Thanks All!! Appreciate the help, really Printing out the reply's, and having a chat with Foreman, and hopefully I can swap cards with old computer, or just get a new Nvidia instead. Wish me luck. Thanks again! LastCat Seattle, WA

This is really frustrating. Our Foreman decided to upgrade my computer from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Says, it's a better verison. But now, it has caused all kinds of problems with MasterCam V9...argh!! Old System: Pentium 3 886hz, MMX2 64mb Graphics Card, RAM 512, Windows 2000, 40 gig Hardrive. Mastercam Version 8 and 9, ran great. Graphics card was small, and didnt have all the bells and whistles, but worked good. Only problem we had, was it would lockup on us from time to time, during working on a drawing. And had to reboot computer. So, saving our work in progress, was necessary every minute or so. But MC9 worked good. Now we have this new System: Windows XP, Asus P4P800 Mobo, Pent IV 2.4 ghz chip, ATI 9600 256mg Graphics Card, Trinitron 17" Monitor, 80 gig hardrive. We work in Commercial Airliner Repair. Have 5 CNC Mills, no lathes..LOL. I have my own office, and I am the only programmer. I also run a large CNC Mill 20' bed. Ok, heres my problem. At first, after loading MC9 into my new machine, the cursor would flash off and on, and sometimes disappear. And when I try to draw a line, on the first click the line was invisible, until the second click, then the line would appear as a solid line, as it should. The lines are flashing, and the lines for cirlces. boxes, dimension lines, all flashing, until I set the length, or the last click then the lines appear..argh,,what a waste of time. I can't see the lines on the first click its like guess work. So I changed the GC (graphic card) settings, OpenGL, 3D, etc..and finally got the cursor to stop flashing, and all the lines appeared on first click, and VIOLA,, it was all solved, running perfect. But the next day I come to work, and fire up the computer, its back to flashing and invisible lines again. What?? I didnt change anything from the night before. So I call our MC9 Dealer, explain to them the problems, they say to load the newest drivers for GC and Win XP. Ok, I get all the new drivers, and all new updates for XP. Still not fix. I have searched the FAQ's and searched previous post for this problem here at this site. And found that a repley to a FAQ says,"Unknown Bug". So, Mastercam here at this sight has known about this problem with XP and ATI Graphic Cards, and all I get is "Unknown Bug". Geesh, thanks. I also read where some have advised not to use the ATI GC, I like to strangle my Foreman, for changing my system. Plus, my old system is now far, far away, being used by someone in the office, and getting it back would be like, going to War!! Ok, has anyone with this Problem ever found the remedy for this glitch with ATI Graphic Cards, and Win XP? Somebody please say yes. I suppose we could take out the ATI Card, and get a card suited for MC9. But in the mean time, we spent $20,000.00 for MC8 and the upgrade to MC9 cost us $8,000.00. Wow for $28,000.00 you think MasterCam would be able to have this "Unknown Bug" fix at that price, wouldn't you think? Cheers LastCat

Thanks Chris, cmr, I usually head to Longview, my hometown on holidays. I've been to PIR many times, and Woodburn drag strip, where we would campout over night, during the oldies drag races. LastCat

Thanks Andris, Chris, Yep, got the book: quote: Corky Bell's Maximum Boost Great reading to get a start on Turbo Charging. I think I'll set MC9 aside and go the old fashion route. I have an extra engine I can model the exh header, using that foam pipe insulation. Shape 6 equal length pieces, and see how they will route to the turbo. CMR? How can I keep the argon in the tubes if the 2 pieces to be welded are not sealed, until after they are welded? Wouldnt the argon seep out between the 2 peices? Great idea, makes great sense too, fatiuge, heat, expansion, would be disasterous. Heres a site that sells the 304 tubing. Burns I have another friend that has a twin turbo hooked up to his BMW 6 series M30 3.5 liter engine, get this...568hp at the crank, unreal. Straight 6!!! Cheers LastCat

quote: Bye the way - the hands are too pretty and the nails are a little long for a machinist, perhaps somebody else is holding the header? LOL..thats funny Jack. Ya, thats the owner of the car, and the picture was taken at the guys garage that did the welding. But the owner himself is a good wrench too. I can get 2 1/2 dia 304SS tubing in simple 90 and 45 bends, smooth mandrel bends, they aren't that spendy, probably about $125 just for 4 or 6 pieces. Theres a few websites out there, and some Muffler shops have excess pieces laying around, that they sell for cheapo. I have a 120 volt welder that will work fine with stainless. Hopefully in a short time, I'll have the header welded up. 560sec? Those are nice looking Benz's. Weld you a exh header,,hmmm..anything is possible. LastCat [ 06-08-2003, 10:49 PM: Message edited by: LastCat ]

