"...Kinnematics for "ASSEMBLY" purposes is what I'm talking about, NOT for machine simulation. Completely different animals. We need machine simulation." Got it. That does bring up the issue that for simulation to work efficiently your going to need some sort of assembly structure. I used machine simulation in another cadcam system and loved it. I now use it only in Vericut. While very nice as well, I'd prefer to see it on the cam side. -- Bill

"I would HOPE people don't want kinnematics(sp?) and the like in their CAM software. That would totally detract from the core mission of the software - program macines to cut parts." I couldn't disagree more. We cut some very large parts in very tight work envelopes. The goal is to make a program that will work within that machines limitations. C axis gantrys and big fixtures on horizontals come to mind... But, as I said before, the core MC user is busting out many programs a day/week. And don't have those issues. -- Bill

...Bump. Guess I need to submit this. -- Bill

...Bump. 1. Select Arc Center of a few solid holes (same plane) 2. Drillpoint Manager / Change At Point 3. Jump Height (set a value) 4. Regenerate, still no jump... Anyone? -- Bill

I'm using At-Point/Jump and not having it "jump" if solid holes are selected? So, I replaced the solid holes with points to drill to... then the Jump feature works. Anyone? -- Bill MCX MR2

It is called MasterCAM so I would assume the largest audience is mainly cam centered and based on the generalized questions of the survey, that will be confirmed. It is my opinion that “most” users of MCX must bust out programs very quickly - perhaps several a day. That’s the market it leads... But, a SIMPLE assembly based modeler with a REAL drafting package i.e.separate window that “views in” the models would be a real plus even for those users. We tend to leave out much of the detail of a fixture or the machine envelope for file size and program time considerations. My previous cadcam system made very small part files compared to MCX. That was the benefit of assemblies. Also, every time we add holes to the existing subplates on the machines we play this long and convoluted game called “Where are the new holes you added?”. A “live” updated assemble component of the plate cures that (most times). Bottom line: MasterCam as a CAM package is what keeps it strong. If you start to go cadcam there are other options out there that own that market. -- Bill

TG, Still on MR2. I'm aerospace old-school, so I wait a rev to upgrade. -- Bill

gcode, I turned on the incremental backup. Saves at copy to my local drive. It takes about 30 seconds to save each time... but worth it. Sure wish I knew what caused the toolpath deletion... -- Bill

I never use Autosave. I was backing up copies to my local drive but we wanted to go to a vault type setup (poor man's PDM). We had some users keeping copies all over the place so we said lets keep them all in one place since we are a $700 million dollar company with a million dollar network to do incremental backups every night. I came from a Unix world where these things were not an issue. Bottom line: it appears neither the glitch in MCX nor the glitch in the automated system backups are a valid excuse for my not having a program tommorrow. I was hoping to find an answer to the dissappearing toolpaths as that is an issue for me. -- Bill

MCX mr2... This has been sent to QC at MC. Don't know how or why but, at some point every single toolpath disappeared from the Operation Manager in my project. The toolpath groups they were in are still there but now empty. This has happened in the past but I would exit then reopen without saving and they'd all be there. Well, this time I had the OM turned off while I was doing some drafting. I saved - then Alt-O. No operations! All 90+ ops are gone. Only the empty groups are there. I call my Sys Admin, it appears a trojan was working our network and killed off the nightly backups of our user group. The last backup was over a week ago with only 2 operations complete! Tommorrow will be tough. They will want to know why, and I won't have an answer - only a poor excuse. Anyone else had the dissapearing toolpaths issue? -- Bill

DC Gorn and John, Thanks for confirming. -- Bill

Bill, I do what James described but with Vericut (highly recommend). The difference is you have AutoDiff then Xcaliper to accurately measure the excess or missing material (holes, surfaces, slots...) -- Bill

John, I was afraid I'd hear that it works for others. We seem to think it has something to do with the imported SW 2003 files. Either way, I default to just creating points or extracted curves for now. Thanks -- Bill

