no problem here. I run both simultaneously all the time.

You hit the nail on the head Michael. The wrong tool for the application I guess I need the staggered tooth threadmill. quote: All of the straight flute thread mills are for internal threads only every day is a school day! Thanks a lot guys.

The root of the cut thread is sharp because they can grind that on the cutter, The problem is that the radius is in the root of the threadmill profile therefore, it cuts the major diameter of the (external)thread small. I guess they can only grind it so sharp. the result: External thread =Major dia too small

Comparator.....I wish. I would have to go to a machine shop to find one of those, lol. I just looked at the tool by eye though and can see a small radius in the corner This is the one I have: http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNSRIT?PMAKA=60024437 I would imagine it is tough to manufacture this type with a sharp corner. Is it normal/expected to have a small radius on these kind?

I have a set of mating parts with M22 X 1.5 threads on them made out of Delrin. I have a multi-tooth threadmill and I take the thread in one pass. The problem I am having is : On the external thread In order to get the pitch diameter In tolerance, I have to bump the offset so much that the thread mill cuts the major diameter of the thread too small by .005 or so(out of tolerance). I'm not sure it is a big problem since the major diameter is a nominal size and I know the fit is what's really important. all I can figure is that, it is the threadmill geometry that is the problem.(Maybe they can only make the inside of the teeth so sharp so inevitably there is a small radius in it?) anyone have any problems like this?

how about Grafical toolpath editing?

It worky now! WOOHOO! Thanks again Colin. The STL file I am using has been filtered by Verisurf Reverse. The original one was WAY too BIG and would just kill Mastercam Instantly The filtered STL has someminor problems because the filtering cost me some quality. I filtered it to .001 tolerance and it cut the stl by 2/3. with hardware acceleration on, Mastercam says it cannot fix the "bad polygons" With the disable hardware acceleration checked it has no problem Although, It is as you said.......back to X2 speed but at least it's working

Thanks Colin! I will try that first thing tomorrow.

come on guys.... throw me a bone. I'm dying here. The file won't even open up in X2 anymore.

quote: If you have a file that won't verify or is crashing the system, try turning this switch off and run it. You had to say that didn't you I have a file that's giving me a headache now. Where is that switch?

Some people are just never happy

I added it to another thread but wanted to make sure it was seen. Verify is significantly faster in X3 even when using STl files. It's Awesome! Thanks CNC! The file I was working on last week in X2. Running verify was like watching paint dry. The same file in X3 is 3-4 times faster at least. Pick a file and do a test. I ran them both side by side and was amazed.

Verify is significantly faster in X3 even when using STl files.

No, I haven't given up on ya Ernie. I'm still working with Reverse but I'm still having issues with large stl files. I have been using Reverse to filter them but sometimes in order to make them small enough to not choke Mastercam the quality is gone defeating the purpose of using the STL. The ol' catch 22. I'm just hoping Mastercam can advance at working with them. I think Part of it is I could use a computer upgrade too. Management doesn't want to pay for that either!

I have installed Mastercam X2 MR2 on a Macbook pro and it worked great. I have not done any extensive benchmark testing yet to compare performance but my work box sucks so it's no contest there! The only testing I did was some basic modeling and toolpathing. No issues to report here. I would like to do more testing though.....just not enough time in the day. I should add that I tried Dual boot XP with Bootcamp and Parallels desktop and they both worked well with Mastercam.

I have considered buying Magics, Colin. I've used the trial and it worked great. I have also tried other more reasonably priced software solutions. The problem I have is I only need 1 function of the software. I will never use any of the RP features that I have to justify paying for And to my dismay, management is not buying into the necessity yet either. Just hoping that CNC will come through on this first. I got pretty excited when I saw stl enhancements. Does that mean that the new additions will NOT work the way I want?

Thanks Pete!

Does this offer any benefit to verify' use of stl files? I am playing with it but I can't seem to find where I can load the stl mesh entity into verify. The big stl files are killing me. -Mike teh big stl h8R

I have the same problem Oppiz Bad translator........again even older Inventor models have the same problem in X3.

I'll give all that a shot. Thanks again.

What do you think for a feed rate?

Thanks Trevor

Hey guys, I'm not a router guy but for a project I'm working on I decided to use a block of Maple as a setup piece to make sure verify isn't missing anything.(expensive block of material and I only need one part) I'm not really sure what speeds and feeds to start with. I'm guessing the spindle could run at max(10,000 RPM) without a problem but I'm hoping to bump the feed as fast as possible. The part will be aluminum. I'm guessing I can run a lot faster on the maple though. It's a 6" square block and I will mainly be using a 3/8 ball mill on most of it. It will be 3-d toolpaths mostly. 60 IPM? 80? Thanks,

you can also use the "new Attributes" feature in the file merge dialogue box to bring them in on a separate level than the active level and any color you want.

right click on colored button on bottom of screen. select entities hit enter select color hit enter