+1 for Autodrill and Solid Drill. These functions will do exactly what you are after Jimic. They come built right into Mastercam. Colin Gilchrist

If you are a maintenance customer you should receive the upgrade to X2 as part of your maintenance package when it becomes available. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company

I'm happy to help Jack...

Hi Jerry, Are you using Mastercam X or V9? It might be possible in X. There is also the "Edit Common Parameters" option. What building are you in? I'm up here at Everett Boeing in the 40-56 building. I'm in the IRC NC Programming group. If you need any help with Mastercam I'm available to give you a hand. I know both version 9 and version X very well and I'd be happy to show you some tricks in either version. I think there might be an easier way to accomplish your goal. Best regards, Colin Gilchrist IRC NC Programming The Boeing Company 425-315-6583 [email protected]

Ask, and you shall receive... Here is a VB script to increment all of your levels. When you run the script it will prompt you and ask you for an increment value. The default is 1000. This would add 1000 to all of your level #'s. So level 1 would become 1001, Level 16 would become 1016, Level 1200 would become level 2200, ect. If you like this, please thank Mick George @ CNC. code: '//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// '// '// Author: Mick George [email protected] '// Date: 05/11/2003 04:42 PM '// File Name: Copy Entities to Level.vbs '// '// Description: '// '// Comments: Select an entity to get its level, prompt for a new level and copy all '// entities from current level to new level. '// '//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ' Const DEF_GIVE_ME_EVERYTHING = -1 ' -- Start Script Call Main() ' //////////////////// ' Sub Declaration ' //////////////////// Sub Main() Dim i,j,k Dim CArc, CLine, CPoint, CRect Dim CArcCopy, CLineCopy, CPointCopy, CRectCopy Dim intOriginalLevel, intNewLevel Dim bRet Dim intUpLevel Dim strLevelName Dim intMaxLevel intUPlevel = 1000 intMaxLevel = 0 If Not IsDrawing Then ShowString "We need a drawing": Exit Sub askValue "How far up?", 1,999999,intUpLevel bRet = StartDBSearch(mc_alive, DEF_GIVE_ME_EVERYTHING) Do intOriginalLevel = GetEntityLevel If intOriginalLevel > intMaxLevel Then intMaxLevel = intOriginalLevel End If 'ShowValue "layer ",intOriginalLevel strLevelName = GetLevelName(intOriginalLevel) intNewLevel = intOriginalLevel + intUpLevel Call SetEntityLevel(intNewLevel) Call SetLevelName (intNewLevel, strLevelName) bRet = NextDBSearch Loop While bRet Call UnselectAll Call RepaintScreen(True) ' unname the originals For i = 1 To intMaxLevel Call SetLevelName (i, "") Next End Sub ' //////////////////// ' Function Declaration ' //////////////////// Function IsDrawing() Dim Ret Ret = StartDBSearch(mc_alive, -1) UnselectAll IsDrawing = Ret End Function HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MRe and all the fixins...

The Info tab only works in step mode, not run mode. If you step through your backplot it will show you X,Y,Z positions, Feed or Rapid info, Cutting plane, cutter comp value, and feed rate. What info are you missing? It also will show you all of your drilling cycle information because mastercam does not show actual peck motion in backplot or verify. It only shows a single plunge move to depth. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

BTW guys, You can also open up the Text section of the Control Definintion Manager and right click in the data entry section. This brings up a menu with "import" options. Then you can use the import - sheet - from post option. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and ???

Hello, Mastercam has an option called ATP (automatic toolpath programming) that is already available from your Mastercam reseller. I'm not sure of the cost (it is an add-on that you have to pay for), but many cabinet shops already use this software. It does exactly what you are looking for. Batch processing of different cabinet orders. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and now ???

Yeah but the 13th??? Isn't that like setting yourself up for failure?

