Hi everyone, It's been a long time since I last posted. It's good to be back. I have an issue with my post processor. The max Z depth on the last tool does not post. If I post out a program that uses only one tool, the max Z depth on it does not post at all. I'm sure it's the same issue. A little history. We had a post that posted the tool list with all the Z depths but there were other problems with it. It was the same post that had been updated since around V9.1 or something like that. It was recommended that we just move to a newer post so we did and it worked except that there was no tool table output even when you turned on the switch in the post. I compared the two posts and through cutting and pasting and adding a few things I was able to get the newer post to output the tool table along with the Max Z depths except for the one issue that I'm posting about. Can anyone help with this. I believe the post is a modified MPFAN. Thanks, JohnA

Dang it, still no luck...

Andre, I did as you said and it still is not outputting the feedrate. Any other suggestions?

Oh, this is for vertical mill...sorry.

Hi everyone, It's been a long time since I've posted. I've already searched this topic but the recommended fix didn't work for me. I'm on X4 and I can't get my post to output a feedrate on a toolchange if the feedrate from a previous tool is the same. I know I can change the feedrate and get it to work but I'd like to just fix this, if possible. It works fine with the MPMaster post. Adding the prv_fr=-9999 to my ptlchg post block did not work. Maybe I didn't put it in the right place. Thanks all, JohnA

You may also want to check your comp settings. It may be set at "control" now instead of "wear" which is probably had it originally.

Hi all, I have created a toolpath using a right angle head and I actually got it to look like it's supposed to look...big step for me! I'm only cutting one line. Imagine a rod clamped down to the table parallel with the T-slots, then all I'm trying to do is cut a slot crossways with a right angle head and a big ol' slotting saw. Now all I need to do is transform that one line 44 more times so I can cut a bunch of slots crossways across that dadburned rod. I get the first slot to look right but on the rest of the slots the tool turns down and starts trying to cut 'em all cankajawed. It's like the planes I assigned to the source operation didn't carry over but in the operations manager, on that transform step, the WCS and the Tplane match the source operation. Can innyone hep me?

Oops, maybe not, I just pulled up an old print that we have like this and the U is used to indicate "counterbore". Might that fit your scenario? JohnA

It's a font issue. When you open the CAD file you have to use the correct font. We get that here too. After I post this I'll go back and check which font we have to use but it translates into +/-. JohnA

Hi wildpair, I worked in a plastics shop years ago and we did a tremendous amount of mill and lathe work on G-10 as well as G-9 and all the other G's you can think of. We used diamond grind carbide end mills to do our work, we didn't use coolant but we had a vacuum system throughout the shop that dropped a hose at each machine. For drilling we used -you guessed it- circuit board drills. I don't recall the exact surface speed but it was pretty low because the stuff burned easily and would delaminate. There's nothing really fast about machining this stuff. If it's green and smells as bad as you say, it's probably G-12. If it's grayish in color with a sharp "burn your nose" odor, it's G-9. Anyway, good luck and keep the dust off of your ways. Baq from Iraq JohnA

Wow, I totally missed the post right below mine. Maybe I can get some ideas from there...

Hello all, I have a cool .jpg that I'd like to be able to convert into something that MC can read. I want to be able to engrave this image onto a piece of material. I remember doing it in Smartcam years ago but I don't remember how I did it. I think we had a scanner that would output in DXF format but I don't remember that clearly. Any help is appreciated. Baq from Iraq JohnA

That was it!!! Thanks so much for your help. When I brought the file in I created a simple arc to run the tool around but I forgot to change levels so the tool geo AND the arc were on the same level. Once I changed the arcs level, all was good. How were you able to find those minute imperfections in the geometry? This very well may happen again and I'd like to be able to solve it myself. Thanks again for all the help. JohnA Baq from Iraq for 18 months now

Thanks guys, I have another question though. The fixed file renders correctly in verify but not when I backplot. Also I can only get it to work as a custom file and not on a custom layer. If I try to use the custom layer method, I get the error "unable to create custom tool, backplot will use hte automatically generated tool" Thanks for the quick replies. JohnA

Okay, The file is on the FTP site under the MCX_files folder. The filename is TOOLS-TEST.MCX. Sorry, I don't know how to do the links and such. Thanks for the help. Gcode, the reference settings you sent to apply to my tool file didn't work. Thanks though John

Hi all, What are the limitations to creating custom tool profiles. I've searched the topics and haven't found exactly what I'm after. I've gathered that the profile has to be from 0,0 and in the positive direction, also no centerline unless it's dashed and you can't overlap other geometry, I've also selected the "undefined" option. I'm using the layer method of creating the geometry and the tool geo is the only thing on that layer. I still get a problem with the geometry and the tool will not render in backplot. Any help is appreciated. JohnA

