Hello, I am working on setting up a post for our Tsugami Swiss machine. I would like to be able to have the part in MCam as it sits in the machine, so I need to invert the Z values for both the main and sub spindle. What is the best way to do that / how do I do that? Thanks.

Thanks for the responses. I am working on some other projects right now, so I will get back to this sometime in the next week or two.

I create a machining operation to "machine" to what my stock actually is. Ghost the op, and then use it as the ref operation for a dynamic rest mill operation. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I would like to get an output for a drilling cycle where I can specify : 1.How often to break the chip 2. Retract amount for chip break 3. How often to retract back to the clearance plane. For example I want to be able to chip break every .100, and pull out of the hole every .300. Where I used to work we had all Haas machines and you could do it with a G73 Q.1 K.3. But at the new job we have Fanuc, Mitsubishi, Haas and Okuma controls. I am thinking getting longhand output would be the easiest way to get that working. But I am having trouble finding where in the post to alter the longhand drilling cycles. Any advice or help on how to do something like this would be appreciated. Thanks.

Nope, you're not missing anything, I am I never knew about that command before, that is a lot easier. Thanks.

We have two Okuma vertical mills that have the umbrella toolchangers. On those two machines we want the tool numbers to always be numbered sequentially. I changed the post yesterday to have it start with tool 1 and then increment by one at each toolchange regardless of what the tool number in MasterCam is. This will work for almost everything we do in these machines. But if I use a tool in MasterCam and then reuse the same tool number later in the program for some reason now I would get a different tool number. Does anyone have a suggestion on a better way to handle this, or a way to get the post to recognize that that tool has already been used and reuse the previous tool number? I think I like having the post do the tool numbering though so if I rearrange operations around I don't need to manually renumber the tools. The way I have it work for probably 99%+ of what we do with these machines, but would like to know if there is a better way to handle this. Thanks.

On the MP Master post, if I have the first toolpath is a manual entry, it is output above the header in the program. How do I move that to below the header?

So do you always put your M480 in the pick off portion, or do you do M480 at the beginning of your program? And what about turning? In the manual it says the M46 will cancel the M480. Or does the M480 just make sure that the pass off is correct and then after that you can connect and disconnect the c-axis?

Where in the program do you put the M480? Do you use it in place of the M34, and then never cancel it with the M36 until the end of the program?

