Thanks, John, I see you posted while I was editing mine. I'm just too slow a typer!

Thanks, John, I see you posted while I was editing mine. I'm just too slow a typer!

Don't know if your post looks like this, but if it does, then this is where I changed my threading feedrate from 'E' to 'F'. I included the whole section to make it easier to find. Sorry 'bout that. # General Output Settings # -------------------------------------------------------------------------- force_wcs : no$ #Force WCS output at every toolchange? #AG- progname$ : 1 #Use uppercase for program name css_start_rpm : yes$ #Do direct RPM spindle start prior to CSS? #AG- css_end_rpm : no$ #Do direct RPM spindle prior to Retract? #AG- prog_stop : 1 #Program stop at toolchange: 0=None, 1=M01, 2 = M00 tool_info : 2 #Output tool information? #0 = Off - Do not output any tool comments or tool table #1 = Tool comments only #2 = Tool table only #3 = Tool comments and tool table use_pitch : 1 #0 = Use feed for tapping (force Feed/Min), 1 = Use pitch for tapping (force Feed/Rev) rigid_tap : 1 #0 = Floating tap output #1 = Rigid tap output (Set parameter 5200 bit 0 to 1 for rigid) #(Set M code for rigid tap in parameter 5210) tap_feed : 1 #0 = 2/1 (in/mm) decimal places, 1 = 4/3 (in/mm) decimal places thread_address : 0 #Thread pitch address for lathe threading, 0 = Use F, 1 = Use E use_clamp : 1 #0 = No, 1 = Clamp use_brake : 1 #0 = No, 1 = Brake lathe_stop : 0 #Stop lathe spindle on lathe tool change? 0 = no, 1 = yes drop_offset : 0 #Drop offset at end of tool? 0 = no, 1 = yes #AG- tseqno : 3 #Output sequence number at toolchanges when omitseq = yes #0=off, 1=seq numbers match toolchange number, 2=seq numbers match tool number 3=seq numbers match offset number #AG- Added 3 This section may be set up for our lathes rather than from the generic post. Couldn't say as I am not the one who created our posts. I only make an occasional change to get the correct output.

Thanks Bryan. Was: thdang = rad2deg$ * thda2$ Changed to: thdang = rad2deg$ * thdangle$ as it is in another post that works. This worked. Almost always get better information here than from our dealer. Great forum, huh. :-) EDIT: You posted while I was typing my other reply. Typical. LOL.

Goldorak, not sure what you are talking about. I am not running a tapered thread if that is what you are thinking. G76 thread canned cycle uses compound infeed, either 0, 29, 30, 55, 60 or 80 degrees, and is defined in the "Thread cut parameters" page where it has the "Lead-in angle" value. The post is not picking up this value.

One of our posts is not putting out the defined compound infeed angle. It outputs 60 as in G76P000160. Reseller wants me to define the angle on the "Thread shape parameters" page for the "Thread included angle". I told them that is the wrong place to make the change. It should be made on the "Thread cut parameters" page where it has the "Lead-in angle" value. I compared the G76 thread definitions between this post and one that works correctly. Didn't notice any difference there. Must be something different further up in the post, but I am not a post guru. The post is not reading the "Lead-in angle" for some reason. Any one have an idea what I need to change? Thanks, Dale

found it

I was hoping to read what solved your problem. Leaving us hanging is not nice!

Thanks. Look forward to the video. I printed out the Post Debugger User's Guide, but been too busy today to look at it.

Thanks Rich. I was afraid someone was going to tell me to print myself out a copy of the instructions, and start reading. I didn't more than get started reading earlier.

