Just here to vent as well ... There has been a lot of let's change this and add more clicks to access features that used to be much more simple in the last few releases. One of my biggest complaints was why did they have to change the trim function to 2 or 3 different menus from 2019 to 2020. I'm sticking to 2022 for now.... Maybe I'm just getting set in my ways and old and cranky. The V9 I started on was so simpler quicker and dirty LOL.

I've been working my way through some of this stuff... Fun times. Worst so far was a bunch of surfacing with a 3/4 ball that had 6.5" stickout. Turned out ok. Just got a couple custom long 10" ballnose bodies, with slightly smaller shanks from sterling edge so I can get all the way down some of these walls.

BIGTOOL.mcx-8 Here is one example.

Hi I have some tools to machine that are very very deep. Longest I have to do is going to be 8" of stickout with a 7/8 inserted ballnose. Material I'm machining is A2. That 8 deep length has straight verticle walls to machine all the way down. I'm doing this work on a 3 axis 40 taper mill... Any suggestions on amount of material to leave for finishing, speeds\feeds or depths of cut would be greatly appreciated. I know there is no good way to do this, but I have no choice...

Our research last year came down to a Doosan DNM 500, or the Genos m-560. Bang for the buck the Okuma was a no brainer. Very happy with the machine.

Using X8 for a couple weeks here now. Random stuff is starting to get a little frustrating here... Little errors like only allowing me to choose one contour at a time, not letting me switch from 2d/3d, can't right click and change main levels. Now I'm trying to do some simple hole drilling selecting my points in 3d using incremental distances and its like its stuck in 2d. some other things I've had to work around then magically disappear... Am I the only one here.....

I'll have to check out that info for the Iscar cutter. The hitachi cutter has 2 different radiuses and like you said its close but leaves more material in some spots... Thanks for the replies guys. Have to finish figuring this out on Monday....

I have 2 high feed cutters with a weird insert shape how do I get the proper size/shape when defining my cutter? The one is a 1" hitachi IASR the other is a 1" iscar helido . I did a quick search here but had no luck. Any help would be great!

Wire for sure. Laser will harden the outside and leave a taper.

Yes 12 grand more for the 32-i controller with 15k spindle don't really need that many rpm but the better control I think is a must. We have a Mag fadal with fanuc 01-MC controller and it gets jerky when I want it to go quickly. Thanks for the suggestion.

Looks like we should be able to get the hitachi back up and going without buying a new cam-box from mori. Still looking for another machine though... Have been looking at the Okuma Genos M560, Matsuura VX-1000, Doosan DNM 500, and the DMG-Mori 5100. Its kind of difficult doing an apples to apples comparison between machines and all the quotes we have gotten are a bit different as far as options, controls etc. To add to that I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to this stuff and not 100% sure what I need as far as controls go. Most of the work we do is machining form tooling from A2 for automotive prototypes. I need something capable of running 3d contours fast, but need to keep in mind that our form tooling doesn't need super finishes or to be super accurate....

How would that hold up to doing a lot of roughing and high-speed finishing of tool steels?

I personally would just go for it with what I had available... I would check the part's form tolerances, like Crazy Millman says if you approach it properly and use the right toolpaths it should be ok. My 2 cents worth.

Hi, looks like our hitachi seiki vs50 is going to require some expensive work... Any ideas on a comparable mills out there?

Great to know! Now only if it would change the tool dia off sets and length offsets sequentially as well...

Jay, I will get a sample up as soon as I figure out how to take screen shots and post them etc. I figured an example would be best just swamped right now...

I have been having this problem at work for a few years now. We usually work around this problem but it is getting REALLY annoying especially for longer more complex programs. I am 5-axis programming for a Mitsubishi laser. Now say I am programming to trim the excess off of a car door-skin. I program everything the toolpath around the edge chains fine and I am able to cut the part with no issues. Now I get the part back from Q&A and I need to make adjustments to my program. I rotate the program in mastercam to suit the changes I need to make but, mastercam breaks up the chains and I end up having to redraw all of my arcs and lines to get it to chain again. Why? This is starting to get time consuming having to redraw all the time. Anyone else here ever have this problem? I hope I am explaining myself properly. Thanks