Are you selecting your tools individually from the library for each job so that there is only 1 tool one and 1 tool two? Do you have 2 or 3 different tools defined as tool 1 (in your actual job, not the tool library) and you just assign whichever tool you need to the toolpath. This was the case when I saw this last. The guy was copying the entire tool library that he had created into every job he programmed so there were multiple tool 1's. 2's, 3's, and so on, instead of selecting each tools as he needed it from the library. Good luck! JohnA

Thanks to everyone who responded. I think we're going to go with graphite and give it a shot. As far as vacuum clamping goes, the thin parts break as soon as the vacuum is applied...veeeerrry brittle stuff. JohnA

Hi Harold, The way I've always done it, is to open a new file then use the Converter - STL and select your .stl file. After you select it, you will have the option of XForming it. Go ahead and Xform and flip it however you want it then save it as another .stl (i.e., op2.stl). When you go to verify your second operation, use the "from file" option and select the op2.stl file. That should do what you want it to do. This is how I did it in v9.1. If you're using X it may be different. John

Quartz is used in high temp applications (1200 C or more) for growing oxide on silicon wafers (just one of the applications). Other materials will either off-gas and contaminate the wafers or melt at those temperatures. As far as using the same material for the backing plate, it is extremely expensive and will break or crack too easily when clamping. I was hoping that graphite was cheaper and not as likely to break when clamped. Thanks for the suggestions and please keep 'em coming.

Hello all, I'm not sure if I have revisited this forum since my return from Iraq but if not...Thank you to all who posted words of encouragement for me while I was gone. I came right back to my old job and fell back into the groove in no time. This question is for those who have machined quartz or even who are currently machining it. The obvious problem in quartz machining is how to hold the stuff without breaking it. Typically we wax quartz to an aluminum plate and machine it that way, however, when the finished part is thin, it tends to break when the plate is reheated to remove the part. We have several methods to overcome this problem but I read elsewhere in this forum that graphite plates were used by someone else in the quartz industry. My question is this: Does graphite expand a lot when heated, relative to aluminum? Would using graphite drastically reduce quartz breakage upon reheat? I know graphite is ungodly expensive but the savings in broken parts might justify the cost of the fixture plate. Any responses are appreciated.

Scooch, I presume this pocket is not a typical box. If the walls and the floor of the pocket are all the same surface then I don't think you can do what you are wanting to do. You may be able to split the surface and make the floor with a small amount of the wall a seperate surface,then run your surfacing operation on the wall portion with stock-to-leave and on the floor portion with 0.0 stock-to-leave. Let me know if I'm even close as it's been awhile since I've done this. JohnA

Hi nor, Under the "pocketing parameters" tab in your operation parameters there is a pulldown menu for POCKET TYPE that is probably defaulted to "standard." Change it to "open" and see how your toolpath looks. You can change the toolpath in the "method" box under the ROUGHING/FINISHING PARAMETERS. Good luck, JohnA

Derek, I'm at Taji. It's about 15 miles north of Baghdad. It's a former Iraqi Army and Air Force base. Nasiriyah is way down south. Although that's where the 507th (Jessica Lynch's unit) was ambushed, relatively speaking, it's not as bad anymore. Generally, the further north you go from Kuwait, the more perilous it is. From Baghdad up to Mosul is probably the worst, especially in Al Anbar province. Don't worry too much about your boy. If he stays there, and as long as there's not another insurrection there, he should be fine.

Jay, It's just as split here as it is back in the states. It almost seems 50/50. I think the difference is whether or not you're pissed off about being here. On the one hand, the appearance of the lack of WMD smacks of Washington BS and screams for a do-over. On the other hand, did you know that we have found unexploded roadside bombs with Sarin in them? Where did that come from? Has that information made it back to the states? Surely we didn't find the last Sarin in existence in Iraq, did we? Maybe it was here or maybe they got it from the Iranians or Syrians. We may never know. I don't like being here, but sometimes the right thing to do isn't the most popular thing to do. I'd love to be kicking back a cold one talking shop, but if things that need to be done now don't get done now, then it could be MY sons over here taking care of something I should have taken care of before it got worse. I feel that if Kerry gets elected, it would be more the American people punishing Bush rather than electing the right person for the job. Kerry's entire campaign seems to be based on what Bush has done wrong in Iraq rather than what Kerry plans to do right. JohnA