well, I think it was set on delta start to center at first. I didn't even notice the other option in there, and I might give it a try once I get the post back in line.

well, it's a combination of my general lack of experience, the odd controller on the machine, and probably the post we are currently using. I have no doubt the router can do a simple circle if it's got the right gcode. It better, considering the price and the sophistication of it.

It looks like it must be breaking the arcs. I come out with 4 lines of code to make the circle, which to me means it's breaking it into quadrants. Basically what I'm trying to do at the moment is make a 1/16" endmill create a 0.128" hole. There's obviously not much room for error there, and it's getting to the point that I might as well just use a drill bit (that's what I do on the mill with this product). But the stupid thing should be able to make a round hole. I need to find out if there's a way to use IJK with the controller on the router (A2MC). I tried 3 different ways just now, using IJK, using R, and using Signed R. IJK doesn't work at all, it creates a giant circle. R and Signed R make a slightly oblong hole.

Please, there is no reason to yell

I think using R just caused a problem for me, came out with an oblong hole instead of round. I'm going to have to see if I can get the router to use IJK instead. Stupid thing is driving me insane!

I guess that's all simple enough. Looks like it works well on the router, and I've got plenty of time to go through any code and add the M00 if I need to. Thanks for all the replies

alright, I'll give that a shot. thanks for the quick reply

What is the process for adding a "pause" to a toolpath? For example, if I'd like to make a cut with tool 1, pause to add clamps or change something, then continue cutting with tool 1 (or even switch tools), how would I add a pause where I want it to stop? I realize I could probably just add a M01 in the code, but how would I set MCam to do that for me? It wouldn't surprise me if there's some simple button to do this and I'm missing it, but I've never done it before so go easy I'm especially trying to do this on our new AXYZ router using X5, but if it's easy enough, I've got a few programs on the mill it'd be nice as well.

I'll give it a shot. The post the reseller changed looks like it left it at IJK, so I'm going to try it and see what happens

like what kind of accuracy changes are we talking about? This router is no slouch, it's supposed to be more accurate than a lot of mills. And if the controller doesn't cooperate with IJK, what else can I do?

yeah, our dealer mentioned changing it to use R instead, so I did that. It works great now. Thanks for the help everyone

I've got "computer" under comp type, and "left" under comp direction, assuming that's what you're talking about. The post we have I had to modify slightly to get it to use the reference points we programmed on the router (G55, G56, etc.), but nothing in the area I modified had anything to do with compensation.

We've just about got our new router figured out (AXYZ/Pacer, with A2MC controller), but when I try to run a simple test program (6" square at zero depth) with lead-in/out, it doesn't do it right. Instead of doing a 90-degree arc with a radius of 0.125" like I've programmed, it does a full circle of about 6", and returns to the point where it should enter the contour and does the square, then does nothing for a lead-out, just retracts straight up. Anyone know what the heck is going on? I don't see anything in the code that would make it do this, but I'm still very new to this. % (PROGRAM NAME - TEST3 ) (DATE=DD-MM-YY - 20-01-11 TIME=HH:MM - 13:20 ) ( 1/8 STRAIGHT BIT ) ( TOOL - 1 DIA. OFF. - 0 LEN. - 0 DIA. - .125 ) N100 G20 G90 N102 T1 N104 S18000 M03 N106 G0 G90 X2.875 Y.3125 N108 Z.25 N110 Z.1 N112 G1 Z0. F100. N114 Y.1875 F200. N116 G3 X3. Y.0625 I.125 J0. N118 G1 X5.9375 N120 Y5.9375 N122 X.0625 N124 Y.0625 N126 X3. N128 G3 X3.125 Y.1875 I0. J.125 N130 G1 Y.3125 N132 Z.1 F100. N134 G0 Z.25 N136 M05 N138 M30 %

which is why I've been thinking about asking the boss to get it for me. I'm just not so sure it's worth the cost.

yeah, that's what I figured you were getting at. I've developed the habit of just rotating the model 90 degrees in MCam, since there's apparently no "easy" way to re-define the default coordinate system in SW.

won't just opening the SW model in MCam do the same thing? Although, I suppose you wouldn't be able to use a reference coordinate system that was created in SW (probably what you were talking about)

I see there's a couple topics on how to change the default speeds, but I'm curious how the default speeds are defined in MasterCam to begin with. I haven't changed any of the defaults (and that could be my solution), but from what I can tell, it always seems to use an arbitrary feed of around 6.4 using the default tools (end mills anyway). Is there a reason those settings are set at what they are for default? Thanks for answering my questions that have developed out of boredom today

Jackpot! Looks like that works. Although, it still closes any open instances of SW2011 when importing the solids history (not at all necessary for my work). And it does some kind of funky things if you've got PV360 open when importing the solids history as well

I don't have the ability to open SW2011 files in X5 either. I don't really have a huge problem with it since I usually use parasolid or iges to bring them in, and I'm still using X4 for the vast majority of the work, but it's a little bit annoying.

and a very good thought at that. I'd love to have a Hurco VM1 model to play with on the days I'm bored at work wondering if I'm going to actually be able to make the stupid part (like today)

You're right, I'm not an experienced machinist in any form. I'm doing my best to learn as much as I can as quickly as I can. I mean, I know the basics, but getting into the specifics and trying to make things as efficient as possible is a bit over my head yet. And considering I'm not the guy that gets to run the mill (yet), I can't experiment with things myself to learn the way I like to learn. Instead, I've got to watch our machinist do things in his old-fashioned way, and try to convince him to try new things.

haha, I can't do that. He's retired already and working 40+ hours a week

We're using collet holders. Spindle bearings "should" be fine. The machine's (Hurco VM1) around 2 years old, maybe 3.

I dunno, they say right in the catalog they're specially designed for aluminum. That's why he bought them lol He made the finish pass bigger, but it's still leaving the same size burr as before. Which leads us to believe it has little or nothing to do with the finish pass. Our machinist is convinced it has everything to do with the helix angle of the cutter, could there be any truth to that?

Hopefully I can get our stubborn machinist to try this, but I doubt it So the high helix should actually be better for aluminum? And the coating isn't so good for running lighter loads like we usually do?