You need to find out what it is in the G43 line that outputs the next tool. It might not be the next_tool$ variable itself, if might be a call to another postblock. You then need to move that to the M06 line. You should also keep in mind that you might need to make the change in two places, you probably have to make the change in both the psof$ and ptlchg$ postblocks.

Hi Darian, As far as I remember Mpmaster has that optoin built into it already, so you need to set it in the control definition. Go to "Settings" -> "Machine definition manager", click the "Edit the control defintion" icon, select the "Tool" page and check the "Enable staged tool routines" checkbox. If that doesn't do it, then the variable you need to output is next_tool$. That is also the variable you have to move if the next tool is coming out in the wrong location. I hope that helps.

Glad I could help, but... Using refht_a will work, too, and might be more correct, if it is the reference height from the drilling dialogue you want, and w$ is the initial height value. However, if it reads fmt W0 2 refht_a then you migth not get the correct output, as that means that the value of refht_a is prefixed with "W0". That probably doesn't matter if the value is between 0 and 1, but if that hole is at the bottom of a 1 inch deep pocket, then you would get output of W0-.9 for a retract 0.1 inch above the bottom of that pocket, and I don't think your control will accept that. I think you will need to depete that 0 in the fmt line so it reads fmt W 2 refht_a instead. A piece of general advice when editing drilling cycles in the post processor which many people forget is to also test it for holes where the top of the hole isn't at Z0. Most holes might be at Z0, but not all holes are at Z0, and you don't want to have incorrect output when you think the post processor is working OK.

You need to format the w$ variable, preferably up in the formatting for the other variables used for drilling. The line you need to insert is something like this: fmt "W" 1 w$ The 1 may need to be something other than 1, though. My best guess is that you need the same format as the zabs variable, so you might look for the fmt line that formats zabs, which will look something like this: fmt "Z" 1 zabs Where the 1 might be a different number.

Uncle_dolan: I don't think this problem can get the finshing operations to overwrite the roughing operations, as the operations would get written to different files, but yes, you should always check your code. If you expect both the roughing and fihishing operations to be written to the same file, then you might end up only sending the finishing opertaions to the machine if you aren't careful. It won't get two programs which both contain all operations, though, each of the posted programs will contain different operations, as each of the operations will onlt be posted to one of the files. Bruce Kanzelmeyer: That depends on your Mastercam configuration. If you go to the "Toolpath manager" page and look under "NC file", then you can select "Prompt", "1st operation only" and "Last operation's NC file". That will go a long way towards ensuring that all operations have the same file name and path, so all operations get post processed to the same file. As far as I remember the only way to get operations post processed to different files with that setting (other than intentionally setting different files) is if you continue work on a MCX file where the original NC file path doesn't exist on the PC you are continuing work on.

Hi, The control definiton changes are done in Mastercam. You select "Setting" -> "Machine definition manager" and then click the "Edit the control defintion" icon, then you add the relevant texts on the "Texts" -> "Mill drill cycles" and/or "Mill custom drill parameters" page. Those changes can also be done directly in the PST file, but then you have to know what you are doing to get it right. Obviously you then also needs to know which field corresponds to which variable, the texts in the "Descrition" columns should give a good hint about that.

You seem to have solved the problem, but I can explain what happened, as I have seen it a number of times at customers too. What happens is that some of your operations are getting different NC names and/or paths, so they are not post processed together. It usually happens when adding operations to a file that has been edited on another PC or if the NC file path has been edited in the configuration, so the new operation(s) get the NC file path of the new PC or new configuration. It might also happen if Mastercam's configuration is set to give the NC file the same name as the MCX file, if you have saved the MCX file with a new name, perhaps to save the old version while trying to improve on the toolpaths. The solution is as has been pointed out to select all operations and then right click and choose "Edit selected operations" and the "Change NC file name", and then click OK (you don't have to actually change the NC file name that is listed). I just thought you might like to know why that problem happens.

.ocx files are ActiveX files, which usually reside in the Windows folder. If he loaded Mastercam from a network drive then he probably does not have the necessary Windows components installed on his PC, he should install all updates from Microsoft that are listed as critical, and the newest .NET Framework version.

