Ron, if you select the chamfers first and then the top surface it works the same way. You still have to add the chamfers back in though.

5:11 dell precision t7500 (5+ years old) Intel Xeon x5650 2.66 ghz nvidia quadro FX 4800 36gb ram

We have in machine tool probes, it does cost cycle time but if you break a drill you know it before the tap,reamer,bore will go in that same hole. If its outside the machine by the time it checks the drill the next tool will be piled up on the first one as fast as our machines are. We had the Botsoma (external detection) and that one was garbage. the one you posted looks much faster than the Botsoma that we had.

That makes sense Bob. According to the Renishaw website the OMP400 is a strain gage style. or it that just the new version?

Bob, what is the model of your probe?

I guess I will have to disagree with this analogy: I liken it to installing a 3" tip on a dial test indicator. If the original accuracy of the test indicator was .0001" with a 1/2" tip the accuracy just dropped to .0006" with a 3" tip... A indicator is made to accept a certain length stylus and has a gear ratio that is calculated for that length. so if you change the stylus length on a indicator and don't change the ratio then of course you will change the accuracy. Now a machine probe is different, when you change the probe length (stylus) you re-calibrate the probe and give it new values. so if the probe flexes, it will flex the same each time with each hit. we use 6+ in styli in our machines and hold .001 tp on probed diameters that were cut from previous lathe ops daily.

Del, it depends on your process, we would normally only leave .005 total for a bore that tight so there won't be much deflection if any at all on aluminum.

Romicron boring heads are great, we bore a few parts with -.0000/+.0003 we also use EPB boring heads for the larger sizes. Does your machine have a slow tool change option? also making sure your tools/spindle are clean is a big deal with these tolerances. I would use an air gage so you can check for roundness as well as size. As far as inserts we have found that Korloy polished inserts cannot be beat for getting a good finish in bores.

Colin thanks so much for the info, do these only work with surfaces? or will they work with solids?

we used Mic6 on our Haas VF3 mainly because it was 24" x 40" x 1.5" plate and that would be a lot of weight added that we didn't need, the nice thing about Al is that its light, it is cast so it does actually dampen vibration, and if you have a tool hit it, it most likely won't damage the tool

wow, i can't believe that has never come up before. Thanks Brando. it would be nice if there were a little plus sign like in the op manager to show there are multiple chains.

I have 4 diameters that were cut with a ramp contour, I need to reverse the chains but 1 will not reverse. This is my biggest issue with solids chaining is that no matter how many chains you have it only shows 1 chain in the chain manager so i can't reselect 1 chain i have to reselect them all.

mic6 or alca 5 cast tooling plate both are very stable

GIZMO 21 is right, tools in mill are shown as rotating no matter what, we do back spotfacing all the time and you can't verify it.

I'll be there Thurs-Sat

i am getting G43 H1 Z.05 G98 G81 Z-.64 R-.59 when I use these settings: clearance: .05 absolute retract: -.59 absolute top of stock: 0 incremental depth: -.64 absolute

set your retract to a -.590 absolute

what is your top of stock set at?

Im confuzed, this is exactly what G98 is for, inital plane Z.05 R plane -.590 G99 would not work if there are islands as it would rapid to the R plane to move to the next hole.

I still say its a machine issue, we have an SS model and we can't feed over 100 ipm without significant loss in accuracy. In order to make the SS models faster all Haas really did was change the pitch on the ball screws, making small feed moves more jerky/less accurate at high speeds. If we bought another Haas it would definitely not be an SS.

http://www.fifthaxis.com/solutions/contacts.html

What are the issues you are having? The SS machines are not very accurate at all, especially at high speeds.

Oh and if i come back from being on vacation for a week I have to use depth cuts!

I change it up each time so i don't get uneven wear or surface finish, sometime zig-zag at 0, 45, 90, 135 or parallel spiral with clean corners ticked. Definitely cutting dry, cutting wet causes loading up.

Niagara has them: http://69.65.12.215/ncutter/NC-Details.php?id=14511420&eid=22127 Fullerton has them as well: http://www.fullertontool.com/carbide/tools/3215