Interesing anomally (I did submit)... 1. Copy and paste a drilling operation using solid holes (not points or curves). 2. Reselect new solid holes from scratch for the new operation. 3. Regenerate all. Now open each Result: the origional op replaces some of the origional holes with the new holes selected from in the next operation. This is not consistant but was verified by my reseller. Also it grabs holes from another planes as well if the operation was a diffenent plane. Very wierd. The workaround is to not copy paste drilling if your going to reselect the geometry. Or create points or arcs for the holes instead of solids. It has something to do with the solids. That said, it was explained to me that it is reduntant to copy paste a drilling op. If your going to change the holes anyways. I copy paste because I have some magic "Misc Values" and plane settings that I prefer to copy as opposed to re-entering. Anyone else seen this? -- Bill MCX MR2

Ok. Thanks. -- Bill

Is there a setting to remove the redundant leadin-out or extend moves that are tangent to the cut? Example the curve is 10", I add 2" by either extend or leadin to drive the tool. I don't use a different feed rate. The code is something like: ... X2 F20. X-10. X-12. -- Bill

Just got the fx1500... It rocks. -- Bill

MLS, I created the geometry as a profile to drive the tool using Comp/Computer. Works ok. I just had to offset the lines to respect the increased stepover. No biggie. Thanks! -- Bill

Thad, It's not a bug. There is no "switch" in Multi-passes for depth or contour like Depthcuts. As part of my job, I do document these types of things. I wait though to make sure there is not a method that is already there that I'm just overlooking. Btw, the immediate weakness of my fix became appearent when I just had to replace the 4" facemill with a 5"... -- Bill

Ok so MLS had the best answer for my problem... Btw, Lee you have mail (Jay's ftp didn't connect), but I think this is the best fix. I created the additional step over geometry lines then selected them in the proper cutting order. I Then applied depth cuts which stepped down after completing the initial stepovers. You all have to understand (coming from another system) I'm not used to creating a lot of extra geometry for nc toolpath unless it's complex surfacing... That said, the workaround - works. -- Bill

John, all, Imagine a machining a section of railroad track. I'm driving the tool along X- , rapid across Y drive back along X+. I need to step down and step over on each rail because the rails are wide and because of extra stock. I don't want to rapid all the way back to the start of each rail, I prefer to "racetrack" the path if you get my drift. Pretty simple stuff really. I can't imagine not being able to go this in one operation... does this make sense now? -- Bill

Thad & Lee, I've been creating a pseudo line between the paths to make it work in the past. The problem there is then the tool has to extend past the part far enough for the tool not to rapid across the side of the part (depending on the ammount of stepover). For this example, it means the tool must feed past the part 8" min before it can rapid across (not real efficient). The part is 22' long so I'm always looking for a shorter path... The other option of creating yet more operations (or transforms) is REALLY not my first choice as most programs seem to be 100+ operations. I need to step down 3 levels to finish. But, for the sake of efficient code, it appears to be best option for now. Thanks guys. -- Bill

Ok, another simple thing I'm sure... I'm contour milling 2 long parallel paths - up one side, down the other. If I select Depth Cuts/ By Depth, the tool alternates back and forth between each path efficiently. But, when I add Multi-passes to the mix, it defaults to wanting to rapid all the way back to the start to complete that paths stepover first before moving to the next contour. What's the trick to combine both and be efficient? Thanks, -- Bill

Mike, "Highfeed will do exactly what you want and it's been in our software since V7. Define your machine dynamics in the general machining parameters..." OK. Thanks. -- Bill

"mike, high feed does work, but can be very cumbersome to implement and it has one huge drawback. It will not properly post toolpaths that are using cutter comp. (if this has been fixed for X2... my apoligies) This makes it nearly useless for my needs In my view every contour and pocket operation need the ability to control cornering feedrates. Another very high tech option would be the ability to define feedrate as feed per tooth at the periphery of the cutter. This is essential to getting good insert life with modern insert mill technology and Mastercam needs to be able to do it." Gcode, you hit the nail on the head. I just wanted a simple setting. I don't need an all encompassing feature to deal with. That said, we can say the issue is resolved and move on to bigger fish to fry. +100 on the feed per tooth! Some systems have boxs for SFM and FTP right next to Speed and feed. -- Bill