I think once you do your due diligence, you will find that this number will grow exponentially. When I built my 16000 square foot shop, the contractor costs were staggering. Just an overhead crane can easily eclipse $100K with proper engineering, footings, inspections, etc.

Electrical work can get downright nuts.

 

If you do go forward with your shop, you mentioned a couple of things that I would give you a little advice on, based purely on experience. Do not put in skylights. As romantic as they sound, they are nothing but a pain in the xxxx. Leaky roof, computer screen glare like crazy, but the most damning effect is when the sun shines on one of your CNC machines. Accuracy will take a hit for sure. We ended up painting the underside of our skylights for all the reasons listed above.

 

Another thing you mentioned was doors that you could open for "fresh air". In short …… don't do it. In contrast, you want to insulate and seal your building as good as possible. Again, if you have high accuracy machines ( which I know you do ), and you have intentions of adding CMM capabilities, then temperature control is going to be your single biggest concern. Your heating and cooling costs will be significant. Again, speaking from experience. The shop I work in now is 26000 square feet, and we just finished our custom build, and we did it right, and are reaping the rewards for doing it right.

 

Carmen

+1000

Where I live we go from 35 deg c days in the summer to 3-5 deg (highs) during the winter and this fluctuation not to mention the fluctuation of a machine casting warming up over a few days constant machining plays havoc with machine accuracy. This is compounded on a 5 axis machine.

We recently temperature controlled the environment around our high accuracy machines and have seen a great improvement from it.

The HAAS will struggle to keep up with that feed rate even with Highspeed machining turned on. I wouldn't feed at more than about 120 inch/min if you want to achieve an accurate part.

how did you make out?

That's a bit of a personal question

Nice video, we have used exactly the same approach before for cutting cam paths - works a treat - as your video shows.

I am trying to get all of our installations standardized. I've gone about this different ways over the years with mixed results.

 

With our CAMplete installs I make a complete backup with a single mouse click in the options area of the software. I send this file over to CAMplete support and the send me back a single .exe file for a x64 computer and a single .exe file for a x86 computer. When I go to another PC I just run the appropriate file for the computers operating system and I now have EXACT duplication on any PC I want.

 

Is there a way to get something close to this for MC installs?

 

I currently copy my mcamx7,shared mcamx7, & C:\Program Files\mcamx7 folders to a folder on the server, then do a fresh install on the new PC, run a check for updates.

 

Then I begin to systematically copy folders/contents to get machine defs, control def, posts, config files, etc, etc.... Then I have to install verisurf & X+, correct a few file paths, copy xss/css content for our standardized set up sheets. This ends up being a good bit of work.

 

Is there an easier way to get standardized seats company wide?

I like you look after a number of installs here at our work place and have the exact same frustrations every time I have to update to a new version, build a new PC etc, and then when I do ask a question about a problem with Mastercam I am always told by cncsoftware that our file structure is not correct and mastercam is not designed to have files saved and accessed from the network ! Hardly a real world setup to have all your machine def, post, tool library etc files stored locally on numerous computers through out the work place ! In my opinion this is an area of Mastercam that could do with some real work to smooth installation and updating to suit real world network environments.

Okay I looked at all the files and John that does cut some air having to start at the top edge, but I guess you just have to accept what you can get. I like it start at the top, but be nice if it start and the edge of the endmill and not the tip of the endmill. I could offset my chains and make what I did work, but need to move on to other pressing work and customer will just have to happy with that. Thanks I appreciate the help.

 

Brandon was posting the above and missed your reply yes I had, but at the angle was back to what would give me the results I was after the one edge is really not where it should be so it kind of makes it odd to even attempt at this angle.

Ron use the hybrid toolpath that Jparis did but set the top face as a check surface and then set it to leave 0.0001" on the check surface and you will get the cutter starting at the edge.

