Threadmill USA has a double-end threadmill with a .350 LOC. http://www.threadmillsusa.com/de_mills.htm

How many people here work in medium-high production shops with repeat parts, and how many work in job shops? I work in a low qty run job shop. Our part portfolio consists of thousands of parts, and even though we are a tier 1 supplier for A Major Oilfield Company, we still have many parts that we only have an order for every few years. Our process is (in my opinion) far from efficient, yet I when I read all these success stories using lean manufacturing techniques, as nice and cool as they sound, I don't know how I could implement them here. I'm just wondering how many people are in the same position as me so maybe I can get some ideas.

Go into your Settings > Configuration and make sure the "repaint toolpath" box is checked.

I know there is a "repaint" button, but I can honestly say I've never used it.

Safety first, Bob! You'll have a hard time changing jobs over when you're driving him to the hospital! We use the Jergens Ball Lock system for switching out our fixtures. We're constantly having to pull vises off and put Haas tables on; pull them off and put custom fixtures on, etc. With that system we can pull something off and have the new fixture locked down in a matter of minutes. That's about the only efficient thing we have going right now. Just a few weeks ago we put together a team to try to evaluate our set-up procedures and improve them. I'm going to be keeping a close eye on this thread.

Download the tutorial from the Mastercam.com website, it will help a whole metric fartload. The setup sheets use .rpx, .xml, and .sst files

We've used several Iscar solid carbide endmills, and while they work ok, they aren't so amazing to justify the price. You can find equal or superior endmills for cheaper from other vendors, like IMCO (personal favorite), Helical, and Kennametal.

We literally just got back some pieces we went to that place for deburring Ultem 30% glass-filled. The parts look great. +1 on using them.

Have you ever tried an endmill from Ultra Tool? They are very nice endmills, and you can get them with a pre-honed edge so they are already "broken in." Look 'em up.

pcan controls the "before" coolant pcan1 controls the "with" coolant pcan2 controls the "after" coolant Find the correct one you need in the ptlchg$ and ptlchg0$ postblocks and move them to where you need. EDIT: this is how it works in my Fanuc posts

I just read through this thread and it seems to me like there was some misunderstanding going on. On absolutely none of our Fanucs can we do what you wrote as none of them have a "calc" button. When I set up the Fanucs I do exactly what OP and MTB described--find my X/Y extents, bust out a calculator, and "MEASURE" the result. There is no need to move the spindle back to the center to to a measurement, however our Fanuc controllers cannot do the simple "maths" like OP wants. Our Okuma can do the calculations, so I just type in 10.5/2 and hit "calc" like you described. Having that magical "calc" button saves all of about 2.5 seconds of setup time.

You're going to have to move some things around in your post to get the correct output location. Are you experienced/ comfortable with editing your post? It should be an easy fix, but unfortunately I only have experience with Okuma and Fanuc posts--the postblocks in my posts are probably different from yours. Are you using a default post that came with mastercam or one that you bought from a third party?

In your machine group properties, Tool Settings > checkbox "Assign tool number sequentially" Or, plot all your toolpaths, then select them all > right click > edit selected operations > renumber tools

You'll have to go into your post and search for the "X Style Coolant" block, and in there define the coolant codes your specific machine uses. For example, this is how I modified mine for an Okuma MA400: # Coolant output code selection for X style coolant # Note: To enable X style coolant, click on the General Machine Parameters icon # in the Machine Definition Manager, Coolant tab, disable first check box # Output of X style coolant commands in this post is controlled by pcan, pcan1, & pcan2 scool50 : "/M8" #Coolant 1 on value scool51 : "M9" #Coolant 1 off value scool52 : "/M50" #Coolant 2 on value scool53 : "M9" #Coolant 2 off value scool54 : "/M50" #Coolant 3 on value scool55 : "M9" #Coolant 3 off value scool56 : "/M339" #Coolant 4 on value scool57 : "M9" #Coolant 4 off value After you do that, you can go into your coolant parameter page and define the label for each one, i.e. I have coolant 4 as "THROUGH SPINDLE AIR BLOW" and my options are /M339 for on and M9 for off.

I believe his problem is that the right click functionality does not work when he assigns QM WIRE to the right-click drop-down menu (aka context menu); you cannot right click > right click

That's what I do--multiple lines in manual entry. The trick there is getting your comment to come out where you want. This thread is a good reference for that: http://www.emastercam.com/board/topic/78561-control-your-comments/

Great. I've never done this before but now you guys have got me itching to give it a shot. I've never thought of even trying it before. Now thinking back, there are a few parts that I could have done it with and it makes me want to bang my head against the wall!

I think you're on the right track for your probe. Like Joe788 said, the strain-gauge model is designed to overcome this, but you have the triple mechanical trigger model (which is what we have here as well.) When I was researching probes, the renishaw salesman showed me an accuracy graph on the mechanical model. It was tri-lobed--when you hit a point that was "between" two triggers, your accuracy would drop. Add in extra length and it drops even further. The accuracy of the strain gauge was a much better, more circular readout, but they are priced for their accuracy.

If trying to undo what changed is a lost cause but the solid geometry is still good, you can try to "remove solid history." I've randomly deleted lines before and not caught it until the end of the day when I got the same error, and this usually does the trick although you can't undo it.

That's pretty sweet! Thanks for the tip, Colin!

You could just open up level manager and select "all off" and then run verify.

I've used both Partmaker and Swiss Expert. In my opinion Partmaker is a much superior product. Swiss Expert works with solid models only, which you cannot create inside of SE, so right there that makes offline programming of simple parts a two-software deal. Mastercam has only owned Swiss Expert for a few years (it was previous SylvieXpert) and they're trying to transform it into an English version but there are language mishaps abound.

I know every shop does things different but wouldn't it be much easier to just put the difference in cutter comp? Our probes can measure the tools and put them in the wear comp.

Welcome to the many things of lathe that just don't work the way they should. I've found that you cannot go into Lathe expecting it to operate the same as Mill--you have to think of it as it's own program. Unfortunately duplicating geometry is a necessity in Lathe, and something that (still) infuriates me for the same reason you said. That being said, it is possible to "fake it" by creating a different axis combination to represent a flipped part. So instead of the tool coming from the upper right, it would come from the lower left on screen. You can create a new WCS origin at the other end of the part, just keep in with the same orientation as the "Top" WCS. This is how I do it with our sub-spindle machines. A major caveat is that you cannot define a chuck or you'll get no end of warnings. I never define one anyways as I think the idea of having to move geometry twenty inches on the screen is -blam!-ing ridiculous. Also, you'll have to make sure your post interprets the axis combination correctly so you don't get inverted directions.

This is one of the many things about Mastercam that I never understood why they made it work this way. Personally, I would prefer to define the raw tool when I create a tool, using manufacturer specs. Then when I make an assembly, I could move that tool in and out. Having to edit the raw details seems silly. I don't cut the tool in half on the shop floor, why do I have to do it in MCX?