Just want to check that you aren't also saving under a large number of sub-directories (or long folder/file names) on your computer. I think I recall that there is a total limit to the numbers of characters that you can have in your file path in V8 - something like 140 - 160 characters. If it is any longer than V8 can crash while you are saving the file....

A couple of things to check here off the top of my head. First, has the computer hardware been updated recently? I've seen a problem before where certain graphics cards (namely ATI) can make Mastercam crash while saving. It wouldn't to be to do with the decriptor, but rather the small bitmap image that gets created at the same time. The easiest fix would be to stop Mcam creating the bitmap (you can switch that off from the Save window) Secondly, if I assume that you are saving the file on the local hard disk, and not over a network, it would be worth doing a Defrag (aka Disk Defragmenter, from the Start Button, go to Programs, Accessories, System Tools). This keeps the hard disk optimised, and it's useful to run it every few months if you use the computer frequently. If neither of these help or apply to you, please reply with the spec of your pc, operating system and version of Mastercam. Hopefully someone will have some other ideas.

Thinking about it, here's a tip for guys with slower computers; the Get window can take a relatively long time to open if you have a lot of MC9 files in the initial directory that you look in (i.e. C:MCAM9MILLMC9). What you can do is move these files into a sub-folder, so that the folder you first look into has only a few MC9 files (or none at all). Then navigate to the folder/file you want. That helped out with the speed of my Get window quite a bit.

Heavy Metal, From Windows Explorer, you can go to the Tools Menu and select "Map network drive". Put simply, this lets Windows access networked drives easier. From there you can also "Disconnect network drive". If your thinking of playing with these, I would run this by your IT guys first if you have some!

Rob, When I run the Cleanup option, the information at the bottom of my screen dissappears. But I am left with a message in the middle of my screen telling me how many overlapping entites were deleted. I was trying to think of an example to give you, but ended up confusing myself! The good news is that you will find FINDOVLP.DOC file in the CHOOKS directory of Mastercam. This will hopefully help: quote: Cleanup: in each set of overlapping entities, [this option] deletes all entities except the longest entity. Please repaint the screen after using this command to verify that this command had the desired effect. So if there are four shorter lines underneath one long line, the first thing you'll see is that there are "5" overlapping entities. After the Cleanup, "4" overlapping entites are removed. I hope this answers your question (fingers crossed)

64 seconds 1st time 35 seconds 2nd time This for those dudes who always have loads of stuff running... Explorer Internet Explorer X Beta 2 Email client Mastercam Help Window Dell Dimension 4600 P4 3.06 GHz with H/threading 512Mb Ram Geforce fx 5200 128Mb

I find that dragging an dropping with the right mouse buttton works very well for me. I just drag the toolpaths(s) until the operation I want to get close to is highlighted, then I let go of the button and select the copy/move operation I need. I found it was just a matter of getting used where the cursor should be when you let go of the right-button. Now I'm used to it, it works 90%+ of the time.

Welcome to the forum! I took a solid model in V9, wrote it out as an Iges surface file, and it read into V7 no problem Haven't got Rhino so can't help you there I'm afraid.

quote: how about my other post.... how do i get a mold to animate (open and close) in mastercam? No you can't do that in Mcam by itself, but there is a Mold/Electrode making package called Moldplus that runs within Mcam and automates core/cavity seperation on true 3d models (but only with surface part files, not solids). It can also animate the speration, i.e. show it open & show it closed. It's the best (if not only?) mold package for Macam. You can find out about it at http://www.moldplus.com

A great resource is at your fingertips - the online help guide that is installed with Moldplus. If you press the Help at the bottom of the Menu while using Moldplus (not the normal Mastercam Help button), each feature will be described there. You have a help button at every stage in Moldplus I think. Help files are usually a pain to print out, but you could always try that if you want to read it "offline". Normally if you need more than that, you'll need to contact your local dealer. They may have some more material. Hope this helps.

