Hello! and Welcome ~Kathy

Brian - I went to the OSG website (and the Fraisa also) and couldn't see any diamond tools listed. Do you have a part number? I did email fraisa for more information... Thanks, Kathy

I am having trouble importing data from Catia V5R14 via iges into Mcam X. (Thought I would piggy-back on to this thread). The first time we tried translating the parts (the Catia V5 seat is internal) the data came in as surfaces only. When I created edge curves on the surfaces I get splines only, which will not work at all for me. So Allen played with the Catia export settings and sent me new wireframe iges files. I cannot read these files into Mcam X at all – I just get a blank file. It won’t crash or give me an error – just zero entities. I can read the files into Mcam V9, and subsequently read the .mc9 file into Mcam X, but I would like to eliminate the first step. Are there Mcam X setting I can tweak to get better results? ~Kathy

Budgie - I have several similar parts that have a concave surface on one side. They are very long and also curve in the x,y plane. The Z cut on the top is constant. Imagine an inverted curved u channel. The u side is still mounted on the molding fixture, and we are machining both sides and the top. So, as I was saying, the one side is a slight concave surface along the part – an undercut. So I use a ‘lollypop’ cutter so I can surface machine the sides without interference from the shank. I have a ‘top’ WCS and the T Plane set to ‘top’, but the C Plane is set to ‘right side / left side’. This forces the tool to cut on the surface even if it is an undercut (re: gouge). Works slick! I programmed the original parts several years ago, and it took a while to work it all out. In fact, CGTech used Vericut to help in the final debugging prior to purchase. That is just one of the reasons I am so impressed by Vericut’s performance. ~Kathy

John - I kinda wanted to run it by you guys first. I would hate to find out I just missed a setting somewhere, or I'm not understanding something. The WCS is definitely more complex in X than V9, but in my opinion unnecessarily so. Of course, the system must accommodate all the machining options in driving a tool, a scenario that a CAD system can ignore. I have only had one occasion to use a different T Plane from the C Plane so I have very little input there. I will maybe repost in the Beta section; after all – this are only observations and ‘I want’ as opposed to ‘I need it fixed now or I’m dead in the water’. ~Kathy

I’m finding the View Manager for the WCS very awkward to work with in X. And I use it to set up an auxiliary coordinate system in every program I generate. First off – when the dialog box is opened the WCS highlighted is always ‘Top’, regardless of what WCS is current. So there is one mouse click already to get to where I need to be. In V9, you could double click the WCS and it would activate it and close the dialog box. Not so with X. – Although – it appears the ‘WCS by Name’ function is working in MR1 (as opposed to the earlier release of X) by selecting and changing the WCS. I miss being able to create a quick and temporary xyz origin in C Plane. I should never want to change my origin for the six ‘canned’ views, but rather create a new view. V9 operated more along this philosophy. I would still love to see an angle input and designation for all WCS’s. Maybe take a hint from Vericut: 0 0 0 , 180 0 180… as an example to specifying each axis angle. When I copy an existing WCS to create a new WCS I want to see the origin numbers relative to the current WCS, not the world coordinate system. Origin numbers being relative to the world vs. the work coordinate system is my biggest complaint, and has cost me the most time and frustration! Btw – I noticed that the coordinate locations in backplot are in world, not work coordinates. Not very good for troubleshooting. Anyway – just my 2$. ~Kathy

Looks like it's working! Thanks, Kathy

Good Morning Dave - Any prognosis on when this will be fixed?? ~Kathy

Right On! Worked like a charm. Thanks much Andrew ~Kathy

I remember something about this topic a while back – editing the top flyout menus.. But – what I would like to do is populate the ‘Machine Type’ – ‘Mill’ list to just the two machines we use here. Less choice, more filling – opps – that was a beer commercial. Anyway, I thought about deleting all the other machine and control files to see if that would work. ~Kathy

Is there anyone else using the html setup sheets in X, and have installed the latest and greatest - MR1/SP2? Got another problem. After install of the release, my setup sheets won’t process like before – i.e. go to the directory specified in the ‘toolpath name’ field named with the file name specified in the ‘group name’ field. It is processed as ‘setupsht.html’ in the nci directory. Anyone venture a quick fix?? ~Kathy

Jim – I checked that page out (didn’t know it was there ). Unfortunately, I don’t know all of the other parameters for these tools (chip load, SFM, etc.) to get a good calculation. Plus, I have a specific RPM I want to hold and not be recalculated when I change feeds, and that seems to be happening when I use the feed/speed calculation page. Okay – you guys can’t make fun of me cause my math brain is totally gone this morning – But if the recommendation is .001 IPR @ 3000 RPM I get 3 IPM. I’m looking more for a feed of 30 IPM. But, I just want to be able to input feed as IPR vs. IPM so I can tweek the cutters per the manufacture’s recommendation.. And – thank you for your response. ~Kathy

Good Morning Guys! Is there a place in Mastercam Define Tool function where I can specify my feed rate as IPR vs. the Feed/IPM field. I have some special formed cutters and the manufacture's recommendations for feed are in IPR. Now, I know I can calculate the IPM (taking a mean diameter up the taper of the cutter), but I would prefer to let Mastercam do the calculations. Btw, my tools are defined as a taper mill. ~Kathy

Good Morning James! I will try to write it up and submit it today. The release didn’t say anything about beta, so I thought it was released to everyone… ~Kathy

Just got mine installed. Here's to hoping ctrl'v works in the level fields.... ~Kathy

Hello ~Kathy

Hello All! This is one interface (in X) I would like to see totally revamped! At least in V9 (after the first 'pick' the function would defult to that same directory. Now, I have to go up and back down the directory tree each and every time. AND - the fuction wants to open the first file in the directory. If that .mcx file dosn't have operations, than it's error message time, etc. etc. etc... A Cut n' Paste would be nice! ~Kathy

billh - Edit Arcs is a c-hook for V9 written by our friend Bryan! I use it all the time in V9. (Bryan - thank you again...) I had thought that the functionality of 'Analyze' would do the same thing. ~Kathy

Is there an equivalent to edit arcs in X? I tried a global change by selecting all my arcs and typing in the new diameter in the ‘Analyze’ function and hitting the ‘Apply’ button. But this only changed the diameter of one arc, not all 146 selected! Perhaps I’m not doing it right… ~Kathy

Just loaded it up this morning. So far so good. ~Kathy

I loaded up the c-hook on a mini-toolbar right next to the general selection toolbar. Works great! Lathe-Mill - you have mail.. ~Kathy

Yes - love my Vericut!! ~Kathy

It would be so nice to have a button on the General Selection toolbar for ‘result’. Just a quick way to select the ‘result’ elements without having to open the ‘All’, Xform Result’ dialog box. I did look through the toolbars and buttons in the Customize, but I couldn’t find anything. ~Kathy Just a little minor ‘nicety’ thing in the mist of all the other hoopla over X!

David - You have mail... ~Kathy

Steve sent me his mcpost and mp files and I am back to the previous version! Thank You. I also spoke with my reseller's support guru (Marc L) and he has been very helpful. There should be a fix soon! So we should all remember CNC is really getting slammed with all of this, so I will try to make all my comments constructive even though I’m frustrated too. Doesn’t help that I’m trying to write some Access code (database) and it’s been a while since I’ve done THAT. So that project is on the back burner for a bit. ~Kathy I can’t wait to start the ‘What I want in Version 11 Mastercam’ thread.