looks like everyone beat me too it, steve

Here's a fairly easy fix for the situation you're talking about. Go into the "Gap Settings" window in the third toolpath parameters page of the surface finish operation. Increase the "Gap size" distance or percentage until the retracts are eliminated. Use this feature with a little caution if the part you are toolpathing contains many and/or small complex surfaces because there is a danger of gouging if surfaces were missed when selecting them as check. ex: two surfaces are seperated by a tall standing rib and the "Gap size" specified to eliminate many retracts is larger than the distance between the two surfaces being cut. If the surfaces that define the rib are not selected as check, Mcam will not know to retract between cutting the two surfaces and may create a straight line feed motion to begin cutting the second surface gouging the rib in the process. HTH steve

Create your plunge milling toolpaths and trim them using a boundary that's offset from your stock cross section by .100". HTH steve

I know this doesn't help to know now, but everything is heading the way of electronic files. The whole concept behind the STEP file system is that all information to manufacture a part will be incorporated into the file, including tolerances, machining method, surface finish quality, etc. If using just a model is faster and eaier for you, maybe sell the boss on the whole productivity end of things. steve

thanks all, steve

I'm using v9.1 MR0304 Mill 3 w/ Solids. steve

After spending a fair amount of time designing a solid I shut down Mcam and opened it up again. When trying to retrieve the file I received this warning and two solids used in a boolean operation are now missing and the resulting main solid is now dirty and un-regenerateable (sp?). Fortunately I converted into surfaces before closing the file the first time so I can still toolpath. Anyone else run into this problem in the past? Any ideas what the cause? thanks, steve

------------------------------------------------ I have experience with 2 mikrons and I would buy a haas with a trunion first. ------------------------------------------------ LOL yikes! I bet the Mikron marketing dept. wouldn't want that one getting around...considering the price gap between a mikron and a haas. steve

xform, Try this on for size. Create a simple surface finish contour toolpath on a steep sided wall from the top plane. Once it's been generated, go back into the "T/C plane" menu on the first parameters page of the operation and change the T plane only to a tilted orientation from the top. Regen the operation and the tool will now cut the toolpath with the tool tilted over. Is this what you're trying to do? HTH, steve

-prompt for entry point button inside the helix/ramp entry menus. steve

Lee, I think it's going to be a Conservative minority (just my guess). When did you receive your MR0304 maintenance release? Still waiting for mine. steve teh just curious

Phil, are you using hardware or software flowcontrol? steve

brettj, if you know how to tackle it in the post, you could try creating logic that would reverse calculate drill tip comp and subtract it from the actual drill depth. That way your 1" drill - .500 deep would actually be programed as Z-.300 so the control comp will send it 1/2" deep. steve

...don't select the fillet surface as a drive surface. Try just selecting the floor and wall surfaces and see if that changes anything...

Yup, high feed is the way to go. The great thing about high feed is it incorporates feed modification based on material volume as well as the dynamics of the machine. If you're generating a finishing toolpath where only .01" of material is being removed than the only thing that will affect feed modification are the machine limitations (acc-dec, up and down feed, etc.). It also generates fast feed rates where no material is being cut saving time in the process. A great but underused tool IMO. steve

MSP, check out the Roku Roku HC-658 vertical that Mitsubishi carries. It's been designed for exactly your requirements with a 200-32000 rpm spindle. steve

"I must be blinded by all the flaming "C's" on a red background." That you are, along with the rest of the hockey world. Not bad for a team that wasn't even expected to make it into the playoffs, wouldn't you agree? We have a trendy avenue up here in Calgary close to downtown that turns into an insane pool of humanity every day there is a Flame's game...called the "Red Mile" as it turns out. Saturday night 40,000 people crammed into a 6 block stretch to basically let there animal instincts go wild (there's proof at www.flamesgirls.com but you didn't get it from me) The cops won't let you park there after 3:30 p.m. and by noon on game day all the bars are full waiting for the puck to drop. I love this city, steve

I noticed the Mastercam Art Beta Forum this weekend. Is mcam working on software specifically for the jewelery and art industries to give Delcam a run for their money? steve

How do I perform a BIOS update for my computer? I'm getting very similar problems with Mcam locking up after lengths of inactivity and would like to resolve this as well. thanks, steve

Do you have multiple G codes on one line (ex: G17G2...). Some Allen Bradley controls won't allow that. steve

Probably the best compromise is to setup a seperate network for the machines that are connected to a PC that is also on the main network. It might require purchasing different hardware for the PC but that way the machines can keep running, even if the main network goes down. Check out Cimco's website, they have packages for this type of thing. HTH steve

Hi Paul, I feel your pain...and then some. I've been working on a Acramatice 2100 and everything you're talking about sounds too familiar. I'll try making a list here of some things I learned the hard way. Drilling canned cycles: R is not retract height like fanuc but reference height, W is retract amount and drill depth is incremental from the R value (dumbest idea ever concieved). Work offsets: these use another "great" system of hierarchial work offsets which increment from each other. G92, G92.1, etc. are used as pallet offsets to compensate for any error between pallet locations, Multi Setup offsets are referenced on G92's, Fixture offsets are referenced from Multi Setups and work offsets are based off Fixture offsets. If G92 has been set to a location other than machine zero, my advice is to reset it to machine zero, set all the other offsets to zero and just stick with one system to avoid the confusion. "H" makes a call to fixture offsets. Tool Data Table: "O" and "D" are used for tool wear on the length and diameter respectively (I think) but tool diameter comps are used automatically when G41 or G42 are used. I'm not sure what options your control has but with ours we have to be careful to always set the tool tip angle to 180 degrees (it defaults to 118 for drills) to prevent scrapping parts. The list goes on but this will get you going. Keep in mind, these parameters only apply on Wednesdays when it's sunny and the sales reps and applications guys from the company that services the mill are within driving distance of the shop. xxxx this control off though, and you can throw any preconcieved notion about how a machine should logically function out the window. That's my experience anyway, steve

Helical mill with 1/2" endmill using a z depth of about .02" per pass to rough out, since it's interupted, and circular mill at full depth of cut with slow feed and rpm to finish. I used to finish insert pockets for injection moulds this way that were 3" to 4" deep using a 3/4" solid carbide 4 flute endmill at about 600 rpm and 6 ipm...came out looking like a mirror and accurate as long as runout is bang on. HTH steve

I tried importing a Rhino file directly into MC using the rhino converter and nothing comes in...empty on every level. Did I miss something or is this a purchased add-on? By the way, iges worked fairly well but needs some fixing to a few surfaces. steve

What suggestions should I give them so they can flavour it to mc? What settings do you apply on export in rhino to make the file more compatible with mc? thanks, steve