Hello again all! I posted before about using the Pro-E translator and problems with a solid. That was resolved (more or less) and thanks to all who responded. This is a different problem, and very strange. I occasionally get an error message saying "the file is not recognized, blah blah..." When I say 'occasionally' I guess I mean randomly. I have spoken to my reseller and he doesn't have an answer for me. A couple weeks back when this started my reseller got into my pc with something like an FTP where he could 'see' my computer (not sure what this is called), but when I opened MCX the pro-e file opened fine! So MCX opens the pro-e files for a week or so without issue. I get an email last Thursday(?) asking if the problem was fixed, I open a pro-e file and confirm that yes it appears to be working. Yesterday I tried opening and BAM same error message as before. Now today I get a call from reseller and it opens no problems?!? Has anyone seen this or something similar? His suggestion this morning was to try and restart my pc and/or MCX, which I will try next time. It seems like if the license wasn't reading correctly I would get a prompt for a code, but not sure if this has changed recently? I would appreciate any help, thanks! p.s. I have not done any changes to my pc in the time this has all happened, no new software or drivers or anything... wait! except I downloaded the beta for X8, maybe a conflict??...

I use the HS rest rough for almost everything. It seems to be fairly straightforward to set up and I think it cuts pretty well without much effort. The rest rough works great if you are starting with a round part or a casting as you can define the stock to cut from. Honestly I am not real familiar with the rest of them as this has so far got the job done (for me) on everything from large donut shapes, castings, round bar, and even plain 'ole square stock. Another benefit to the HS is that if you don't like it, you can change the type without re picking geometry. As to specifics to stepovers and such, this will vary by part, material, tolerances, and your cutting tools/workholding. I would like to point out that I do adjust the gap setting on almost every path possible to keep the tool down as much as possible as this usually defaults to a rather small number.

Set a containment boundary and then use a high speed path for roughing. I like the rest roughing path, although if you have never used the HSM I would recommend experimenting to see what you like and how well your machine handles the code.

I like to add comments in the toolpath like "rough outer profile" or "3d finish large gate" etc. This can help when reassigning geometry, but that still leaves you (the programmer) doing alot of work...

Figured it out! You can actually turn it off and on inside the verify window . I didn't realize the little icon that says color loop with the colored squares was actually a button to turn on and off...

I just noticed on mine that the color loop is not working at all. I know where the settings are but I noticed this morning it doesn't change color at the tool change..? I tried swapping back and forth between op and tool and still nothing. If I change the first color it does update, but no color change at the next tool (and they are set to different colors) . Anyone know if there is a glitch somewhere?

I have done a search here and haven't had too many matches so I apologize in advance if this has been covered already. I would like to get opinions (and hopefully some facts from CNC software) about programming from a solid vs programming surfaces. I would like to hear things like processing times, tool gouges(!), time to set up a toolpath (picking a solid body or picking surfaces or faces), etc. thanks all!

^^ part sent, thanks in advance for the help!

Thanks, yes I have tried all the import options. It does indeed "fix" the one problem area compared to not having the heal option checked. When I do check solid it says no errors found. I have 2 issues with the part tho that aren't addressed. 1) when I change the filter on the high speed rest rough (to more than .0015 total) it gives me "error extracting at least one solid face". 2) the toolpath actually gouged the part, although it does not show in any of the stock models. I am a little confused by the 2nd, could this be a machine problem? Seems odd it is in the same area that is not ok if I don't use the heal, but I don't know why its not on the verify or the stock models. p.s. I don't think its the 'dog-leg rapid' issue as this has never been a problem with this machine in the last 8 months.

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help. I know they are checking tolerances and whatever else is involved with the parent database, I think this is usually their first step. I just wanted to ask and see if maybe there was anything else I might be missing. The last time we had an issue it had to do with something the way the model was built. I don't know any terminology in Pro-E. but I gather there are several ways to generate a fillet or round in the database. Again, thanks for the fast responses, I will double check about the tolerance settings they are using.

Hey everyone, hoping to gain some insight and maybe specifically help for my problem. I have the pro-e translator and solids on my seat. My question is once you do the analyze on the solid and it shows errors, is there a way to address the errors specifically? For example, I see the error similar to "vertice does not lie on face" or "self intersecting face" , when I click these I see them highlight in the graphics window, my question is what do those terms mean?? I have only had problems with a couple of files in the last few months of importing pro-e or .stp files. If this is something that needs addressed in the original database I would love to hear suggestions that I could pass on to the engineers, thanks.

Thank you for the offer but I am no longer with that job.

I have used Camplete with Mastercam. I think it works ok, but to be honest I never had any training other than the initial setup to get going, about 6 hours or so and the guy didn't have alot of answers to our questions. The thing we couldn't get it do propery was import our toolholders. I thought the tool building feature was overly complicated, not nearly as nice as making toolholders in Mastercam (even though you can't completely define a holder i.e. no radii...). I think if you had training from a qualified user that was proficient with both it would be great.