We have a VF-2 and a SL-20 w/barfeed. Great machines, and American made.

Im not an expert at Mcam, but here is my take on the problem. When you are prompeted to choose 1 point, 2 points, etc..., the display in the left side of the box points out where to place these points in relation to the groove on your part. If you are choosing points from the drop down box and select the midpoint of a line in your geometry, the toolpath wont fit your geometry. If you want to select lines in your drawing, choose "3 lines" or "chain". Otherwise you will have to put a point(s) on the corner(s) of the groove. Hope that helps.

How many points are you choosing? And what version Mcam? In parameters, you can select the shape of the groove as well as depth.

Thanks guys.

I am currently manufacturing my product from 4140 (solid bars) 4130 (tube). I am trying to choose materials in stainless comparable to 41xx steel in strength and weldability. Any suggestion or a source of info that gives more than general specs of materials?

As I was reading down the thread, I was thinking you have steel with hard spots, then I read the flamecut part of the process. That is the reason tool life is inconsistant. I would say that some control on the flamecutting process is needed. Slowing the cooling or annealing would help. Dave

Thanks. Most people just shoot paper, really far away. A few lucky enough to have a place to do it will shoot just about anything from manhole covers to propane tanks. Here in Florida we have a range in Hernando county that hosts a machine gun and 50BMG shoot twice a year (next one is July 4th). They place junk cars on the range and we get to shoot them up. Yes, it is fun. On the military side, 50BMG is used in what is called “Hard Target Interdiction”. Extended range sniping at non-human targets. Although recently over in Afghan, 50’s were used in sniping of humans at ranges up to 2400 meters by Canadian snipers. Dave

My Mcam dealer came through with a post for my lathe, and my V9 update CD. Thanks Jim. Im not going to go into the details, but my dealer is cooler than I thought he was. Im going to wait to load V9 until I have promgams in place for production. I want to see how the current bugs and downloads work out. Dave

Thanks Glenn, that fixed it. My dealer is working on my Haas post. Dave

My name is Dave Moore. Ive been a Mastercam user for 6 months, about as long as I have been doing CNC machine work. I own and operate a small manufacturing shop in StCloud, Fl. I manufacture and sell 50 caliber rifle conversions for the AR-15. Our (my wife and I) business and website www.ferret50.com have been up and running since 7-4-01. So far we have done well enough to build a nice shop with two Haas machines and a bunch of other stuff.

Where can I find a usable post processor for a Haas SL-20 (new)? I am running V8.1, soon to update to v9. I just dont know enough about editing to make what I have work. The current problem is that on a G53, the post processor will reverse x and z values from + to - (causing an overtravel alarm), and it will cancel the work offset. As well as no tool info. Also, I downloaded the updates in the post section of this site and now my post editor is different. It has colors and it doesnt have the simple "write" button under file. When I do save to a floppy, the drive wont quit running until I close the editor. Dave

Thanks for the reply. I think I will draw the tools in design first. I did find out (through my dealer) that I can change the Cplane to XZ from DZ so that the ratio will be 1:1. Well, I guess Im off to see if I can crash...um...I mean make something.:-)

Well, I am glad that I found this forum. Looks like there are some great people here. My name is Dave. I own and operate a small firearm manufacturing shop in StCloud Fl. I am really new to CNC and CAM programs. I have had Mc8 Mill for about 6 months now and Lathe for two days. I am stumped on something. In Lathe v8.1.1, when I create a line or tool based on a value for length or size, it comes out x2. Example, if I am doing a boring operation and choose to create a tool. I enter the bar diameter as 1 inch. When I click ok (after entering all info needed) and it generates a tool path, the tool is 2 inches in diameter. I know that I can enter a value in radius for the tool or whatever I am making will come out ok. But, I can see where that might cause a problem later if there is something else I am doing wrong. Thanks