Hi Guys, In MR2 as soon as you right click on the Arc Center option in the Autocursor menu, the "Only" button also becomes active. That means you can lock the centerpoint selection option and use a diameter, color, or level mask at the same time. So for example you might right click on arc center and then turn on the diameter/length mask and set the diameter mask to .531 and the color to green #10. This should greatly simplify your drill point selection. You can also use the AutoDrill and Solid Drill toolpaths with great success if you are trying to set up a series of sequential operations on a set of holes (spot drill, drill, bore, ream). You can read up on both of these features in the Reference Guide and in the Mastercam help file. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Mastercam is unsupported in Windows 64 bit OS. You can buy a computer with a 64 bit CPU, but I would stick with XP PRO 32 bit OS. Mastercam will run under XP 64, but you are not going to be able to get tech support when things go wrong. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

If you are in Create - Line - Endpoint and you disable the autocursor with the Ctrl key, be sure to turn off the "Tangent" toggle button on the ribbon bar if you want to sketch close to an arc. Otherwise the cursor will auto-highlight the arc and try and create a tangent line, instead of just using sketch mode to place the endpoint. Colin

Hi Guys, I just wanted to share something I just discovered in Mastercam X that will help with accurate measurement of your verifications. In X you can Verify your roughing (or finishing) operations in Verify, then use the "Save stock as file" button to save a copy of your roughed out stock as an STL. Then when you exit Verify you can use File - Merge/Pattern and merge in your newly saved STL model (just select .STL file type in the drop down menu). Mastercam will merge in your STL file as a bunch of lines, giving you the "wireframe" of your STL. Then you can go into the Stock Setup section of the machine group properties, select the radio button for "File" and use the Arrow selection button to browse for your STL file. Set the Display option radio button to "Solid" and now you get a red translucent solid of your roughed out STL block, with merged STL wireframe that you can use to measure your stock accurately with the tools in Analyze. A couple words of caution: For this to work you must be in "True Solid" mode. In your Verify Configuration menu you will need to set the accuracy of your tool profile and your STL model. In order to get a really accurate verified part you would need to set these values very small (.0002) which would take a long time to verify. If you use .001 for each setting, it will still take a long time, but it will be about + or - .002 in the accuracy of the verification because of the tolerance stackup. You would also need to turn up the speed/quality slider all the way to quality. STL files model every surface, including curved surfaces, as a series of small triangles refered to as facets. The smaller you set your tolerances, the more facets you will get on your models, but the visual quality of the model will be much better . Increasing the number of facets on the model can create a huge amount of lines (100,000+ easily, depending on the complexity of your model) when you bring in the STL wireframe, which could really slow down your computer if it is older and doesn't have a decent graphics card. I don't think this will work very well for very complex parts with lots of cut surfaces because of the number of lines. Just wanted to point out some of the potential pitfalls before you encounter them. Let me know what you guys think. Hope that helps, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Hi David, I could see two reasons for doing this. 1. The program is a legacy program and the file is not available or was programmed in something other than Mastercam. 2. The program that is run through Vericut is the actual G-code after the Post Processor has done its thing. Sometimes the Post outputs moves you were not expecting (like a head unwind). You can edit the G-code in Vericut to make changes or run the Gcode through Optipath to vary the speeds and feeds. Then output that code as APT, run it through the NCI2APT chook and get NCI code that you could then post out for any machine (with the changes incorporated). We often post out programs for several different machine types so we can choose which machine to run a part on based on the shop work flow. You might need to run it back through Vericut a 2nd time (I would!) but at least you can take advantage of your custom Mastercam Posts on G-code that is not necessarily a Mastercam native file. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

You are quite welcome. I've been working with the guys at Moldplus on some fixes to ProDrill as well when setting up form libraries over a network. The word is that we should get a new ProDrill install file soon. Thanks, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

We tested both here at Boeing and ended up getting the Moldplus version. Cleaner data all around. The Moldplus converter gave us noticably smaller file size vs. the Mastercam converter and would convert files successfully that Mastercam's couldn't. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Setting the affinity only really helps on true dual processor machines, not just dual core. What else are you trying to run with Mastercam?

