Hi Mill Man, We had the same problem when we sent programs DNC to our Okuma milling center. We started using the file editor CNCEDIT to edit programs and to communicate to the mills. We dont have to give the three finger salute(ctrl,alt,del) anymore when the program finishes. Set up your parameters in this program for communications just like you have them now in File-Communicate. To find this program go to File-Edit-Editor-Cncedit. Good luck.

Thanks Cadcam, I was afraid that I had over stepped the boundary on this forum when I asked about machining materials instead of Mastercam questions only. I had good success with cutting it using coolant and a three fluted cutter. Thanks again. On another question, we have two Okuma milling centers. One has DNC capability and the other one doesn't. The one that has DNC is temporarily down but the part that I am cutting still has to be cut. I am having to send the program to our second mill in pieces because this machine doesn't have enough memory. Does any one know of a way other than DNC for this machine to read from the computer. It has a floppy drive ( the size is something other than a 3.5 inch) and it has a tape reader on it( but I have no knowledge about paper tapes). I am using the CNCEDIT in Mastercam to communicate to the mill. Any help would be appreciated, thank you. David ------------------ david

I was hoping that someone could give me a starting point for feeds and speeds on 3d contouring urethane. I was given a piece of urethane(not sure of the durometer but it is pretty solid) to cut for a punch stripper that measures 7 x 8 x 7. Should I use coolant or not? Our machine has a top rpm of 5000 and a top feed of 300 ipm. Thanks in advance. ------------------ david

Thanks to all that helped me out with discovering CNC-EDIT to transfer files to our nc machines. We have two computers side by side to program our nc machines. Each of them have just about maxed out their hard drives in space. I am going to transfer the more important files to a server that we have access to and delete the remainder. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. My question is what files with what file extensions(mc7, nci, nc,...) should I save so when I pull up a file in two months it will have all the data it needs to bring up all toolpaths and nc programs with it? Thanks in advance

Following up with the DNC communication. I found the CNCEDIT and sent some programs to my wire machine. Do you have to set any of the "parameters for transmission" or "handshake" or "start & stop criteria" or any of the other settings in order to send a program DNC to our Okuma milling center? Where can I find instructions on setup for these settings? Thank you all for suggesting CNCEDIT, I think this will be great after I get it set up. [This message has been edited by david (edited 10-25-2000).]

I am not sure what method we are using? Hope this is helpful to you. We go to file-next menu-communication then a screen comes up with baud rate and other settings then we click on send and then the window comes up to select the file to send. Is there a better way? It would be nice to run dnc and still be able to use the same computer on another project, how do you do that? When we send a program to the Okuma the regular way(not dnc) it releases the computer just fine but sending a file dnc it locks up every time. I appreciate very much your input.

Thanks to all for giving me much needed help with my questions. Another problem we have with our system is when we run a program dnc to one of our Okuma milling centers the computer locks up at the end of the program. To exit out we have to do the three finger salute(CTRL,ALT, and DEL)to end the task. Is there a setting on the communications screen that needs changed? Thank you in advance.

A question I have is using job setup in Version 7.2c. After selecting the material being machined and pulling tools out of the library and calculating the tool speed and feed from the type of material, are these feeds and speeds a good starting point or are they numbers that will run the mill correctly? Any input will be appreciated. Thank you.

Thank you dogfartz. I did what you said and what a difference it makes to get info from someone that knows how it works. Thank you much. How would you, for example split a 1/2 gallon paper milk carton with a surface created through the middle of it, so that when you transform,transalate the two halves you would be able to see the inside of each when they are placed side by side?

I am new to this. I am trying to create a surface on a 2" square with a 1/4 chamfer on one corner, where do you go from create-surface ? Also I have a flat surface that has a 2x3 by 1 inch tall surface prependicular from it that needs to be trimmed out of it so that when I view this drawing in the shaded form I will be able to see the 2x3 hole in it. What commands needs to be used to get the right results? Also can a surface be created on a chain that consists of lines,arcs and angles that is irregular in shape and is approx. 2.5 by 5 inches? Any help will be appreciated. Thank you in advance. I have a Mastercam version 7 book published by Scholars International Publishing Corp. and we are using version 7.2 level 3 Mastercam. ------------------ david

Hello, I am new to this board. I currently use Mastercam to program two wire machines(hitachi and mitsubishi). I have an opportunity to learn mastercam for our two okuma milling centers to do 3-d machining. My question is when I post a program with our post processor it doesnt list a description of the tool(dia., offset #, etc.) like my mastercam text book has in it. Can anyone tell me what is missing in the processor file? We are currently using version 7.2, mill level 3. I hope this question makes sense, if it needs clarification please let me know. Thank you in advance, David ------------------ david