On NL1500SY we have the two spindles. On jobs that require milling in both both spindles we have to set a C Axis offset for the Sub spindle to get the features to be in the right relationship between the two spindles. Does any one know what code or procedure we need to do to make this work? Thanks. I attached a program we are using and trying to get this to work. The pass off is in the middle of the program. % O4701(310 47010 STREET STOCK T-BAR) M46 M246 /2M98P5000(BAR LOAD) M98P7000 G54 M05 T303 (ROUGHING TOOL SHANK IS BAR STOP) G0X-4.5Y0.Z.03(STOP POSITION) M11 M482(M482 BAR PUSH) M10 Z.25 G53X-1.Y0.Z-35. M01 (OD TURN - 80 D - .016 NOSE RADIUS CCMT-32.51) (RADIUS AND FACE) M98 P7000 G54 T303 M200 G18 G99 M46 G97 S2634 M03 G0 X.87 Y0. Z-.0956 M8 G50 S4000 G96 S600 G1 X.75 F.008 G2 X.5588 Z0. I-.0956 K0. G1 X-.0912 G0 Z.03 G97 S4000 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 (.047 WIDE OD GROOVER TIMC3) (FRONT GROOVE) M98 P7000 G54 T1111 G18 G99 G97 S1000 M03 G0 X.81 Y0. Z-1.111 M8 G1 X.71 F.002 G0 X.81 Z-1.127 G1 X.71 F.006 G0 X.81 Z-1.0828 X.7924 G1 X.75 Z-1.104 X.742 Z-1.108 X.704 Z-1.119 X.7087 Z-1.1166 G0 X.7924 Z-1.1552 G1 X.75 Z-1.134 X.742 Z-1.13 X.704 Z-1.119 G0 X.7924 (REAR GROOVE) X.81 Z-2.422 G1 X.714 F.002 G0 X.81 Z-2.434 G1 X.714 F.006 G0 X.81 Z-2.3918 X.7924 G1 X.75 Z-2.413 X.742 Z-2.417 X.704 Z-2.428 X.7087 Z-2.4257 G0 X.7924 Z-2.4642 G1 X.75 Z-2.443 X.742 Z-2.439 X.704 Z-2.428 G0 X.7924 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M05 M01 ( 3/4 FLAT ENDMILL) M05 M98 P7000 G54 T505 G19 G98 M45 M69 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y.7733 Z-.255 M8 G97 S1150 M13 X1. G1 X.42 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.625 G1 X.42 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.255 G1 X.38 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.625 G1 X.38 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X2. M69 Y.7733 Z-.25 C180. M68 X1. G1 X.42 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.625 G1 X.42 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.25 G1 X.38 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X1. Y.7733 Z-.625 G1 X.38 F60. Y.3233 F20. Y-.3233 Y-.7733 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 ( 3/8 FLAT ENDMILL) M05 M98 P7000 G54 T808 G19 G98 M45 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y.0063 Z-.325 M8 G97 S2550 M13 X.8 G1 X.42 F6.33 Y-.0125 F15.3 X.3833 Z-.675 G3 X.3812 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X.3792 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X.3425 Z-.325 G3 X.3404 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X.3384 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X.3017 Z-.675 G3 X.2996 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X.2976 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X.2609 Z-.325 G3 X.2588 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X.2568 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X.2201 Z-.675 G3 X.218 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X.216 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X.1793 Z-.325 G3 X.1772 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X.1752 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X.1385 Z-.675 G3 X.1364 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X.1344 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X.0977 Z-.325 G3 X.0956 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X.0936 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X.0569 Z-.675 G3 X.0548 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X.0528 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X.0161 Z-.325 G3 X.014 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X.012 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.0247 Z-.675 G3 X-.0268 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X-.0288 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X-.0655 Z-.325 G3 X-.0676 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X-.0696 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.1063 Z-.675 G3 X-.1084 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X-.1104 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X-.1471 Z-.325 G3 X-.1492 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X-.1512 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.1879 Z-.675 G3 X-.19 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X-.192 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X-.2287 Z-.325 G3 X-.2308 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X-.2328 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.2695 Z-.675 G3 X-.2716 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X-.2736 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X-.3103 Z-.325 G3 X-.3124 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X-.3144 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.3511 Z-.675 G3 X-.3532 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 X-.3552 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 X-.3919 Z-.325 G3 X-.394 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 X-.396 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 X-.42 Z-.5537 Z-.675 G3 Y0. Z-.6875 R.0125 Y.0125 Z-.675 R.0125 G1 Z-.325 G3 Y0. Z-.3125 R.0125 Y-.0125 Z-.325 R.0125 G1 Z-.5537 Y.0063 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 ( 1/2 SPOTDRILL) M05 M98 P7000 G54 T606 G19 G98 M45 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y-.025 Z-.5 M8 G97 S4000 M13 X.8 G1 X.06 F1.07 Y-.05 F20. Z-.675 G3 Y0. Z-.725 R.05 Y.05 Z-.675 R.05 G1 Z-.325 G3 Y0. Z-.275 R.05 