I notice in X3 you can import an STL file and turn it into a mesh so you can machine it without it being a surface model. But does anyone know if X3 will turn that mesh or an STL into a surface model. I seem to remember there was a converter that did turn a point cloud into a surface model at one time, is that still around and would it work. Thanks for any help

Hey guys why are there so few post on the instructor side. Is it because not many schools use MasterCam or like me I tend to look on the industry forum. Do you guys get most of the help you need from your dealer? It would be nice to share ideas and problems with other instructors. Like what do you guys think about the certification training? How many of you guys teach 5 axis mill programmning and operation. We have 5 semesters of MasterCam training and we keep up with the latest versions. I also teach other software so when I have problems I need help fast. I am concerned about getting answers to my problems. What other resources do you guys use.

Don not your post. Matt I got my post from the MasterCam dealer Thanks for the information guys

I am using a Haas post that I got from the guys at Mastercam. I had them look at it twice and they said it the same one they use. It is a trunnion table. B axis rotates about the Z axis and A about the x axis it has a limit of 120 degrees. Model STR160H Thanks for the help guys!!

Just got a new VF5 Haas with a trunnion table. When I run a 5 axis programs the table movement will sometimes be jerky. I have talked with some people at MC and some have told me that it is just Haas and some told me it had to do with G93 and some say it is a parameter I need to tweek. I called Haas and they say they never heard of this it must be Mastercams program. I got programs from MC that they say should run fine. Have any of you had this problem and solved it. Guys I did seached and did find this problem on the forum but I did not see an answer or at least one that change what was happening.

Have any of you guys used Mastercam to program any cnc welding machines like 2 axis EB welders or a 4 axis CNC Sciaky welding machine. Does it program these machines ok any problems anyone knows of. I would appreciate any comments or suggestions on programming these type of machines with Mastercam.

Sure you can bring in parametric solids and NURB surfaces from Mechanical Desktop to MasterCAM. It has parametric solids and can export STEP files and it also has NURB surfaces. They come in fine. You may have mistaken AutoCAD or Mechanical AutoCAD as Mechanical Desktop. Mechanical Desktop is made by Autodesk but it is different from Autocad and Mechanical Autocad. AutoCAD and Mechanical AutoCAD solids and surfaces are not good for anything but looks you are right about those. There are many companies in my area that use Mechanical Desktop and MasterCAM to do there work with no problem. But I do understand that AutoDesk is planning on dropping Mechanical Desktop and staying with Inventor. I use PRO/E and Mechanical Desktop and of course MasterCAM because in my area that is what most companies use. I would be glad to put a Mechanical Desktop on the ftp site if you have a way to read it

Mechanical Desktop also exports Step files If you use iges delete duplicate enities will help. Check the tolerance you used when exporting from Mechanical Desktop also will help. Mechanical also has some other options to help decrease that problem.

Thanks Ron!!! I did the search for G13 but I did not do it for canned cycles.

Thanks guys The pocket cycle in mastercam outputs so much code and the G13 canned cycle will only output about 4 lines also it is easier for the operator to understand when they want to edit it. Thanks again

Does anyone know how to make a Hass post output a G13 canned cycle?

Hey guys Thanks I did try boundary I have used them before but not to control z depths it made the tool stay within that boundary in x and y but it still jumps the islands in z. Maybe I needed 2 boundaries at 2 depths? Also if you look at the file I tried cut depths, that controlled how deep it cut per surface pocket routine but it still jumps the islands. I also tried gap settings

I understand how to make check surfaces and I understand how to create geometry at the different levels I want to machine. But I am not sure what you mean by check boundries. I did split the surfaces up at different levels and tried that but it still jumped up and cut off the top of the islands. I am almost there thanks

It looks good in verify but if you look at it in the front view of backplot you can see it is still jumping up to the top of the islands and the tool is too long for that. Thank for the information! I am in trouble on this thing so I appreciate any advice you can give me!

Will this work on surface pocket also I tried with no success

It is on there now under the mc9 folder Thanks for your time

Yes I will I will call it Johnisland

I am not sure I explained myself well. I am using 3 surface pocket routines with three different tools If that helps. I have tried to change the clearance and retract heights but it still jumps the islands when it machines. I was told be someone to change gap size to 20 and that would work but it did not change anything.

I am machining a mold cavity with islands in it. It is 17 inches deep and the islands are 16 inches tall. I used the surface pocket routine with depths. My problem is there is not enough z travel on the cnc machine and I am having to used 3 different tools one longer than the other. The first tool works great for the first depth. The second one cuts good but it tries to jump the islands and the second tool is to long. There is not enough z travel on the machine to jump the islands. How can you make the tool stay down and just cut around the islands and not jump them using the surface poscket routine. Thank You!!!!!

Thanks Brendan for all the information

Has anyone ever machined a motorcycle wheel or a motorcycle gas tank. I am interested in how the industry does it. We have a local company that wants to machine them. I have machined a gas tank (3 and 4 axis) I can see how you might machine a wheel with a lathe and a mill. Thanks

I teach at a local college and I work in industry also. I try my best to show students not just the basics but also the problems I run across in industry . We have a lot of 3D work around here and most of the 3d models I get from companies (solids or surfaces) have problems. I try and show these to the students and show them how I might solved them. I have also attended classes at MC and find those very benefical as well. We have 5 classes of MC here form 3 to 5 axis programming of mills, lathes, and wire. We also take on projects from industry from design to programming to cutting the parts. It's hard to beat on the job training but that can be very costly to a company.

It depends on whether your mechanical desktop file is a 2D, 3D solid, or a surface file. If it is a solid you need to use the step translator in mechanical desktop 6.0 to get it into mastercam. If it is one of mechanical desktops NURB surface models you need an IGES file. If it is a autocad 2-D file then it should come in with no problem. But MC will bring it in if you get the right file type form mechanical

Trevor your in my back yard I go thru Anderson SC every morning. Atlanta Bread co. has good coffee would like to meet some time and talk about Booger and mastercam.

I like it! I am in the area and know alot of people who use MasterCAM here that would like to have a local place to go and share there knowledge or lack of with other users.