29 minutes ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

I'd buy bitcoin from him...

is bitcoin still a thing??

On 11/22/2023 at 6:37 AM, JParis said:

Just my opinion, FWIW, I have zero information to support it. I do wonder if it wasn't more of a "cash out"...perhaps wrapped up in some of what you believe gcode

of course it was a cash out.. a business two generations in the making, in an unwinnable death match with an unbeatable giant... who wouldn't??

They got a nice payday, most of their employees survived and they retain a large degree of autonomy over the day to day operations of the business.

That may change  in time, but for now, as users, there is no sign the firm even has new owners.

... with the exception of 5 updates for a single release. I'm sure that is not a coincidence.

1 hour ago, crazy^millman said:

Why was CNC Software for Sale?

I think they realized they could not beat a monster like AutoDesk in a head to head fight.

CNC Software did not have the resources to withstand AD's predatory business model.

It's hard to stay competitive when your rivals can afford to give their entry level software away for free.

2 hours ago, crazy^millman said:

Is there a question in there? Posting code without any explanation is asking a lot of even the most experienced person.

That post  may be a spammer testing his log in credentials.

The post immediately following it was spam.

The post is gone and the account is blocked .

k740329 has not done anything ban worthy yet, so he still lives.

5 hours ago, gwstephens said:

Thanks guys now its saying no sim so guess im going to download 2024 for free for the first year for now

I think Windows Update wiped out your hasp drivers, and the modern drivers are not available on your 14 year old installation discs.

If you go to Mastercam.com and download and install these drivers, you may be able to get X4 running again.

The problem is, you need a working hasp to create an account on Mastercam.com.

You may need to email [email protected] to get a copy of these drivers. 

Be sure to include your Hasp # in any emails.

It's possible your local Mastercam dealer may help you but after being off maintenance for so long they may not

16 minutes ago, Jake L said:

To be honest it came in around $5.6K

Maybe Boxx has backed off some on their pricing.

or   maybe they figured that as a 10 year customer, I was not price sensitive,

The last time I called then was during covid, my regular sales rep was gone and the guy helping

me was acting like a used car salesman, I haven't called them since.

1 hour ago, Jake L said:

I would've gone with Xi per your recommendation. But our IT guy quoted and ordered it for me. He went with Boxx

I wasn't sure what number I was supposed to go by, the "time" column or "total time" column? Either way I was impressed

Find an online time calculator

Subtract the Regen line  (2nd from the top)

from  the last line   = 1 minute 55 seconds... nice !!!

From Boxx, that probably came in at about $8k

I'm guessing about $5.5K from Xi

Nice machine, where did you buy it??

1 hour ago, Fred @ Slate Industries said:

Five updates has to be a company record.

Mastercam is owned by Sandvik now.

They must be hard taskmasters

23 hours ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

Also, the .config file

Either way, I'm still betting on an nvidia driver issue.

It could be.

10 or 12 years ago I came to work one morning and the entire programming department was down.

Mastercam could not get past the startup screen. After a lot of trial and error I figured it out.

A Windows update had installed the Windows version of Nvidia Quadro drivers and Mastercam was failing to launch.

I uninstalled those drivers and reinstalled genuine Nvidia drivers and we were back in business.

It's been 15 years since X4 came out.

If this was a modern release, I'd delete the workspace file, but I don't think X4 has one.

It ran on Win XP Win 7 and Win 8

I assume you are running Win10??

I think I'd try right clicking the desktop X4 shortcut , select Properties and play with the Compatibility settings

We've got 57 machines between 3 building.

Its a mix of 2X lathes, VMC.s VTL's, 3 +2 HBM's, two 5X lathes, two 5X gantries and 2 big Okuma 5X HMC's

Some of it's pretty new, and some of the big VTL, were built in the 70's and are on their 3rd retrofit.

any chance you have the Mastercam backup utility turned on??

that has saved me from catastrophe more than once. 

4 hours ago, Greg Williams said:

I have a rather fussy FANUC mill that seems to like cutting full circle.

There are parameters in the control that set the allowable tolerance for arc endpoints, though it can be a difficult problem to solve.

We had a VTL we bought about 15 years ago that liked to do loops when it got an arc numbers it didn't like.

Opening up the arc endpoint tolerance in the control solved the problem.

Another solution is to take what #Rekd suggested a bit further.

Set your min arc length and radius to something big like .015" / 020.

That way tiny arcs will be linearized and hopefully eliminate this issue.,

Have you tried updating the video drivers

5 hours ago, ikertx0 said:

It is a PC that I have in a workshop, a little old. But I don't understand why it doesn't simulate.

define a" a little old"

what video card does it have?

If it's an onboard Intel video card, you are wasting your time

39 minutes ago, Aaron Eberhard said:

The only other differences I know of is a BT needs a longer pull stud than a CAT

I believe BT pull studs/holders have metric threads, while CAT holders have ISO threads.

That may not be a universal rule, but I've found it to be the case with the BT holders we have here. 

Is this one file or all files

Big Daishowa  builds world class tool holders.

Once you figure it out this interactive cataloge is very easy use and find holders with.

You'll need to sign up for an account to download tool holder models

Haimer makes really nice tool holders as well, but they are gold plated and sprinkled in diamond dust.

15 hours ago, paulfell said:

I really don’t want different users -

This really is the best way to do it.

It's almost like having two separate machines.

My main concern is efficient roughing.

All the vanes's I've built to date have been made of A36 mild steel or 4140.

Take a button cutter @ 120ipm , add a hyperMill shape offset roughing toolpath and call it a day.

I make then in sizes from Ø36" x 2" tall to Ø6ft x 14" tall.

These new ones  are made of 15-5 and they are talking about Inconel as well. 

It looks like most of them are about Ø20" 

Some parts are actual blisks and others are two piece, open impellers with a second piece

brazed on top of the vanes to make an enclosed impeller.

We've already got a quote for Blade Expert and Port Expert, though from what I've seen so far,

Port Expert may not be required

If you sent up a seperate Windows account for each user, their Mastercam settings will be stored in their individual My Documents folder

and each users settings will be retained 

I'm looking for opinions on blade expert

I've been building open vanes on our big Okumas for years, roughing with hyperMill, finishing with  Mastercam's

ModuleWorks 5X toolpaths. The flowlines of these vane walls are always straight so I'm able to finish them 

with endmills.

We're quoting actual blisks now., hogouts made from Ø20"  15-5 forgings. 

They look like quite a challenge,, and I'm thinking we might need to add a seat of Blade Expert to the warchest.

Thought and advice from the Blade Expert guys are welcome.

If I had to do this I'd make a new work offset, and drill and ream for a tooling ball in the center of the port at B90

Then I'd install the tooling ball, index to the proper angle and use the tooling ball to set a 3rd work offset

You could also have your operator set the part up and tell you where the part is in relation to the B axis COR

then program it that way in Mastercam

My Sandvik rep stopped by yesterday and I asked him about this 

He said they can be repaired.