Come on Magic 8 Ball their stackin up!!! Mike Mattera

Oh Magic 8 Ball: "X" out in July? Mike Mattera

Next you'll need a keyboard mounted to your belt, on a pivot. So you can do the ZZ Top "flip" . Mike Mattera

Ras2vec will do exactly what you want, but it is an option. It's designd to take jpg, bmp, gig & tiff files, and convert them into geometry. Probably not worth it just to do 1 part. Tom Smith at www.nc-directions.com is a contract programmer who has the Ras2vec. Unless you expect a lot of machining work from "pictures/graphics" it would be cheaper to pay Tom to convert it for you. Mike Mattera

Scan a drawing? Like a paper print? Is this a cartoon or do you want real geometry? Ras2Vec will convert a picture into geometry. But if it's a dimensional print, that's different. First you have to find an engineer that draws to scale . Second: how would Mastercam know how big a line or arc is suppoed to be from a picture (paper print) drawing. Scanning is no as accurate as a CNC machine. Mike Mattera

If they're disfunctional, it's probably because the owner keeps it that way. I seen shops like this before, where they will tell you, you can do what ever it takes. That means "money is no object, Unless you want to spend some". Old equipment, dirty environments and bad attitudes can be hard to turn around without the FULL support of the owner. So think of this: They have long time employees (LTE)there also. So after explaining the new procedure to the LTE for the 6th time, you want to take diciplinary action. Who's side will the owner be on? This guy may really want to turn things around, but doesnt know how to get it done. You have to go with your gut feelings. Good Luck Mike Mattera

Get Nvidia if you can. Laptop rarely have options to change video later. Your best performance is always with a desktop box, where you can change ot the video card as options improve. I avoid ATI and Intel video chips. the new Dell's & I think IBM's, come with the Intel video on-board. Not Always problems, but ofter enough that I avoid them. NVidia is bullett proof. Works great with Games & CadCam. Mike Mattera

Pete I think he means history like "where did this file come from and what did I do with it last". Are you thinking history like "contents of the feature list/histort tree". So mmetzenger: What do you actually want to compare? Do you want to know if the surfaces are the same? What you did last to the file? If you want to compare surfaces (Camaix has a utility for that also) you can import the file, change the colors, import the other file and shade it. If there's major differences you should see it. Mike Mattera

Dont forget to check the oil. You might have to bring your own dip stick. The picture should show it with the cover open, to check the high beams. The only way to be sure it's not worn out, is to put it on the rack and then take it for a ride. (how many bad car/girl jokes do you think will come out of this thread?) Mike Mattera

I always use Arial or Ariel Bold - in Italic. It's pretty darn close to the original. Mike Mattera

Camaix Project Mgr. http://www.camaix.com/English/indexeng.htm Mike Mattera

Brendan: Did you get the "Spy Shooter Night Vision Goggles" also ? I just love all the trinkety stuff in that catalog! Mike Mattera

Have you seen these? Made with Mastercam, so they gotta be good!!! http://www.cobramotorcycle.com/v2_default.asp Mike Mattera

Probably wont find anything like that new anymore. Whirling blades dont sit well with corporate liability lawyers. Ebay would be your best bet for an old one. Sounds like a cool toy. Any thing with moving parts is always fun for kids. If he was older I would say get the RC copter. But its' SOOO Easy to have a wreck with one of these. My brother bought himself, I mean his son, an RC car for christmas. Very cool toy. Good Luck, Mike Mattera

Here's a trick you can use in the mean time. If you walk away from you Mastercam, or leave it idle while you do something else, open any dialog box. Open the Ops Mgr and the CPU goes to 0. Obviously your not going to "wear out" the CPU. But Heat is the enemy. It's especially important if you have 3 PC's in a small office in the middle of summer. Damm things can be like space heaters. Mike Mattera

You should be running V9.1 SP2 with the Dec03 and Jan04 Cad converter updates. By this I mean - V9.1 SP2. Mike Mattera

Yes! Your right. Mike Mattera

But Rekd, if you flip the monitor over it does move the operations with the toolpath . If you get one of those pivot monitors, you can do dynamic rotation . Anyway! Mike Nelson: If the geometry and toolpaths are the same use transform. If it's the same toolpath "styles" on different geometry, copy the Ops and change the plane selection in the Tool Parameter page under (T/CPlane). Then pick the new geometry. Mike Mattera

Word of warning: To cut with negative stock on a an electrode you MUST have a ball or bull nose tool. Mike Mattera

First off: Make sure you have the latest cad converter updates. But most likely this message means that the file contains surfaces and not solids. You should be running V9.1 SP2 with the Dec03 and Jan04 Cad converter updates. You can get them from the Mastercam web site under support - Current downloads. Good Luck Mike Mattera

I think it's a legit question for an owner to ask. Andy: I sell Mastercam for the dealer in Wisconsin. I try to check the board in the morning before 8:a and again on my lunch break. I do not monitor the board during the day because I make my living selling and doing phone support for my customers. I have plenty to keep me busy. But I feel if I can spend 1/2 hr, twice a day. It will help me learn more and help me share the wealth (of knowledge) with other people who have questions. I'm trying to encourage my customers to come here also. If the boys here wont beat them up to badly (just kidding) . I've found, once you spent a little of time here (my initial quest), you can pop in and pop out to "follow up" with what's going on. Mike Mattera

Heidenhain is order specific. Move the comp code (RL) to the end of the line (in the arc format) and it should work. Mike Mattera

James: Jay called me on that "5000 Posts" number also. It was never intended to be a jab at anyone. It was just a bad example that narrowed the field a bit too much. I actually pulled that number out of the air. And of course, on draught is the Only way to have a Guiness. . Especially on this holliest of Irish holidays Brendan: Thanks! I sincerely appreciate your support. Mike Mattera

I want to be Irish thru digestion, so pour me another Guiness. . Mike Mattera

This is usually how I like to do it. The X & Y and starting Z are forced in the toolchange. And then the drilling cycle will only output the cycle information (i.e. X & Y not forced) (Taken from psof or ptlchg) pbld, n, *speed, *spindle, pgear, strcantext, e pcan1, pbld, n, *sgcode, *sgabsinc, pwcs, pfxout, pfyout, e pbld, n, "G43", *tlngno, pfzout, scoolant, e pdrill #Canned Drill Cycle pdrlcommonb pcan1, pbld, n, *sgdrlref, *sgdrill, pxout, pyout, pfzout, pcout, prdrlout, dwell, *feed, strcantext, e pcom_movea Mike Mattera