Use Plot instead of Hardcopy. Much more releiable. Mike Mattera

Paul: Glad you got your drive thing fixed. You sure had me stumped. MoldMaker: I had the same problem. Your MP.dll's are set for read only and the install could not over write them. Righ Click on it in explorer, select Properties and Uncheck Read-Only. You could do the entire Mcam9 folder the same way. For those of you who have not installed MR0304 yet, I would make one suggestion: Make a backup of your Defaults.DF9 (LDafaults.df9 for lathe and Wdefaults for wire). This is the only file that was overwritten in my system. This is in the OPS folder. You only need to do this if you've changes any of the toolpath defaults (parameter page settings). The new 3D toolpaths are really FAST!!!! Mike Mattera

If their on an equally spaced pattern, you could do the 2 ops and Transform them into an array. That would keep the op mgr short. Other than that I cant think of a way to make a pocket or hole milling op do a different diameter on the last step. Hope that helps. Mike Mattera

Do yourself a favor... Update. You would be sooooo much better off with V9. Mike Mattera

FormZ is pretty cool for about $1200 - $2500. It's more of an art/design tool with geometric functions. Very organic shapes can be created pretty quickly. I've seen it at the shows several times. I wanted to get it just to play. Cool Stuff. If the budget allows I would get SolidWorks. It is becoming the dominant solid design package. Mike Mattera

Good Stuff Guys. Thanks. I use Win E for opening Explorer all the time, but my new favorite is going to be Win D / Win M. Ah Mastercam users and their hot keys! Always looking for a faster way to access their data. . Mike Mattera

I set a hot key to use the Screen - (next menu) - To Clipboard. I use the ALT , (comma) key. it's easy to reach and it's not used for anythng else. "To Clipboard" will let you take the whole graphics screen or put a window around what you want to save. Then you can paste it into you favorite Paint program. I use PaintShop Pro ( www.jasc.com ). PSP will convert to any graphics format. I think you can still download a shareware version, but it's well worth the money. PSP also has a screen capture utility built in. Mike Mattera

It's a waste of a good Ford Fairlane. Cant we strap him to a cruise missle and send him back to him home? Mike Mattera

Sounds like sheet solids. Blow away the surfaces and just build it with solids. It's much easier than creating water tight surfaces. Mike Mattera

Do you know what area he's in? I find it hard to believe that a dealer would not contact him. Unless he's the kind of guy who has asked for an updated quote every month for the past 10 years and has never bought anything. Even so I'd call him back . Sooner or later he has to buy somethin. Or go out of business. Watch! now that I've opened my big mouth, I'll find out this guys in Milwaukee . Mike Mattera

Only a fool lets his AV software expire. And only a fool (see: Administrator) doesn't teach his people about opening email attachments. Which is the biggest form of spreading virus'. Actually one of the best ways to reduce your risk is to NOT use Internet Explorer or Outlook (Mozilla Rules). I will agree that there are some things that will not work right (like accessing the ftp) unless your using IE. But Mozilla works for 98% of what I need. Oh Yea! I downloaded some stuff for the first time the other day and had no problems at all. Thanks Jay for keeping my PC safe . Mike Mattera

It's in binary. It's not in any readable format. That's why you have not seen it. Mike Mattera

aaa : This is not a place to "free" posts. It's a place for sharing ideas and getting information. If you need a post you should contact your dealer. Please read the Frequesntly Asked Questions (FAQ) about using this forum. Mike Mattera

I thought you were all being pretty nice to this guy considering what he said in the last thread he started. He comes in, downloads all this stuff from the FTP and then tells the owner of the ftp to F%^& himself. WHAT A GUY!! Jimmy: I believe your right the Busalaato has a line limit. He can change that value to anything he wants and the machine will only take 2000 lines. "Keep Fixen It Till It's Broke Good" Mike Mattera

I always bring it all in and then delete what I dont want (when importing ops thru Job Setup). Easier than forgetting to grab someting and having to go back and get it again. Mike Mattera

There is a postprocessor documentation on CDrom using PDF files. It's probably overkill if your just getting started. A class in C++ would be good if you have no experience with and programming languages. The MP is a programming language that contains variable declaration, logical comparisons and function calls. It is similar to the C language. If your just getting started this is a good introduction to the general format of a post and some guidelines for editing a post. http://my.voyager.net/~mmattera/mastercam/...ite_a_post.html Mike Mattera

Pete's got It. I Just went thru this with a customer. Because of these Block Ref. you also need to "Explode" the file before outputting the SAT/DWG. This will "bring in" those externally located parts/features. Should work 99.99999% of the time if you do that. Mike Mattera

Then it must be the nuclear core melting down. What about email notification? Does anything ever pop up in that corner to notify you about anything? Mike Mattera

I like that Jimmy. That's what I tell people also. Most of the time the competition comes in to do a dem and all they talk about is "Mastercam" this and "Mastercam" that. I always ask the customer if the sales person talked about their product at all? Another one I get is "who is your competition". I tell them Mastercam is the competition. We are the package everyone compares themselves to. Most of the time when they ask about a "new" feature that they saw in another Cam pkg. The answer is usually "Mastercam has had that for X# of years and that they copied it from us. Mastercam is the market leader because they are the market innovator. Mike Mattera

It's a warning that the nuclear core that powers your computer is about to melt down. QUICK: Duck & cover to protect yourself from the blast. Oh Wait! April Fools Day is Over. Never mind. I would vote on the Norton thing. Itdoes not look like the image that comes up when you've run out of ram. That image has a little green dot that represents the light on a Hard Drive. If that image comes up the system will come to a crawl. If it running OK it is probably Norton or your email notification that came up and went down while you were away from your PC. Mike Mattera

It's not fair to blame Mastercam for all of these video problems. Yea it's software and some if it might be Mastercm. But if U install ANY video card and look at the README.TXT file that usually accompanies it, you'll usually find a list of known problems with lots of programs. I was having trouble with and Intel video card (as does everyone who has an Intel card) and I couldn't believe how many applications were on this list of known problems. I dont know how some of these companied can sell these cards. NVidia is the way to go. The most releiable card for all applications. Mike Mattera

Yes this maintenance release fix all problems. Known and un-known. It will also bring world peace and solve world hunger. Do I have to say it..... April fools, Mike Mattera

I would never buy your dongel. It probably has Pooh on it. Mike Mattera

OK! and you are..... who? Sorry. I send out posts all the time and I cant remember what I had for dinner last night, let alone who I sent a post to . I know I'll catch crap for saying this, But, This is why people should use their names. But that's cool. And I commend you for trying to do it yourself. The forum is a great place to get help. Lots of great people here with lots of knowledge. If you need my help I'm here for you. I was told by the Fadal dealer that R was the best way to do arcs in the Fadal. IJ positions had to be right on the money to work properly. In that post you can select arctype as 0=ijk 1=R 2=R if greater than 180°. It should be set to 2. Are you doing 2D or 3D? 3D with filtering will need a tight tolerance to keep the arcs in line. Hope That Helps, Mike Mattera

Adobe, Corell and others like them will make a DXF files, but the geometry will be jagged and disconnected. The time you might spend fixing the chain will most likely pay for the converter if your doing several conversions. It's a cool converter, but you have to "need" it to make it pay. Mike Mattera