WOW!~ Some great answers, Thanks guys!! mayday, great idea, think I'll ask our boss to invest in a 1/2" face mill. They make those out of 4140, dont they? Trev, right on the money, trying to stay right up to the wall, but not burnish the walls with tool. James, kick butt! Ya, machines wont go over 200 ipm here..LOL Thanks justind, Chuckles the Clown. Now, time to approach the bossman. Vector

We are running aluminum, 7075 T6511, and I need to make a cut near a wall, the final depth of the cut is 3.00", and it requires .250 corner rad's. The thickness of the cut is .150 I am currently using a 3 flute HSS .500 endmill at 2800 rpm's 25.0 IPM. Any suggestions for a good cutter to use, with out snapping the cutter? This is my main concern is running the cutter to fast 25. ipm, and snapping the cutter in half. Something strong and will bend before it breaks. We are thinking about a .500 shaft with just 1.00 of cutter length at the end. HSS, Cobalt, Solid Carbide? Thanks Vector

Well, Im a Newbie, count me in. But,,,,I just cruise in and read the current post daily. I always check the FAQ first, if I'm stuck then post a question. But one has to be very careful here when asking a questions, some of the guys are mean sons of bi###es. There are cliques here, and if you dont fit in, you get the newbie treatment. But there are a few class act guys here, that really put effort into helping a fellow MC'er. Cheer Vector Seattle, WA

Found the problem, Its a Firewall Block here at work..argh!! Seems certain attachments are blocked, and defanged, coming in. Dont have time, try another plan tommorrow. Oh well, Plan B Thanks Jay, Dave. Cheers Vector

No workie, Allen. Like I said, when I try to drag my file over to the FTP site, it wont upload, but instead it opens the file as a HTML. Its in STEP format. Tell ya what, I send email you the file and you can upload it, better yet, converter over to MC9, and email me back. Any takers? Vector

I have a STEP file that I need to see today, but dont have the option paid for in our MC here at work..argh! And the Part is a hot item. I tried to drag and drop this file onto: FTP Site But, all it does is open this file as a Webpage, located on my hard drive. Can someone help a fellow MC'er, just this one file I need converted. Thanks Vector

Thanks Brian.. Works Great!!! Geesh Greg, you missed it. Htable adds dimensions to the drawing..not what I was looking for. Cluters the drawing, thanks though. Brians choice: Analyze->Contour->Window (the enties)-> It'll ask for a point just pick one on the screen ->Done->3d or 2d ->Enter a Comment-> Save the File Bryan Thanks!!! Vector

We use a Digitizer, and we are able to import the .DWG file into MC9. Is there a function somewhere in MC9, for us to print a hardcopy of all the point locations, line lengths, diams. and radius on the current drawing? Just as the Analyze Function works, can we print all the details of a drawing? I could go to the drawing and add dimensions from the WCS, but that would take too long, there are over 70 holes, would clutter the hardcopy. Ok, for those that dont understand the above, here's an easier version of what I just asked above. I work at a Machine Shop. (Duh!) We have a licensed version of Master Cam V9. (Hasp Found) We use a digitizer. Which is not connected to our Mastercam Computer. (IBM 5084 3) The digitzer is connected to another computer. The other computer uses AutoCad to plot the drawing points and lines. (Kapisch?) On this other computer, the AutoCad computer, it saves the plotted drawings with all the points, lines, arcs in AutoDesk format. (Lost yet?) AutoDesk and Autocad are the same format. (Duh) The file format ends in .DWG (not DOG) Ok,,following so far? I take this disk from the Autocad computer, and bring the disk into my office, and put the disk in our Mastercam computer. Then I open MasterCam, and use the Coverter Function. And I read the AutoCad drawing. Now, heres the tricky part. I can see the drawing on the Master Cam computer fine. What I am asking is, can I print to our Paper Printer, its a Epson printer, like most offices have. Can I print the locations of the circles, and lines to our printer? Is there a function in MasterCam to allow us to print a list of all the lines, circles, arcs, etc...? Just like when you use the Analyze Function, it will give the details of a circle, X,Y,Z position, diam, rad, length, etc. Ok? Thanks in Advance Vector

Hi I know MC9 can function using a Digitizer with a Tablet and Puck using c-hook digitize.dll, but, we have in our shop a large tablet 6' x 4' with a computer with windows 3.1 (argh!) and an very old version of autocad. We are upgrading this computer to at least a Pent III, and keeping the Digitizer, and moving the whole system out on the shop floor, so the shop guys can use this system, to read from PCM's, and plot their points and create programs. But, the MC9 version I am using has a Plug in Hasp in the back of the computer, which means, its dedicated to this computer only, and too far from the digitizer, this room is too small, its too big, the sky is grey, the ocean is blue, yadda, yaddda, (get the picture?). So, we got this large tablet, and all we need is a simple program to run/read the IBM 5084 3 digitizer. I have looked all over the Web, found 4 and tried them, but they are lacking the Functions for X and Y Coordinates. We need something to read from an Origin as in X0, Y0 and be able to print this data via a printer. So far I have tried, DigitIT, GrabIt, Easy Digitizer, Excel Digitizer. Anyone have any suggestions, or have been down this road before?? Thanks Vector

Files - Converters - Autodesk - Read Dir

oops..thanks for the Heads up Greg. Yep water jet, or stack EDM. Cheers

We cut Aluminum all day, all week. What I would do, is stack 5-10 parts at at time, on a fixture plate, and use the largest cutter you can. Since the parts require a .125 corner radius, then you will need to use a .250 2 flute, HSS endmill. And short as possible. They make .25 endmills with .500 shafts. Also make a cover plate, to hold down the stack of 5-10 parts. Depends on your machine, I would at least stack 10 parts. The cover plate from .250-.375 thick, will help hold down the parts. If you have a down flute in the shop, use this style cutter. Use a few clamps to hold cover plate atop of parts. Switch clamps at M0 to other side. Speed 6000-8000 rpms .250 dia 2 flute HSS endmill. Feed 40. to 60. inches a minute. Depends on tooling, setup and machine. Use coolant. Good luck Vector [ 03-12-2003, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: Vector ]

Hi Eric M46 - Turn on Positive Approach M47 - Cancel Positive Approach We have 2 Fadals, and use M46/M47 all the time for drilling. T3 M6 (.25 CNTR DRILL ) S4500 M3 G17 G90 G0 X-2.4375 Y0 E1 Z1. H3 M8 M46 G81 G98 X-2.4375 Y0 Z-0.055 R+0.15 F7. X1.9967 Y1.3981 Y-1.3981 M47 G80 G0 G90 M5 M9 G53 Z0 M1 T4 M6 (11/64 DRILL ) S4500 M3 G17 G90 G0 X-2.4375 Y0 E1 Z1. H4 M8 M46 G81 G98 X-2.4375 Y0 Z-0.1 R+0.1 F10. X1.9967 Y1.3981 Y-1.3981 M47 G80 G0 G90 M5 M9 G53 Z0 M1 Good luck Vector

Hi Steve I am in Mukilteo, its south of Everett. Where you at? What kinds of work are you in to ? I work at a Commercial Airliner Repair Shop. We fix and repair most parts found on the big jets. Currently CNC Lead/Programmer. See ya Vector

Problem solved .. Thanks Jean!!! (Hi Vector, I think it’s very simple why it wouldn’t work. You need to have curves (arcs or lines) when you project curves, if you want to project only points then you’ll have to go in create points srf project and then follow the prompts. I projected them according to top view you could also project it to the surface normal. Bien à vous! Best regards!)