Y-.05 Z-.325 R.05 G1 Z-.5 Y-.025 G0 X2. M69 C180. M68 X.8 G1 X.06 F1.07 Y-.05 F20. Z-.675 G3 Y0. Z-.725 R.05 Y.05 Z-.675 R.05 G1 Z-.325 G3 Y0. Z-.275 R.05 Y-.05 Z-.325 R.05 G1 Z-.5 Y-.025 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 (OD CUTOFF RIGHT NONE) (PRE-POSITION CUTOFF TOOL) M98 P7000 G54 T101 G18 G99 M46 G97 S287 M03 G0 X8. Y0. Z-3.652 G50 S2000 G96 S300 (PICKOFF SPINDLE - UNCLAMP AND EJECT PART) M9 M73 G00 B-17.25(MOVES TO DROP OFF POINT) M47(EJECT AND BLOW) M211(SUB SPINDLE OPEN) M251(SPIN 2 AIR BLOW) M34(PHASE SYNC ON) M74(PICK OFF ARM DOWN) M211 (PICKOFF SPINDLE - MOVE TO CLEARANCE DISTANCE) G98 G1 B0. F200. (PICKOFF SPINDLE - MOVE TO GRIP POSITION) G1 G98 B-1.35 F30. (PICKOFF SPINDLE - CLAMP) M210 M259 (CUT OFF THE PART) G0 X.8 M8 G99 G1 X-.0818 F.003 G0 X8. M9 M80(PART OFF DETECT) M36(SYNC SPIN OFF) G0 G59 B0. G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M05 M01 (PICKOFF SPINDLE - RETRACT) (OD TURN - 80 D - .016 NOSE RADIUS CCMT-32.51) M98 P7000 G55 T303 G18 G99 G97 S2634 M203 G0 X.87 Y0. Z.0956 M8 G50 S4000 G96 S600 G1 X.75 F.008 G3 X.5588 Z0. I-.0956 K0. G1 X-.0912 G0 Z-.03 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M05 M01 ( 3/4 FLAT ENDMILL) M05 M98 P7000 G55 T525 G19 G98 M245 M69 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y-.7733 Z.255 M8 G97 S1150 M13 X1. G1 X.42 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.625 G1 X.42 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.255 G1 X.38 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.625 G1 X.38 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X2. M69 Y-.7733 Z.255 C180. M68 X1. G1 X.42 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.625 G1 X.42 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.255 G1 X.38 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X1. Y-.7733 Z.625 G1 X.38 F60. Y-.3233 F20. Y.3233 Y.7733 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 ( 3/8 FLAT ENDMILL) M05 M98 P7000 G55 T828 G19 G98 M245 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y.0125 Z.675 M8 G97 S2550 M13 X.8 G1 X.42 F6.33 Y-.0125 F15.3 X.3833 Z.325 G3 X.3812 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X.3792 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X.3425 Z.675 G3 X.3404 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X.3384 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X.3017 Z.325 G3 X.2996 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X.2976 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X.2609 Z.675 G3 X.2588 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X.2568 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X.2201 Z.325 G3 X.218 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X.216 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X.1793 Z.675 G3 X.1772 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X.1752 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X.1385 Z.325 G3 X.1364 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X.1344 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X.0977 Z.675 G3 X.0956 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X.0936 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X.0569 Z.325 G3 X.0548 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X.0528 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X.0161 Z.675 G3 X.014 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X.012 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.0247 Z.325 G3 X-.0268 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.0288 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.0655 Z.675 G3 X-.0676 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X-.0696 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.1063 Z.325 G3 X-.1084 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.1104 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.1471 Z.675 G3 X-.1492 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X-.1512 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.1879 Z.325 G3 X-.19 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.192 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.2287 Z.675 G3 X-.2308 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X-.2328 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.2695 Z.325 G3 X-.2716 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.2736 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.3103 Z.675 G3 X-.3124 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X-.3144 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.3511 Z.325 G3 X-.3532 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.3552 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.3919 Z.675 G3 X-.394 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 X-.396 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 X-.4327 Z.325 G3 X-.4348 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 X-.4368 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 X-.44 Z.3552 Z.675 G3 Y0. Z.6875 R.0125 Y-.0125 Z.675 R.0125 G1 Z.325 G3 Y0. Z.3125 R.0125 Y.0125 Z.325 R.0125 G1 Z.3552 Y-.0125 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M01 ( 1/2 SPOTDRILL) M05 M98 P7000 G55 T626 G19 G98 M245 G0 C0. M68 G0 X2. Y.025 Z.5 M8 G97 S4000 M13 X.8 G1 X.06 F1.07 Y.05 F20. Z.675 G3 Y0. Z.725 R.05 Y-.05 Z.675 R.05 G1 Z.325 G3 Y0. Z.275 R.05 Y.05 Z.325 R.05 G1 Z.5 Y.025 G0 X2. M69 Y-.025 C180. M68 X.8 G1 X.06 F1.07 Y-.05 F20. Z.325 G3 Y0. Z.275 R.05 Y.05 Z.325 R.05 G1 Z.675 G3 Y0. Z.725 R.05 Y-.05 Z.675 R.05 G1 Z.5 Y-.025 G0 X2. M05 M46 M69 G0 G53 X-1. Y0. Z-35. M9 M05 M201 M89 /M99 M30 %