The Gforce cards are designed for gaming, but for Mastercam v9 and earlier (and possibly also for version X), high end Geforce cards were a more economic choice for Mastercam than Quadro cards if the user wanted a cheap card. Past that time, Quadro cards are a better choice, and generally cheaper for equivalent power for CAD/CAM. The current Quadro FX570 is a cheaper card than the GeForce 6200 you mention, but is a more powerful card.

Since you have a seat of Inventor, try saving the file in Inventor 2008 format and see if Mastercam will open it then. Alternately, you might try saving it as an ACIS .sat file (make certain it is ACIS R19 format or earlier). While that adds a step to the conversion process, it might get the file imported.

If you have maintenance for a newer version than the one you are running, then you should update to the newest version you have maintenance to run. If you do not have current maintenance, then you should get maintenance. It is cheaper in the long term, and every update gives improvements.

You cannot open Solidworks 2008 files in Mastercam X MR1, you need at least Mastercam X2 MR2 patch001 to open that format. You can solve the problem by saving your Solidworks files in Solidworks in Solidworks 2006 or Parasolid 17 format, both of which you can open with Mastercam X MR1. There should be a listing of the file formats you can read in the documentation installed with Mastercam, or you could contact your reseller who should be able to tell you more about which file formats can be opened in which versions of Mastercam. If you have been able to open Solidworks 2008 files in Mastercam before the reinstall, then you were using a newer version of Mastercam before the reinstall, and then you will also be unable to open Mastercam files made in that newer version of Mastercam.

A parallel HASP works fine, even in X3, as long as it is a HASP 4 (or a NetHASP).

Basically, dynamic comp. means the control takes the tool length and the part position relative to the rotary axes into account when moving the rotary axes, and so does the tilted plane function. The end result is that you do not need to know that information when posting, and the post processed program can be reused even if the tool lengths and the part position relative to the rotary axes changes. Hermles often have Heidenhain TNC controls, and they support dynamic compensation. On the Heidenhain TNC control (using Heidenhain conversational format) the dynamic comp. is activated with M128 and deactivated by M129, and for tilted plane machining (3+2 axis) you would use either Cycle 19 or (on iTNC 530 controls) PLANE SPATIAL. Of course, your post processor would have to support those functions, too Millplus and Siemens 840D controls have similar functions, unless they are rather old controls.

You will probably need to edit the pwrtt$ postblock, adding *ss$ (or something like that) to the line that outputs the other data. However, depending on the post processor you are using, it is also possible that the output line is in another postblock, called from pwrtt$.

It can be done a lot simpler than JParis describes. 1. Format and initialize the variables for program Z min. and max: code: fmt Z 1 z_min_p fmt Z 1 z_max_p z_min_p : 9999 z_max_p : -9999 2. Insert this code in the pwrtt$ postblock: code: pwrtt$ if z_min$ < z_min_p, z_min_p = z_min$ if z_max$ > z_max_p, z_max_p = z_max$ 3. Insert the same two lines in the psof$ postblock and output the result: code: psof$ if z_min$ < z_min_p, z_min_p = z_min$ if z_max$ > z_max_p, z_max_p = z_max$ "(", MAX. Z VALUE:", *z_max_p, ")", e$ "(", MIN. Z VALUE:", *z_min_p, ")", e$ That is all that is needed to output the min. and max. values for the entire program.

tool_number = t$ transfers the value, not the formatting. The formatting only affects the output to the NC file of the specific variable.

It most likely isn't related to anti-virus, those files are ActiveX files. Judging from the names of those .ocx files, you probably have some calendar time planner program running on your computer, though I do not see why Mastercam would need access to calendar functions.

The z_max$ and z_min$ variables are reset at each toolchange, so the output you are getting are the min. and max. values for the last tool, not for the entire program. You need to collect the values in pwrtt$ (and psof$ for the values for the last tool) in order to get the min. and max. values for the entire program. I don't think we (CIMCO Integration) have a post where the min. and max. Z values for the entire program are determined, but it would be very simple to do that. We do have post processors where the min. and max. Z values for each tool are output in the tool table at the top of the program, as those values tell the operator how long a tool the operator should set up.

