I opened the misc. values and couldn't find the option you're referring to, Randle.

Hi again,

In one of my previous operations, I changed the work offset of the operations to output a G55. It seems now that all of my operations afterwards want to output a G55. These are new machine groups. I have to go in and manually change each operation (or do them all afterwards) to get a G54. I looked through the view manager and all work offsets are set to -1. I cannot figure this one out.

It appears that I'm not the only one having this problem...

Greetings all,

I have a file that has many machine groups and operations in it. If I verify the current operation that I'm programming, then close verify, the red arrow moves to the first machine group, then moves down through each machine group. What it's doing in these groups...I don't know. What I do know is that it's quite frustrating to have to wait 10 seconds every time I verify an operation.

Also, if I have all the machine groups closed - that is, all the operations have been collapsed, the toolpath group and machine group have been collapsed - sometimes when verify closes it will randomly expand certain groups or operations.

Any thoughts on this? Running X3 MU1...

I added a format question to my post. When each group posts, a format question comes up..."Force Coolant On For Each Operation 0 = No, 1 = Yes..."

Then all operations have an additional M08 and M09 in the code.

Interesting. I just made a quick threadmill toolpath. The comp move is a straight line move before the helix begins. This is a Haas post. My control won't allow comp to begin on an arc...this is something I know by heart. Perhaps we're talking about uber-old controls, then?

Hi All,

I've been exploring the use of overcut in the threadmilling. What is it? The help thing says "Increases the ID on an internal thread or decreases the diameter on an external thread"...(or something like that. But what is the purpose? Why not just use wear comp? What does the value that I enter in the overcut field actually represent? Thanks.

As far as the duplicate chains, I don't know. I've not had that happen. Do you have one of the cutoff operation buttons selected? That is, one other than "No Cutoff Operation". Make sense?

Yes. If you go into the chain selection box AFTER the toolpath has been made, right click on the chain with the tabs, and click "edit tabs". Now you can move tabs, add tabs, remove tabs, etc. Cheers.

Tabs are helpful, but sometimes more trouble than they're worth. My personal favorite is when Mastercam puts a tab in the area where the tool does a lead in and lead out. Really?!? It couldn't figure that out itself? I don't think I've ever successfully made a toolpath with tabs and not had to move them to appropriate locations. Tabs needs some work.

We use both ball endmills and the Harvey tool cutters. I personally prefer the ball endmills, but others in the shop sing the Harvey cutter's praises.

+1 John. I forgot that.

If this is something that you do alot, I recommend making a text file with the code you want, and choose the manual entry toolpath. In the dialog here you can choose to use the text file. Or just input the code by hand in manual entry.

Hi All,

wanted to know real quick if it was possible to set defaults to keep certain dialogs expanded by default. I'd love to backplot an op and not have to expand the window to get info and such. Not a big deal...just a minor annoyance. Thanks.

The toolpath is a standard lathe rough.

Hi All,

After the 4" diameter piece of aluminum I'm machining has been drilled with a 2.125" diameter spade drill, I have to do some turning of the ID. The piece is 8" long, and while I'm having success with turning the ID, I'm having problems as well. I'm feeding at .025" per rev, and having problems evacuating the chips from the bore. Consequently, when the boring bar gets to within about .5" of the bottom, I watch the Z axis load monitor and the spindle load monitor start getting EXTREMELY high.

So then, I was thinking that I wanted to add a one to two second dwell at the beginning of the pass. THis would allow the coolant to have a couple dedicated seconds to wash the chips out. But, short of hand-coding each G04, I'm stumped for a way to output the dwell. Any thoughts?

Oh...I'm using X3, with MPLMASTER on a Haas SL-20 lathe.

Thanks all.

+1 Dave.

My usual rule of thumb for reamers is 1/2 the speed and twice the feed as a similar size drill. I assume this is a high speed steel reamer? If it were me, I would probably run this at 400 RPM and 10 inches per minute. I would use oil, not coolant to lube the reamer. Also, what size of hole are you drilling to begin? Usually I use 5-10% less than the finish hole size, but in this case, I might take that down to 2-3%. Perhaps 15/64" drill. That's just me. I'm certain that others on the forum have a far better grasp on reamers.

the planes thing happened because I wasn't in one of the main 6 planes...I was in a plane I had made myself. I switched back to the standard Top view, and then when I clicked Front, all was OK. Thanks for the help.

Hi All,

After hours of programming, I find that Mastercam X3 has a mind of it's own. It becomes Skynet. Self-aware and destructive.

I saved an stl file to use for verify. I go to verify my second machine group, which uses this stl, and all is well...for a few times. Then, it all of the sudden reverts back to some cylinder that's 2" in diameter aligned in the X axis. That stock verification has never been used in this program. Also, all of the settings that I had checked in Settings --> Configuration for change tool/color and remove chips are gone. I had no crash, no hiccups in my computer.

Also, today, first thing, I wanted to change my planes to front view to create some geometry. When I use planes, and click "Front", I get the standard dialog box that I would get if I made a new plane...ya know, define a name, work offset, check boxes for associative, set new origin.

Sigh...I am the first to admit that I make mistakes and screw stuff up...but I have no idea where the mistake was made here. I think Mastercam just wanted to kick me when I'm down on Friday after a full day of programming, and give me the finger first thing today. I'd love to get anyone's thoughts on this. Thanks.

I don't believe so. I think it has to do with some weird ethernet setting at the machine. I don't think it's a Mastercam problem. Stupid Haas. Thanks.

Hi Gang,

Running X3 MU1. My boss has a simple program to cut some holes. The size of the arcs were edited and when he posted again, the posting didn't complete and said that an error log had been generated. I checked the error log, and other than it saying that there was errors, it didn't say what the errors were. Other machine groups using the exact same machine/control def and post would post fine however. The file was moved to my computer where the exact same machine/control def and post were used, and it posted out fine.

I did everything I know how to do...restarted mastercam, made new toolpaths in the same group...nothing worked. The work around is that we can just post it from my machine...but I'd love to figure this one out. Any ideas?

Where would one get these papers from Haas? Do we contact them directly, or is it something on their website?

Do you do anything at startup then, Dave? Or do you just know from experience that the machine is going to be off and adjust your comp then?

Greetings all,

I was looking for some guidance about thermal compensation in the lathe. We have a Haas SL-20, that appears to change size as it warms up. This is extremely frustrating when trying to hold a .0005" tolerance. There are some settings to adjust the amount of compensation and the time that it takes effect, but I don't know where to begin. I guess I was looking to see what you guys do...if anything.

Do you have a program that runs the Z and X back and forth to warm up the screws? Do you have anything set in the thermal comp settings to begin with? Is it as simple as measuring a part, then running the machine for an hour and measure again to note the difference? I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts on this. Thanks.