Murlin - That is what I was planning on doing. Cicivegg - I am not using surfaces, just chains,2d machining, thanks though.

Thanks. I thought I had seen the option to save the toolpath geometry somewhere, but couldn't remember where. How do you use a bounding box to eliminate the air cuts?

Is there a way to create geometry from a toolpath? I have a fixture that holes 6 parts and used a core milling path to face off the parts, which works pretty good, but I would like to clean up the path and get rid of the air cutting where the toolpath is milling between the parts, but there isn't actually a part there.

Allright, I actually got it working just like I want it to with pocket milling, but I can't use any cutter comp, otherwise it wants to put the G41 on my finish arc move. I had to set the feed plane and retract plane to incremental 0 use to get the tool to stay down. I guess technically I could get away with not having it use cutter comp, but it seems like I should be able to get it to work, but I can't figure it out yet. Any ideas? Nevermind, I got it. The lead in/out was to big for the bore.

I want to helix into a bore, rough it leaving .010 per side and .010 on depth, then helix to depth and leave .020 per side while it is finishing the depth, and then stay in the bore and finish it. To me that would mean three different toolpaths and manual editing the code. Is there a way to get this to happen that won't need manual editing? Also if I use circle mill you always get the victory lap that I don't want on each operation, but using pocket milling for some reason it is turning cutter comp on with the arc move even though the lead in/lead outs are set to tangent with an arc? Why does it do the victory lap if you only have roughing selected on circle milling? I have never understood that one. I am sure someone has a trick or two up their sleeve to get this to work for production machining?

Awesome. Thanks for the detailed response Colin. One other question - The other day I used the C-view utility and it created the view and toolpath, but when I went to the view manager to give the new view a work offset, the new view wasn't listed there. Is there something you need to do after the C-view utility to "lock" it in? I know sometimes if I change views if I don't hit "Top (WCS)" the T/C planes aren't actually selected.

Hello, I have a couple of questions about milling cross holes on a Live tool lathe with Y axis. For plane selection - I am looking for some insight into how MasterCam works with the plane selection. I used the C-view utility to get the planes for a radial tool circle mill operation at C180. Then I used the front plane and created a circle mill operation. The operation I created the code looks just how I think it should. On the other one with the front plane though it doesn't do the G19 plane selection until the cutter comp on line, which the machines don't like. And also on what I programmed has two snap ring grooves, 1 X + and 1 X-. On the operation with the front plane the X+ cutter comp is G42, and the X- is G41. The correct looking operation has both cuts being done with G41, which seems correct to me. I was curious on an explanation of how/why the output is coming out as it is. Right now I have a good program, but I would like to understand this aspect of MasterCam better. And also on plane selection, with the correct looking operation, it turns on G19 before any movement takes place. Is that the correct way to do that? Or G18, position above the hole, then G19 and cross milling? I would also appreciate any insight into common practice on that. Thanks.

That's what I figured. Thanks for the responses. Not a big deal to do the dummy path.

Hello, I have a job where I want to drill a hole on center, then helix bore with and endmill, and then use a boring bar. The problem I ran into is the stock won't update after the helix boring operation to know what needs to be machined with the boring bar. Is there a way to get the stock to update after the helix milling? Or am I going to have to make a dummy toolpath with a flat bottom drill and ghost it to get the stock how is is supposed to be? Thanks, Brian

What if you just want to adjust the feedrates on arc for one toolpath?

Hello, I thought I remembered seeing something a couple years ago about using the highfeed function in MasterCam to slow down the arc feedrates in a program. I couldn't find it on here though. Is that something that is doable? And can someone point in the direction of where to find the info or how to accomplish that? I am using X7. Thanks.

Allright, I got it working. A question though, the spindle_no$ doesn't seem to work for me. When I was getting the main turning spindle and sub turning spindle on codes correctly previously I had noticed that, and ended up using workofs$=0, instead of using the spindle_no$=0. And did the same thing for the live tooling codes now. Then I have to make sure to have the work offsets set correctly for which spindle I am on, and then things work. Main is always G54 and sub is always G55. Any idea what I am missing in the post/not doing correctly for the spindle_no$ parameter to not seem to be working? Your post samples worked great and saved me a bunch of time, thanks for the help Ron. Brian.

I would use a work offset for each station. Then use G10 to write the offsets in. That way it is still a fast setup without needing to set a XYZ for each station, but each station can still be adjusted if need be by the operator. Set the work offset for each view in the view manager.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I'm going to try to work on this issue again Thursday or Friday and get it figured out. Thanks.

Hello, For the M-codes for turning the live spindle on, right now for doing face work on the main spindle I am getting an M14 output that needs to be an M13. It looks like the "spindle_m" is what outputs the M code for the spindle. I don't know how to change which M code gets put out with the spindle_m. I think I want an M13 output for main spindle face machining, M14 for sub spindle face machining, and M13 for all the vertical live tools. I get the M13 for the vertical tools now, so that part works fine. I think I just need to change the M code for the main spindle face machining. Appreciate any help you have. Thanks, Brian