John, I think Tim Johnson hit it on the head with his reply. quote: A work around is to use all corners. Sharp corners will only do up to 135 deg. It looks as if your corners are very close to the "cut-off" angle if you are using "Sharp" instead of "All". Why it works consistently in MR1 and not in MR2 is beyond me but I would simply switch it to "All". That covers all angles up to 180 degrees. HTH

robk, Why not use the Thread Mill cycle with a single point boring tool? Mcam X MR1 included roughing passes for Thread Milling. Large diameter threads are usually much easier with the thread mill op. Then you wouldn't have to look into buying a specific size tap and hand working it. HTH

Josh K., quote: GF4 MX4000 That card sounds like a "bargain basement" variety graphics card. When was the last time you updated the video driver? Try sliding the hardware acceleration down a few notches and see if that helps. It may be time for an upgrade on the system however. What are some of the other specs for the system? HTH

James, I thought you couldn't lose something that was already lost. Don't worry we all have those moments every now and then. Take two "V9 to X function mapping" docs and call me in the morning.

quote: You should've asked John first instead of wasting days and nights. John's become the unofficial "first response" tech guru of the forum. Sort of like First Aid just with Mastercam X questions. Just don't ask him for advice on video cards or Solids. J/K John.

John, quote: I thought it would be easier to just leave the mill work alone, add the WCS and do the lathe prgram from there. OK I get what you're attempting to do. It may be easier to just set a brand new Origin for the Toolplane and/or C-plane. Call me if you have questions of would like to start a Netview session. HTH

JASON JACQUES, Using Solid geometry for toolpaths at this time will not allow for Dynamic start point selection as with regular wireframe geometry. This may be something that will be included for future releases or it may not be possible due to the nature of Solids. You can change the start point to the next "endpoint" of an Edge on a Solid Edge Loop. You can always extend or shorten the beginning or end of any contour using the Lead In/Out parameters whether the chain is wireframe or solid geometry. HTH

John, Give me a call if you need help with this. We can do a Netview session to look at your computer and work with you via internet. It may be that you are just skipping a step or something similar. BTW, any particular reason you want to use the WCS for Lathe?

Tim Simmermon, Great article but they never mentioned whether coolant was used or not. From the first picture at the bottom, it appears like they had an air line on the milling part. CAM-mando, The pdf seems like the inserts should last longer than they appear to be. Also according to mcpgmr, those inserts work well without coolant as he was told by their Greenleaf rep. mcpgmr, Thanks for the input. the application you described seems very similar to the one my client is using the inserts for. I will find out how the inserts are failing and what speeds and feeds they are currently running at. Thanks to All for your replies. I'll keep things updated.

Thanks for the info guys. Keep it coming. I will ask my client how the inserts fail and see if they can give me some more specifics. Thanks again.

Lathe gurus, I have a customer that is turning Inconel and stainless for aerospace industry. They have been using Greenleaf WG 300 "whisker" impgregnated ceramic button inserts for roughing large diameter parts. They are learning and using Mcam X after using a proprietary programming software. They have to change the inserts on their standard OD roughing tools every few passes. They were told by the Greenleaf representative to flood the tool with as much coolant as possible. They have a hose the size of a clothes washer drain line attached just below the turret on several Mori-Seiki's. My question is this. I've always been told that ceramic inserts should be run without coolant. Is my customer being "hosed" into buying inserts more frequently, or does this situation sound legitimate? It just seems unreasonable that they would have to change an insert every few roughing passes when it is supposed to be an "oustanding" new insert material designed to be far superior in longevity to carbide inserts. The shape of the insert actually looks more like an insert seat than an insert. There's no chip breaker molded into the insert shape. I just want to understand so I can work with my client to help them in programming their parts properly. If I can save them some cash in the process, that would be an added benefit. TIA.

John Paris, quote: Wazz a matter another spur mark or two won't kill you, will it? I have plenty of spur marks. No desire to add more however.

Thad, quote: Eastec or your anniversary? That would be Eastec. Think I'd miss my honeymoon for an annual 3-day tech show? Chris, quote: Even I remember your anniversary...and how excited your boss was that you got married during the show That's probably why I'll never live it down in Frank's eyes. I won't ever regret it though. The Poconos far exceeded anything else. I recommend it to anyone looking for an unforgettable, romantic, getaway. Having a heart-shaped jet-tub and heated swimming pool in the same room with a fireplace and Bose CD sound system with no contact to the outside world except on your terms...Priceless.

PeterM, Good luck getting that card replaced. Hopefully the new system is still returnable if you can't get the card replaced so the supplier will see reason if you threaten to bring it back. John Paris, quote: Notice I said considered. If I didn't Peter Scott would jump in here and beat me over the head some more. Only when you need me to. Of course, NO Ati card is recommended if you ask us. I don't want to have my boss beat me up if he hears me recommend anything other than nVidia Quadro FX series (mine's an FX 540). HTH

Threept82, Send us the post processor you're using and a sample file along with the ouput you're looking for. If you e-mail it to me, I can forward it on to Steve or you could e-mail him directly. Is there any reason you haven't gotten up to speed with Mcam X yet? Give it a try and you may find that this isn't an issue with X. Call us if you have any questions. That's what we're here for. We now have a software package that allows us to view your desktop and remotely assist you from our office. HTH

dpg752@TGI, One thing you should always keep in mind. NEVER place a period (.) or other punctuation marks other than a hyphen (-) or underscore (_) in the main name of a file. It may be OK for right now, but eventually the data will be corrupted and then you will not have a way to open the file. Replace that period (.) with an underscore (_) and you will not have to concern yourself with corrupted data. Is there any reason you didn't rough out the bore with an end mill or drill first before using the boring bar? Was there a reason for using the insert you did with the boring bar instead of the one that was already set up with the tool holder? I was able to get it to work by changing the tool to a standard boring bar with a diamond shape insert and selecting the Plunge Parameters to not skip over ID grooves. There was no arc in the toolpath then. HTH

