Solidworks 2013 has this http://help.solidworks.com/2013/English/WhatsNew/c_wn2013_3D_Bounding_Boxes.htm You have to start a weldment as it works with cut list items only at this time.

Thanks all for your replies... I stumbled upon a neat piece of software called "DosBox" It is primarily for running old DOS computer games on any OS but it also works for DOS based applications and it is FREE !!! You can set its autoexec file to load and run what ever DOS EXE file you want right from your desktop via its icon.. Works Great !!!

We have upgraded a computer and now have Win7 Pro 64 bit and I can not get the old DOS ME.EXE machinists calculator to work even with compatibility modes... If you are not familiar with ME.EXE it could calculate the following: Circular Feed Rates Drill Depths Feed and Speeds (Mill) Hardness equivalents Thread Data Material Weights in either INCH or METRIC Is there a new version that will run in 64 Bit Win7 or another that can do all the same calculations ?? Thanks

USB External Floppy Drive ???

see my edit to my thread starting post : Unfortunately the shop I am now working for does not have MasterCam... So I was asking here only because I know that this forum has members with a wide range of experience with many different software packages.

Unfortunately the shop I am now working for does not have MasterCam... So I was asking here only because I know that this forum has members with a wide range of experience with many different software packages.

I have been asked to give an opinion on the latest version of MazaCAM for use to program our 5 Mazak Nexus turning centers and our Intergrex 200-IV 5T. Currently I believe they are hand programing using Mazatrol, and what we are looking for is for a package that can read in CAD files to use to program as our work is getting more complicated, and we want to do off-line programing to keep the spindle time up... the dept foreman thinks that MazaCam will do the job, But the owner wants to be sure that we do not paint ourselves into a corner with this software, both in capability and CAD file compatibility. Any input would be appreciated. to clarify my request : Unfortunately the shop I am now working for does not have MasterCam... So I was asking here only because I know that this forum has members with a wide range of experience with many different software packages.

Is this for a Pc Based Tiger 5 or 6 control ????

Thanks Guys.... I was also thinking that..... now I just have to test and find a replacement...... Fun fun

We have a Old Sharnoa with Fanuc Drives (A06B-6047-H003 Velocity Control Unit) started it up yesterday and when referencing the machine, X ran away... then drive faults out... position indication on control is not displaying the real locations... tried several times... left it on over night..... still no go.... X moves as it wants not as commanded. what do you think...... Encoder or drive failure ???

Thanks for the reply.... called Mitsubishi and they suggested reseating all the Cards in the system and reinstall the operating system... that did the trick... must have got a glitch in the system... now all is good..

upon powerup this AM when attempting to select a different screen machine shuts down and "Parity Error" displays in upper left corner of CRT Has a Mitsubishi Meldas CNC control late 80's there are some red LEDs on inside the cabinet on board slots MW416 and MC116 also L1 led is blinking behind control panel buttons any Ideas ?? before I call Mitsubishi Service...

Goetzlnd, Just checked out the PLR Electronics Floppy drive replacement will only handle files of either 720Kb or 1.44Mb nothing larger, depending on the capacity of the drive that the machine was setup to read. This is a major limitation in my opinion, the price is nice but all it does is replace a 3 1/2" floppy with a USB stick that can only read/write up to 720Kb or 1.44Mb... but thanks for the lead

Looks like Calmotion's USBCNC would do the job nicely... Getting Pricing from them now....

$ 2500 !!!!! that is outrageous.... Goetzlnd, I only have RS322 on this machine.... I am looking at Calmotion now to see what they got....

We have a 2005 Haas VF3 B that does not have a USB port on the side of the control, There is a spot for one. Can I buy the USB cable and install myself ??? is there a feature code that I will need to purchase to turn the USB feature on ?? thanks,

been researching..... I think the fan motor is a Capacitor RUN (PSC) type... and possibly the Capacitor is going bad or I have a loose connection to it ( the capacitor is mounted in the electrical cabinet) We are going to replace the Cap and see what happens....

tycobbwildwood, Yeah I am thinking it has to be something weird.... The fan motor bearings are fine, sounds fine, spins freely..... both on the one we replaced last year and the one that is now giving the alarm... on occasion. when I was looking at it yesterday the machine had been running for hours. the operator had a 18" floor fan blowing on the cooling fan. I felt the temp of the motor and it was not even warm !!!! if there was a problem you would think that the motor would always be hot to the touch.... (( *shrugs* ))

We had a Spindle cooling fan overtemp alarm back last spring, Maintenance replaced it and all was well until this week when it did it again, The operator opened up the end of the machine and put a floor fan blowing on the Spindle cooling fan and continued running.... It seems to be when we are making heavier cuts that this happens. Now the alarm is the Spindle cooling fan itself not the spindle, there is a thermal switch in the Spindle cooling fan motor that is tied to a input. We have plenty of air flow to cool the spindle.... everything seems normal no other high temps.... just the little Spindle cooling fan Myself and the maintenance manager think that something weird must be going on... There is no way we should have to replace the Spindle cooling fan again... Has anybody else had this issue? I am thinking a power quality issue (internally to the machine) or a magnetic field from the spindle affecting the Spindle cooling fan. Mazak said last year that they have not seen many of these Spindle cooling fan go bad... thanks

UPDATE 3/10/11 Well I replaced the entire Z axis Encoder Cable, the old one was not shielded and the compliment signals were not being used. there was a box that all 3 axis encoder cables ran into the had a inverse converter that recreated the compliment signals from the primary ones, then the result was feed into the motion control board... WTF !!!! but that is the was it was... Now the Z axis signals (all) from the encoder are feed directly into the motion card..... So far So good... B)B)B)

Quintax.... I think they still make 3 axis.... I know they make 5 axis

Update: Ok I started looking at the encoder input "chain" and here is what I have found: The Z axis encoder is Heidenhan ROD type. It is connected to a terminal strip at the encoder and then a 4 pair cable brings the signals down into the control cabinet. The cable has shielding but it is not being used. The signal is then ran into a box that has a line driver (digital amp) for each axis, and also brings in the 5VDC from the Computer power supply for the encoder(s) and the digital amp circuits. The signal then comes out of the box and is fed into the motion card in the PC, again with unshielded cable (I believe that it is twisted pair (4) wire) I do not know how old this setup is but, I am wondering if the problem could be with the Digital amp on the Z axis feed ??? I also do not like that there is no signal shielding, I would like to fix that as well. Anybody think I may be on the right track ??

Looking for a parts diagram of section drawing showing how the encoder is connected to the ball-screw going to replace encoder and wiring to see if that fixes my problem I have been looking at ref: (my other Sharnoa posts.) Again it is a: 1987 Sharnoa SDC-80D

I have done quite a bit of scanning with the NextEngine scanner. depending on what you need to do it may work. like was said above the software makes a lot of things possible. RapidWorks is what NextEngine uses it is a full ver of Rapidform XOR that will only accept data from the NextEngine Scanner. The Software is very powerful !!! takes a little while to get up to speed.... But NextEngine and RapidWorks are there to help you.... drop my a email if you want to discuss further...

did a search, did not find anything.... Got a few coolant tanks that are cast into the machines and unaccesable to clean without tearing the machine all to heck... is there anything like radiator flush that will breakup and dissolve that jelly slime gunk so it can be sucked out of the tank and new put in ?? UPDATE: Found a company that may have what I am looking for: Houghton International ABC Machine Cleaner... I am continuing to look...