Yeah if you are at 20 degrees it doesn't sound like you are in the twilight zone so much. Not sure why the small moves cause the tool breakage, or is it jerky? I agree it seems like you could hand code a rotary move and make it smoother. I don't know of a way to have it be non linearized code, as mastercam always outputs linear code in 5 axis mode?

I thought most controls ran faster with the arcs on? those are very small arcs though. Yeah sounds like you want to turn off the filter. In the 2d HSM params make sure you arent smoothing oor filleting the toolpath

5 axis circle mill!!! this one is great, was very slow to try to do with 3 axis on tilted plane. Typically ended up scripting helixs in CAD. great for helical piercing with 6 axis robot waterjet also bumb nesting looks great(about time though, alphacam had tis a long time ago )

when you say process prints , you mean 3d prints/RP parts? The saved stl from verify should work fine; I have tried printing one myself though. Also some of the high end STL editors like magics and geomagic should be able to repair the stl if there is a problem from mastercam(but I wouldn't think there would be?)

thanks, never would have found that!

Finally got around to trying the trueshape nesting option. So far so good, and the labels are nice. Big question....can I machine using label geometry? I wanted to run an engraver on it real quick(you know, so the part would be labeled). Since the labels are "notes" I can't chain them? Is there a convert or an option I am missing? Thanks

Thanks for the reply. Not exactly what I wanted to do, since the whole idea was to generate arcs in the xz plane. As you may know(hence your reply) I was just informed this machine does not support xz arcs. Bummer. What is really odd, is that it almost works, but has just a little odd(1/8") side to side motion. Usually things either work or not, rarely almost. Anybody know anything more? I was also told it is not upgradeable(at least not by firmware). Wes

SO I have encoutered a pretty weird problem and I don't know where to start. I am doing parallel surface finishing(X2MR2). The toolpaths look good. I am using arc filtering on all planes. My Control def. lo0oks correct, and the Gcode puts out this seemingly nice G02 X,Z,R stuff. The only Y codes are when the tool steps over. But when I run the code, the machine has motion along the toolpath in the Y direction. On a G02 the motion is in the -Y and on a G03 the motion is in the +Y. Which means the XZ plane is not really vertical. Could this be something in the controller? If I eliminate the arcs and the G18, and use linearized surfacing everything seems fine. The machine is an onsrud 96C12. I am new to this shop, so kind of took over some trouble shooting. They had never used arc filtering before, so starting from scratch. At first I looked at some post issues, but now I realize the code is right, this must be machine control? Thanks, Wes

we had a problem once that was similar, and someone had messed with the control definition and it was set to all ways separate xy moves from z moves....not quite what you want with a 3 axis. what is the stepover? I assume you willl say the stepover is much smaller than the actual ridge pattern, which means it could be some kind of geometry problem?

yes we got it to work now, it was the normal to surface I think. You have to use normal to plane, and select the surf as an entity. I may try the nurb though too, I think rhino creates a helix as some other form of geometry, not a spline. Now we just need a way to implement arc filtering on any plane to minimize the code. Does any software offer this? Arc filtering works on 3+2 axis, is there a fundamental reaon it can't work on 5 axis or is it just not in high demand?

Anyone know of a way to do this type of thing with 5 axis curve? The reason I ask is, suppose I have(actually I do have) a part with hundreds of uniquely angled helical(boring) paths. With 3+2 I have to manually create every toolplane, and then use each plane in hundreds of individual helical cuts. With 5 ax curve, the toolpath prompts for the curve(a helical path that is created in CAD...not in mastercam) and the plane normal to the helix axis. It still takes a lot of individual toolpaths, but it is less work than before. The problem is it isn't working. The 5 ax curve just cuts a nice circle of the helix projected to the toolplane. Ideally someone knows of a 5 axis helical chook, for just taking a curve and a tool axis surface, or vector. I can generate any geometry I need externally, just want to reduce the workflow in mastercam. thanks....

I didn't think compression bits were meant for acrylic? Are you trying to minimize the up or down force on the part?