I'm not sure i understand. What will it cut if the min. and max. cutting depths are both set to .005 on the steep/shallow box? It's possible that you're lead-in/lead-outs are where you may be getting all the feed moves from.

If it's a flat surface and a Haas, it's easy money. If I can do it, anyone can. If none of the above apply, I can't help you. Sorry. If you are a flat surface and a Haas, I'll give ya hand. Let me know......

Glad it worked out for ya! Surfacing can really be a nightmare, sometimes.

If you rotated the WCS, than i would assume that something in the post is *forcing the output of the "A" all the time. That would be the something to check. It's very hard to tell what could be going on. A lot of things could be set in the MD,CD or post. Maybe it does not recognize the "Top WCS" as the default "A zero" of the machine. Can you contact the person who set up the machine definition and / or post?

pindex #Index output if index, pbld, n$, sgabsinc, pwcs, e$ if index & rot_on_x, [ if (fmtrnd(prv_indx_out) <> fmtrnd(indx_out)) | (fmtrnd(prv_cabs) <> fmtrnd(cabs)), [ if lock_codes = 1 & rotretflg = 0, pbld, n$, *sunlock, sunlockcomm, e$ pbld, n$, [if use_rotmcode, *sindx_mc], *indx_out, e$ if lock_codes = 1 & cuttype = 0 & rotretflg = 0, pbld, n$, *slock, slockcomm, e$ !cabs, !cinc ] ] I'm only guessing, I'm no post expert. Hopefully, someone who knows for sure, will chime in. What i posted above is from the MPMaster that i have for my Haas with a 4th axis mounted to. It looks like the post looks for a rotation in the program. Mine will not output "A" moves unless the rotation is there. Example: Rotate T-plane 90 degrees around "X". My machine and post are set up to look for rotation around "X". When it sees that, I get an "A" move on the first line with the offset call (G54). If i rotate the WCS 90 degrees around "X", the "A" will not come out. The t-plane rotation will tell the machine i want it to rotate the part to the spindle. The WCS rotation will tell the machine I am rotating the part by hand to the spindle. Is the first line you posted the first line in the program? I am seeing no offset (G54) called out there. Have you rotated your T-plane when, perhaps, you meant to rotate your WCS? Again, no expert, just trying to help.

Is this a 4-axis machine and you don't want the "A" to output on 3-axis machining or a 3-axis machine and you want the "A" permanently gone? What post, controller? I use mpmaster for a 4-axis Haas TM-2 and a 3-axis Haas TM-1. I could try to help if you can give me a little more info.

How 'bout and air spindle mounted in the machine?

My suggestion is to ask for a job# to use so you can track the time you're wasting scanning in and out of jobs! Here's the process of the production department here. -scan in under a job# -fill out a time sheet that records the same information -fill out a sheet every day for the quantity of parts you made on that job# -enter that same information into a computer on the shop floor Best part: if you run the same exact part on the same machine all day long for 4 different work orders, guess what? Yes, you have to do everything stated above 4 times a day! And, at the end of the day, the supervisor still has the balls to ask the guys, "Hey, how many parts did you run this week?" Don't you just love management?

Just like Colin said. I'm doing a part right now that requires multiple paths. Picture the inside of a bowl with some cone-shaped bosses on one end. I finished the bosses with a scallop using geometry i created to contain it to finish just the cones and the material around them. Then used a water-line to get the walls of the bowl and set the steep-shallow to just finish the surface before the step-over starts getting too large on the bottom, nearly horizontal part of the bowl. Then, i used spiral to finish the rest of the bottom. I set the steep/shallow to start .010 above where the water-line left off and finish milling down the surface till it catches the very bottom of the part. One toolpath is awesome to finish with, but I'm usually not lucky enough to be able to do it that way. These are the times when the boss keeps looking over your shoulder and saying, "What's taking so long?" Hope this gives you some ideas!

Thanks much for the info. quote: I know you guys are clowning but the Haas I use daily still feeds the family. Yeah, everybody knocks 'em.... That's mostly all we run here. They are fantastic machines for most applications. I have no complaints, as far as dependability and service. They do what you need and are priced very reasonably. My thing is speed and finish, right now. I'm not making molds, but I machine parts from billet that eventually become plastic-molded parts or aluminum die castings for production. I need a machine that will fly through huge programs and give me awesome surface finish. The Haas's get me by, but not fast enough. I spent months on a test piece. I designed it in Solidworks and machined it on my little TM-2. It came out ok finish at 13 hours. I had samples of the same part cut by Makino, Doosan, Mori, Toyoda, Hurco.... The Makino was, by far, the best surface finish and did it in 3 hours!

