I started with V9, Steve. I loved it. Loved the X series and the newer interface is great, also. (I like Mastercam  lol)

Say you want to hide only a few things and leave the majority visable. Just select the few entities you want to hide, invert selection, then hit Alt E (or access hide function from ribbon.

Thought I did something wrong. Nope. Created a dxf file from Sandvik tools. Did everything the manual said. Same error popped up for me. "Problem with custom geometry or file"

EDIT: Not working in 2018 Tool Manager, either. I messed up. Sorry..

^ Czech Republic and eastern European countries, I suspect, have a lot of bootleg seats.

Thanks for the link! Very cool, indeed! 16+ years here and too many parts to name selling here. Some I machine here, others I send out 3D models for specialized manufacturing. Blueprint our parts. Mastercam does it all. Very complex designs over the years (automotive accessory manufacturer and distributor).

I recently got the upgrade from X7 to 2018, Allen. Haven't installed 2019 yet (too busy with projects, hopefully next week sometime).

I like the 2018 interface. Everything is still there (and more), just got to get the hang of it. You'll be fine. The more you use it the more everything will come together. Good luck my friend.

I never used the grid much before recently upgrading to Mcam 2018, but I do now. Comes in handy. Sometimes I turn it off, when desired. But...it does give me a visual aid. It's always aligned to the current Cplane and always moves up or down when changing Z depths. I have it set to: Spacing: X 0.25" Y 0.25", Origin: X0, Y0, Size: 1.0".

^ Crazy like a fox. lol

Helical Solutions...yep, that's my EM in use. Almost done. Driver side part came out very nice. Did what I instructed,... albeit a bit slow. Pass side about 2/3rds done.

Time isn't a concern, really (we're not a machine shop, so no deadlines and such). I'll have them both finished before the day ends. Started around 11:00. Took lunch at 1:30 and set up and started the 2nd part.

Boss was too nervous about dynamic milling the part, so...old school machining it. Two pockets with a 1/2" 4 fl. flat helical style EM and then for the blade (0.07" of material left - what they wanted) I'm using flowline rough and finish toolpaths using a 3 fl. uncoated carbide ball EM (I have two of them so I'll give it a whirl) Hopefully 3 flute EM hold up, not much material to cut. (part geo favorable for a flowline cut). The top of blade will be .02" (they will sharpen it down from there).

Got ipm at 4.81, .04 depth cuts. Probably way too conservative. It's cutting well right now...Air blasting it. Plunging off the part.

Trouble trying to plunge outside the part. Guess will use helix entry into material. Getting 0.0008" depths per helix rotation. Should be fine. Never used dynamic milling for (really) hard steels before. Boss seemed nervous about it. (nothing ventured, nothing gained)

Using a 4 flute 1/2" diameter helical carbide endmill and coated (I think TiAIN coating, it is not specified. Says "A coated endmill" on the sleeve". The finishing ball endmill is a 3 flute 1/2" diameter carbide non coated. I do have a 4 flute coated carbide helical ball EM that our router uses (long story, I could switch out if the need arises).

Glad I downloaded the HSM Advisor. Embedded in Mastercam 2018..

Thanks Ron! Never cut D2 before but that was my guess. Confirmed.. (thanks again)

Downloaded HSM Advisor (did hear about it before). I think it integrates with Mastercam?

I have to cut some blades with D-2 tool steel (1 1/2" by 4" by 1" blocks).

Should I use air blast or coolant? I've read air blast is recommended to prevent hardening. (better heat transfer to chips)

Any input would be appreciated. I'll start the machining tomorrow..

Enjoy reading this thread, although I have no (well, a little) clue. I live in a 3 axes world. lol (carry on)

Machined molds that 'could' use 5 axes, but I do them with my 3 available. (mold inserts) A bit time consuming but I get it done.

^Ah. Creating tool libraries..(never mind lol)

Go to Machine Group Properties/Tool Settings and checkmark "assign tool numbers sequentially". That would update the tool # and Length Offset and Diameter Offset automatically. Or just change the Length and Diameter Offset in toolpath parameters manually to correspond to the tool #.

(I kind of miss V9. Brings back memories)

I checked the DMS 8055 manual and the 3000's stop at 3008 (last post I made). Has to be a macro addition added on by the machine builder.

http://www.dmscncrouters.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/xxxxor-CNC-8055-Error-Solution-English.pdf

See what you mean, Awbade. 8055 manual error codes 3008 then the 4000's. Jshaver is right, gotta contact the machine builder and go from there. Good luck to you, hope you get this resolved soon.

you have to watch how it projects though because that will totally change your stepover/tool engagement.

 

it's either a 2+3axis and we just can't see that, or 2+3 and project + convert to 5-axis

 

or, or or .. it's a morph toolpath with 'blend spline' as the linking parameters and just happened to work our nicely here

Make up your mind already! (kidding Tyler)

Well, I'll be visiting here more often soon. Was mainly in off topic for the past several years (no questions to ask for X2).

