X2-MR2 I don't use MC for lathe stuff much. WE have a part I am just trying to use as a test part to get all the bugs worked out. I am bring in an stp solid. The part is an impeller and I just need to cut the blank for it. I tried using "create 2d profile from solid" and it gives me a good line along the radius. The problem is it seems to come in on the wrong side of the part and all my tool paths are failing. I tried the silhouette function in C hooks and it just give the bottom ring around the part but no profile. What am I missing? Also, I am have a heck of a time getting the part to come in right with the axis. X and Z are flipped. I tried to adjust by creating new views and rotating but I am getting all kinds of errors when trying to create a path. DO I need to correct the axis error in CAD before importing or can this all be corrected in MC?

OK, what I have done is select my lathe ZX view for stock yet my part is using the LH view. I think I am a little confused as to how the viewing ties into the coordinate system.

A little help with setup guys. When I bring in a sample part as a solid, I think go and try to put stock and chuck over the part. They always come in normal to the part on the wrong axis. I am not too familiar with the machine defs so I was just looking around in there. What do I need to adjust to get my axis looking right on the part, the chuck, and the stock?

Friend of mine just attended in MO but did not learn anything lathe related. I will have to ask if he can help me out yet....

X2MR2 I seldom use MCX for programming 2 axis just because I can never get it to work right. This is a Mori 2 axis slant bed and Fanuc OT. I was going to take a look at the MPLmaster post and see if I can get things to work better. I was curious what all I would need to setup in this post? Mostly just machine defs? I have always been able to bring in stp files fine and program some paths but axis are never right and inverted. When I try to adjust with the WCS, it just creates another view but still does not rotate around like I need. Is there an easier way to work around with 2D lathes? ie, pull in a profile only or something?

When I name an operation in the tree, I would like to change the text color for what I type so it is easier to find and identify. Is there a setting for this so every time I add something, it will be a different color automatically?

Jay, I have tried using solids chaining but not having much luck in a 1 button chain. Do you still have to select each section of the solid to build the chain? Was the model acceptable IYO?

Thanks a bunch for the info. I will certainly take a look at your suggestions when I get to work on Mon. Gotta spend some time with the family on Sun. Thanks again.

What we found yesterday is the chain is complete but there are several pieces of it and one was VERY hard to find. Serious zoom to get to it. Is there not an "easy" button to chain the entire profile? maybe an easier way to chain around parts rather than selecting the 50 some chains that make up the perimeter?

I will look at some of these ideas tomorrow but I can tell you have tried 2D, 3D, Cplane, etc, all come up with the same error. I just wish I knew how I did it before. In a previous op, I chained the whole thing as one chain but I know I struggled before. Get to the point of just pushing buttons until something is close I guess. I am really not sure if our model (step from Catia) is what causes issues or what but every part seems to have issues for us.

I was some how able to manage this before but now all I am creating are multiple chains. I am using contour to profile a curved part. As I try to build the chain around the part, I get errors that the selected chain does not touch the branch point. If I select broken chains, it will create a new chain and start point. Do I need to work on the wire of the part or is there a trick to easily create a continuous chain around the profile of a part? I am wondering if I have issues with my model and that is creating much of a problems. Wire looks good to me. Brought in in an STP file. No additional lines creates for the profile.

John, I sent you an stp of the part.

Yes, I do have the path staying down in pocket paths but getting the tool to go the same way around each pin is next to impossible and I have not found a way to adjust where the lead in/outs go like you can with a contour. I have always liked that feature. Basically, the cutter runs around the pins nearly at random. I have it very close but it still decided to go CCW for 180* on a couple pins. If I could tell it to only go CW on closed contours, we would be golden. Thanks for all the help guys. OH, I am using the solid geometry for my pocket chains. Is this a problem? I seem to remember I can adjust the lead point on a 2D chain, but not a solid surface.

Per my previous post, I am trying to create an acceptable cut path to go around 6 small diameter pins while facing off the rest of the material. I have been happiest with creating separate contour chains around each pin because I really need a nice lead in/out to ensure nice, concentric pins. The pocket parameters seems to have the cutter changing from CW to CCW several times and there are no nice leads in the paths. I am curious if there is a way to adjust settings to simply get the Z to stay down when moving to the next chain? is this an editor deal? I would like to feed to the next chain, not rapid so not sure how a guy might do this.

