Running a repeat Ti6AL4V job at the moment in our measly HAAS UMC500. Using KMetal UDDE hognose cutters. Can't do the depth of cut you require due to machine tool rigidity but we get good tool life in 3d Opti milling at 2xD depth, 7% step over, 90m/min surface and 0.15mm per tooth feed.

Not sure its completely related but we had an error similar and I eventually found an unwanted "fixture" stl saved in the MachSim folder. For some reason sometimes the software would use that fixture to work out its stock position off the table, other times it would use the one from the mastercam setup. Anyway once deleted it stopped the random placement. Might be worth checking. MachSim folder is in Public Documents, MC folder

This gives you some basic understanding of the different machines , WCS systems etc. The free course literature for programming from Inhouse solutions is also a valuable asset.

Generally not as you have more flutes engaged at any one time so more load on the machine. Big rigid machines can handle this but not so much on the lighter duty ones.

Well there you go then, my learning for the day. I would have never have even attempted to form tap Titanium with my understanding of the material properties and difficulties it can produce. Out of interest what tap were you using ? From my experience this is very much machine and setup specific. You'll need both a rigid machine and setup for that.Try running a 13 tooth endmill in Ti6al4V on a HAAS !!!

This explains it well Titanium is also a challenge. “In addition to its high tensile strength and low ductility, titanium has very low thermal conductivity, meaning that it doesn’t absorb heat very well,” Gennuso said. During a tapping operation, heat enters the workpiece, tap and chips, he explained. Because forming doesn’t create chips, the heat must go into the tap or the material. When form tapping titanium, a lot of that heat penetrates the tool and causes premature failure.

Thats a big NO, threadmill is the safest. Dynamic toolpaths with max 8% step over, make sure you are always taking a a cut, i.e. don't run air passes

Been a while since I did complex mold work, but I used to try limit my file size to 250meg by saving multiple files, rough, semi finish, finish etc. Was a PIA to manage but helped the performance immensely. In-process stock models were great for rest machining but also bloated files quickly. my two cents !!

Thanks Dylan, love learning the intricacies of these tool paths, gives me a far better understanding of what/why I am seeing something in my tool path. I'm a bit old school and like to check the look of the "toolpath" for an idea of potential finish (vs verify), especially in 3d surfacing operations. Advanced Toolpath Display in 2025 sounds like it will have some nice additions for this.

Hi Aaron While your doing an excellent job of educating us on the intricacies of how the processing engines actually handle these tool paths , can you explain why the tool path in your picture above now looks a bit janky in the corner compared to the un-extended one ?

2D Area mill will achieve what you want, it is technically a High speed tool path though so you may be adverse to using it !

Maybe check your default locations for operation files etc, seen similar behavior in the past on systems that don't run the default locations. And for this reason and ease of transitioning between releases I have set up our current system to use default locations on all computers with a backup software like Karen's Replicator handling the job of keeping the files backed up and at there latest state.

Hmm, that's what I thought but its not sticking, so second guessed myself ?!

For the life of me I cant remember where to set these default start up colours ?

Thanks, not quite what I am looking for, want to be able to create a line tangent to a circle but use edge snap to make it tangent to that edge, if that makes sense ! scrub that , just realized that if you use the ctrl key to turn off the snap it will highlight the edge snap and once you let go of the ctrl key it stays somewhat active.