What don't you like about your sample file, looks good to me ?

You could try a different cutter as we find the Garr 143m cutters do take quite a bit of pressure to cut. If you look at the grind you can see that the first clearance grind is quite flat.

Yip xform stl was dropped for X9 Mike. PIA sometimes, I certainly miss being able to quickly overlay a stl and move it to where I want it without having to close the file Im working on or have to merge it to it. http://forum.mastercam.com/Topic10168.aspx

Heres an idea - axis substitution ftp://mastercam-cadcam.com/Mastercam_forum/X9_Files/ file is - sample roll

We used to make half a dozen large die casting tools every year, haven't even quoted one in the last 18 months. The Chinese are getting really good at both the mold making and casting of the parts and with government backed material purchasing and shipping it is nearly impossible to compete. We can produce tools to the same deadlines and quality (actually better in most cases) than the Chinese but when their raw materials cost 20% of what we pay your already way too far on the back foot.

How about plunge milling approach to rough and then edm to finish ? whoops, slow to the party , see it's been suggested

The first part of this statement could apply to numerous bugs that are present for release to release in Mastercam !

Yes known bug for the last few releases !

Vericut is $70K for a full seat last I heard here in NZ !! Is a great piece of software (not worth $70K though, it only simulates, doesn't produce the code !) but is only as good as the accuracy of the machine and control file and after four years of running it we nearly had a crash a couple of weeks ago after we programmed a particular part in a particular fashion and the machine moved in a different path to what Vericut did. Was on a 5 axis DMG with Heidenhain controller and from an engineers point of view was an odd way to move the machine, these Germans have a weird way of thinking about some things !! Anyway a quick email to Vericut and it simulates as per the machine. Good quick service too, but as I say only as good as the machine/control file.

Know of a local company that cuts insole foam all day with great finish and feed rates but they run a 100k spindle rpm on a high speed router !

Don't do lathe work yet but I am assuming this is the same as 5 axis 3+2 work and in Mastercam the retracts and repositions are handled at the posting stage so Mastercam verify doesn't know how to get the tool from one operation to the next. Bloody hard to visualize your tool path I know, especially on complex 5 axis work when verify shows the tool starting in a collision with your part !. There is now a linking tool path for 5 axis work but just more work to be done ! When you've used systems that show you all your retracts and links etc it makes Mastercam look a bit archaic ! Maybe simulation works better with lathe than verify ?

What anti virus are you using, Trend micro used to give us this error on all 3d opti paths, Disabling it fixed the error. Mark

Thanks for the heads up , I will look into it.

Thanks for all the input.

What's the policy on buying a second hand seat of Mastercam. i.e. can the licence just be changed to our company ? Have the opportunity to buy lathe at a reduced price from a customer that doesn't use it . Thanks

I would use a very small cutter and surface it. Be careful using a broaching style approach with the spindle off. We have tried this before and it wrecked the bearings in the spindle. We didn't notice it right away but a month or so later when using the spindle at high rpm we did. On rebuild we found the bearings had been flat spotted from the loading while not spinning, this is totally understandable as that's not what a ball race bearing is designed for.

Is the mplmaster post a good place to start for a post for a DMG Mori NLX2500/700Y lathe, or should we be getting a custom Mori post from the get go ? Thanks Mark

Not yet, have used it several times over the past few days with no issues.

Yeah 11.4 MB isn't that big , we usually limit to about 35-40 MB

slyym - how big is the file - sounds to me like they might be at the limit of stability as far as Mastercam goes - When I am doing mould work I often have to split my files up. Last mould required 5 different files to get it done !

you might want to try using stock model too as this will save you some time with air cuts contorl panel crash toolpath_test.mcx-8

Lol that's probably more accurate !

3+2 is relatively simple to learn in Mastercam if you are conversant with using the WCS and tool planes. A good verification package like Vericut is great to learn about retracts and repositioning moves too as a lot of these aren't controlled by Mastercam - only the post. As for simultaneous work that's a whole different story. I have had jobs that literally took me days to program due to the silliest little things making a tool path function or not - i.e. change the step over from 0.2mm to 0.21mm and that's the difference between it processing or staying dirty !! Couldn't find anything about this in the help file - LOL

Right place, right time - great machines

Yes vertical walls cause a lot of issues especially with the older tool paths. We always put pressure on our mold designers to have draft on all walls even if it doesn't require it just to help with surfacing toolpaths. p.s. hope the acquisition of Race Face by Fox doesn't affect your employment or the great products you guys make.