Yeah this seems to be the answer in a lot of cases but not all in my experience, but I totally agree that it is a "quirky" toolpath, but very useful (getting it to cut to depth for instance , although this can be a boundary issue too). I would say that it needs "massaging" into submission, rather than the brute force you can use on other toolpaths. Sometimes I also get good results with a "ram save" or even a computer restart.......

This toolpath has definitely changed since upgrading from X6 to X9 for me. Even in X6 the system seemed to prefer "inside" but I could usually force it using the techniques above. Now in X9 I cannot force it but if I set up as if from "outside" I can usually get the toolpath I want despite the greyed out "inside"- What if you need to start with a forging or casting....?

I have used Dapra indexable ballnose cutters for finishing since mid 90s. I have found no reason to change......They also keep developing their tools so they have also continually improved.....Everything from aluminum to titanium to tool steel

I don't think you need it here but C-axis utility is often a good way of breaking out of axis sub. if you need to. Also look at the rotary axis tab in the parameter tree for other overrides....

No problem, will check out the above and let you know. We have some time to get our stuff together, just trying to stay in front.....

Great book, the best of the Macro B books in my opinion..... Hey Colin did you get my e-mail? Send me one.....

OK that's what I thought originally, (and don't worry I'm sure your English is better than my "your first language"!!) As jlw mentioned you might want to be careful how you assign your variables. There are probably, depending on your machine, other Macro B routines running in the background that you never see (M6 and G28 for example). You might want to get a Macro B variable reference guide that will tell you what variables are actually available to you that will not interfere with other Macro B routines. However it is just as easy to make a mistake assigning variables (even though they are fewer) at the control as reassigning offsets and tool numbers. Either way it is a dangerous way to fly. And hand editing the existing code is also prone to error, what if you miss a D# call in the middle of a toolpath? Even with editing tools the possibility is always there for mistakes, Mastercam with a "post and go" post processer will always compile your code better than any human, that's why we have this forum..... I would certainly be looking at reprogramming and saving the source files properly. How big / complex are the files? If they are simple it will probably be quicker and safer to start from scratch.... Best of luck..!!

Looks like he wants to assign a different variable for each tool, and then the operator assigns the variable according to whatever tool load he has up, but it is unclear to me what he is trying to achieve. It seems to be fraught with danger. Maybe I'm just missing something. Just seems to me it would be "safer" to reassign the T#s in the source and repost. Interested in what the purpose of the exercise is, perhaps tool management?......just building the toolist which tells the operator what variable goes with what tool would be a major project in itself, but I am by no means an expert at this.

Macro B and Mastercam post processers are two independent programming systems. It might help if we knew exactly what you are trying to achieve. Most people are trying to get there posted files to NOT require editing at the machine as this is the source of many scrap parts. Is it possible to output the code you want by editing the post processer? Yes, but it will be a fair amount of work...... Why not just assign the correct numbers in the source file?

Have you tried the Crazy Drill Cross Pilot? Its worth watching the vid on the site.....totally outrageous. We do our wirelock holes with these, drill on the angle from both sides with the pilot and then a Crazy drill cool to join the dots, up to 12D deep in Inconel and 15-5. We reduced our time from 5 min to 10 seconds.......including tool change. Watching the thru coolant shoot through the bottom when it breaks out at 11 - 16 ipm with a .047 - .075 diameter drill never gets old....

I think Colin et al covered just about everything I can think of. Harvey is a good company, excellent and consistent quality. Another one to look at is Mikron, they also do great thru coolant small drills.

Good call.......but if you do that I would not ramp as this is very hard on the cutter (heal dragging), especially if there are hard spots from the welding....

I use Harvey tools all the time, and have had very good results with their small cutters. Harvey's feed and speed chart and technical support are pretty good. It shows 200 sfm (you are at 400+ sfm) and a .0012 chipload. Don't know how you are going to get enough tool motion to gain any advantage from a high feed toolpath. I think you will have to slot and finish walls and floor, slot maybe 0.3 - 0.5D, really going to depend as much on how rigid the system is (other than the cutter which due to its size is not super rigid). It's quite a long endmill (5 diameters) so you might want to reduce feed by 30% to start, you will be generating a lot of heat (relatively) with the full sweep engagement so I would be wary of the higher surface footage. Also once you get up around 400 sfm the coolant will not be as effective due to centrifugal forces, especially down in the slot.

If you want the cavity walls normal to the cylinder wall, try axis substitution. If not normal to the cylinder, use rotate planes to create planes around the cylinder for cavities and set Cplane, Tplane for different angles. Remember when you rotate the planes it will be in the opposite direction to cutter / machine travel because cutter motion is relative to the work. So rotate plane -60 degrees gives you a +60 degree cutter / machine motion (if your machine is set up "standard").

Are you on MC origin for center of rotation?

Even if you get a good post you will need a machine sim. And the standard is not all that helpful. Look into the MIll / Turn module option if they have one for this machine. We had a demo a couple of weeks ago and I think that's where we are going for our Doosan MX and TT. The B axis head is especially problematic.