John, Dave, robk, Charlie, rboucher and others in N.E., We'll be representing our company in the Mastercam corporate booth alongside two other resellers and the good folks at CNC Software. It's in building 5 (booth #5527) this year, as opposed to last year. I'll see you all there. Chris, quote: I would be there, but I will be on my quasi-honeymoon that week. When's the "big day"? My wife and I are celebrating our 3rd anniversary on the 17th. I remember our honeymoon was the week of Eastec 3 years ago. That's the only one I've missed since working for S4A starting over 6 years ago.

jford, Ask your reseller if they have a post for the machine or if they could modify an existing post for you. That'd be where I would start looking. If you have a post that's close and want to know how to modify it yourself, I'm sure there are plenty of members who will be glad to help. Just be careful and don't ask anyone to give you something they have spent any amount of time modifying for themselves. At least not without returning the favor. HTH

machtek, You can't go wrong with Cimco Integration products. They are second to none in the DNC world and are competitively priced. You get unbelievable software value for the price. Wireless is the BOMB. Even if you don't think your plant will ever get struck by lightning, there are so many other advantages to getting the wireless DNC system. There is a shop right behind us that uses a Cimco DNC Max wireless system. They just recently purchased another VMC and had it up and running within minutes after the machine tool company installed the machine. All it required for the wireless DNC was the installation of a new receiver and programming the software with the new wireless address of the machine. It would've taken much longer had DNC wires needed to be strung and connected. Not to mention that the machines can be moved anywhere on the shop floor without the concern of re-connecting cables or not having enough length on a cable to move the machine where you want to. It simply is the best. We've installed wireless DNC now for many of our clients. Some large (60 machines), some small (4-5 machines). The end result is always the same. It just works better than anything and always beyond expectations. HTH

I came across this topic again as I was searching for a forum member. concepttool, Solid models are built a little at a time. You start with a base feature and build from there. Contact your reseller to see if they offer any instruction for Solids. RandyN, quote: but designing a mold or forming die around customer data takes surfaces. I couldn't disagree more. I find working with surfaces to be quite tedious and frustrating in comparison to Solids. I can generate a mold cavity from a solid customer supplied part in far less time than if I had to do it with surfaces. Just read through all the steps concepttool did for offsetting surfaces for a mold. And there are still "problem areas". Solids a "watertight" and anything generated with them is generally error free. All the complex mathematics involved with solids is done in the background. Mastercam just performs better with Solids. Try changing the size of a fillet on surfaces. Changing a fillet on a solid is only a matter of a few seconds. Even toolpaths are easier with Solids. All the data about the part is contained within one entity, no matter how complex it gets. There are many advantages to solid parts over any other form of geometry. All, Ask your reseller for a demonstration. You'll be glad you did.

Bruce Kanzelmeyer, It sounds like you may have accidentally typed a key on the keyboard which could have "locked" the toolpath while you were in the Operations Manager. What version of Mastercam are you using? Is there any way you can upload the file to the FTP site above and tell us where you put it so we can look at the file directly? I'd be happy to look it over if you e-mail it to me. I can't guarantee I'll have a chance to look at it anytime soon as I'm conducting a training class today. If you can upload it to the FTP, more users will get a chance to look it over and help you with it. HTH

BENJ, Welcome to the forum! Designing new tooling in Lathe can be tricky. Custom tooling requires separate closed profiles for both the insert shape and holder shape. Usually these two distinct shapes are designed with a specific color for the insert (#55) and holder (#110). A radius needs to be designed on all cutting edges of the insert(s). My suggestion would be to use the Mcam online Help for learning more about custom tooling in Lathe. Also, take a good, long look at all the tool shape files in the Lathe/Tools folder. Splines are unacceptable in either insert or holder shape. Lastly, "K.I.S.S.". The simpler the better for defining each separate shape. HTH

Tim Pruett, Glad I could help. That's what we're all here for.

Tim Pruett, Usually what I recommend to our customers is to bring in anything other than IGES. What is the source CAD system your supplier is using? Mcam can open a variety of CAD files directly. Some of these file types include Solidworks part files (.SLD PRT not .sldDRW), Parasolid files (.X_T), Cadkey (.CDL), ACIS based solids (.SAT), and Step files (.STEP or .STP). Mcam also has a couple add-on converter licenses for Pro-E files (both .PRT and .ASM) and Catia files. If I were opening a file, I'd ask for the most direct file format I could get. IGES is traditionally full of "duplicate" entities and other entities which are not identical and not considered "dupes". You may have overlapping entities such as a Spline over an Arc. Because they aren't the same type of entity, they aren't duplicates and it becomes very tricky to "clean up" the geometry before applying toolpaths. It is also time consuming. Having the direct CAD source file is easier to deal with and less time consuming. Most of the time you can apply toolpaths to any opened file almost immediately. The only thing that usually takes time is moving the part to an appropriate machine position. With the WCS, this has almost become a thing of the past. HTH

AFIT Model Fab Shop, You're likely not using the Administrator domain and therefore don't have the "rights" to make changes to the configuration. There are ways around this but the best way is to get the administator to give you permission to alter the configuration. Having permission would also allow you to install updates for Mcam X and make other necessary changes without asking for permission all the time. HTH Sunder, The reason disabling "hardware acceleration" may make such a difference is probably due to your video card. The functions you described are all graphics related. Mcam is using OpenGL for the graphics display and the number one cause of "crashes", specifically when performing things that require OpenGL graphics usage, is the video card. Do a Search in this forum for "Video card" and I'm sure you will find a wealth of topics to read. HTH