Not its not the same as one of the default views. This is as far as I've gotten, and I don't know if it's even going down the correct path... I rotated my part (from the top) to the correct angle. Then, using the views, I got the part so it would be like I was looking at it from the spindle. I want to call this view B27.640. I went to "Planes" and selected "Planes by geometry". Selected the geometry, selected the view then named the new view B27.640. All seemed like it was going well. Then I went to the View Manager and wanted to rotate back to B0 (which was a default view). I select it and click "Ok" .... and nothing happens. So what might I be doing wrong? I thought I had it...

I did that and after I clicked on Planes=Gview nothing popped up for me to enter a name. Where do I enter the name? And how do I go back to that view?

Oh - I'm using Mastercam X5...

I have a part that I'm going to machine on a horizontal machining center and it will require work at multiple B-axis (rotary) positions (angles) i.e. B0, B27.64, B90, etc.... How do you save a view once it's rotated to what you want? I've rotated the model so the correct B-axis position is facing me (the spindle). I want to be able to assign this view a name (the B-axis position) and go back to the view whenever I want with a click of a button. It seems to me like this shouldn't be very hard, but I'm finding it impossible. I've messed with the view manager and I'm totally lost. I've been in the "Planes" area and can't get it. If anyone can point me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated....

I want to post arcs that aren't broken in quadrants. Currently when I post, it breaks the arcs into quadrants. Anybody know how to do this? If so, you can just reply without reading the rest of my message because the rest of my message just tells you what I am doing to get this to work the way I want and it's not working... To get it to not break the arcs, I went in the "Control Definition" in "settings". In the control topics, there is "Arc". I select this and check the XY plane under Arc breaks to allow 360 degree arcs. Also under arc break options I have selected "Don't break arcs". When I go to save this, I get a "Control Definition Database Save Warning" that says, "Your changes can not be saved to the active Machine Group from the Control Definition Manager. Please enter the Machine Definition Manager to accomplish this task." So now I go into "Machine Definition" and a "Machine Definition File Warning" box appears. Is says, "You have chosen to edit the disk copy of the machine definition:" & "changing this file will affect all future Mastercam files that it is used in. Proceed with editing this machine definition file?" I hit the green check mark then it wanted me to save my existing file in mastercam. I didn't know what I was doing here and figured I had better cancel this before I do something to mess it up.

Awesome, thanks, worked perfectly (I didn't see the word "merge" when looking for a way to do this). Thanks again!

Ok, this is probably real basic stuff but I cannot figure out how to bring in another model to a file I already have open. I have a part I am going to program and there is a model of the part. I made models of each machine at our shop (tables/spindles/travels, etc) and I want to import the solid model of the part into the machine models so I can look at placement, etc. I also have a fixture I would like to bring in. How is this done? I remember doing this in Pro/E when we had it and it was pretty simple but I can't figure it out on Mastercam. Thanks for any help.

I have a lathe program and when I go to post it, only the first 4 tools get post processed, out of 6. All the operations are selected. Everything looks good. However, when I post the last 2 tools by themselves, they post with no problem. Any ideas why mastercam would only post 4 tools out of 6 when all tools are selected (but will post the 2 missing tools by themselves with no problem)?? Thanks for any help.

Also... I can't analyze properties after I did the curve on edge thing (couldn't before, either). This is a solid model from pro/e that was changed to .igs file. Is there any way I'm going to be able to analyze properties when I import a file or can we only do that when we create the whole thing in mastercam?

I did the screen statistics and it has 3408 lines, 2363 arcs, 18 splines, 692 trimmed surfaces, 1 tools. What does that mean to me?

Yep the curve on all edges worked. I just selected the entire model now I can drill on it. Thanks The solids / from surfaces... I'm not sure how that works. It didn't let me select anything, it said there are no surfaces on the screen or none have been selected. I'm not familiar with the lingo - example: I don't know what surfaces really means. When I import a pro/e model, would it have surfaces or is it something else?