We use the prototyp calculator (downloadable) for a lot of stuff, even competitors cutters, works on volumetric calculations i.e. depth vs radial step and is a great starting point for the HSM toolpaths. As a lot of people suggest start with about 10% radial and 1-1.5 D for depth - machine dependant of course.

is there a way to "lock" a stock model so it doesn't go dirty when changing the operations it was created from? I ask because the biggest reason I don't use them more is say 100 or so ops into a part and I realize that tool needed to stuck out an extra .1, or say I wanted to leave .010 less stock in the initial roughing ops. I don't really want to regen the stock model and all the operations tied to it because I know the changes I made will not really affect the other operations.

+1000

Hey guys. If it's here than I'm blind. Can't find it, lol.

Hi Mark

it's there just not obvious,

multi cuts page - Tool shift - constant for each slice - set to a negative value

Beat me to it

Make sure you are using the specified Mobil Vactra 2 oil, we had issues when we deviated due to the wrong viscosity causing the pressure alarm.

I'm doing nothing but 5X tool paths, holding .020 true position on the walls

of 59" diameter vanes.

Hi Gcode, is that a typo or are you genuinely happy with a .020" accuracy on a part that big ?

I learnt something with the circle mill example of having the ramp angle set to 0 to make the tool plunge at the specified helix radius, but we usually just do it like Jeremy with a dynamic area clearance toolpath, set your helix angle to 0 and your top of stock to the same height as your finished depth and use the helix radius to achieve the cutter start point just inside the clearance hole you have drilled. Hope this makes sense

How about something like this, and you could use thin wall finishing if you wanted .

TEST.MCX-7

I am having a similar if not the same issue with opti-rest. (X7 MU1) I have a containment boundary set, using steep/shallow, retract height and clearance heights set, but the tool will retract above the stock model no matter what settings I use (which is unfortunately about 5 inches above where I am machining). I have tried using previous operations, cad file, and stock model (as 1 operation) for the remaining stock, but get the same result.

file was sent to mastercam to have a look.

 

first post btw. been watching from the sidelines for a while.... great forum.

Very similar problem that was sent to QC, head was tilted over to access some angles slots ,but would retract to some random clearance plan miles above the job on every retract. Anyway I am told it is being looked at.

Hybrid !

All depends! Never think in absolutes.

 

If you're running one part and will never see it again, 5 inefficient ops take a lot less time to program than a 100 op perfect program. Undoubted will take longer on the machine, but net gain if you saved in the sum of program and run time, and have machine time over programmer time available.

 

I've programmed one-off parts so quickly, but so safe, so slow so "inefficient looking", yet could run lights out with no doubt. Sure machine wear, electricity cost, but you can get nearly free run time with a guaranteed good part where otherwise the machine would have sat waiting for a nicer quicker faster pretty program.

 

That said, I've also spent days programming just to shave seconds off a program. With 500,000 part runs that is justifiably time well spent. .

 

all depends.

+1

use high speed core roughing

Couple minute call to your dealer problem solved. 2 hour process through the forum problem solved. Glad we were able to point you in the right direction.

This depends on your reseller !!

Try turning on the arc lead in and out with a line also.

Get back to work Mark. The day isn't over yet... LOL

 

Seriously, I reciprocate. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Three weeks off... Woohoo

Unfortunately I am working and will be until about 11pm tonight !

Cutting some quite tricky cavities that require some monitoring - 25 hrs cutting in each just for the finishing !

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone on the forum.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas break and enjoys some r&r

thanks to everyone that has helped out with any queries or issues I have had over the year.

Am I the only one with this issue? Came in this morning and all of the sudden my Stock is sitting 1" above where it should. Perhaps its too early but here it is. Just for kicks I changed the TF001584-3 stock to round and it also moved but on X instead. Weird !

This is because you are using an non standard WCS in your stock setup - try changing your stock setup WCS plane to TOP and it works fine. This is a bug that I have reported to QC.

Get Gcode verification of some sort . The first time you stack it on a re-postion move that wasn't simulated in the mastercam simulation because it was generated at the posting stage you will wish you had it. Especially if it is a decent stack that throws out the machines axis and wrecks a spindle, Gcode verification will seem like a cheap safety !!

IMO, the cost of a OEM post is small fry compared to trying to get a standard one dialled in.

And any issues you do have with it, you'll have the full support from CNC for help.

+1

Subject edited, hope this suits everyone ?