WOW. First let me ask what page the new post debugger utility is on in the Whats New In Mastercam X3 booklet? I went thru it twice this morning trying to find something about debugging in it. I also looked at the Help, What's New, but did not see a heading that looked like it would contain any information regarding the debugger function. Enabling the post debugger where Tony and Todd told me to didn't work either. Had to go to All Programs, Mastercam X3, Documentation, Mastercam X3 Post Debuggger User Guide in order to find out that I had to click on that funny little icon on the bottom left corner of the G1 menu. That is when things got real confusing real fast. I am getting the Post Processer on the left page. It has highlighted the pprep$ line. Can't get it past here. Stack history shows pprep$[PST:1478,16]. What does this mean? What is the WATCHES file? I figured the 1478 was the line number, and maybe 16 was the 16th character in that line that was causing the post to stop here. Nope. That line is the blank one before pprep$ line. Always knew I wasn't the brightest bulb on the chandelier, but now I feel lower than a dust mite that couldn't move fast enough when the new rug was put down! I suppose this is Mastercam giving us a more powerful tool? Too bad I can't figure out how to use it. Trying to click back-and-forth between my file output, and the "How To" doesn't help me much either. Think a hard copy in front of me would be a bit easier to follow. Also, once I close the debug file and try to finish running the post, I get a post error, and the file is empty. I can repost without using the debug function, and the output is correct. How is everyone else using the degug function to modify their posts? Am I going to have to take a class in order to accomplish what I was doing years ago?

What kind of comments? You can have the post ask questions, and then have the answers output in the header. All our posts are setup to ask some or all of the following questions: Part Number, Part Name, Material, operation being performed, machine number, revision, cut-off length, workshift value. All but the workshift go in the header. You can also hard code comments that will always be put in the header. Try to be a bit more patient. Lots of really great guys here willing to help. Some go much further than necessary in a effort to provide the correct answers. I know cuz they have for me.

I did discover that I can click on the plus sign to expand the folder options UNTIL I GET TO THE LAST FOLDER. At that time I have to double click on the folder otherwise I don't get a list of the drawings. Tried it a couple times to double check. Guess no one has any ideas as to why I have to open each drill operation to get it to work, and reselect the geometry for the boring bar to work??? Guess it isn't a very good option after all. Easier if I save the operation as a default, and then modify the drill depth if necessary.

No answer for the OP, but have a question for guys like Mr. Moffat who think the Hardinge lathes suck. Why? Personally I don't like the short distance between spindles on the T42 series, but they do make bigger lathes. Rapids aren't that fast. Not much room for live tools or long drills on the 42 series. We have 5 T42s, 1 Conquest 42, 1 Conquest 65 (an excellent lathe), & 3 EMAGs. The Conquest is probably 20 years old and still holds tenths all day long. A sister company took the Conquest 42SP we use to have that is a few months newer than the Conquest 42. Take them over the 4 Daewoo models (8 lathes total) we have anytime. Like them better than the Okuma lathe. Like the new Moris just fine, but would rather run the older Hardinge OT control lathe than the older Mori. Much easier to navigate around the control. Can't say how good their service is. Haven't called for a service rep in a long long time. I have no problem reaching them by phone, and they have always tried to help even when I might have been better off calling a Fanuc rep for my problem. Definitely better than our Yang, or any of the xxxxor controlled machines. I like the Takisawa except that the turret indexes in one direction only. It has been a very good lathe for us. Hitachi isn't bad, but turret indexes in one direction only, and the Hardinge lathes are definitely easier to set the safe index point for. It has also been a good lathe for us. Nakamura is a pretty good machine. Like the one we have. Had purchased another used one, but it had been beaten too badly by the previous owner, so we got rid of that one. Hardinge subspindle is easier to realign than a Daewoo if crashed. I've lined up Hardinge non-live tool turrets, but wouldn't attempt it on any of the other lathes. Leave those for our maintenance man. No experience with the Haas lathes. I must add that the vast majority of our parts are small, and the vast majority of our lathes are barfeeds.

I selected "Import tool's geometry". Only thing I didn't select was "calculate feeds and speeds" because the material for both parts is the same.

