using mastercam x6 router with a thermwood single head router. i am programming one half of a 4 x 8 sheet. would like to cut the same pattern on the other half of the sheet in the same cutting cyle. how would i cut the mirror image of the firt half . file shows the pattern. thanks for any help. thanks for all the help. copied and pasted all toolpaths. went into planes(wcs) and changed y by 24. problem solved. sorry for not making it clear. the 4 x 8 is a sheet of plywood laying flat on the router. i toolpath 1/2 of the sheet (2 x and it cuts entirely throught the wood would like to cut the same toolpath on the other 2 x 8 side without flipping or having to create the the extra toolpaths. PLYWOOD KIT.DWG

another way to do it using draftsight/drafting program 1. place a object of know length beside the object you want to verctorize 2. take a picture using phone, etc 3. bring picture into draftsight 4. scale picture using known length of object you put in the picture 5. create new layer 6. make new layer active 7. trace object 8. hide picture layer and u have the dxf if you need more info, google for the articles

another way to do it using draftsight/drafting program 1. place a object of know length beside the object you want to verctorize 2. take a picture using phone, etc 3. bring picture into draftsight 4. scale picture using known length of object you put in the picture 5. create new layer 6. make new layer active 7. trace object 8. hide picture layer and u have the dxf if you need more info, google for the articles

i did not try the following, however, using 2016 64 bit draftsight options-system options-autosave/backups

thermwood user here. all of our m codes are put in by the post processor. see about having the post processor modified to output the m codes as needed. your user manuel should list all m codes and their operation.

i am using thermwood dual head routers. we use each head indepently of each other or slave them together as needed. for us, g61 ties the heads and g60 unties them. the post should let you use the z head, w head or slave configuration within the same program. side note: did you get a copy of the machine definition and control definition for the router. could u post the code from dms to let us see and a sample program you use.

we have 5 thermwood 5 x 10 routers ages running from 2000 to 2015. 2 were bought new and three were found on the internet. thermwood still gives us free phone support for the ones we found and bought on the internet. the longest time we waited for a part was approx 3 weeks because it was not on their shelf. all other parts were overnight or regular ups. the voice phone support is fantastic. their controllers are not propriorty and parts can easily be bought local or from them. thermwood supports mastercam and they are also able to help with the programming if needed. by the way, we cut two .75 sheets of plywood at a time, program speed is 500 ipm and we fly, lol. if you are close to north carolina, you are more than welcome to visit us. location asheboro, nc

the ones we buy are 90% carbide and 10% cobalt. we are cutting through 1 1/2" (2 .75 sheets ) of plywood in one pass at 360 to 500 ipm. getting approx 25 to 30 pieces out of each sheet so they are long tool paths. bits are lasting about 125 cycles = 250 sheets. dont know if this is good or not. just seem to be using a lot of bit at 1,700 sheets per week, lol. thanks for the help

thanks for the reply jparris. i found kennametal on the internet, however, i dont know if the blank prices are good/competive. do you know of any good sources for the blanks. currently our bits are 10% carbide. could you tell me the specs on the blanks i would need? cutting two sheets of plywood (.75 each) at 360 to 500 ipm. i take it the grinder will also let me resharp the bits. normally we have them done once. also, i guess that walter solutions could advise me on where to get grinding wheels for the machine. really appreciate your time for the answers

thanks in advance for any advice. situation, retired military and drawing ss. myself and friend have a couple of cnc routers cutting parts for furniture industry. have a lot of spare time on hand and looking to get in trouble with cnc metal cutting machines. am trying to find out what type/specific machine would be good to look at for making carbide end mills. nothing high volume, just something to play around with. would need live tooling and auto load/unload of about 20 blanks at a time. not looking for the latest and greatest. something practical (used and gets the job done). would need to subcontract out for programming for the end mills. i would send the parts i need done. any recommendations for good programmers thanks

did you set the size actual size of the sheet your are using in nesting? i cannot bring up mastercam at home because i left the dongle at work. however, off the top of my head, on the second tab in nesting on the left side, there is a step option that lets mastercan try to fit the parts by steping the angle. you could try nesting only one square and the triangle and then see if there is enough room to drag the triangle to another spot and then delete the original and copy the second square. also, in the main screen in mastercam, before nesting or toolpathing, you can draw the size of the sheet and then create your parts, move them inside the sheet, and rotate them as necessary. make sure u leave enough room between them to toolpath. you can email me at [email protected] if u need more help.

depends on the parts u are cutting as to the way u approach it. by using your setup, you cannot cut into the table unless you use a negative in front of your number to go below z zero. any positive numbers will alway get u further from the top of the table. we are cutting plywood parts for furniture and all of our cuts are through two sheets of osb/playwood. because of small differences in thickness of the material, i set my cut depth at -1.5708 and then when i post it, i raise the z height to 1.5 with the clearances and approach set at 1" . have thermwood routers, using mastercam x5 router level 1 u can email me at jim dot huskey@yahoo dot com if u like.

grandson is taking cnc at a local college and this is his second year. he needs a model that needs four or five axis work as a project. they have hass machnes and are teaching on mastercam x7. if u have a small (hand size) non proprietary model i would appreciate it. guess he doesnt need anything extremely complicated. dont know what format model to ask for. u guys are the experts. thanks

i am using mastercam x6 router level 1 so dont know where the settings are for x2. turn off lead in/lead out. also looks like u are using ramp in. turn this off also. u have to make sure the cutting bit is designed for plunging into the material as the bottom of the bit will do the cutting when plunging straight down. bits that are not designed for plunging use the side for cutting into the wood while ramping in.

would it be possible for u to post the file? i dont quite understand what u are doing/asking. i am using mastercam x6 router level 1.