Got the go ahead to upgrade.. On to X6! (and newer versions thereafter!) X7 near, huh? Goodie!

Bob,

Project toolpaths can produce super sweet and beautiful finishes. Definitely worthwhile looking into...You can use a flat 2D containment boundary for projecting on to a surface for machining. Will need two chaining boundaries. I haven't used project much lately, but when I do it gives great results.

Here's a link I found on filleting. Take a look.. It's using Rhino, but some useful tips here which you can incorporate in Mastercam..

This deals with filleting surfaces, which wasn't your question. Nonetheless, I thought this might be of some interest..

What Colin said..

Filleting a spline with arcs can be tricky often times. A spline is an interpolated curve, meaning its radius is variable (constantly changes). Arcs are segments of a circle and have a constant radius.

I've created "fillets" for comparative purposes before creating a blended spline. You can eyeball it until you get an appr. match when adjusting the magnitude of the blended spline.

Some CAD systems don't call them "splines". Many do, such as Mastercam. Rhino, for instance, just calls them curves (it calls lines, arcs, splines...curves). What they are is interpolated curves (as I mentioned, curves with variable radii...in other words, splines are free form curves). Whatever you prefer to call them, they are great for designing (obvious) but you need to find tips and tricks at times when dealing with them.

Filleting in general works great on some geometry and can cause headaches on other geometry. Often, you'll need variable radii as a constant radius may not work around the whole area. You may need to do blending, create fillet (no trim) and create additional curves then trim back, etc. It really is a skill dealing with filleting situations. The experienced and skilled CAD designers know an assortment of techniques to get the results they need. Do a google search on filleting and you'll find some good sources on how to handle those tricky filleting problems that often arise.

Those Rhino tutorials were great, thanks for posting them

Have you tried the Curve2Views command, yet? Create a 2D top view profile, for instance, and if it requires more than one curve to construct - join them. Then say go in the Front view and create a 2D profile (joining if necessary). Then with the Curve2Views, select them both and Rhino creates a 3D curve, which matches the top and front view shapes. It's WILD. And also extremely valuable for designing. Give it a try if you haven't already... I'm using it for spoiler designs. I can create the closed 3D curve I need, build the cross section curves, create the main surfs, etc. Blend the ends (which can be tricky...but not in Rhino). Use match curve and Patch surface - done and with G2 continuity.

Oh, to close the top and bottom surfs made, you can build the geo via blend curves or lines, arcs, whatever and match curve them. Use the End Bulge command to tweak their shapes if needed, or control point editing (inserting knots helps preserve the ends, keeping them G2 'curvature continuity' or G1 'tangent'). Or select the surfs themselves and create blended surfaces. A variety of techniques you can use..

You're welcome, Awbade..

The Training manuals level 1 and level 2 (advanced surfacing techniques) are excellent. They come with it when you order a seat of Rhino (on a separate CD, the sample files will automatically load when you install the program). Read them carefully, they'll describe and demonstrate the awesome powers of Rhino.

Don't buy Rhino at the cheaper prices you see from sites (google Rhino3D and they'll be littered with 'buy Rhino for less' sites). Those are pirated software. You won't get the updates (plus they're illegal). If you are in school, you can purchase a student license for CHEAP. Fully functional as the commercial version. No maintenance fees, either.

Wait till Rhino V5 comes out next year (in beta version now). There's a reason Rhino has only 4 versions (in 30 years!). When they release a new version, it's full of new powers. V5 has awesome new stuff (like the Gumball feature, Monkey editor, being able to turn on control points for polysurfaces, etc., etc.). Can't wait... A commercial license upgrade is pennies on the dollar for what you get.

That is a clever workaround. Good technique, gcode..

Of course, if you are attempting to create the arc between two endpoints of different arcs (arcs created on a different cplane) - you won't be able to fillet them, Jakub. In that scenario, try doing a blend splines function. May want to trim off a little from the arcs where they meet at the endpoint. The created spline between the endpoints will be "in 3D space". In other words, they won't lie on a construction plane.

Editing splines can be tricky in Mastercam. Takes some practice.

bump...

Had this problem today. I found out why, gotta wait for the IT guy to get out of a meeting.

We installed Kaspersky recently and now the Mastercam Editor won't work. Same message as what you had "can't create object" then the editor opens up a blank page. Workarounds I used - used the PFE Editor. Also, could click open the NC file in file directory and Wordpad opens, then do any edits I need, save, etc.

I opened Kaspersky (though its grayed out for me, the IT guy has to do it). I clicked on Application Privilege Control then scrolled down to Reports. There it shows Mastercam Editor was placed in the restricted group (but PFE allowed, etc.)

When he's available, I'll show him so he can put MCX Editor in the trusted group. Should then be back to normal..

I liked the freebie video tutorials on Rhino from cadjunkie. I learned a few nifty tricks. Good site MCM (agreed).

A cool video using modo and SW using digitized data of an Audi A3 hood scoop. modo cleans it up real nice to make useable 3D data...then it's brought in to SW. Cool stuff!