Error message indicates that this is not a valid VSIX package, and shows 0KB file size. Tried from two different PC's. Any idea why or alternate download link? Edit: company AV identified these as malicious and blocked the download without notification.

Thanks Colin. I have done as you described and found that the output is correct for a 4X VMC (it makes sense now too!). I'm curious about Boeing using Mastercam...why didn't they stick with CATIA's NC modules? Is CATIA NC being phased out at Boeing?

Hey, so it's been almost two months since this thread died. Has anybody figured out anything else on this topic? The problem is, out of the box, the generic 4 axis VMC machine def and post that come with MCX3 don't post the correct angle for the Back view using the Top WCS. This is described in detail above and I have found it to be the case as well. Test it out for yourself...select the Generic Fanuc 4X Mill.MMD, create a point at the origin, drill it from the Top, Front, Bottom, and Back, and post it. I would expect the rotary angles to be 0, 90, 180, 270 (since the machine def sets up a rotary axis about X). But the Back operation doesn't comes out right. You can do as Colin suggests above and rotate the Back view 180 about Z to get it to post the correct angle of 270/-90 for the Back operation, but then the Y-axis is upside down, so that's not much help. I've checked the debugger and found that an error is given at the posting of the Back operation indicating that, "Only single-axis rotation is allowed! Angles may be incorrect." Does this seem wierd to you?

Thanks for all your pointers. So, for future readers, here is what I have found to obtain correct output for a vertical mill with a dual axis rotary addon (at B=0, C=0 the rotary table points upward toward the spindle). Most of my questions were not aswerable in the case of this 5-axis problem. The machine definition in MCX3 is not used in the post. In order to affect rotation axes, offset, and titles, changes must be made in the post. Maybe this is because the posts are encrypted? The text below is what I ended up with to obtain the correct angles, signs, and letter designations (using the GENERIC FANUC 5X MILL.PST). #Primary axis angle description (in machine base terms) Must be the rotary table, posts as my C axis. #With nutating (mtype 3-5) the nutating axis must be the XY plane rotaxis1$ = vecx #Zero rotdir1$ = -vecy #Direction #Secondary axis angle description (in machine base terms) Must be the tilting table, posts as my B axis. #With nutating (mtype 3-5) the nutating axis and this plane normal #are aligned to calculate the secondary angle rotaxis2$ = vecz #Zero rotdir2$ = -vecx #Direction #NOTE: Use of 'top_map' requires the dealer match the # above settings below. These must match initial settings!!! p_nut_restore #Postblock, restores original axis settings result = updgbl(rotaxis1$, "vecx")#Zero result = updgbl(rotdir1$, "-vecy")#Direction result = updgbl(rotaxis2$, "vecz")#Zero result = updgbl(rotdir2$, "-vecx")#Direction

Thanks all for the comments, sincerely. But I did take the time to try and answer my questions through some trial and error and reading. I also took the time to ask some very specific questions and to upload a file. Out out of all your responses only one person attempted an answer to one question, and CNC Apps Guy is already talking about tweaking when I was asking about the untweaked, out of the box values that MCX3 is producing! I know these are all individual cases with their own specific tweaks, but what I've pointed out is that I've not tweaked anything and am just trying to understand the output I see. If I can understand the stock MCX3 behaviour then I hope be able to tweak from there if needed. Here's a simple question, does anybody know what actual make/model the above mentioned machine def and post would work correctly on, without tweaks? Thanks again. Willing Student

We have spoken with the dealer and are not getting much further than what I've described above. They seem to be interested in a post modification which doesn't seem necessary to me. There's nothing strange or non-standard about the machine setup that we have so I can't see why the MCX 5-axis default post and machine definition won't work. Can you at least venture some answers to the questions about A,B,C and how they're defined in the machine definition? These are the default, from MC values.

I agree with the above comments. I usually open both parts simultaneously to make sure that I have the stock file and the part file oriented and positioned exactly the same. There is also an option on the Save As STL dialog that allows you to change the coordinate system of the STL file you're exporting. You should generally leave this set to using World Coordinates and not your current WCS.