Ok I don't know if this is basic stuff or what (I haven't spent a lot of time working on Mastercam), but I am having problems using the files that I import into Mastercam. The latest problem is an .igs file. I am trying to use the model of the part for programming and it won't let me select any of the geometry. I go to analyze the model (like using distance) and it's the same thing. I have 'enabled all' on my autocursor but still nothing highlights or snaps when I'm in analyze or toolpath. The only thing that happens that shows this model is 'alive' is the individual features highlight when I run the cursor over the part (when not in analyze or toolpath mode). There has to be something I'm doing wrong with these files when I import them. Are there things I should/shouldn't have checked in the options before I import? Thanks for any help

I just created some simple 2D geometry and I'm trying to clean it up by deleting some lines and for some reason I'm getting a Warning alarm that states: "Warning - zero length line" when I am in the "Divide/Delete" mode. When I move the cursor near this line, the alarm pops up every time. So I can never get to the line to select it and delete it. I've never seen this before, and I'm stumped as to what to do. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help!

What I mean by gage cuts is we do not back the diameter off, instead we just bore just deep enough to allow a measurement (in most cases this is 5% or less of the bore length) and we adjust the diameter (if necessary) from there. I just find it hard to believe we are the only shop in the universe who has this problem. It is across the board on the horizontals in the shop. From the old to the new to the small and the large. Obviously on our 10K+ castings we are taking preventative measures no matter what. On the mid to smaller stuff, it would be "nice" not to take the gage cuts but I, in good conscience, can't just eliminate them across the board because of the potential scrap that will incur. Regardless of CYA. Regarding the CYA, I know how to go about that with the emails/documentation and etc. And I will do this when the time comes to start eliminating the gage cuts. I want to have an idea of what is causing this oversize bore problem and make a change of some sort before removing the gage cuts, however. Which brings me to the root cause analysis... ...I'm at a loss as to the contamination and here's why: Our sister company uses the same equipment in a lot of cases, some are different, but similar across the board. When I ask the question (how do you keep chips from entering the spindle, etc) the reply is they don't do anything "special". So I ask specific questions hoping what they don't think is special is something we would think is special. Some ideas are that the chips are accumulating on the spindle housing/face and dropping on the tool taper when tool changing. So do you (my sister company) keep an eye on this or clean it every so often, etc. The answer is, "not particularly" & of course on special occasions. And to be honest, these are CNC automatic machines. I cannot imagine that shops that don't have this problem do (or can possibly) keep their spindle housings/faces clean of chips at all times. So that being said, at some point they would have to experience the same problem I'm having, IF that is the root cause. But I'm not hearing this. Another idea is the chips are coming from the tool magazine pots (but HOW do they get there to begin with?) and transferring to the spindle, etc. etc. Do they have PM that cleans these pots out regularly? Again though, how would the chips get there to begin with? And I'm talking when I look at these pots (plastic liners), they are embedded with indentations from where chips were. If they are getting there, they are getting in the spindle. HOW?? I agree I need to find the root cause. That's what I'm working on here with the help of you guys on this site. I need other ideas cause I'm out. I'm hoping we are doing something different than those that say they don't have this problem, and I can't think of anything. And btw - regarding the frequence: We can run 10 - 20 - 30 parts in a row with nothing but normal tool wear causing the size variance, but we will eventually get an oversize bore. Thanks for taking the time to read this and giving me some ideas...

There is an on-going debate at our shop on whether or not gage cuts SHOULD be used when finish boring on a CNC horizontal machining center on tolerances of about +/- .002 or less. The shop floor personnel say "yes" because we have problems of getting chips in the spindle which will help to cause oversize bores. However, management disagrees. The main reason is because we have a sister company and the management there says they don't do it and don't have any over-sized bore problems. We both run the same parts on similar machines. (We have about 15 horizontal CNC machining centers and boring mills. We machine part sizes that would fit on a 500mm x 500mm table to 2500mm x 1500mm table. Material is usually ductile iron castings) I know we get chips in the spindle, in fact if you look at our pockets in the tool magazines there are impressions of where chips were, therefore I think that's proof that there would be this problem. What I don't understand is how the sister company "doesn't have any problems" when it comes to this. Any feedback on this issue? It's driving me nuts hearing from management that we should take the gage cuts out when I know (at least I believe) it will cause over size bore problems. And don't want to scrap parts out to prove a point...

