i have updated this with a curve and a flowline toolpath and hopefully that will help

here is an idea if your looking...on the ftp site called augerjpn.mcx...you can change the cutter or stepover to what you want

this should be a favourite error post

depending on what level of mastercam you have you can also use 5 axis swarf....5 axis curve and transform rotate the first cut so that it does the whole thing....there are plenty of ways to go about it ...put it on the ftp site if you need help ...there are plenty of guys here that will send you different variations on how to get it done

that should quell the lynch mob.. you can put the rope down Randy...there's not gonna be a hanging tonight...looks like this is going to be an internal thing

oh yes ...sorry 'bout my manners...most ppl in here have been in here longer than me so i forget ...Welcome to the forum!!!!

one other issue i think you might want to address is whether or not the drill is in a drill chuck or morse taper...if you can avoid either of these and collet your drill then you wont have the problem with the drill slipping in the chuck when you break through or being pulled out of the morse taper...it doesnt happen often but when it does the circumstances can be devastating if your not near the machine when it happens

is there a setting in the config maybe to change this default?...cause it is a pain in the xxxx....what were they thinking?

now that is sweet David ..thanks for the tip...sometimes its a fight just to see what i have picked switching back and forth from check to drive surfaces to comp ...when all i want to see is why my toolpath is trying to cut my vice out of the machine

oh sweet ..11.4 megs for the original file ...normally my isp would have it on my desktop before i get the IE window minimized but not today...swear i had a 36 k modem that ran faster than this....duh 1.09k/sec

thats not bad ...14 min a meg have you got a picture or maybe you could make a clay model and send it via US mail ..that might be a little faster...god our isp bites the big one

1.09 megs so far

how big is the file Rick?....cause it looks like our internet is going at a snails pace...1 hour and 36 mins remaining at 1%

yes it is possible and dam its a lot of work... i had to do it for Geneng in Beenleigh as they originally had nothing...an i mean nothing for a real post ...my predecessors were cutting and pasting programs together and changing the offsets manually and oh my god ...i was stoked when i saw that...so it took me about 2 weeks and some final tweaking from the ppl on here to get it going while i was running the machines

Howdy Dave... i posted a string in here for cnjb on some tomestone programming that does this ... zipped for ya to look at in the X folder...zipped file is called S00B04D.prt.zip and has 4 examples of hydraulic manifolds programmed with the tombstone as the center but allow for offsets to be changed...just make all the coordinates the same in the machine and move if necessary...ie g54.1 to g54.12 are all the same but g54.13 needs a few thou up for some reason or in some other location on a vice that had to be moved...this allows the operator freedom to move the parts around or leave it in center of table...mind you if you have to use a particlur datum on a part then you will have to move it to that location and force the post to output the new work coordinate

"forst and firmost"...run the tool well oversize so that you can check the pitch and get a good visual of what you are cutting

sounds like graphite to me ....if so finish the top first and work you way down the electrode on the sides

mild steel inches-speed for HSS 400/dia of cutter in decimal form metric-300/dia of cutter in mm feed- speed x chipload per tooth x no. of teeth depth of cut max 1/3 dia of cutter 400 / .75 = 533 rpm 533 x .005 x 4 = 10.66 inches/min ---------------------------------------- carbides-normal or low grade (400/dia) x 3 feed- speed x chipload per tooth x no. of teeth depth of cut max 1/3 of cutter these are strictly for roughing purposes only ie (400/.75) x 3 = 1600 rpm 1600 x .005 x 4 = 32 inches/min for tool steels use these formulas and times them both by 65%

Terry... i know you were picking on Kannon ...just stating a fact (dat was nasteeee!!!)...and i hope i can say the same thing someday

it started off as surfaces and i converted to a solid so that i could put even radius around the whole thing and not have to trim surfaces fillets ...so how do i close the solid?

Good luck Travis ...and hope to see you in the forum with an update

its what i had to do to get some programs generated for a flow 5 axis job

ok looks like your going to have strip windows of all its resources Dave,,,if you havent allready done it ...go to my computer..and right click for system properties...click the advanced tab and then the icon for performance settings...you will come to a window that allows you to customize your windows...i go to custom ...and have only animate windows,fade or slide menus, fade or slide tool tips and finally down at the bottom...use visual styles and buttons...this should give you about 36 to 38 threads when not running X.....and it will open some of your memory up for you...and hopefully that will work

get back to you tomorrow guys ...tis home time!!!!!!!

rick ...you might want to check out john's file as they dont even look the same as the other.....got them both open and well its like comparing apples to oranges ...and visa versa john...cause im looking at 2 different animals here