That's why I wanted to try and go down this route, the less unnecessary stuff floating around the better, lest something unexpected suddenly rears its ugly head. I think I will learn a lot from this exercise, I will post the finished product when I have it all worked out. Thanks brother....

Did you mean to give an example here ? If so I can't see it. No worries though I will create a few combinations and run it through the debugger, it will be a good exercise. So I want to use the "enable" / "disable as an extra switch? I am still using the MPMaster base we got together at Royell.......I have done some mods since then but the basic post remains, totally bullet proof, haven't checked code to the machines in years. And since fixing the manual entry posting before the header issue I am 100% edit free. Once I get the custom drill cycles finished I am going to make a "fresh" X9 MPmaster, it will be good revision of what I have done so far.. Then I will move on to 2018 which I am preparing to install, from what I have read I think there might be some extra opportunity there....

I originally programmed in APT, organizing your geometry file in some sort of usable and logical order was essential. So with 999,999 levels it was a natural and easy transfer for me. Each OP starts on a number separated by 100 or 1000 depending on the size of the file. I always put a copy of the origin on the first level, say 100. Op2 would be 200. All Op1 Toolpath geometry 120 - 130, Op2 220 - 230.....you get the idea. 0 - 100 for models and setup geometry etc...things that all the ops might refer to. Then good descriptions on the level. Use Level sets sometimes, rarely use viewsheets.

This a classic "no solution" response from MC. It does the same thing if you try and mill a slot on 2 side chains with a cutter the exact slot width, the system is trying to work it out but can't, even though there is nothing inherently wrong with the toolpath which might generate an error message. So I believe Mr. Paris is right. Try some different numbers and it should become obvious....

Same place. We had some major shake ups do to the death of our original GM. And the corporate wheels grind slowly. Then the CAR for the training expired for various technical reasons. Our new upper management didn't quite know how to deal with me at first (can you imagine THAT!?), but they are 2 smart guys (new GM and OPS MAN) and it looks like we are cooking again. We are now one of the top performing companies in the PCC empire, so that helps getting $$ out of corporate....The new CAR with training is in the works, ETA 2-3 months, it's attached to our next new machine. Thought I would do some self training in the meantime, then we can get into more "meaty' topics more quickly..... I will keep you posted.

Thanks buddy, how's the family...?

Thanks Ron What method / mechanism for turning the coolant on/off ? I've already created some logic in the toolchange section to differentiate the the drill cycle and the speed and feed changes using some variables I created + custom drill params, is this where I need to go for the coolant output too? Was just hoping I could use the existing pcant_out. Can I use suppress to stop the output and then call it later or does suppress not allow this. Can't find suppress in the documentation, is it considered a function?

I am creating some custom drill cycles and have it pretty much figured out, except I want to out put the coolant on/off commands in different places to the normal . First one I am attempting is a deep hole (9D+) cycle. First I make a counterbore / pilot hole then drop the drill point in with a reduced spindle speed and feed rateto "capture" the end of the drill. Then I kick up the spindle speed and feed rate, and I would like to turn the thru spindle coolant on just before the spindle increase but after the slow entry and leave the flood coolant where it is. Then after the fast feed back to the same point turn off the thru spindle coolant before withdrawing completely from the counterbore followed by flood coolant off at clearance height. Here's what I have for output now: N1 T7 M06 (0.0748 CARB. TC DRILL) G90 G54 X.11 Y-.2964 S200 M03 G43 H1 Z2. M08 M88 G04 X2.0 G94 G00 Z.24 G01 Z.0495 F5. S10214 G01 Z-.0731 F16. G01 Z.0495 F50. G00 Z2. M09 M89 M05 G91 G28 Z0. A0. G28 Y0. M30 Here's where I want to go: N1 T7 M06 (0.0748 CARB. TC DRILL) G90 G54 X.11 Y-.2964 S200 M03 G43 H1 Z2. M08 G94 G00 Z.24 G01 Z.0495 F5. M88 G04 x2.0 S10214 G01 Z-.0731 F16. G01 Z.0495 F50. M89 G00 Z2. M08 M05 G91 G28 Z0. A0. G28 Y0. M30 A nudge in the right direction would be appreciated, is there an existing mechanism to control this as I already have the dwell for the thru spindle coolant to get up to full pressure for all TC drills it would be nice to use the existing modification which I have in pcant_out. I have tried getting there using pcan(1 or 2) with no success. Thanks in advance for help

I'm not sure you are aware of the function of the forum. Everyone here that is going to be of any help to you has a full time job as a programmer. We don't get paid to answer questions on the forum. We do it to try and help people out, because we have all been stuck with a problem ourselves. Your instructor DOES get paid to walk you through this stuff step by step. This would probably explain some of the flippant replies. The questions I asked were to try and get some sort of idea how much time I would need to answer your pretty open ended question. Your machining experience has a great bearing on how detailed an answer you will need. And what machine you have, if indeed you are going to machine the part is also important to know before starting.