Have you tried the Hardinge support site ? In the past they would get you

parts list for machines.

I think in the near future we're going to be laughing at the computers we use now.

8" inch floppy disk huh? Found one the other day cleaning out the garage,i showed

It to my daughter,and she said what the heck is that? Lol.

First tour of an IBM plant, they were showing off a 33" floppy. And no it wasn't the latest Beatles album!

_{Started in 1977 on a tape controled lathe. Graduated to Andrews W.E.D.M also programmed on tape in 80s.}

_{Anything precision was finish ground on B&S optical grinders.}

_{Thought the move to G-code was a god send. Now I sit in front of three 22" monitors, 3D connexion,and}

_{four different software packages for gramming.}

I would look at Studer. We have some Okamotos that are decent, not sure they have smaller machine.

The search option here goes along way,eapprentice and you tube have some videos that are useful.

Did you try ebay or amazon for used books? I would not part with any of mine as I still use them

from time to time. Seems the older I've got the more I need them.

There is a smoothing check box if you havent checked it allready. I then have to edit

as JP stated.

Is the heat treat done in house? Most distortion will come from the quenching.

From the thumbnail view in middle I would suspend part from both ends and lower

the part into quench tank as even and quickly as possibly. Keep the part suspended

once in quench moving part around as to keep even temp. HTH

I used to turn M4 at 65 r/c on a manual lathe. That stuff was like glass.

Silly fish!!!

I have used the Harvey cutters for years with good results.

Recently purchased a spring loaded holder for engraving and polishing

from here 2linc.com. Works great on uneven surfaces and the cutters

have held up well. They have a speed and feed chart as well.

+1 to JP.

I will also draw a surface and use a surface toolpath with bull or ball mill

if it is critical.

On the complex stuff I'll use Guhring Firex drills as I can justify cost.

For endmills I've found nacro coating works well and for facing we use

Seco tiain coated inserts.

Networks as a rule will tend to be slower. Factors include hardware speed, how much traffic is on the network.

I backup automaticaly to server from hard drive at scheduled times that do not slow my work down.

HTH

I guess this would work out alright if the operator were willing to cooperate. He seems to have the attitude that I'm taking his job, and anything that I do differently than he's used to is wrong and/or bad. What about tool offsets? Leave them for the operator to enter in?

We must have his brother working here. I still program in the offsets and tool numbers for both lathe and mill.

If they change settings thats on them. I listen to what they have to say as you can get some good input. When I go outside

their box I suggest they try it first then give me feed back.

ID or OD ? Murlin has a topic on bigger threads. I use PH Horn insert tools for

this type of work.

Not sure they have them that large, but I use PH Horn insert thread mills.

Personaly for the type of work your doing I can make chips faster starting in solids using FBM or converting solids to surface.

I started with AutoCad and dont have SolidWorks so MC solids was cheaper way for us. Depending on the complexity of the work

creating wireframe and then surfaces can take some time. If we had SolidWorks I dont know if we would have gone with MC solids.

HTH

Iscar has some libary tools for HEM tool paths in MCX5. You can import a drawing or make it your self. Do a search on it. Just about every thing

has been covered and it will be better than I could explain it to you.

just old style New Britian-Gridlys here.

Whe I receive a metric print with only a few features (dimensions) I will often work in my standard inch configuration. When I input the numbers from the metric print I simply add "mm" to the dimension and let mastercam do the conversion. If it is a bigger project I will open MC in a metric configuration as mentioned save the part, and then re-open the file in an inch configuration.

+1

If the part can handle the added force a straight hole with tapered mill will work fine. If the thread is in a boss with little wall

thickness then I would taper mill the hole and use a single point thread mill.

anybody using thier new 5x add-on?

I watched the video of the 5x, nice feature, they made it look easy.

We have an opportunity to purchase software and I was looking for input as to how people use it.

Are the surface trim, extend features a help. Do you use the parting line separation feature ?

Thanks for any input.

Engraving 420 s.s. in a machine now. I use Harvey Tool engravers,speeds are on their web site. Depending on the work I'll programm tool changes

at best guess intervals. If I over estimate it I'll hand edit it. Harvey has some cutters for hard milling that hold an edge really well.

My computer I have now is working fine. Its just that we are allowed to upgrade our computers every 3 years. I run 5axis,3 axis all with surfaces.

Daaaamm, wish I had that problem. LOL But then again I could think of lots of things to spend that money on.

If the one you use now is good I would think any of the ones you have listed will also do the job. Is upgrading the graphics on your current system an option?

Depends how you use Mastercam,solids or surfaces, multi axes. Is the system you have now failing you in some way?

If so look to boost that area. The pinned benchmark topic has alot of info in it that should help.