Try: 1. The find overlap Chook. 2. Deleting all existing wireframe and use the Create - Curve - All edges command to create "cleaner" wireframe directly in Mastercam. 3. Copy/Move the chains to another level so you can be sure of what you are dealing with. 4. Change the color of the entities in you chain to something different and use the color mask in the chaining options dialog box. 5. In the chaining options dialog box, turn off the check box for "open chains" to force Mastercam to only look for closed chains. Often when you encounter these problems with wireframe it is because you have "ugly" geometry. Lines that are very close to being the same, but with slightly different endpoint locations. This means that you have lines that do not overlap, and are not "duplicate". The most common reason this happens is sloppy modeling by the designer. See step # 2 above. Delete the existing wireframe and then create your own. Don't forget to run the Edit - Simplify command to clean up linear and circular splines. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company X2 and Beta

Nils, You need to go through the X2 Transition Guide in your documentation folder. There is an entire process for updating your Machines, Controls, Posts, and Libraries. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company X2

RDot, Use Create - Spline - Create Curves Spline. Chain your profile and then set the tolerance to .0001 and the option to "delete" in the drop down list on the ribbon bar. Then press enter. Mastercam will create one spline in place of your original chain. HTH, Colin Gilchrist

Aww, Parma, where is your faith man?

Scott, Mastercam is FULLY usable outside of the system Top view. You just have to know how it works. See my above comments about using WCS and read the Reference guide. It works perfectly fine. TURBO mode is worthless. Do a search for "verify" on this forum and read some of the responses. There are methods that you can use to configure verify to get the verification quality you need. It won't be fast. That is the trade off, but it works!

Brian, Just look into the Catia translator for Mastercam. It will solve your conversion problems... Colin Gilchrist

Hi Randy, You need to edit your default operation parameters for drilling. Go into your Machine Group Properties "Files" tab. Down near the bottom of the page is a section that says Operation Defaults. Click on the exclamation point button. This will bring up the "Edit Operation Defaults" dialog box. Scroll through the list until you find the drill operation. Click on the plus sign and click on the parameters folder. These are the default settings that will appear every time you create a new drill operation. Click on whatever tool is in the tool list and press the delete key on your keyboard. Activate the check box for filter and click on the filter button. Now under the "Tool types" section press the none button. Now press the drill tool icon and close the dialog box. Press the "select library tool" button and choose your default drill for the operation. Press the OK button to close the open dialog boxes and you are set. BTW, you can also use this default parameters area to edit all of your operation defaults. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company X2

Be sure to read the "What's new" document in the documentation folder. If you left click on a quick mask button, it is like using the "All" selection mask option. If you right click on a quick mask, it puts you in the "Only" selection mask mode. Don't forget the new "Select all Xform group" and "Select all Xform result" masks. Colin Gilchrist

Parma, Analyze Dynamic always shows you the smallest radius of curvature at any given point along any surface. If you want to figure out the curvature along multiple directions, use Create - Curve - Slice. Use the Plane method and set your X,Y, or Z spacing value. Then use Analyze Dynamic on the resulting spline. That way you can see what the curvature is in both directions. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company The deuce, the whole duece, and nothing but the duece

In the Control Definition Dialog box under the "Files" section. I believe it says "Write NC Operation Information" HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company

Glad I could help Terry. Doing undercuts took me days of trial and error when I learned how to do it in version 8 and 9. If you use STL compare with WCS, you can do a pretty good job of actually seeing what you are going to cut at the machine. Thanks, Colin Gilchrist

+1 on the Predator cable. It doesn't get any easier. The cable is tripple shielded against electrical interference, and you buy a pre-configured "Plug end" for your Haas and a plug end for your serial port on your computer. Just plug everything in and DNC away... HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Tooling, I took a look at your file. Those undercuts will not be easily done with a wheel cutter. It will take a lot of work to do those undercuts because they are multiple surfaces that sweep up in the Z axis. I would stand the block up and get some long ball endmills. You could probably get it to work with flowline, but you will have to drive a single surface at a time. Some re-modeling of the surfaces could also be required. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company

Just become a Beta tester Rick...