Yes, theoretically you should be able to take a newly generated NCI file and post it for a different machine. The only problem you might run into would be toolpaths that are not compatible with the machines control like helical arc settings or coolant options(mcodes). Barring anything that isn't compatible between the machines, you should be able to convert and repost for any machine on your shop floor. That being said, the NCI2ATP chook will not generate actual mastercam toolpaths, just NCI files (kind of like a solid with no history). You will not be able to edit the converted NCI data using the toolpath dialog boxes. Not that it would be a problem necessarily, I just want you to be aware of the limitations. If you are trying to do this with legacy NC files for which no Mastercam toolpaths actually exist you might have issues (I can't say for certain). To post them to a different machine you would need to open Mastercam X, Load the correct machine definition, use the "Import NCI" option in the toolpaths menu to import your newly converted NCI files and then post them out for your new machine. As for the Zoller, I'm not quite sure how we do our tool presetting. I know you can import your tool data into Vericut using several different methods, but to be honest, we are very automated in the types of machining we do. We have a standard tool list of about 100 tools (all preset to a standard tool length) and thats pretty much all we use. For example we have a standard endmill, Tool # 24 that has a set length of 4.500 inches. It is always set up with that set length and never changes. Same with the rest of our tools. I'm not sure what it would take to integrate the Zoller tool data into the Vericut simulation, but I know the man who can tell you. His name is Gerry Prete and he works for CGtech. Be sure to tell him what your situation is and that you are evaluating Vericut. He is a great guy and should be able to answer your Vericut questions more specifically than I can. Gerry Prete Technical Support Engineer Vericut 9000 Research Drive Irvine, California 92618 (949)753-1050 Hope that Helps, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Hi Kyle, Give Steve Kidd at Cimtech Inc. a call if you are interested in NCI2APT. 253-922-8770 And yes it does do the conversion both ways. By the way, you can get Vericut to output straight G-code if you would prefer that to APT. I just finished the Machine and Control building class down at CGTech. It was awesome! I'm in the process of getting our machines setup right now. We are switching from Delmia's VNC to Vericut and the process is going pretty well so far. Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Rick, I've done lots of plunge roughing with great success. To do it safely I would recommend creating a pocket or contour toolpath and using the NCI file for your plunge path. This gives you the ability to have a stepover that is different in X and Y. The other problem with Plunge roughing is if you have a wall or boss that you need to rough out. When your cutter crosses over the wall/boss and starts cutting on the far side, it can plunge into an area where the center of the cutter can not cut. I use several different plunge toolpaths, each toolpath uses a pocket or contour toolpath to set the area you want to plunge. If you use the NCI option it makes it a lot easier to control where the cuts occur. If you email me a part file I might be able to put a toolpath or two on it for an example. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Right back at ya boobie.

Bala, Let me offer you my apologies. If you had stated who you were and what you were attempting to do with your lathe program from the beginning, the response would have been much more positive. There are lots of people out there who try and steal mastercam and then come into the forum for advice, posts, and help when they are not even legal Mastercam customers. The way that you presented yourself initially led James and myself to believe that you were someone who was just trying to get something for free. People who do these things undermine all our hard work and take money out of our pockets. I was not trying to make fun of your ethnicity, but I was trying to provoke you a little bit so that you would reveal some information about who you are and what your real intentions are. I am a teacher myself. I have taught Mastercam at the college level and also in the industry for the local Washington State Mastercam reseller. Now that we know your request is a legitimate one I would be happy to offer you some assistance if I can. I am in the middle of programming some really hot jobs, but I could probably write a simple lathe program for you on one of my breaks. The forum members are wary of people we don't know for good reasons. I hope we didn't offend you too badly. Regards, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Happy to help Lou...

Hi Jody, Mastercam does not take advantage of processor affinity with multiple sessions of Mastercam open. It it highly recommended that you DO NOT run multiple sessions of Mastercam at the same time because it causes Mastercam to crash and dirty up your toolpaths. That being said, if you want to run other programs at the same time (Solidworks + Mastercam, or Vericut + Mastercam) Setting the Processor affinity will speed up the calculation times for both programs. To set the Affinity, go into the windows task manager and right-click on the mastercam.exe process. Choose the "Set Affinity" option and pick your processor. On a dual processor machine you will see processor 0 (1st) and processor 1 (2nd). On a dual processor, dual core machine you will see processors 0,1,2, and 3. The first tw0 (0 and 1) are the two cores of the first processor. The second two (2 and 3) are the two cores of the second processor. You would need to use Processor 0 and Processor 2. Windows will handle the interaction between the cores on a single chip. HTH, Colin Gilchrist The Boeing Company MR2 and Beta test site

Someone who can apparently "program circles around us"