Thanks Craig, Jack, Check this pic: Its from a 1985 535i BMW with the M30 engine, 3.5 liter straight 6cyl. The guy had the header made, and mounted the turbo above the head, verses below which I need to create the same. He dynoed the car a month ago, and produced 520 hp at the crank and 540 ftlb of torque. Very impressive. At this point, it might seem to be simple to do a trial and error exhaust manifold, as long as the lengths are close and it fits. 304 SS is my choice of material. I was hoping to lay the design out on MC9, and then start fabbing the header from there. LastCat [ 06-08-2003, 08:18 PM: Message edited by: LastCat ]

Hi cmr Good luck on your project. Unfortunately, inside this BMW car there isn't much room for exh manifold, plus the turbo exh flange is offset to the head, and not much side clearance, a tight fit, but very doable. I know there are CNC Tubing benders, I wonder what they are using for software, if any? Cheers LastCat

Thanks Scott, Bernie, Give that a try. I like the 5 Point spline idea, that way I could check lengths, and adjust certain points to create equal lengths. Any other ideas, would be appreciated. Thanks LastCat

Hey, To start, I'm building a turbo exhaust for a friend, and I am trying to find a function that would work for MC9. This type of exhuast I am building will have equal length single tubing for a 6 cylinder engine. Is there a way to create a line from one anchor point (center of exhaust port from each cylinder) to the anchor point on the turbo exhaust flange. I need to find a way to create each line the same length and start at different points, but all end at the same place, the turbo. I was trying manual spline, but need a way to control length. thanks in advance LastCat

oops I meant, THEE, not they,,argh

Marc Lindsey at San Diego CAD CAM San Diego Is that THEY Marc Lindsey? If so, yep, they played up here in the NW Area in the 60's. LastCat

Hehehe I know what ya mean. Some people can pick it up, some have a harder time. I was playing with cars back when I was 16. And took them apart and back together again, and driving them all over the place. Some people just have a knack for it. My first computer was a Commodore 128, back in 1985. We used to copy the Basic programs out of the back of the magazines, line by line. And end up with some, low quality game. It was funny, now that I think about it. Machinig was a second choice. I started in College as a Mech. Engineer, in 87. Got offered a job as a CNC Machinist. "What?, I ain't no machinist!" I figured, well ok, just until I finish getting my degree. Here I am, 15yrs later. And 1,000 upon 1,000 of parts later. Still at it. Much better than the begining. My own office, computer, MC9. Lead Man, 4 CNC mills. "What am I doing?". Sometimes I wonder what it would have been like, to have a cleaner job, with women!! I tell ya, about every shop I have been it, its the same people. Some you can trust, rude, dirty, stinking rednecks. Arogant hose heads, drug addicts, alcholics. Then once in a while, you find a few really cool people to shoot the breeze with and laugh it up all day. CNC Machining isn't really a choice job, if ya think about it. We make things with tolerance's as close as +/- .0005 all day long. Can you imagine a carpenter holding those tol.? Hey, you scrapped that wall, its off by .010. Tear it down and start over. And make sure you write up a scrap report too! Or a Lawyer, Doctor, Scientist, a Cook.? Hey those eggs are way out of tolerance. "Hey wait, we can save them, I'll scramble them for the this next order". We are annoymous. We don't put our names on our parts. One looks like the other. No one pats ya on the back. You get cut, bruised, and some loose limbs (all 10 still attached). Then you have to look at Ernie in the morning, ugh, dude wear a mask. Place smells, and the coolant on a monday morning, argh. The people you have to work for, want you to turn a pumpking into a NY steak dinner, and have it done by lunch. We scramble about poor drawings, "Hey, is that a 5 or a 3 ?" Sometimes I wonder, at 47, is it time to make a change, find a easier going job, something with some life. How about selling Ferrari's or making guitars, or flying all over the world, taking pictures. Isnt there more to it than this? There has to be an alternative. Please tell me..Please!! Ok, as I head back to the office, and work on this tooling plate, get the parts, saw, cut sand, machine, sand again, tear down, set back up, call up tool, ......yadda yadda yadda...Can you guys relate? Or is it just me? Cheers LC

1955 Here,,add me to that list Mr Bond. LC

One thing about cutting an elipse on a Lathe is, RPM's. Even though you could get a Lathe to cut an elipse, you still have the problem of Surface Speed. Depending on Dia of the part. Larger the part in the Lathe the lower the rpms. Smaller the part, the higher the rpms. And with a Lathe, the action of the tool in the turret in X axis would have to move so fast, you might not be able to keep up with the spindle speed. In a conditional scenerio, the turret would have an action as a sewing machine, to keep in time with the spindle rpms. Otherwise, a lower rpm, say 200-400, you then have less surface speed, which equals a poor finish, and possibilty of stalling the spindle. My thoughts, cut an elipse on a mill. Cheers LC