Success...in a way. Have to open up each operation (using parameters), and close it without doing a thing in order for the drills to work correctly. Had to re-pick the boring tool geometry in order for the boring bar to work. Why? Program # and part number in the Toolpath were the same for all operations when I imported them.

separate files? Have a center drill, 4 drills, and a bore that are the same on another part. Tried the "HELP" file, but no help. Wrong search words on my part? Had I thought about it in time, I could have made the necessary changes to the original part, and saved it with a new name. I believe I've also read that you can save operations for later use. Don't know how...yet. Can you save several operations in the same file? Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies. Posted just before leaving work today. Will look into these options Monday. Thanks again, Dale

"Enable post file debug information"? I no sooner find out the best way to run it from a recent thread when we upgraded to X3. Now I can't find how to run it. This is the link to the previous thread. http://www.emastercam.com/cgi-bin/ultimate...ic;f=1;t=031601 Typing in fastmode$ = no$ doesn't work anymore. At least not for me. Nor can I find it in the Control Definition. Thanks.

I was guessing that they weren't the same. Thank you for conformation. I am not planning at the present to be using any of the other system variables. I am only a lowly lathe programmer. No mills. If I did mills, I would definitely be asking for a bunch of other system variables...mostly relating to which ones are used for the tool and work offsets. I do appreciate the time you have spent helping me. Highly unlikely I will ever be able to return the favor, but I can always hope there may come a time. Thanks again.

Worked perfectly! Thanks a lot. Maybe you can tell me something else. Reason I was on that page was because I was looking at the Current position variables. Old Hardinge deep drill cycle (P9135) used J to set the drill retract position. New program (P9136) sets #4=#5002 and then uses that value for the retract position. Yet looking at parameter 5002 you find an 8-bit parameter. Are the #5002 parameter I see on the screen, and the #5002 system variable two different parameters? Another question. The current position table lists 4 sets of variables...all ending in 1 to 8. I assume two things. First that what these 8 parameters represent will be the same & in the same order for all. Second- what do they represent? I made another assumtion that the parameters ending in 1=X, 2=Z, 3=Y, but have no idea what the other 5 might represent. Thanks once again for your help.

Thank you. I will give it a shot, and let you know the results. EDIT: Just happen to have the Fanuc manual opened to the page where #4119 is listed. I see that it is for Modal Information. Guess I didn't look as close as I could have.

FP1- The system variable is what I am asking if anyone knows what it is. I looked thru the spindle section in the Fanuc manual, but only saw parameters for those functions I already mentioned. My new macro sub uses the SFM to figure drill RPM. I can transfer that value to the G65P9136 drill macro which is the standard deep drill macro that came with the Hardinge lathes. Or, since the dwell has already been figured in my new macro, I can pass the dwell to the P9136. Both these methods require adding another variable to the P9136 program. But you are correct in that I don't have to read the spindle speed. It is definitely possible to accomplish the same thing without doing it. However I felt it would be easier, and also eliminate any possible programmer error if I could read the spindle speed into a variable, and then figure the dwell. I feel it will be simpler to add the dwell calculation into the old Hardinge deep drill cycle than create another variable that has to be passed with the G65 call. You did give me cause to think about the problem a bit more, but I still think my original thoughts are a better way. Sheffer- Thanks. No rush. Appreciate both replies.

No post. I am writing a drill macro for my Fanuc lathes. SFM will be one of the variables in my G65 call if I can read the spindle speed into a variable. The subprogram will then figure the RPM for me for any of the 4 types of drills we commonly use. I realize this isn't Mastercam related, but many of the guys on here seem to be exceptionally versed in all the various skills needed for machining, so thought I would ask. I did ask on another forum, and will be checking there next for a reply. I've gotten so this forum is my first choice for most questions. If I am doing wrong, please say so, and I won't ask this type of question here again. Thanks. EDIT: We do use X2, and X3 will be loaded this Monday. However I have no idea how to make Mastercam output what I want to do with my macro. I felt using one macro call that supplied all the necessary data for 4 drill types would be excessive. I will be using a separate macro call for each drill type that could be used for that size drill. This could range from 2 to 4. Only one macro subprogram, tho.

Is there one? I can find one for orientation, and max RPM. I want to assign the spindle speed to a variable for use in a macro. So far I haven't been able to locate one. I am hoping someone here already knows what it is. This will be for Fanuc OT, 18T and 21 i -T controls. Thanks.