Yes, the practice has been stopped. So anyway, I'm looking for solutions for polishing in the machine (sometimes we just can't get the required finishes with "conventional" tooling) and for deburring where casting and machining meet (we program a small radius in the transition from machined surface to machined surface that would otherwise cause a burr). I am looking for this because the time (and potential quality problems) it takes to do outside the machine would be detrimental to our productivity as these operators are running multiple pieces of equipment... Guys at the shop here are coming up with ideas. Maybe using a strip of flexible but stiff steel (affixed to a tool holder) with felt wrapped around it, then emery over that. The steel strip underneath would give a little and the felt would conform to the part shape, with the emery of course doing the deburring or polishing. Personally I think it would work best for the polishing, not necessarily deburring, maybe just light deburring. If deburring too much, I think you will have shedding of the emery. I'm just still amazed that I would have to concoct something at the shop for these tasks because there is nothing available on the market to do this. I have talked to many people on this and they say they do what was being done here on a normal basis (reach in and deburr/polish part while it is spinning in the chuck), so something to replace this I think would be an easy sale. Hmmm...if I come up with something decent, I'm probably going to market it.

It seems like there should be something on the market that address this specific issue, considering how much CNC turning that goes on around the world....

Nylox brushes look good I think. And most of the parts are too large to go into tumbler...

Oh, I left out some important information. The edges that need deburring are where a machined and cast surface meet. So I cannot simply program a radius at a transition point. The deburring tool would need to be able to deburr uneven, varying surfaces. Thanks...

At our shop, there is a practice of deburring some of the part on a turning center (from large VTL's to smaller horizontal turning centers) by applying emery cloth to an edge WHILE THE CHUCK IS SPINNING! So the operators arm is reaching over and onto the part while it is spinning in the chuck. This is undoubtedly a dangerous practice and a major accident waiting to happen. I am looking for alternatives to deburring the part in the machine. I need to do as much work in the CNC as possible, as the operators are running multiple pieces of equipment. I don't want them to have to deburr outside the machine with a grinder, etc if at all possible (we are doing this now in-place of deburring by hand in the machine). So, is there anything out there that is made specifically for this? I have seen brushes for milling machining centers, but I haven't seen anything for turning centers (although I haven't looked till now - I am new to the turning center department). Or any ideas on what I could "fabricate"? Any help is much appreciated...

Ok, I have my program set-up and I am getting an alarm (806 Illegal Address). Does anyone see anything wrong with this line for a Mazak M+ control? : IF[#157EQ1]THEN#800=1

Great! Thanks for the info - I am going to try this on Monday as see if I can get it to work. I see how the variables work and I think I'm going to try something like this: Assign a variable for each part. 0=no 1=yes such as: #101=0 (Part-1_0=NO 1=YES) #102=1 (Part-2_0=NO 1=YES) #103=0 (Part-3_0=NO 1=YES) #104=1 (Part-4_0=NO 1=YES) Then use the IF/GOTO IF[#101NE1]GOTO21 (If 1st part isn't being run...skip it) ... ... N21IF[#102NE1]GOTO22 (If 2nd part isn't being run ... ) Something like that. I will have to give it more thought, but now at least I have some direction! Thanks again everyone

Would you be able to give me an example of what the macro would look like? I'm weak in this area... Thanks again!

Here's the situation: I have -4- different parts fixtured on a tombstone. Sometimes we don't have all the forgings so we run the same program (the one that machines all -4- parts), even if we only have 2 or 3 of the parts (each fixture runs a different part - four fixtures per tombstone). Question: How do I write the program so I can have the machine run the parts of the program only for the parts that are available? It can be any combination of parts that we may be missing. I didn't want to have to write a bunch of different programs for this. It is for a Mazak FH680 horizontal milling machine with an M+ control. We program in EIA, not mazatrol. Thanks for any help!