I've been doing Mastercam stuff for over 10 years. I agree that any Microsoft new OS is too buggy to jeapordize my time schedule. My system is the server for all data, the Mastercam Design seat, the portal for all customer email, data and communication, and I review/convert all design data from other sources before files go to CNC. The OS is Win98 SE and has been the most stable of the 12 computers we have here. Most of the shop systems are NT4. I don't care if some new OS is more wizzbang, stability in an OS is primary. I've never had to reformat/reload anything.

I had one of our Mill3 systems here mess up and found that turning the open GL off fixed everything. This system had NT4 sp6. I run Win98 with an ATI Rage 32 MB and had no problems after installing DirectX 7.0a and the latest ATI drivers.

Bought my first GM, 1997 Olds 88 loaded. Second only to my 1991 Caravan as the most expensive to own. Numerous repairs. Best vehicle I ever owned, and still have, 1994 Toyota Corolla with 235,000 on it. Toyota parts are much cheaper than the Big Three. My brothers '94 Neon (same price, bought at the same time) is ready for the scrap. Corollas and other models are made in Canada and USA so I think it comes down to design and quality.

Is it possible you have a bunch of data that has been "blanked"? Goto screen, blank, unblank, all entities. I've never seen your problem with a newly created Mastercam file, but sometimes customer provided data has all kinds of hidden ( blanked ) data for construction purposes. We have one source that gives us wireframe & surfs, with three or more copies "blanked". Huge files.

I've worked om CNCs since '83. All my Mastercam work here since '90 has been in full 3D no matter how the design was generated. I spent time re-creating 3D from 2D up until '98 when I moved into design. I use Mastercam Design and our other design seats have always been Cadkey so I have no idea why all our mold design wasn't 3D anyway. If you have a design team that isn't 3D capable, replace them or train them. There is no reason to be afraid or hesitant of 3D. You wouldn't believe the number of serious errors I find building a 3D model from 2D. At present, at my insistance, all our designs in house and outsourced are done in 3D. If the design source won't do it, we don't give them the business. If designers aren't 3D capable, how will they make the transition to solids? I see a definite move to solids based design and in another two years or so, that's where we should all be for design. About half of our customers already are 100% solids and if we aren't compatible and knowledgeable, they would go elsewhere.

I've said for some time that the design was about 90% there and have hoped that there would be further development to compete as a stand alone CAD product.

Solid Edge has a free program to view parasolids called Origin. The full version was $250 US a while ago. It's also great for converting UG parts or assemblies to parasolid.

If Mastercam macro is a keystroke recorder, why can't I get a macro to record for creating a surface using flat boundaries. Try it. Only the first two keystrokes work. Two keystrokes doesn't save any aggravation. It's more of a nuisance to search for the icon. I hope Mastercam never goes to icons only. Thats only for looks, way to slow for real people. Previous to Ver 8.1, you could do a quick: delete, all, drafting, dimensions. Try it now! Many times a day a view gets modified and dimn'd up to give to one of the guys. Now it's got to be cleaned up.

I reported that some time ago, Ver 8.1.1. It's reminiscent of a similar event in Ver 6.0 which ( I was told) I reported first also. There is no sure way out, but I've done it by Convert, Save as MC7 while its still on the screen. Or you can convert to Iges just in case. If there are a lot of modifications to geometry ( Xform, Translate etc..) especially with notes and dimensions, it seems to be more likely. A lot of folks point the finger at Microsoft about memory problems, but I have the same system and OS and it all worked fine with Ver 7.2 and Ver 8.0. Years ago I would reboot at lunch time so Mastercam wouldn't crash in mid afternoon unexpectedly.

This was part of a request submission more than once. It was back at Ver 5 the first time I suggested it.

Create a solid, dashed and centre line on a blank screen. Now turn the render mode off & on with no surfaces or solids on the screen, just those lines. On my system they change visually, but analyze and plot fine.

It's been a few years since I was on the CNC, but I recall a setting change in Mastercam display parameters for backplot. Play with the backplot display options before getting a new card.