Hear! Hear! Or as they say in the 'States: +1 lol I hope you all have a top weekend, and stay happy for the next couple of weeks while I kick back in Spain

I see what you want Lou, but I don't think it can be done. OK, umm i'll shut up and start again! Lou! I think it can be done. If you go into your Tool Paramters page for your toolpath, press the Tool Display button. You have the options "Static" or "Animate". Set it to Animate. That has got rid of my circles. I just wonder if it would take longer to display a complicated/large toolpath though? I only tried it on a simple contour. Thanks Steve for the inspiration to try this

If you are using 9.1 or higher, you can also run the TPCFG C-hook (and then press the Help button for a description of all the features!). There is a switch there called "Surface/Contour: enable flat cut controls, enable spiral cut controls." Switching that on and pressing OK will make a new button appear on the last page of your Contour Parameters, called "Flats". That will allow the toolpath to cut horizontal surfaces as well as walls. There is an option called 2d that will create a flat toolpath on flat surfaces, and a 3d option if your flat surfaces aren't quite flat after all (a slight change in Z in front of a boss for example).

Ah, while I was lovingly crafting my reply, you beat me to it Thad lol

Hi, Sorry to say that jpg and bmp files cannot be opened directly by Mastercam. These types of files are not CAD files; they are probably photographs or drawings typically used in art software like Corel Draw and Microsoft Paint. However there is software available that can take a bmp or jpg (known as Raster files) and turn it's into a CAD file that Mcam can read (called Vector files). Mastercam has it's own software available for this conversion, and I would suggest that you contact your local Mastercam dealer for details. Cheers, Rich.

Lars, This is from "What's new in Wire 9.1" on my system (there's a shortcut to it from my Start menu) ---- STCW has been removed from the Secondary Menu There is a new Thread/Cut button on the Secondary Menu, which replaces the STCW button. Version 9.1 eliminates the global STCW menu, which allowed the user to create only one point for Start, Thread and Cut point (STC). While this is useful for a single contour, it becomes impractical when selecting multiple contours, often resulting in a “spider-web” toolpath, with all passes eventually returning to the one and only STCW point(s). (The next example shows....) how the new points may be used to represent thread and cut points on each contour and avoid the “spider web” effect. ---- Hope this helps, Rich.

You can remove hidden lines in the non-shaded view for Solids; I think this is what you're looking for. If you are using V9.1, you can go to Screen, Surf Disp, Solids. Switch it over to Hidden mode, then you'll have control over how those hidden lines are displayed (or not!) Cheers, Rich.

hansdeberlin, You may have done a search on this site, or maybe you haven't but there is a known issue with ATI cards crashing Mastercam when you go to save your MC9 file (you don't mention if this is happening to you, but it wouldn't surprise me). If this is your problem, try making sure that your shading is off when you save a file, or disable the option to "save thumbnail image with geometry". I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I hope this helps. Rich

This could be OS related - I could be wrong, but I don't think Paint in Windows 98 would let you save as a Jpeg. Are both PC's using the same OS? Rich.

Many Happy Returns! Rich.

Ed, Ok it's sorted now, but it doesn't stop a guy from thinking! Give this a go, to draw from the Origin. 1) Create, Line Vertical. 2) Type letter O for Origin, 3) Type "Y-1" (no quotes of course) and press Enter for the second point. It will then ask if you want to move the completed line in the X axis - just press Enter. That's it - I didn't touch the mouse at all. I understand why you would expect it only to be waiting for a Y coordinate for your second point. It has behaved like this since before I started using Mcam (6 years ago) but as you can see (if it works for you) there is no need to type a X value for the second point. Maybe Mcam X will do things differently. Regards, Rich.

Ah, it was just as well I didn't trust my own memory, because it was actually tech. support at CNC that fixed this for me! What you need to do is right-click on your original Operation Group name and go to Groups. You will need to delete the original Operation Group. Then as if by magic, you are left with your original Op Group (again...), and you then just need to Regen the operations. It worked on mine, so if you get the same thing again, I hope this will sort it out.

Hi Kathy, I had a similar problem to your file (I do tech support/training in the UK). Now I'm tied up training at the moment so can't check on how I sorted it out right now. I don't want to try to go from memory (not with my memory ). I try to get some info posted inside a couple of hours.

1) It could be that although the buttons appear inactive, they are still usable. I've seen that a few times in V9. The same buttons that were available in V8 should still be usable now, even if they look grey. I've solved that problem before by updating to the latest Nvidia drivers for my graphics card (Geforce 2 MX440) 2) I don't believe you can change the default file type to look at all Mcam files. I getting ready to be corrected though.... R. Thomas, Mastercam UK