I don't think I would like that change.

oh and for those of you who are afraid of change, change is good, it leads to improvements. imagine the shops that didn't decide to switch from high speed steel tooling to carbide or from hand programming to CAM. in my opinion, shops who do not keep up with todays technology get beat by those of us who do.

The new version may have a small learning curve for users who have been working with mastercam for a while but there are so many improvements and new functionality I think this 2017 version is my fav to date. there are a lot of improvements, but one I really want to point out is that gnomen in the lower left of the screen (xyz axis) is now selectable for creating a dynamic plane. My personal second favorite new feature is verify which now lets us record our verification.

Oh bummer, Depending on how the post is setup it may not be utilizing that option. The only other thing i guess i could suggest is seeing if you can get away from inverse time and using inches / min. if your really set on using inverse feed for accuracy or any other reason then I would suggest giving your Mastercam reseller a call. Typically the post dept at your reseller can find and fix problems like that pretty quickly.

well going to seconds should be 60 times faster if you want to try that.

Oh I see. I am just guessing now, but see if this is the problem. go to settings machine definition --> edit the control definition. The go to the page shown in the image below and see if your federate is using maybe its in minutes instead of seconds or vice-versa. This change should increase it 60 times faster or slower depending how its currently set. ​

you could try the g12.1 or g112 face milling mode. its typically on the misc values page of the toolpath. ​ Just an idea but it may work for you.

Nice point ron, another cool plus that I am sure most of you have considered for making mill parts on a lathe is many of the lathes can be bar fed and have parts catchers. So without any robotics we can run many mill parts without the need of an operator being present loading and unloading

There are a ton of sources online which go in detail on radial chip thinning and would do a much better job than i can explain. Here is a link to Mastercams website where they discuss RCT to get you started in the right direction. http://www.mastercam.com/en-us/Communities/Blog/PostId/73/Mastercam-Radial-Chip-Thinning-Revisited ​ I think that link above goes over it very well, High feed milling cutters utilize the similar concepts but its axial chip thinning, Sandvic has a very good tip film which explains: very well

Mastercam gives us a lot of 2d pocketing options, but what i think are the most user friendly as well as the best 2d pocket toolpaths are found under "2d high speed". if you want more traditional motion go with 2d high speed area, if you want the dynamic motion then go 2d high speed dynamic. Both toolpaths are very easy to chain and easy to use. I would start there and see if you have any more questions.​

sounds like the calculators are not incorperating Radial chip thinning into the equations and perhaps giving you feedrates for a much larger width of cut.

Maybe you can try to use the projected Geometry to use the, solids --> split solid face tool. Once the face is split using the shape of the arrow, perhaps pull the split face down, using model prep move, then use model prep --> modify solid feature to create a slug in the cavity. So all in all, split the face using that shape, push pull or move the face down, then fill in the open void with modify solid feature.

hahaha this is probably the best response I have seen in a long time

i reccomend doing a little search sometiems on these forums because many topics have been discussed and may get you answers more quickly. Here is a recent post where a little math is discussed and may help you understand how to accomplish your needs using the scale factor ration along with simple math..http://www.emastercam.com/board/topic/86761-scaling-a-part-in-y-question/?hl=scale ​ ​

what i like for floor finishing is the, 2d high speed --> area toolpath since this uses the exact same chaining methods as dynamic it makes it easy to switch over. As others have mentioned you can copy your dynamic path, and change stepover, etc. but if you want a more traditional finish on the floor instead of a dynamic finish change the path to "area" found on the toolpath type page of dynamic.

i would reccomend a toolpath found under, toolpaths --> wireframe --> ruled. by using a wireframe rule​d toolpath you can easily cut that surface. heres a simple sample - https://www.dropbox.com/s/fsiejggl946sp86/T.mcx-9?dl=0 keep in mind for lead in/outs you may need to manipulate your geometry since this path is a bit old and outdated. Also by updating to mill3d through your reseller you will gain access to a whole arsenal of 3d toolpath that can handle parts of this nature more easily and better.

also when using the plunge paramater settings mentioned above, make sure your lead in/out will work for entering into the feature.

heres some vices, clamps and fixtures I have gathered over the years and use for various apps. https://www.dropbox.com/s/84fi2gkjytqngxd/Clamps%20and%20Fixtures.zip?dl=0​

I am sure most of you are aware already, but Mastercam can program for your Renishaw probes using Renishaws productivity Plus. We have supported quite a few customers with this product so far and although there can be some setup process it works very well and is worth checking out if you don't want to deal with Macro language or the problems involved with writing code by hand.http://www.mastercam.com/en-us/Communities/Blog/postid/200/Introducing-Mastercams-New-Productivity​ ​ ​

I dont really care about the lock too much either. I personally have only used it for FBM operations when i dont want them regenerating and losing my changes. But when i do use it, i do like that it lets me make changes to the toolpath but will not regernerate. Ultimatley though i think CNC software has bigger fish to fry then the lock button functionality but thats my $.02.

Typically a file will always open the same way it was saved last, however when importing new files into Mastercam All levels are activated. There is also a config setting. settings --> config --> screen page --> make main lvl always visible you can set on, and make sure the "only main level" check box is disabled.

But everything works in theory...

Also you can do toolpath --> manual entry, put your notes into the manual entry then just ghost the manual entry so it doesn't generate code.

Yes, but in theory it would only be non-round until it shrinks, if the model shrinks as it should they will become round again after Heat Treat. So to correctly manufacture a part that will shrink more in a length than in a width direction the part would be nonround while being machined and in theory will shrink into the correct shape.

Many of you have really good points on this topic. I always try the "classic" swarf first as its easierr in my opinion and has less settings to worry about. If however, the classic doesnt give me enough control i move to the Surface/solid swarf as this has 4 serpeate collision strategies that can be used amolg many other advanced options like roughing, etc. that are far more powerful than classic offers. so in summary, simple stuff run classic, advanced stuff run Surface/solid, but if you have a complete understanding of Surface/solid swarf i dont see why we couldnt use that for everything, just preferance mostly i believe.