Just to let everyone know that Vol 3 for X2 is finally finished and available for sale. You can order by clicking on the Books link on emastercam, or go direct to the sales site: http://www.volumesdirect.com/detail.aspx?ID=3024 I'm really proud of this book. Especially if you are new to 5-axis, it will save you. http://www.thesolacegroup.com/SharedImages...er_05022007.bmp [ 06-01-2007, 01:35 PM: Message edited by: Charles Davis ]

If you are having trouble running v9 on a NetHasp with X, the solution as I understand it is: Install NetHaspServer X on the computer you are running v9 on. If anyone else has had this problem and have found this solution works, please post here.

Just a reminder that there is a feedback page on the Handbook web site: www.thesolacegroup.com I'm always looking for ways to make things as good as they can be, so if you have any feedback, feel free to contact me!

Thanks for the input! I've got a lot of stuff working now. I'm still hacking at it. Frontpage 2003 makes this a lot easier than it used to be! I think In-House Solutions will start presenting the handbook sales in $US soon. It's something I've wanted for a while, but evidently more complicated than I expected, since it's license to In-House (Canadian company) for distribution. For Solidworks in SD, you may want to talk with GoEngineer in SD. I think Bill Campbell is still there. --------------------------------- I still own SD CAD/CAM with my business partner, and am involved on an hourly basis every day. I just work from my home office in Louisville (instead of my home office in San Diego!). The Internet is an awesome thing! With IM, email, and unlimited cell phone usage, it's surpising how close SD and Lou are! I do tech support, posts, business strategy, and work on the Handbooks.

I put some free stuff on the Downloads page. I also got the Feedback form working.

Thanks about the Extensions. They said it did, but I'm not so sure. Everything else seems to work. The buttons on the home page should look like this:

The one I worked on, the Z up/down dial was reversed from any other machine I've seen. If you twisted the knob CCW, the tool went down. Twist it CW and the tool went up. It seems like a simple thing, but I chipped a tool more than once, and almost put a drill through my finger tip once. Not a bad machine. The button WAS labeled properly, but old habits can bite you if you get in a hurry.

Yeah, mpmaster.pst What else would be useful? 1. Revivions/corrections to book? 2. More exercises? 3. More samples? 4. Drill chart?

Still trying to de-bug this. I have nice looking buttons on the Home page in Microsoft FrontPage 2003. But when I publish, I get plain text buttons. Any Web Guru's out there have an idea why? If anyone has any ideas on how I can make this more useful, let me know. I'll probably add some more samples and may start posting revisions and downloads, once I get the hang of how to manage the site. You want it, ask and I'll try to deliver it. I want to test if I can display a pic, so here is a nice shot of Zion National Park in S. Utah (hopefully!). [ 01-06-2007, 09:34 AM: Message edited by: Charles Davis ]

Thanks. If anyone needs any contact info changed or added, or notice any typos or errors, please let me know.

For those who are interested, there is a new web site for the Mastercam Handbooks that has some information, samples, etc. www.thesolacegroup.com It's still under construction, but I hope to have all the kinks worked out soon. I scoured the emastercam site and included some of your nice comments about the books. I hope those who I quote don't mind. If you do, just send me an email and I'll remove your comments.

Tough crowd. Sometimes really bright people have trouble expressing themselves without acting out. I don't know if some of the people on alt.machines.cnc fit that category, or if it's just a place to wallow. But, we all believe in redemption, right? Let's see what happens next. If the tone changes, for the better and for good, then let's let bygones be bygones.

Mastercam is sold by VAR's that stick within a geographic region. This is good for both the VAR and the customer. I like to sleep in my own bed at night, and as a customer, you want a person who is within easy driving distance. We cover San Diego, Imperial County in S. Calif and Baja, Mexico. Most Mastercam VAR's have been in business for over 10 years, so you'll likely be very happy with whoever you get. All my books are distributed through InHouse Solutions of Canada. They are available under the Books link on this web site. The cost is in $CAN, which works out to $98US. Now, I have not touched Smartcam since 1994. That is a lot of mouse clicks ago, and my memory may not be perfect. Of course there was no one reason for the company demise. But, as best I can recall, the fact that you essentially "drew the toolpath" was a real problem that hindered software development, particularly when it came to surface machining. All that said, it would be nice to have the same geometry creation and modification tools for toolpaths in Mastercam that are available for creating lines, arcs and points. Now, don't take this wrong. I'm not blindly defending Mastercam, just telling you what I've found over 12 years dealing with the company. Often I've been quite hot-headed and jumped up and down and demanded something from CNC. I have my own sense of arrogance in that of course I think I'm always right. What I found over the years is that CNC really does listen. As I learned the reasons WHY something wasn't done, or why is was not done immediately, there was usually a very good rationale as to why. What I found out, usually the hard way, is that some of these things are not as easy as they seem, or they have implications that ripple beyond my current narrow focus. I've never found CNC to be arrogant, or to not do something because they were lazy or just felt they were perfect. It's a very market and customer-driven company. So, I've learned (gee, maybe I can mature, which would certainly suprise some old acquaintances and even myself!) to make my case, lay it out as clearly as I can, and provide as much constructive input as I can. Over time I quit throwing fireballs because, well, it just doesn't really work well. Often I "win" in that I get what I want. Sometimes I "loose" but I usually learn why something didn't change as I wanted or as fast as I wanted. That is frustrating to someone like myself who is very demanding and impatient. But the progression is always forward, and in every case I can think of, the things I wanted appeared in the software. CNC like any company (even every one of ours or those we work for) has limitations of time, money and resources. It's managed pretty well. There is no GodCAM. Now, let some people on alt.machines.cnc call me a hack, an apologist, self-serving or whatever. [Not to bore anyone with my personal life, but I joined the Marines at 17 when I weighed 115 lbs soaking wet, and spent 13 lovely weeks on Parris Island in the dead of winter with no field jacket liner. Trust me, I've been yelled at by the best.] To those people I say this (and I'm not speaking to anyone in particular here): I'm really not out to please anyone but myself. I'm not going to say anything I don't believe, because I don't have to, and because nothing is worth lying about. I've been rich, and I've been poor, and I know that money has almost nothing to do with happiness. Life is too short to spend it bent out of shape. Go home, hug the people you love, and "don't be hatin' ". Try to be constructive. The bad Karma you spread by being unnecessarily negative hurts you and the world. Find a better way to relate your opinions, and you'll get more done. Again, I'm not addressing this to anyone in particular. I just saw a lot of mud slinging on alt.machines.cnc and maybe what I've learned the hard way can benefit someone else. Peace out.