Yeah, i know..... Looks like my company is ready to take the training wheels off, now, maybe..... I like to cover my bases, but I usually do a ton of work to not have anything happen. Maybe this time will be different.

I believe it will be the Pro 5 control with SGI.4.... I just talked to the rep and he said a new model is coming out to replace the S56. I think it's an F5 model. Heard anything about it? What's the Dxx output and G05 p1000? Does that have something to do with High Speed Look-ahead? Sorry for my lack of knowledge, I'm used to Haas's.... Thanks for the info.

I might be lucky enough to get a new Makino S56 V11 for machining some very complex 3d surfaced parts in our R&D department. No, I'm not asking for a post. Settle down everyone. I am just requesting some advice on a post choice. Will the MPMaster work or do I need to purchase a different one. I would like to get this part figured out before we make a move on the machine. Thanks Guys!!!!!

also, gcode, if i set the intersection of the taper and a flat bottom, I still get the same diameter of tool Maybe i'm not understanding you fully...

WTF? I tried the same HST path as yesterday with the same tool, same settings, and now it looks like it's working! I can't find anything different from what i did yesterday.

quote: surface toolpaths will not compensate to an undefined tool. Question, answered. I can't use a "tapered" tool, because it can't be defined accurately for the tool i'm using. I need to use an undefined so the profile will come in, but i cannot get the path to come out right.

This tool is a Harvey clearance cutter. It's a .078 diameter ballnose, .118 loc, then a reduced neck diameter to .195, then the 2 degree taper starts. It's not a standard tapered cutter. Does HST not support cutter compensation to the ball on custom tools?

It is an undefined tool, but it shows up correctly in backplot. It just doesn't seem to calculate the toolpath correctly. The ball doesn't cut the surfaces. It stays off everything like it's leaving stock.

I've working all morning trying to figure out why my hst toolpaths won't work right and i think i've got it. I created my own tapered ball end mill to use for the part. It's a sphere-shaped cavity with draft and a couple small cone-shaped bosses inside. Never really have issues with surfacing toolpaths, but it's been F'ing me all morning cause i can't figure out why the tool won't follow the surfaces. I changed the tool to the same sized regular ballnose and now it works. WTF? Will Mastercam not comp a tapered ball end mill correctly or am i missing something? Please help..... thanks.

Is the toolpath refinement adjusting the output? I assume so. I can see the difference in backplot with changes to the number of arcs vs. linear moves. Question is, what setting did it use? I can backplot the toolpath. But when i go back in to check the settings, they are different than the ones that showed on the screen before i hit the green check and regenned the op.

Thanks for all the replies/advice guys. This definitely gives me some information to pass along and try out!

I've had the exact same thing happen to me. What irritates me is the multiple ways you can change settings. The settings, such as offsets, that can be set in the post, the Machine Definition, the Control Definintion, the planes manager, and the parameters for each operation DO NOT override one another as Mastercam says that they should! This definitely provides frustration while I am programming things. You set them a certain way and they DO NOT work. I end up playing with the same settings in various dialoque boxes to get them to come out right from the post. I completely understand where you are coming from. The settings should override like Mastercam says they should or get rid of the options! Just pick one place and have it work! Either the post OR the MD OR the CD OR the op's parameters!

The easy fix is keeping the jaws separated with the part number engraved in them so you can snap them back in any time you have to run that job. But, hey, i have the same problem here, because the managers don't think having soft jaws on stock is a good idea. It's pretty funny when you can look at a pair of jaws that have been milled for so many different parts that you can't even figure out how they hold parts anymore!

I was hoping the Aladdin Monitor would do something for me, but I can't find a way to do it. I don't have access to the server. By the time the IT guys get here in the morning, the night shift guy is logged off and I can use the licenses i need. But that still leaves me a couple hours of locked toolpaths.......

The troublesome thing is that his Mastercam session is running on his computer, which is locked, and his computer is in his office, which is locked.....