Change your construction plane to 3D - the little button on the bottom of the screen next to GVIEW

Man that is too cool! Seems to be priced well also! Can you keep us posted on how it's working out? That would be a very powerful tool to have especially if you have several different machine tools/controls. Awesome!

There is a parameter in the Haas control for Tap Retract Multiplier - Set it to 1 (which means it will retract at the feeds and speeds it entered) and use a G85. HTH Josh

quote: agie actually makes some just for very tight tolerence work We have 2 Agie's: An Evolution and a Vertex III and we couldn't be happier with them. Both are very large machines.

Or.... If the table return is at the end of your programs you could add a line in the "end of file" section of your post. Like this... code: peof$ #End of file for non-zero tool pretract comment$ if stagetool = 1 & stagetltype = 2, pbld, n$, *first_tool$, e$ n$, "G00", "G90", "G53", "X-20.", "Y0", e$ n$, "M30", e$ mergesub$ clearsub$ mergeaux$ clearaux$ "%", e$ Search for the "peof" string in your post. I added this line to bring the Table on a Haas VF3 to the X center & Y to the operator. code: n$, "G00", "G90", "G53", "X-20.", "Y0", e$ If this is too complicated for you (since you've only had MC for a week) the Manual Entry method above will work fine it just gets aggrevating adding it to every program. Remember to save a copy of your post before you edit it. Hope this helps and welcome to the Forum Josh

I wrote a hot key for the Clear Colors function... works like a charm!

or just download X+

This has been covered several times in the past.... Turn Off Rotary Axis Welcome to the Forum! This is a great place to get info. HTH Josh

Double parentheses is your issue. Did the same thing to me last week. Manual Entry was where it was.

quote: not busting your balls Man! You guys act like my students when I do something wrong! I've been verbally tarred and feathered! In our Torrington Machinist Manual there is a spec for tapped hole chamfers that states a 8-10% chamfer diameter over the major. It has always seemed a little heavy to me also but we didn't argue. IMO, deep enough to deburr the hole is good enough. Just be sure you c'sink before you tap. We try to do this when we spotdrill holes with a 90 degree spotdrill. HTH and sorry for the error, Josh

It's usually a 8-10% larger than the Major diameter of the tap. For example: 1/2-13 Tapped Hole Major Diameter = .500 .500 + (.500 X .010) = Chamfer Diameter of .550 That's how we teach it in school HTH Josh

Spot it deep enough to chamfer... is that what you mean?

+100 to Rick

Setting up tool planes is your way to go.

Hey Travis, Welcome to the Forum! Shoot me an email when you can and I'll help you find what you need. Josh

You can setup tool planes at the proper views then drill the holes. If your post is setup for 4 Axis work it should output the rotations correctly. What type of machine/post are you using?

4 or 5 axis?

Hey Greg, Are you using the In-House Post?

Question #1: You can use the Toolpath Editor by right clicking on the operation you want to change. This gives you tons of flexibility on feedrates, positions, rapid/feed and how the tool "behaves" during the cut. Question #2: Most of the time I use a Bar Puller or use my B Axis (Sub Spindle) to advance the stock. You could program a bump-out stop by using the point toolpath and a M00. Question #3: I use X+ Setup Sheets and I'll advise anyone who doesn't use them to give it a try. HTH Josh

Hey Justin, Is there a math statement hard coded in the post to add 60 to the D offset? I have seen older posts that were updated (V9 to X) that had math in them instead of using the Machine Def/Control Def. HTH Josh

Man that looks like a good job! We used to machine parts very similar to that on my last job. Have fun with it!

You'll want to use the Solid Stock option on the Stock Setup page in the Properties Tree. I use a .STL file of the solid that I want to use for stock - usually a solid model of the casting converted to STL. This definetly helps you on verify and allows you to see stock removal of the casting. Hopefully you have solid models of your castings. I also use this feature when a part has multiple operations - Lathe, Mill, Grind, etc. The verify result I get in the first operation (usually Lathe) is saved as a STL then used as Solid Stock in the Mill operation by using the same method as mentioned before. HTH Josh

Mastercam Apprentice Program All in all a pretty good article. Brant is one of my best students and he'll do very well as a programmer. Atleast we got to machine something cool even if it was made of machinable wax!

quote: Sounds like a huge pile of trouble to me?? Me too. What is the logic behind the switch. I've never used tool center postitioning and have never thought of a reason why I should. Have you programmed a part and verified it using tool center? For some reason in X3 I had an issue with the tool defaulting to tool center. The only reason I caught it and didn't srcap a part was the tool was acting very strange during verify... like it was ramping instead of using depth cuts. Push back against this one as hard as you can IMO

The new story aired at 12:45 EST. Once it posts on CNN's website I'll get a linky