I was wondering what people are using to locate and set up parts. In the past I've used an edge finder on a Bridgeport style mill. I found this at Grainger LINK and wonder if anyone uses these or has a better solution. We are currently using a router to machine large composite molds and patterns. We typically place cross hair reference marks in the corners of the bagging flange area. Then if we need to bring the parts back on the machine we use a scribe to check the marks. But I was wondering if we drilled holes and used a centering type wiggler might be faster and better than relying on my eye and scribe. I'm not sure what the accuracy is on these center finders. We are looking for something fast and accurate. Any help would be apprecated. Thanks!

I believe it is best to use the same software for everything that you can. The less exporting/importing the better. The less wierd things happen. I know that is not always possible but whenever you can I prefer to use the same software for a project.

Gotta right click in the Ops manager and you only have one shot like Hardmill said. Check out this previous thread. It has some good info. undelete ops

We consistently get up to 100+ meg file size. I see delays when I save. It takes a few minutes. If we get too big before we even reach the finish toolpaths then we will do a save as to the roughing file and create a finishing file. Then we delete all of the ops we don't want but keep all the levels, geometry, etc. Works well.

Here is a previous thread that has good info. HTH Phenolic

We cut foam all the time. We typically use HSS or Carbides cutters for roughing. Two flute seem to work well. We have used a diamond grit spherical cutter for finishing in the past.

You can still draw it in AutoCAD and import to MC when your ready to machine.

I agree with Colin 100%. Are you planning on machining these vertebrae? MC would be good for that but if you want to create a model use Rhino or Inventor. Also, if you have the means scan in the real vertebrae or a modeled version. If none of this helps and you don't have the means use what you got and jump in. The water is warm! You can do it in MC and it will be a great learning experience. Keep us posted on your progress

Check this out. I like this design far better. CNC Auto-Motion

We've got a Quintax. It has a xxxxor controller. 10'x10'x4' capacity.

Congrats, I'm just South of you in Tacoma. I was really impressed with the Mazak Rep and the multi tasking machines at the tech expo a couple years ago. I've been reading a lot about Toyota Production System, Cells and Just In Time manufacturing. All very interesting especially if you are laying out a new shop, Good Luck! Also, I've looked at your website a few times. Are you in the process of updating it?

I dislike annoying pop ups, but in certain instances it is useful. I think this one would be beneficial. We use backup but not autosave because it is a resource hog. And there are certain times you don't want autosave to kick in. So backup is only good if you save frequently. Colin, I like my popup text better. quote: Are you sure you want to delete this operation, knucklehead!

That is sweeeeet! I never new there was undelete in the Ops Mngr! When I delete something in there it's usually like slow motion. You delete and realize the error all at the same time. I never new you had a one shot at redemption. I've tried doing ctrl z and that never worked. But now I realize that if you do a ctrl z then you have lost your one undelete. Maybe what would be smarter is when you try and delete something in the Ops Mngr a window pops up and says "Are you sure you want to delete this operation, knucklehead!"

Also, i assume it calculates at 100%. So if you are running a finish toolpath at 50% it should take about twice as long as the listed cycle time.

Select geometry and goto drop down menu Edit/Delete/Delete Duplicates. This is a quick way to get rid of duplicates.

Where's Canada? Colin, $40 an hour are you hiring? I've got a year and half in MasterCam and 8 years of CAD. Plus I'll pick you up a Latte every day for 40 an hour!

Cost of living is high compared to Indiana! I about had a heart attack when I saw what a house cost! We just tell everyone that it rains a lot so they don't move up here. It's more of a light sprinkle or mist. The first year I moved here it rained like 96 straight days and I almost picked up and moved to Bend, OR. But then I met the future Mrs. McCann and everything changed.

FTP Link

I work in Tacoma, WA. There seems to be plenty of work out this way. But like John says you may have to relocate. Sambo, I used to live in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. I moved out here about 9 years ago. The company I worked for tried to transfer me to Chicago after being in WA for a few years. I was like "no thanks" had a couple job offers in a matter of days. Chicago is a nice place to visit, but Washington State is a nice place to live.

Yup, just make sure you know exactly what your getting into. Trying something new is how you learn.

Oh, and another point is the castings are only as good as the patterns used to make them. So you may want to find out what the scrap percentage will be on your end. When I worked with Powermatic they had four patterns that were all slightly different. Made machining difficult.

Is it going to be mass production or a few small runs? You will need some fixtures set up. Plus depending on the casting quality and foundry you may end up cutting something that gets scrapped. You need to be able to check the castings before you spend the time to cut them. Set up some reference points to check the casting prior to cutting.

We use Explorer to drag and drop files from PC to xxxxor - hard disk. But if you try and delete a file the xxxxor is using it will not let you.

Greg, Right now we can transfer files between our computer and the xxxxor controller. But we can't access the controller from our computer to do an emergencey stop or anything like that. Does anyone know how to set something like that up? To control certain functions on the xxxxor through our PC? Then we could use something like PC Anywhere to stop the machine if we see a problem from the live video feed. Thanks, Bill

Tim, That is another good idea. That is something I was also thinking about. I have a PDA. But if you have a web capable phone like a Treo you should be able to view the website that your CNC is on. If you set up two different websites one sized for a regular monitor and one sized for a PDA screen it should work. Is Telus Homesitter through Comcast? Thanks, Bill