Every time, MC has indicated there is a bad arc (#8 standard) and will not create a path with pocketing. I am not sure if this error refers to a geometry problem or a path selection problem.

I am not very familiar with the pocketing feature in MC, do I need to create an outer boundary for the tool during pocketing? If I were to select the outer profile of the part, it would not work right because the outside edge gets cut. Basically, the only thing left standing is 6 pins. [ 05-05-2009, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: viper1 ]

When I try to create a pocket path, I believe every time it has indicated cutter comp has failed yet does not detail what happened. I usually try to select the top faces of the pins and not the cylinders but I have tried both. There is a fillet at the bottom of the pins so I am not sure if that is creating issues or what.

I am making a steel part that has 6 pins sticking up and I need to interpolate around each one at full depth and just stay down and cut them all out. I have tried 3D, C plane, contour, surface, etc. Even tried to create some extra geometry but just cannot get a path that works on this part. Basically just wants to create 6 separate paths around each pin, retract, and go to the next and lead in/out cannot be tuned to not plunge into the material. I want to come in radially. I have an STP file if someone is willing to take a peek. I would rather not hang it up on the FTP site but willing to email. The path is probably super simple for a seasoned vet in MC but it has kicked my butt today.

Again, thanks a bunch guys. Turning of my filter fixed the problem in this case. I would like to ask why it does this and what exactly the filter does? I usually use it because it says it will create arcs but I really am not sure what it is supposed to be used for.

Here is one I have not seen before. I programmed a very basic circle path with an EM using lead in and out. The backplot shows the cutter to follow the path correctly. Cutter goes down, follows the line and arc of the lead in, goes around in a 2in circle, then leads out at the same point as entry. After I posted, I ran it and the damn cutter follows the lead in, then the lead right back out without running the 2in circle path. Anyone seen this? Not sure if I need to adjust the path for different entry and exit or what.

Thanks but our post creates the multi-offsets and I tried inputting in planes but did not affect my posted code. I will study the post a bit today and see if I can understand how to do this. Our offsets are a function of the misc values and there is only an input now for how "many" offsets and not "which" offsets I want to use. Obviously I can just change these in the posted file but if I am running 4 offsets and 20 tools, that can take a while to change.

I think we will probably end up modding a more generic post for an older Hitachi Y/C axis sub spindle lathe we have in a corner. I figure a Mori post or something should be close but noticed there are a few generics available here on the site and was curious which if any would be preferred for X2MR2? We will need to support sub milling/turning, sub indexing, spindle sync, full C and Y axis contouring, parts catcher, bar pull, and possibly bar feed and conveyor if those are typically controlled via CAM software. I realize there will be some effort that goes into getting the post/defs dialed in but after some hours working with a mill post recently, I am convinced that learning to customize a post is paramount for getting what you want. I was also curious where I could find all the MC outputs or codes?

You guys have been a tremendous amount of help. I think I have everything tuned about right "except" (and only a convenience thing) it would be nice to call the specific offsets I want to use instead of the post automatically starting at G54 and counting up from there. John, I guess I would ask you this question more or less because you have the post. Is there an easy way to tweak it to allow me to assign specific offsets? ie, G54, G56, G58, G110 ? Seems I will still have to adjust things in the program unless I can tell it which to use. This might take a bunch of tweaking though. I am not sure. I did edit out that Z+ move but highlighted it and may add a second post with that move since I do understand what you are saying and it could save a crash some day or at least save some hand edits.

Well, it looks like I am still outputting R code for these helix paths and I think it is causing my latest errors. I would like to get back to I J paths. How would I accomplish this? I tried going into the control def and changing things there but it said it could not apply it. I just tried changed "do not break arcs" to "180*".

I am using wear comp. I was using computer because we had not had any need to adjust paths. Now we do and this is what started the snow ball. Just needed to adjust a cutter path by a few thou. I will hopefully get this code on a machine later today or tomorrow to see if we can adjust the path. We had problems before where the machine would run until I put any non-zero number in the comp tables, then it would alarm out. John, I was going to ask about that Z move (+2.0") when you use multi-offsets with that post I sent. The post commands extra Z clearance when moving to the next offset. Did you see a place to adjust that? I could not find it at ALL but probably looking in the wrong spot.