HAAS may just be able to pick up the program # from the file header, but I can't quite remember.

For the sraight transfer, typically you have to go to the machine first and set it to "receive" mode. Then go to the computer and send the nc file. Look in your HAAS manual about sending and receiving files. Once you figure out the button sequence on the HAAS its pretty easy. I used to be able to quote the button sequence for a HAAS from memory. Its been too long though now. Good luck, let us know how it goes. HTH,

Sure thing Rick. Good luck. I'll be on the board around 9 in the AM if you need some more help.

Hi Rick, You will also have to change the format statements a little bit. Changes are made on the left with notes on the right. BACK UP YOUR POST FIRST!!! This should only change the formating for the X, Y, and Z position output values to 5 place. code: # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- # Format statements - n=nonmodal, l=leading, t=trailing, i=inc, d=delta # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- #Default english/metric position format statements fs2 1 0.7 0.6 #Decimal, absolute, 7 place, default for initialize ( fs2 2 0.5 0.4 #Decimal, absolute, 5/4 place<----------------------------Change this from fs2 2 0.4 0.3 fs2 3 0.5 0.4d #Decimal, delta, 5/4 place <-----------------------------Change this from fs2 3 0.4 0.3d #Common format statements fs2 4 1 0 1 0 #Integer, not leading fs2 5 2 0 2 0l #Integer, force two leading fs2 6 3 0 3 0l #Integer, force three leading

Hi Rick, There are a couple of things you will need to set. System - Configuration - Tolerances Set your toolpath tolerance to .00001 Set your max surface deviation to .0001. In your control Definition - Tolerances page Set your NC Precision (minimum step value) to .00001 In your post search for "vtol$" set the value to .00001. Now your code should come out to five decimal place precision. HTH,

I'm looking for the Mastercam specific commands Rick. Go ahead and send me what ever you have though. Thank you,

Bogus, It is probably a setting or variable that is not in your post. What machine are you posting too and what version of Mastercam was your post originally from? If it was a post that was updated from version 9 or earlier, you might want to consider creating a new post. There is a lot of new post functionality that was added for Mastercam X. If your post is based on an older verison, it could be missing a lot of the new logic. I highly recommend using a "native" X post and modifying it to your needs. It is well worth it in the long run. I have taken several posts from as far back as version 6 and tried updating them. It is pretty much a waste of time. I can actually take a generic X post and customize it much faster than updating an old post and trying to figure out all the problems... HTH,

Hi Bob, I would recommend going with Cimco just for the tech support alone. It really depends on the number of machines that you are trying to run DNC to. If it is just one mill, you can DNC directly from Mastercam without spending a dime. The secret is to use the Version 9 style communications. Go to setting - Customize and look in the File category. The button you are looking for should be on the left side, bottom row. It looks like a little cable plug. This is the version 9 style communications. Add this button to a toolbar or create a new one with this button. Save the configuration of your toolbars with toolbar states. When you launch the "communications" dialog box with the toolbar button you will be able to send and receive like normal. To turn on DNC capability, just enable the "echo terminal emulation" check box. Make sure the "Display to screen" is also checked. Turn the handshaking to software and you should be set. I've ran countless DNC setups this way. If you install a copy of V9 on a cheap PC you can create a "DNC server" by using Cimco edit V4 (free with V9) or the standard Mastercam communications. I believe these will run without a HASP (Mastercam won't though).

Hmm, Are you feeding your Milltronics controller the Geometry or the posted G-code? I'm not really sure what you are asking. How does your controller use Java script? Analyze Chain will certainly find your gap if you set your chaining tolerance and system tolerance to be smaller than the gap you are looking for. Try setting your system tolerance to .000001 and your chaining tolerance to .000002. Then Analyze Chain will stop at any gap that is over .000002. HTH,

bb, I'm not quite sure at this point. The "Only" level option is working fine for me with point selection. If your "Only" mask is turned on you should see an asterisk (*) on the button. If you are still getting the error, try running RAM saver. It might help clean up your file. Also, any time you notice Mastercam behaving strangely, save your file immediatly and shut Mastercam down. Then restart Mastercam and see if the strange behavior is still there. Usually this fixes a lot of problems. HTH,

I seem to remember Mastercam having some visual basic help files and documentation in Version 9. I can't find any in my X2 installation. Anyone have it handy? Or do I need to contact my reseller for this one? Thanks,

Steve, Magics is really impressive. Its got both manual and automatic tools for fixing STL problems. I wish CNC Software would incorporate these kinds of STL tools in Mastercam. Magics costs around $7500 per seat, but it is worth every penny if you need it's capabilities. It allows you to work with an STL model like a solid body and lets you do trimming and Boolean operations to the STL model.