Stan_Z, thanks for the reply. I looked into the transform tool path and it looks very easy. Thanks all.....

Thanks for the suggestion, I will give it a try. Any other ideas?

I have a very short program that is going to spot, drill and tap a hole followed by machining a logo. The program will be run on a stack of 10 flanges that are .625" thick. After the first flange is completed I would like to offset the program .625" in the Y-axis and re-run the sequence. Ideally I would run all of the spot cycles, then drill cycles, then tapping..... to reduce tool changes. Any suggestions as to how to go about this? Sub program call? Absolute and incremental? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi John, check your e-mail. Mike

Got it John, still not accurate in MCX2...... Thanks for trying! Mike

Sent it again John. Mike

Thank you John, the logo is on its way. Mike

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I got busy with other jobs. Is there any chance I can still send the file? Thanks, Mike

We just had our company logo updated in Adobe Illustrator (AI) and we are having trouble getting the file into a format MCX2 will work with. I read here on the forums (searched) that some newer .AI files will not work with MCX2, so this could be one reason. I tried saving the logo as a .DXF, which worked, but gave horrible accuracy. I also tried using WinTopo to perform a raster to vector conversion. Again, it worked, but gave very poor results. Any suggestions? Thanks, Mike

I modified the start/end points in the lead in/out screen. It worked very well and was very easy. Now to fine tune them when I run the first part. Thanks again, Mike

Thank you all for the suggestions, I will see if I can put them to use. Mike

Hi Guys, I am trying to chamfer (debur) the edges of multiple bosses inside a pocket. The bosses blend into the wall of the pocket and are roughly half the height of the pocket. The only way I have been able to keep the tool from hitting the wall is to create new geometry to allow the tool to lead into the boss away from the wall. This is time consuming and doesn't always work on the first try. Is there a better way get around this? Thanks for the help, Mike

Hi Guys, I looked into stick letters, but they are just that, stick. I need the letters to be in the correct font style, so they are out of the question in this case. The depths I am using have been 0.001 to 0.003 which seems about right. Is there any specific tool that works well for fine engraving. I am using small ball mills. Jay, I will take a look at the video and see if it helps. Thanks again, Mike

Since the letters are not stick font changing the offset will not fix the problem. I will give stick fonts a try and see if I can get the results I am looking for. Thanks for the help, Mike

Hi Guys, I have run into a problem with machining small letters (1/4" or smaller for example) and would like to know if there is a solution. Is there any way to make the tool follow the center line of the letter rather than the outline? The small letters start to look like bold print or blur together because of this. Thanks for the help, Mike

Thank you both! That was the problem. Mike

Yes, I entered the G54 values in offset "0" and the G55 values in offset "1" in the Fanuc control. I just double checked that the second program posted individually works using G55 and it does not. Even though the posted code uses G55 it uses the position from G54 (0 in the Fanuc control). Mike

I am having a hard time getting multiple offsets to work. I created the tool path, copied the tool path, chose the tool parameters tab, chose planes then clicked the box next to work offsets and typed the number 0 or 1. I did this for all tools paths alternating as I went. When I post the program the offsets are correct G54 then G55, change tool and back to G54 then G55 etc... but when the program runs it seems to be offsetting from G54 the distance called out in G55 as a starting point. I have highlighted just the G54 tool paths, posted them and the program runs fine. The same with the G55 offsets. When I post them together the machine doesn't know what to do with them..... I am using MCX2 with a Fanuc OM control. Any ideas on what could be wrong? Thanks, Mike

Well I downloaded some logos from this site www.logotypes.ru and they worked fine in MCX2. It seems that our company logo just needs to be in the correct format and then it shouldn't be to much trouble from there. A few more questions, how do you go about resizing a logo in MC? Should this be done before it is brought into MC? I also have not tried to place a logo on an exsisting part. Is there a technique for locating a logo in a specific position? Mike

Hi Phil, That makes sense because one of my attempts at engraving a logo gave me a bunch of dots in the shape of the logo. The logo I got from the FTP site worked fine (DXF file). I opened the .DXF file in MCX2. I then tried engrave and contour, the contour was the better of the two. Why do some logo's work fine out of the box, while others need a bunch or rework? Do you think the logo from the FTP site was reworked in some way? Thanks, Mike

Hi Guys, I am researching how to machine logo's and I am having some trouble. I searched this site which helped, but I am still getting poor results. I found a link to a logo site in one of the threads on the forum. I chose a random logo, ran it through Wintopo and then opened it in MCX2. The resulting tool path was was awful (I used engrave). The curves were rough and parts of the logo were not accurate. Can anyone give me any advice. I am a total newbie when it comes to logos (this was my first try)! A good description, a link to directions or a video.... I just took a logo off of CADCAM's FTP site which looks better, so I am going to try again and see if I get better results. Thanks for the help, Mike

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Everything worked out very well using the parallel rough/finish and also project tool path. Mike

JParis, Do you mean something like a center line (using create line)? I am not sure I totally understand, but I will give it a shot tomarrow. I might figure it out as I go. Thanks everyone for the replies, Mike

Hi Guys, I am having a hard time getting the tool path I want for machining a shallow taper. The part being programmed has two parallel surfaces with a height difference of about 1/4". The surfaces are connected by a angled surface several inches long. When trying to machine this angle the tool path generated is a back and forth motion (X-axis) with many passes. (I used parallel rough or finish rough tool paths). The part in question was programmed long hand before we started using MCX2 and a 3" face mill was used in a single pass along the Y-axis. It would machine both flat surfaces and the taper in one 3D pass. Of course this left a slight curve on the part because of the curved cutting surface, but in this situation it is very acceptable. The reason we can't (don't want to) just use the old program is because we are trying to standardize our programs to MCX2. If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it! BTW, the controller being used is a Fanuc OM. Thanks, Mike

Thanks guys! Looks like a lot of money could be made here. Mike