I agree on the Raptor or RAID setup for the HD, and you should get the best speed from a striping RAID setup even if you use 7200 rpm HDs (Raptors in the same RAID setup would be faster yet). I would suggest a striping + duplication RAID setup, though. A RAID setup that uses both striping (for speed) and duplication (to prevent data loss) will require 4 HDs, but with the cost of the rest of the system, 4 HDs is a negligible expense, and you might use smaller HDs then the 250 GB you suggest, as the striping + duplication setup means you get twice the storage capacity of one of the 4 HDs. If you only use striping then your data are lost if just one of the two HDs crash, so only using striping make you more vulnerable to data loss than when using only one HD. The 4 HDs have to be the same size, and may have to be the same model (no problem if you are ordering them together with the computer). Remember that to be able to use those 8 GB RAM, you need a 64 bit version of the OS you select. With a 32 bit OS you would only be able to address 4GB of RAM, and some of that goes to extension ports and the graphics card.

It is the iout, jout and kout variables that need a * in front of them, i$, j$ and k$ should have a ! in front of them. That will give you I, J and K in all arcs. If you only want the two relevant ones, you will need to alter the code a little more. You will then need to replace the iout, jout, kout line with these three lines: code: if plane$ = 0, *iout, *jout if plane$ = 1, *jout, *kout if plane$ = 2, *iout, *kout That still won't get you X and Y on all arcs in G17 etc. To get that you need a bit more editing. Replace the xout, yout, zout in the pcirout block with pcirxyz and make this postblock: code: pcirxyz if plane$ = 0, *xout, *yout, zout if plane$ = 1, xout, *yout, *zout if plane$ = 2, *xout, yout, *zout I hope that helps.

quote: We dnc mastercam files to our mazaks but i've never had a mazatrol file so large it wouldn't fit in the machine. CIMCO Edit v5 can send and receive Mazatrol files, including drip-feeding files that are to large to fit in the control, but you cannot view Mazatrol files in CIMCO Edit. Yamazaki Corporation (Mazak) apparently does not want to tell us anything about Mazatrol format programs.

Most 4 axis post processors have problems in certain cases , but if you ask your reseller to contact us, then we can surely deliver a post processor that can give you the correct angles in all cases We have made 4 and 5 axis post processors for machines with Okuma OSP 100M controls before, but I do not remember whether we have made a post processor for that specific machine. I am having holidays at the moment , so I cannot check that before I am back at the office on September 3rd.

If you have any questions about the MP post language, posting the question here on the forum is a likely to get you the answer pretty quickly. scoolant is not a predefined variable, so scoolant should not have a $ sign in a X post, but the other three should, so in a X post, that line should be n$, scoolant, next_tool$, e$ The output created by that line depends on a number of circumstances. The other posts above outline the maximum output, a block which could for example be "N112 M8 T21", but under certain circumstances (coolant off and defined modal, pre-staging of tools off or only one tool in the program) that line would not produce any output at all.

You are not giving much information about your needs. Will you be running Mastercam Mill Entry or will you be running Mastercam Mill level 3 with 5 axis and solids ? Will you be running other programs too ? A couple of basic suggestions, assuming you will be running Mastercam on the computer: Do not buy a computer with an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor. Those processors are cheap because they do not contain advanced mathematical functions, and Mastercam uses those advanced mathematical functions. Running Mastercam on an Intel Celeron or AMD Sempron processor is slow, especially if you do 3D and/or 5 axis work. You should use a Nvidia GeForce or Quadro graphics card, as they work best with Mastercam. If you work with 3D and/or 5 axis, then you need a fair amount of RAM. Keep in mind, though, that Mastercam is a 32 bit program, so a single instance of Mastercam can at most address 2 GB of RAM. Get a large HD. The price difference between a 80 GB and a 250 GB HD is not much when buying a computer, and getting approval for a second HD might not be easy (depending on your company, of course). Do not buy a computer from a manufacturer that uses custom compiled versions of Windows. Those custom compiled versions of Windows may work quite well when using the programs that come with the computer, but they are less stable than the Microsoft versions. CNC Software does not guarantee that Mastercam will run on 64 bit systems, but I have not seen any mention of problems with running Mastercam on 64 bit systems mentioned here on this forum, so you could install a 64 bit version of Windows on the PC (i.e. Windows XP 64 bit or Windows Vista). However, if you will not be running any 64 bit programs and can install the 32 bit version of Windows XP Pro, then I would go for the 32 bit Windows XP Pro even if it is a 64 bit processor, as the combination of Mastercam and 32 bit Windows XP Pro is a proven reliable combination.