Actually, there are a lot of problems, for lack of a better term, "hard linking" the geometry and toolpath. It is not uncommon, particularly on simple parts, to have toolpaths that don't closely resemble the part geometry. You might do this to accomodate work holding, or to just get the most efficient toolpaths. If you think about it, it's easy to imagine these types of operations. Actually, I really like the way Mastercam does it. The toolpaths and geometry are associative, so if the geometry changes, you can regen the program and it's done. But you can always break that link too, but just drawing in some geometry to muscle the toolpath around. The geometry with toolpath attributes is convenient, and it sounds good. It's been many years, but as I recall, it "didn't use as good as it sounded". It created more headaches than it solved. I experienced Point Control first as an employee, then as a VAR. I was an employee during the fast growth phase, which is fun. I experienced as a VAR just before they started crumbling; beating the horses, jacking with dealers, and undermining their VAR's. Not fun. Edwin was not a machinist. It would be pretty hard to find excellent computer programmers that were also machinists. Nice idea, I just think the two career tracks are so different, that there aren't a handfull of those people out there. What made Edwin a good programmer was his natural brilliance, creativity, lack of arrogance, desire to do good work, and his ability to really listen to what you were saying and deliver what you asked. You couldn't ask for more.

Sorry. My internet connection was acting flaky, and I hit Post twice.

A little history some of you might find interesting. I was the #32 employee of Point Control Company (Smartcam) in 1987. Smartcam (goof name: StupidCAM as it came to be known by the mid-1990's) grew up in a kind of organic way. That is, it started as a really simple CAM system, a kind of graphic calculator, where you essentially drew the toolpath. So, the "ability" to graphically edit toolpath was not some pre-conceived act of brilliance, it's just a byproduct of how the software started. The inability to break the link between CAD geomety and toolpath was the achilles heel of Smartcam, and killed the product once surface modeling and machining emerged. Smartcam was slow to accept the fact that you HAD to evenually de-couple the two. Jerry Blakely who was the CEO of Point Control was a brilliant business and marketing guy; and a great man too. (I believe Jerry took a buy out in the mid 1990's, smart move). The other partner, who I won't name, was quite stubborn and unwilling to accept that anyone's else's idea of things could be better, and he was very reluctant to "let go" and let really good people influence the product. Their business policies towards their dealers got really goofy too. To sum it up, they "beat the horses" pretty bad, taking an arrogant and bullying approach to dealers, and blaming dealers when their sales were slow, rather than accepting that their architecture just wasn't keeping up anymore. Perhaps this did happen, but I was long gone and out of touch with the company by then. When I delt with Smartcam, I used to look as Mastercam and get almost teary-eyed. About every 5 seconds I'd be saying to myself, "Man, that's how it ought to be done". When I got my chance to change ships in 1994, I leaped at it. Some day someone should write a book about Point Control Company. It is a fascinating study in business. I'll always be grateful to Jerry Blakely for giving me a start in this business. I learned a heck of a lot working for Point Control in tech support. I also left a few good friends there who were brilliant programmers (Edwin Wise in particular). Until the mid 1990's, Point Control and CNC Software were neck-to-neck in sales. After that, CNC took off and Point died a slow, painful, long, agonizing death.

