I'm a Mastercam AE as well, and a good share of systems I see in use are just barely capable of letting the software reach its full potential. They’d love to get a hotrod of a system, but are a little intimidated and unsure when it comes to selecting options, and most customers don't care to piece together a custom system themselves (just don't have the time, interest, etc...). They want name-brand proven products with reliable support, and pre-loaded with the most up to date Windows Genuine software. Most importantly, they want great value for their dollars. Some of these outdated systems I see being used with Mastercam X4 are like watching a Volkswagen try to pull a freight train. It's just flat out painful to watch. I don't know how some of these guys stay sane dealing with this! This software is only getting better with time, but is demanding more of the hardware as well. With Team Mastercam at Solidbox, you get proven Dell systems that are configured for pulling that "freight train" of power that is Mastercam. No guesswork, just proven complete systems and discounted at the same time.

I've been told that when machining quartz, shops use wax to hold the workpiece. It's just a matter of melting it on and back off. Has anyone out there done this? I've got a large casting (not quartz) that I'll be machining soon, in a decent sized volume. I cannot use clamping on the part, it has to stay in a relaxed state. I'd like to try using this wax approach for holding the part. Can someone enlighten me some on this, as to what kind of wax is used? Thanks,

Is there a way to simplify STL files created in Verify? I have been programming several parts lately that are large in size, and have alot of 3D surfacing work. I verify my work as I go along and save the stock as an STL as I go. Problem is, the file is getting really big due to the amount of surface toolpaths. Is there a way to simplify these STL files, a way to blend all the scallops into simpler surfaces? I've already tried the user application, "STLHeal.dll".

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If so, how can I create an axis in the hole? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'm not sure if this is the formal way to do it, but I used "Create Surface from Solid", and created surfaces out of the cylinder of each hole. I then un-trimmed these cylindrical surfaces, and created edge curves at the top and bottom, ie. arcs. I then created lines from center to center of these arcs.

I've got it programmed with Drill 5ax, and it will work fine. I like that alot better than creating individual t-planes, operations, etc. Thanks for the help,

BTW, I'm using X3 now.

I've got a 5 axis part with some holes to drill which are all normal to the surface at different points, so I'll need Tplanes for all of these. Is there a way to create a plane by selecting the axis of a hole? If so, how can I create an axis in the hole?

I'm programming a part in lathe right now which has an off-center hole feature. I will run all OD and corresponding concentric work first, then will load part onto a fixture which will hold it off center, to allow machining of the off-center hole feature. In mill, I program everything using WCS, working on a solid model of the part. How do you setup different WCS planes in lathe? Until now, I've used stock-flip to do this. The only other way I can think of is to copy the machined entities to a different level and use xform to orient them correctly to the system origin in mcam.

In reference to above, I'm running a round part in the A-axis of the machine, which gets engraving all around the OD on a 120 degree conical face. I am using the advanced multi-axis add-on, in 4 axis mode with the 5th axis locked at 20 degrees. Thanks,

Can someone tell me what the G or M codes are that correctly call the tool length offset in the program when working with a B-axis tilt-spindle? My program is posting out fine, but I need to add the G or M codes which will tell the machine to compensate for the tool length in Z and X. I'm running a DMG DMF 360 with the Siemens Sinumerik 840D.

I put in a call to the 5ax post tech at our reseller. I'll wait for him to deal with it.

Is there a way to open a PSB file? I need to check some setting for my post when running mult-axis path, and I need to get into this file.

Yeah, that's what I take it as too. I'll do that. Thanks,

I have created a tool library for our machine for the first 29 tools, which will be a dedicated set for the machine. Any other tools I add (drills, taps, etc) will be loaded starting at T30 and so on. How do I set up my machine definition so that any tools I add over & above the dedicated set start numbering at 30? The only thing I can think of is if I load the dedicated library in my mcx file before I add any more tools, so that it will start numbering at 30 and so on. Is there a better way to go about this? Thanks,

I'm working on a mill program right now that is giving me issues with the Tool Manager. I programmed the part complete with all operations under a single machine group. This program ended up using 30 tools across 3 operations. Rather than have one single list of 30 tools, I decided to create a new machine group and move ops 2 & 3 to it, so that I could split up the tool list. This should've updated the Tool Manager, but it didn't. When I go to the dropdown for machine group in Tool Manager, it shows both machine groups, but all the tools are displayed only on the first group. The other issue this causes is that if I want to create a new toolpath in ops 2 or 3, my tool list does not show any of the tools that I have defined for this machine group. The existing operations themselves still show as using the correct tools. Has anyone dealt with this?

I actually already did that, and I got a reply back saying they thought it was a great idea. I guess we'll know, in time, if it was a good one...

I've got a project coming up where I need 5axis positioning to run a part. I am going to use our 4axis horizontal, with a manual rotary table mounted to the pallet which will act as my C axis. The trouble is, if I try posting my program with these compound indexes, it will not take into account the center of rotation of the C axis. The post is only setup for 4axis. This is why I want to modify the generic fanuc 5axis post, by saving a copy of it for modifying to this requirement. I will suppress out the C moves by taking them out of the post. Can anyone guide me as to how to setup the switches to recognize that this is a horizontal machine, and for how to setup the center of rotation of the C axis, relative to the center of rotation of the B axis? I know this is a tall order. I'd appreciate any guidance. Thanks,

yes, I've looked at that in my post and in the control def. It will output the long code, for every drill cycle. I would like to have a specific hole cycle for the deep drilling, whether that is long code, or macro. I would prefer the macro to ease editing at the control. I'll keep exploring on this... Thanks,

I haven't had any experience working with macros on the machines here yet, but that sounds like a great idea. I still do want to explore the options of outputting long code

I run across several parts here where i work which require deep drilling. I want to make a custom peck drilling cycle for use on long drills, which follows up after pre-drilling with a stub drill. I want this cycle to rapid into the hole up unto the point at which the drill will start cutting. At this point, the drill will run at the programmed feed rate and will peck (full-retract). I want this cycle to be long-code, since our machines do not have a can-cycle for this kind of thing. It looks that if I were able to modify the control definition to output misc #2 drill as a peck drilling, then I would be able to get what I want. The trouble is, if I change the control definition to output misc #2 in long-code, it posts out the code to simply plunge the drill without peck. Can anyone guide me down the right path? Thanks,

Nevermind, forgot to turn cutter comp in control off.

I am trying to use highfeed to optimize some roughing toolpaths on a program that is on our horizontal. I am working 3 sides of the part, and am trying to optimize roughing that is on the front. I've got a shellmill profiling the outside of the stock and a 1" cutter milling a 1.25 wide slot in the middle. I've already got the ends drilled out. When I go to run highfeed, it tells me that I've reduced cycle by 0%. It appears that I have all my settings correct, but I must have something set wrong. I've got my planes set for these 2 operations as top,front,front. Anyone got any suggestions? Thanks,

That's cool. I figured that if it wasn't an obvious parameter, it must not be an available feature. Maybe in the future!

I've just started experimenting with using High Feed. I've got the perfect job for it now, so I've got a good reason to finally get into this. I have figured how to setup the parameters, from material setup on through the tool feed parameters. I've got a part that is profiled on the table which is now standing vertically in a vise. I am surfacing an irregular blade edge onto one side of the part, using a 5/8 iscar multi-master ballnose tool. I have an STL of the part before this op, using it to drive the high feed parameters. It will post the variations in feed just fine. My question is this: Is it possible to make the spindle speed vary throughout the cut as well, depending on what edge of the ball profile of the tool that is in the cut?

Thanks, saved it to my desktop for now