I would highly recommend talking with the guys at AI Solutions. You can purchase a 5 axis lazer post already finished with no hassle. http://www.ai-sols.co.jp/eng/index_eng.htm HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

The Moldplus Catia V5 converter works flawlessly. If you can't see the wireframe, perhaps you have it blanked (no show in Catia I think). It is well worth the money. FYI, If your shop deals with Catia V5 models, all of the dimensioning and tolerancing data is contained in the solids history tree. To be able to get this data you need a Catia V5 model viewer. I recommend the one from Enovia. Yes, it is expensive, but you need it. Just pass the cost on to your customers. HTH, Colin Gilchrist

Hmmm... Then I would check the prapid and plin post blocks for the Z output...

No, its not possible to have it check the collision. You have to check it manually using STL compare, Backplot, or another method. I usually run my toolpaths in Verify, Save the STL model, then go into Machine Group Properties and turn on the solid STL stock option. Then you can see your model and your "cut stock" overlayed on top of each other. As a final check you can take your solid model of your finished part and use it as the verify stock. You should see the dovetail cutter just kiss up against the undercut wall. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

I use Surface Finish Contour with better success than flowline. Take a look at a similar thread that was started by Terry5357. I think I do an ok job of explaining it in that thread. You will need to turn off gouge protection and use the "Direction" button to get your tool in and out of the area. BTW, use a slot mill tool definition and DO NOT set the radius to full, that is not allowed. Set it to corner and use the corner radius value. I have found better results if you make the radius just under the actual setting. For example, on a .250 thick slot mill, I would use a corner radius of .1248. Mastercam seems to compensate better if you give it just a very slight flat in the center of your slot mill. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Also remember to disable the "Reset C-plane to Top in Iso Gview" in the CAD Settings page of the Configuration dialog box. -Colin

Terry, You need to use Surface Finish Contour and disable the "gouge checking". Then use the "Direction" button on the Surface Parameters page to get the tool into and out of your undercut area. The only other toolpath that works well in undercuts is Flowline, but you can really only drive a single surface at a time. I have gotten around this using Flowline by remodeling several adjacent surfaces as a single surface. The only toolpath that will work reliably in undercuts on multiple surfaces that I have found is Surface Finish (Or surface rough) Contour. Note that there is absolutely no difference between surface finish contour and surface rough contour, they are the exact same toolpath. Because you have to disable gouge checking, I recommend using the STL compare utility to check your cut stock back to your original model. HTH Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Hi David, Look for the "nobrk$" setting in your post general output settings. This should be set to "no$".

David, In your control definition look at the "Linear" page. Enable the radio button under XY plane control to "Break rapid moves - XY then Z for approach, Z then XY for retract". That should put all Z motion on seperate lines. If it does not, then your post might not be set up to take advantage of this feature. I know the MPMaster post supports this. So do all of the new "generic" posts that shipped with X. FYI, you should be able to get an install disc from your reseller with something like 26 generic Mastercam posts for X. There is a Fadal, Haas, Mazak, Mori-Seki, Okuma, and a few others. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Now you just need dual monitors Terry! Remember that you can also do sub-menus on the right click as well. +1 on the spaceball. I love them. Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company

Hi David, This might clear things up a bit. With the release of Version X there is a new "MultiAxis" module that you need if you want to cut 4 and 5 axis toolpaths (rotary positioning is allowed under Mill level 3). If you were an existing customer before X was released then you are "grandfathered" in and have the multiaxis module included with your Mill level 3 license. The 5 axis Verify module has always been a seperately purchased add-on to Mastercam. If you want to see your part cut in 5 axis without purchasing the option you can turn off the "true solid" option in verify, but the quality is poor and you can not rotate, pan, or zoom. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site