A little history some of you might find interesting. I was the #32 employee of Point Control Company (Smartcam) in 1987. Smartcam (goof name: StupidCAM as it came to be known by the mid-1990's) grew up in a kind of organic way. That is, it started as a really simple CAM system, a kind of graphic calculator, where you essentially drew the toolpath. So, the "ability" to graphically edit toolpath was not some pre-conceived act of brilliance, it's just a byproduct of how the software started. The inability to break the link between CAD geomety and toolpath was the achilles heel of Smartcam, and killed the product once surface modeling and machining emerged. Smartcam was slow to accept the fact that you HAD to evenually de-couple the two. Jerry Blakely who was the CEO of Point Control was a brilliant business and marketing guy. (I believe Jerry took a buy out in the mid 1990's, smart move). The other partner, who I won't name, was quite stubborn and unwilling to accept that anyone's else's idea of things could be better, and he was very reluctant to "let go" and let really good people influence the product. Their business policies towards their dealers got really goofy too. To sum it up, they "beat the horses" pretty bad, taking an arrogant and bullying approach to dealers, and blaming dealers when their sales were slow, rather than accepting that their architecture just wasn't keeping up anymore. Perhaps this did happen, but I was long gone and out of touch with the company by then. When I delt with Smartcam, I used to look as Mastercam and get almost teary-eyed. About every 5 seconds I'd be saying to myself, "Man, that's how it ought to be done". When I got my chance to change ships in 1994, I leaped at it. Some day someone should write a book about Point Control Company. It is a fascinating study in business. I'll always be grateful to Jerry Blakely for giving me a start in this business. I learned a heck of a lot working for Point Control in tech support. I also left a few good friends there who were brilliant programmers (Edwin Wise in particular). Until the mid 1990's, Point Control and CNC Software were neck-to-neck in sales. After that, CNC took off and Point died a slow, painful, long, agonizing death.

Check the Mastercam web site for 3rd party products (like Verisurf, others).

Wait until you see the new Change Recognition stuff.

Documenting revision changes is always a challenge. I do it full time, and it's hard. I don't see how educators especially can deal with the burden of not only learning what's new, but then creating documentation to teach class, and have any time left over for students. That's why I developed a curriculum to accompany the Handbooks for schools and Mastercam resellers. Vol 2 is current as of a few weeks ago. My next task is to finish Vol 3, Multi-axis machining, for X. The way the books are written, you can keep up with minor revisions by just reading the release notes with the new software. Really, that's the whole idea behind the books. Rather than taking a "monkey-see, monkey-do" approach, I take a comprehensive top-down approach to learning. That way, you develop such situational awareness of what you are doing, updates are not so traumatic. You just know how things work and why, and therefore are well equipped to digest those enhancements easily. Do you think it would be helpful to have a web site where you could download snippets of the book that change? Would you use that service regularly?

IMHO, yes. X MR2 is very solid, and X2 implements a lot of great stuff that you will not want to be without. Do it and don't look back.

Good question. Vol 1: 2-1/2D Modeling and Machining and basic Solid Modeling. Covers Mastercam Level 1 and Solids: All the basics of Mastercam, how to draw and machine "prismatic" shapes, 2D Splines and basic 4th axis work. Vol 2: 3D Modeling and Machining. Covers Mastercam Level 2 and 3: How to create surfaces and machine complex 3D shapes like molds and complex parts. Vol 3: Multiaxis Machining. Covers Mastercam Multiaxis: Full 4-5 axis machining. Here is the link for Vol 2 http://www.volumesdirect.com/detail.aspx?ID=2877&R=1

The books cost $120 Canadian (since they are distributed via In-House Solutions in Canada). This works out to about $98 US.

The Handbook Vol 1 takes you from ground zero and covers 2D wireframe, solid modeling, and 2D toolpaths, including spline machining. Hang in there on X. Once you get used to it, you WILL NOT want to go back to v9. It is a far friendlier work environment with so many nice conveniences. You just need to quit trying to do everything in X the way you did it in v9. Approach X as if it were new software. Many of the old terminology and ways of doing things do transfer from v9 to X, but it's best to back into those.

Just a heads-up to everyone that the Mastercam Handbook Volume 2 for Mastercam X has been delivered to the publisher, and should be available for purchase by clicking on the emastercam.com Books link (above) soon. This book is over 300 pages long, and has hundreds of illustrations and lots of sample files. It covers 3D surface modeling and machining, including the new Mastercam High Speed machining functions. If you are new to Mastercam X, 3D Machining, or just want to learn all there is to know about surface modeling and machining in Mastercam, you may want to check this out. This book can be used as the main course manual for a college level class in Mastercam, as a self-study guide, or as a ready shop reference. For you instructors, a curriculum is available that includes hundreds of PowerPoint slides, quizzes, and other things that will make your life easier and allow you to spend your time with students rather than creating training materials. I'm really proud of this book, and think it is, by far, the best work I've done yet. I am now working of Volume 3, Multiaxis Machining and have some other goodies in the works. Thanks everyone for your support and kind words. If you use the books, I'm really open to input about content, corrections, etc. Just email me at [email protected] Here is what one user said about the Mastercam Handbooks: "I feel that the MasterCam Handbook series for X is the best technical training aid that I have ever used. The books take you from zero knowledge of Cam in steps right through to 5 axis modeling and machining. Well written, and I think the power of these books is in they make sense to the machinist as well to the Engineer programming for the first time." Matt McCormick Prototype Instrument Maker Eye Concept Lab USC Keck School of Medicine Los Angeles CA