Thanks wildcat! I appreciate the help! -Mike-

Does Kennametal have the "tool tightening fixture" on the website somewhere? I looked around for it on their site, but didn't have anyluck finding it. Anyone know of any other manufacturers of this type of product? -Mike-

We use VeriCut with the MC c-hook as well. We also use the OptiPath add-on. Optipath has saved us huge amounts of machining time by optimizing the feedrate based on the volume removal rate of the cutter. In other words, if the tool is buried in the material the cutter slows down, if the cutter is taking light cuts, the cutter speeds up. All this while, at the same time, verifying the g-code. Well worth looking into, especially if you have only a few machining centers. -Mike-

Thanks BRADST! Ill check it out.

I think +/-.004" is the smallest we have to hold on any of our parts.

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of any software packages that would allow us to use our VMC's as CMM's? What we are looking for is a surface deviation from machined part to CAD model. The ability to write the inspection program off-line would be of great benifit for us. I think we would also need some sort of inspection report outputted as well. Is anyone using, or know of, any software that would allow us accomplish this?

Has anyone ever had any major problems tramming the head of this machine. We have had this machine for almost a year, and have had success tramming the head a couple of times. This time though, no matter what we do, we cannot the machine to tram within spec. The flatness front-back and left-right of axis 4 is good. The home position of axis 4 and axis 5 is good. For some reason we keep getting stuck on the parallel rotation test. I was just wondering if anyone could give us some tips and or tricks on how to proceed with the tramming process. Also, has anyone come up with a different tramming procedure for this machine? Everytime we loosen the axis 5 mounting bolts to make an adjustment, we need to go back and re-check all the other measurments to make sure they are still within spec. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

I believe I have an even simpler way to accomplish this. On the 3rd page of the toolbar, there is a toolbutton called Change Attributes. 1. Scroll to the 3rd page of the toolbar. 2. Hit Screen---Blank---Unblank 3. Select the Change Attributes toolbutton. 4. Turn on the Level check box, and type in or select the target level. 5. Hit All---Entities--Done and a couple of hits of the Escape button. And thats it! Using this method, I am able to move the blanked entities to a different level without actually having to unblank the entities. I have found that I use the Change Attributes button alot. So I went into Screen---Config and moved that toolbutton to the 1st page of the toolbar. Hope this helps!!

John, I just sent a copy of the post as well as the MC file I am using to my local reseller. I can send you a copy of that email if that is ok with you. James, The C-axis on this machine is 0-360 degrees. I have the post prompt the programmer for a "Safe Z Height" for axis unwinds. The post automatically puts this at the beginning and the end of every operation. I have been trying to figure out a way for the tool to pick up to the "Safe Z" in the middle of an operation if an unwind is neccessary. I have yet to figure that one out. Any other thoughts/ideas??? I can also send you a copy of the email i sent to the reseller if you would like.

Morning everyone!! This morning I have been encountering a problem using the post for our Thermwood Model 67 . When I try to post out my operation, I get the following error message. "ERROR-THE CALCULATED BREAK IS OUTSIDE THE MOVES". I have backplotted and looked over the toolpath and everything looks just fine. I looks like the post posted everthing out, but there are some strange moves inside the g-code. The C and B axes want to spin and flip over when the head is no where near its axis limits. This happens many many times through out the entire program. The head is going to be right next to the part when this happens and will certainly cause a crash. Here is a small sample of the g-code. X8.2622 Y-10.5486 Z8.503 C136.217 F30. X8.2033 Y-10.611 Z8.5028 C136.018 F30. X8.1442 Y-10.6732 Z8.5026 C135.818 B-80.63 F30. X8.085 Y-10.7354 Z8.5024 C135.618 F30. X8.0258 Y-10.7975 Z8.5021 C135.419 B-80.631 F30. X7.9664 Y-10.8594 Z8.5019 C135.219 F30. X7.9069 Y-10.9212 Z8.5016 C135.02 B-80.632 F30. X7.8474 Y-10.983 Z8.5012 C314.82 B80.633 F30. (C AXIS SPINS AROUND AND B AXIS FLIPS OVER ) X7.7877 Y-11.0446 Z8.5009 C314.621 B80.634 F30. X7.7279 Y-11.1061 Z8.5005 C314.421 B80.635 F30. X7.6681 Y-11.1675 Z8.5001 C314.222 B80.636 F30. X7.6081 Y-11.2288 Z8.4997 C314.022 B80.638 F30. X7.5481 Y-11.2899 Z8.4992 C313.823 B80.639 F30. Anyone have any ideas on how to prevent this from happening?? If needed I could send someone a copy of the post im using as well as the MC file I am working out of.