Hello all, We've got X3 and are trying to use it to do some work on a 5-axis boring machine. Using the unmodified MILL 5 - AXIS TABLE - HEAD VERTICAL.MMD machine definition and the GENERIC FANUC 5X MILL.PST post I am seeing some things I don't understand. I have searched and read postings here and other online documentation but there's a lot of new things in the MCX series that I'm still learning. Please see the file "5-axis setup.zip" on the Mastercam FTP, ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_...X3_Files/5-axis setup.zip It's a large file because it includes fixture geometry which is relevant since it shows what I am assuming coordinates should look like when they are 'home'. A few questions I have are; The part and fixture appear to be oriented in Mastercam as they are oriented on our mill when rotary axes are at zero, i.e. B=0, C=0 (we have a dual axis rotary table). Why does the posted output show B and C axes when the machine definition shows an A and B axis? Why don't I see changes to B and C in my posted output when I alter the machine definition of A and B? Why does the machine definition show A axis on the mill bed and B axis on the spindle (I expected them to both be on the bed as our dual axis rotary table is mounted to the bed)? Why do the Properties of the B axis indicate that it's an A axis in machine coordinates but with a B axis label? My real problem is that the posted code shows correct B axis angles (B-90) but C axis angles that are 90 degrees off what I need and I can't figure out what the right way is to deal with it. Modifying the post seems like it should be the last option and that there's something I just haven't oriented correctly. Isn't technology great!

Interesting! Your suggestion to change T/C planes did the trick for the ROLLDIE operation output. Thanks. I didn't expect this sort of problem. I am using an installation/configuration that I didn't set up. Looks like I need to do some investigation of the reason for the strange machine config file.

This post is for an horizontal mill. The B-axis rotates about my Y-axis. The machine defs are correct as is the post. I have added my post and machine definition and control files at ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_...5-105_OP070.zip I assumed that since the axis-sub operation posted correctly using my files that the 5-axis and rolldie would as well. Maybe that's not the case.

Thanks for the ROLLDIE.DLL advice. It looks good in verification but, again, the output is all X,Y,Z moves instead of B,Y,Z moves. I now have three tool paths in my file; 2D Contour using axis sub, 5-axis contour with 4-axis output, and the Rolldie operation. The only one that outputs moves using the B-axis is the first method using axis substitution. Please see my X2 file at ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_...5-105_OP070.zip

I think I understand about the tool needing to be on centerline. That sucks, is there a workaround? The problem now is that when I post your method, I don't get B-axis moves, it's all X,Y,Z moves. But when I post my axis sub toolpaths I get the correct output which is B,Y,Z moves. Do you know why?

Ok, I found your file, ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_...5-105_OP070.zip It does look correct in that it follows the contour. There doesn't seem to be any reason that I couldn't use this approach. But I still have the question about "walls not being normal to the center"...

Thanks Crazy, but I don't understand what you mean by, "walls not being normal to the center". I did check that out prior to programming and found that the windows are radial 'pie slices' that are subtracted from the cylinder. So, everything should be radially symmetric. But you're hitting on something I noticed, that the tool is not cutting parallel to the window walls. Can you explain why? Thanks for messing with this, I really want to understand. I did not find your file using 5-axis curve. What it is named? I do have full Level 3 capability so I'll check out your file if I can get it. Noah

Please find the X2 file on the MasterCAM FTP at ftp://www.mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_...5-105_OP070.zip But I see that the link doesn't exactly work. I have chained the contours and the tool paths look reasonable. But when I backplot or verify, I find that the cutter is leaving some material all around the inside of the cutouts. I also used the Compare to Model after the true solid verify and it did show excess material still left on the contour. If you look at the backplot you see that the cutter is running inside the contour instead of on it. I think this must have something to do with the unwrapping, axis substitution, cylinder diameter, etc. Remember when using backplot to turn on Simulate Axis Substitution and turn off Simulate Rotary Axis! Any help, guesses, or comments are welcome. Thanks Noah