lurking in the shadows of the search function. 90% of questions can be answered in there alone. We use Pro/Manufact for 3d programming and that is all i do anymore. We have two seats of level 1 and one seat of wire. I waited til X came out to start leaning on the powers that be to upgrade to level 3 and drop pro man like the piece of %$^& that it is! Hopefully we will be up to three soon!

The Kit comes with a lot of the good options as you mentioned standard, it has box ways and 20,000 rpm versus 14,000 on the Mori. Our budget leans towards the Kit, I just want to make sure we aren't buying junk. Kitamura has a small presence in our area(that I know of).

We are currently looking at a new vertical mill and have it narrowed down to a Mori NV5000 and a Kitamura Mycenter 3xif. We are looking at doing mold frames and some hard milling. We have a Haas VF-5 50 taper and are looking for something smaller, more accurate, and more rigid. The Mori seems like a better machine but the Kit is a lot cheaper for what would seem to be a solid machine. One concern I have with the Kit is what kind of shape will it be in in 5 years. I know this forum comes with a boatload of experience and am looking forward to your input.

If you have level 3 you can create surfaces that your end mill won't be allowed to violate. Do you ever program 3d toolpaths?

what level mastercam do you have?

Lars, I have machined small parts from ultem, I would recommend some sort of air blast, I found that the material will build up on tools so you want to keep up on that to prevent breakage. Tialn coating seemed to work good along with a open fluted cutter. The cutting edges hold up pretty good.

we had that problem with another window in X and changing the resolution to the minimum John recommended did the trick!!

I am glad I decided to stay on the good side of Rekd!! Too bad Ted Nugent isn't running for Gov. of CA. He is a little, ok a lot extreme but his book God, Guns and Rock and Roll makes a lot of good points. I competition shoot M1 Garands at Camp Perry every summer, hunt whitetails with my trusty 30-06 blast woodchucks, squirrels, and rabbits with shotguns and my 4 year old daughter will know everything about every gun I own. Uneducated curiosity is about as dangerous as it gets. I think I'm gonna have to sling some lead this weekend just because them damn liberals don't want me too. Kyle teh join the NRA if you're not a member!!

New Tech Cutting Tools, Inc. newtechcuttingtools.com I've used they're superbee indexable carbide form cutters with no problems. hth

oops, sorry I was a minute too late.

hemly tool supply http://www.hemlytool.com/ I have gotten numerous items from them.

thanks guys, all the info and links are very helpful.

both, everything, i dunno. Like a book to go to sleep by.

has anybody ever run across any good literature on macro definitions out there? Just trying to get more edumacated here. If anybody knows you know.

quote: If you or RandleXX are feeling hurted by my limerick I will destroy it and want to say sorry in my turn ! naw, leave it there. I think it's funny.