I also just started having the same problem. The levels dialog box does not come up anymore. I am also having a problem with all of the dialog boxes in the File menu. Example: File, Get...no dialog box shows up. All of the other dialog boxes seem to working just fine. I have already tryed to un-install and then re-install Mastercam, but that didn't help. I am guessing that this is a Windows problem. Anyone have any ideas on how I can get this corrected?? -Mike-

Has anyone had any luck deleting sections of tool path, using tool path editor? I have uploaded a file to ftp site named 6491greg.mc9. What we are looking to do is delete tool path in areas that there are no circles. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks for your suggestions Millman! I will give them a try and let you know how things turn out. Anyone else have any suggestions on this subject?

Millman, I understand what you are saying about using the M82L# to call up a label that starts with M80L#. With the way you suggested, would I be able to use the same label to drill the same hole pattern on 5 sides of a cube for example? I would think that I would need seperate labels (one for each side of the cube)to drill the hole pattern on 5 sides of the cube. Wouldn't the XY positioning of the label be different for the top plane of the cube, as opposed to the right plane, which would be YZ position moves? Each one of my hole patterns is going to have a different "B" and "C" axis rotation. If I have to create a T/C plane at each one of the pattern locations thats fine. Its going to take quite some time to do, but it will get the job done. If possible, I would like to find some way so that I dont have to do that.

It is kind of hard to explain in writing what I am trying to accomplish, but I will try to do my best to explain it. The molds we build are not like plastic injection molds where a cavity is cut into a moldbase. Our molds are a "shelled" core/cavity type of mold. Our parts are made up of complex "sweeps" and very rarely have any planar surfaces. Anyway..... What I am trying to do is, to core vent the majority of our cavities using our new 5-axis router. Each cavity can have anywhere between 75-300 core vents that need to be drilled into each cavity. A core vent is virtually a 3/8" diameter hole drilled from the backside of the cavity to within .050" of breaking thru the inside of the cavity. At the bottom of this "back-drilled" hole are a series of (19) 3/32" diameter holes spaced out in a circular array. These 3/32" diameter holes get drilled thru the .050" thick floor of the core vent and into the inside of the cavity. Each one of these core vents has to be perpendicular to the inside surface of the cavity. Which means that every core vent has its own "B" axis and "C" axis rotation values. I have no trouble getting the 3/8" diameter "back-drilled" holes into the part. The trouble lies in getting all the 3/32" diameter holes put in in a timely matter. Machining time isnt the factor here, its the layout and programming of all the 3/32" holes. I would like to layout 200 points, for example, on the inside of the cavity, use those for my drill points when drilling the 3/8" holes, then use sometype of sub-routine to drill the 3/32" holes. But, Mastercam doesnt currently support sub-routines in 5-axis drilling. When speaking with my MC reseller, he mentioned that some 5-axis machines have the ability to let the program position and rotate the head in the correct orientation, and then set a fixture offset so that the "Z" axis is basically running up the shank of the tool. Lucky for us, we are drilling the 3/32" holes in a circular array, so the direction of the "X" and "Y" axis would really matter, just the "Z" axis. From there we could call up a incrementally programmed sub-routine to drill the 3/32" holes. Once completed, change the offset back to its original state. position to the next hole, and continue the cycle on around the rest of the part. I realize this relpy has become a bit long winded, but like I said, its kind of hard to explain in writing. Hopefully I have been detailed enough so that everyone gets an understanding of what im trying to do!!