Wow,,you guys are way over my head. I'll get there one day. Nice work. still wearing baby shoes Lastcat

Thanks Bernie, Worked Great!! Create Spline Automatic Select first Point Select second Point Select last point Cheers LC

Hi all, Trying to draw this part, Airline Rudder Section. I have a set of Points that are used for reference points only. But the line is to be a smooth line that passes through all 7 points, and not a point to point multiple line, with sharp edges. I have tried Multi Lines, but the surface still has angles created and not a smooth surface. What I need is a smooth surface, somewhat like an Arc. But I can't seem to get the Arc Function to work in this case. Or how to create this surface that passes through 7 points, and be a smooth transition, and not a line after line, each line intersecting, having a sharp edge. How do I make this line through 7 points and not have 6 flat lines connecting the Points? I have uploaded a file called "Vector 1" at the FTP site created by Jayson. See link below. Thanks in advance, have a great day. LastCat [email protected] ftp://mastercam:[email protected]/Ma...orum/MC9_files/

hi gcode, Do you notice any degrading graphics, while using 2 monitors, verses 1 ? I also have the Nvidia MX2, with dual monitor hook ups, but currently using just 1 monitor. Hows the graphics quality with 2? Thanks LastCat Seattle

HI Jay Will do, I'll have to check this Monday at and get back to ya Monday night. Thanks LC Seattle WA

Hi cadcam No problem...lol...Im new, at this, you should see the things I answer too. One day, I will be much better. Cheers LC

HI All Thanks for the great help and advice. Our company didnt spring for the 3D version, argh! So I made the drawing (Channel.mc9) by making the ends, and middle section, then I used RULED to create the floor and wall surfaces. Then the ends I used Flat/Bndy to close the ends. Looks like a Solid, but I think it's what is called a NURBS. Thanks SteelThom62, after reading his post, I made the walls and floors seperate, without the radius, and made a wall the drive surface, and the floor the check surface, and used Flow Line to machine the wall. And set the direction to cut from the floor up. And all I needed was the first 4 lines of Prog. Then I can back it off the walls, and sneak up about .015 at a time. Havent tackled the floor yet, will try the Pocket routine next. We make these kinds of parts all the time. In the past I have been writing the programs by hand, calculating where the tool should be in x,y,and z. Worked good so far. But it seems lots of work to make altered drawings in MC9 to get the part made. Seems all I should have to do is make a good drawing, press a button, and out comes my programs. But I guess, we have to trick V9 into doing certain sections of the part to get results. Thanks all !!! LC Seattle WA

HI Im new to MC9. Been in the CNC busy for 15 years, and used Gibbs for the last year. So our company wants me to learn MC9. So I go to a 3 day class, learning the basics about MC9. Company buys the upgrade from V7 to V9, computer, desk, sets me up in an office. We make Commercial Airliner Repair Parts, here in Seattle (no Suprise? hehehehe). 15' Komo, 20' Komo, Fadals, 40 and 80. Not lathes...hmmm. Nevertheless, I have been able to do easy straight forward parts with MC9, and a few 3 axis moves. Been at it now for 4 months, say about 60 programs so far. We do lots of extrusions, and channels. Making Spars, Chords, Repair beams and the like. I am having problems with getting tools to cut a part, that has tapers in the walls and floors. I can draw the part, but for the tools, I just can't get to cut properly, without it cutting also the walls, and bottom of part. Its a mystery now, but I'll find out soon. We do all kinds of Taper wall/floor combination parts, in 3 axis moves. Im just not sure if its the way I make the part, or how I am selecting the tool operations. If I could see how its done once, It'll open new doors, and I can go from there. I know some of you like to reply with "one liners". "Ya, look in the help sections, explains it all." DOH! Hardly. Needs hands on help, Anyways save your breathe. What I have is a file of the drawing of the part in MC9. Can one of you Highly Gifted and Eager Techs out there, here, take a look at my file, and see what you can do. All I need is for the inside floors and inside walls cut. I wanted to use a 1.00 endmill with .125 corner rad. to finish the walls, and a 1.5 or 2.0 facemill with .125 rad to finish the floor. Thanks LastCat Seattle Wa Oct 9/2002 [email protected] Link to the Channel.MC9 Drawing

We Upgraded at our CNC Shop from V8 to V9. And I get the same kind of lockup. To tell ya the truth, I havent noticed when or where it happens. Just right in the middle of creating a part. Worse thing is, after first time, I thought it was just a simply glitch that would dissappear. But continued, and I lost some time working on the drawing. Now I save every 3mins or so. Hope theres a fix soon. LastCat Seattle, WA