What you may want to look up are the line width defaults for your plotter in it's manual. Sometimes referred to as pen #s. Mastercam allows you to set a screen color to a pen #, and my plotter pen #s go from thin to thick. Therefore, color 2= pen 2 ( .01 wide), color 3= pen 3 (.015 wide) etc.. to color 7= pen 7 (.060 wide). I use color 2 for hidden, color 3 for notes, 4 & 5 for features, 6 for section lines, 7 for borders. If your plotter is color capable, you can have hundreds of combinations.

Anyone out there have a chook to create a balloon around a note, rather than a box? I do mold design and doing detail identification by drawing circles and inserting the text, attaching a leader, is a pain. Any other neat chooks to share with fellow forum members?

In aluminum it's always best use roll form tapping for #10 or smaller. Years ago Tapmatic had a self-reversing head with a very short release stroke for shallow holes. I don't know if it's still available.

I've had this error message happen when saving a file and it can corrupt the file. If you get it, re-save right away with a different filename or convert to version 7 and save. This error code is generated by Mastercam but no one has been able to tell me the real cause. If the error code is in the program code, CNC should be able to let us know what initiates it. Is it possible it has to do with RAM chips? They use tables.

If you have trouble working with any profile, use "screen, next menu, comb views" in case there is an arc that is flipped to the normal. I've even had associated dimensioning mess up because of it.

I've been involved in photography for 25 years and my first assumption is that every enthusiast I meet knows something I can learn from. We should view this forum the same way.

Forget about the coordinate offsets and go straight to CNC code. In the beginning of your program, before any Z moves, just specify " G90 G92 Z (x); and you will have one value that can be fine tuned to any material. At the end of any CNC program you should also have "G92 G90 X0Y0Z0;" . I have a sub that returns (G00 G91 G28 X0Y0Z0 and resets (G90 G92 X0Y0Z0 everytime so there is no confusion. If you need to, you can add the optional stop M01 after the "G90 G92 Z (x);" so you can run it up to that point, then jump to any tool in the program. I used to insert a M01 after each tool just before the next tool change for the convenience of running any tool.

I spend most weekends from Sept to June doing sound board and techie stuff for a youth band that has about 30 kids aged 11 to 19. They performed 35 concerts last year and have 3 recordings under their belt. Check out chaverimband.com for a looksee.

Output a parasolid from Ideas and convert using the parasolids. If you don't have Mastercam solids, it will allow you to generate a surface or wireframe or both as you import it. Before we got the parasolid option, I did this with graet success and the wireframe is quite clean.

I've been asking NC for years to improve their Design end of their product. We have 5 seats of Mill and my seat of Design prepares ALL data that goes to the CNC. Each operator does his own programming but I make sure all designs are problem free. I also do mold designs and feel that MC is more stable and easier than our Cadkey seat. It's good to hear that others would like to see improvement in the Design / drawings end of it. I can't figure out why the industry uses one product for CAD and another for CAM. When I finish a mold design, it's ready for the CNC NOW. Revisions are also immediate.

Here in Ontario Canada there are a lot of shops closing, but we are still at it, though 50 hours is about it. The jobs are thin, but out there. We are a small 20 man outfit but we have a reputation for godd molds at a reasonable price. Our strong point is integrating revisions during and after tool build with quick turn around. Works for us. As far as replacing machinists with CNC button pushers, we have found that the best CNC operator is a machinist or at least someone with 2-3 years manual experience. They have the smarts to know when a drilling or milling operation doesn't lokk or sound right and that can save a lot more than the cost of their wages. On the other hand, I find little interest from many of the employees in reading trade magazines to guage where the trades are headed and preparing to be in a favourable position as the market / skills develop. I'm over 50 and on my own I registered in a UG course because I see a need for higher solids knowledge and ability in the future. The responsibility for keeping yourself "valuable" to an employer is your own.

Never uninstall the previous working version. I have found it very useful in handling files between the two open at the same time. You may also find that some data that has errors loading in Ver 8.1 are fine in the Ver7.2 and just need to be resaved.

Both UG and Cadkey also have .prt extension. If you have access to a Cadkey seat, you could also use STEP output from Pro/E. I found a freebie UG .prt to parasolid translator but I haven't come across a Pro/E to parasolid or acis translator.