To add my two cent's on a sensitive issue, Acad is without a doubt the most widely used drawing package in the world today. I believe that if anybody should learn Acad, they would be easily employable since almost everybody uses the software. Acad is what we would consider to be the industrial standard. I know that Solidworks is actually becoming their biggest contender - but that's another story in itself. MASTERCAM IS THE INDUSTRY STANDARD, We the legitamate users and the piracy users did this. CNC Software is the best of breed - the king of beers. Their support is incredible, their patches have always been the standard of which others should be measured. This company actually employes professionals, somebody actually answers the phone. Sure there are other cam solutions out there that are really great, some are even better at certain tasks - I will be the first to admit this and CNC will be the first damn Cam software developer to react with the enhancements. We have all dabbled with the contenders - but always rely on Mastercam to get the job done. Do you have any idea what it feels like to purchase the software and the maintenance agreements for Smartcam & Edgecam only to be dissappointed with the garbage they call support and regular updates? Most of these panti-waste company's are bought & sold so often - that we, the registered users, have given up on wasting our time with their inferior products. (go ahead and buy these back from me - I f__king dare the saleman to crawl in for the beating). I will however, admit that Surfcam has always fascinated me - but, they dick around with functionality and this pisses me off - so I not wasting any time with it - and, with a whopping 2% share of the market, nobody else is seriously considering it. So much for effective marketing hey guys? (Give the free copy to someone else!) I personally met Bruce Gibbs at the Chicago tool show and marveled at one of the most talented & amazing saleman that I have ever seen - any salesman could take lesson's just watching this guy - No, I didn't but the software, which was the first release of Virtual Gibbs. This man could sell a freezer to an Eskimo - he is amazing beyond words. Hey, it's all good - Cadmax is kick-xxxx, that's only if they still exist. Ironcad is pretty cool, Try Rhino______ (forget how to spell the rest of it)- there's that damn spell check feature that we don't have!!. Think about it for a moment - You are the last word in software development, you are the last word in efficiency, you are the Mac-Daddy of all programmers and machinists. Then you release your greatest software the world has ever seen. - it goes down in flames, get's bought and sold a dozen times, etc!, etc!. Hell, these company's are trying to gain some market share and I can sympathize with this. The piracy problems will always exist - just ask Autodesk. Basically, I believe that acad became the standard because of piracy, which also attibutes to the cost that we need to pay for the product today. Mastercam is no different. The popularity of the BEST CAM SOLUTION can also be attributed to the piracy issue. I am surprised to see the anger and passion against those who know the true ratio of legit vs licenced. Be aware that CNC Software also knows the extent of piracy and tries to deal with this continually - they are doing their best. CNC Software - Please do what you do EXACTLY thay way the your doing it. Change nothing - this is working. Opps, One last thing - fix the feeds so they are inches per rev & not inches per minute as the default. One other thing, - let me know if you need my new address for the free copy - just kidding. I just love this forum - Don't You? Regards, Jack Regards, Jack

Hey there. Have a look at Ben's reply. I believe he has something here. Regards, Jack

Greg, The .19mm is killing you. Raster to vector conversion will fix this. The largest problem going from a bitmap though an acad dfx is the entities are not touching. Comp, whether used or not used will always branch at the unconnnected lines or arcs. I believe a produst called tradesmen, or something like that will fix your problem. I have also used an older version Coraldraw (Coraltrace) with the woodcut feature to do this task. Haven't used it for about six years. Let us know how you make out. Regards, Jack

Smoking and wishing that I never started. To make a long story short, I destroyed the senior toolmaker. I produced the exact same job the that he had made in 9 and 1/2 hours. - he took five weeks and was too busy throwing in my face all along the way. I essentially have been on a slow burn for that long period of time. I regret misusing this forum as a vent - but hey, don't we all? As others had suggested, he doesn't comprehend what it is that I did to him, - only now does he realize the magnitude. How could anybody possibly know the pain & shame of him hiding the third set of material within the stockroom. I am ashamed of myself for attacking this man - if you can imagine, I am hurt more by this than even him. - he doesn't know what the hell hit him - but I know he is hurt. I have to tell the supervisor to backoff - this will happen immediately. Here is what I have learned from the entire ordeal. Never, ever, consider yourself above another person. Never, ever, condone another man for his race or culture. Treat all cnc operators or toolmakers with dignity - otherwise somebody somewhere will always better you. Work together in harmony it will only make you stronger. There is nothing wrong with earning your paycheck - so hang in there, enjoy your job, your family, and your peers. I do not want this man to quit his job, nor do I wish to see him abused or fired. He needs to learn a healthier value system if he is to remain within it. I am likely the only person that would welcome him back into our department, but I'm afraid it's not my decision - but that of my co-workers. Can you imagine having your bench moved right in front of the supervisors office? What really brought this home to me was his attempt to hide the material for the third set. How could he possibly proceed to spend anymore time on this particular job when he knows that I smoked him in one day? The pain I feel inside is almost unbearable. How could I do this to another person? This is the cheapest and sleaziest of things that I have ever done. I just don't know how to cope with this - I expected to become noticed as a good toolmaker, but not at the expense of another persons dignity or self worth. Abuse me, I know that I have it coming. Regards, Jack

Tony, What the hell? I like Marky Mark and Poppa Smurf; And so should you. What's it going to be? Smoke him, or pass it bye? Regards, Your humble production machinist.

Hey huntinhippie, I do respect your reply as well as the many other excellant responses from this user group. Please read the original post - you can easily be caught up with the chat of old geezers etc! I have not slighted the toolmakers age or ability as yet. I too am also a certified general machinist, and certified tool & die maker, here in Canada. The toolmaker I speak of is 57, I am 46 with a penchant for complex and difficult tools, dies, one-offs etc! My current position requires that I do a certain amount of prototyping and production machining. The insult of a toolmaker looking at me a stating that he is not a production machinist while infering that I am is a large mistake, I am pissed. I believe you are right in your assessment that he couldn't comprehend what it is that I can do, or, if I do this I don't believe he could comprehend the job I might do anyway. I don't mean to humiliate or damage a persons self worth, I do however have a problem with the arrogant attitude. I have personally learned so very much from so many other professionals that I have worked with; In fact if I could pigeon-hole my abilities, I would have to say that I am what I have learned from those around me, and I hope that I will always enjoy learning and meeting these challenges. Bottom line - I'm leaning towards smoking him as opposed to turning the other cheek. Keep in mind how any of you people would feel if an inferior toolmaker threw this in your face. Convince me some more please - If I do this, only me, my supervisor, and the toolmaker will be aware ( I don't have the right to humiliate another person - the supervisor would do this). Regards, Your humble production machinist - Jack

If you had the opportunity to trash one of these PrimaDonna toolmakers. Would you destroy him or just brush his sorry xxxx aside. As innocent as the question is, I find myself continually challeged by the holyier than thou attitude of the toolmakers when they consider us as monkeys and button pushers. We have Mazak machines at work, which says it all for those with the ability to walk the walk. My question stands. Would you smoke the toolmakers xxxx? or simply ignor the slight. Regards, Jack

I'm sorry guy's, I disagree! The stress and distortion that will likely occur is from the clamping of the material rather than the cutting abuse. As memory serves me, the quickest method of removing a volumn of material is by drilling. You could slot drill with say a 1" two flute or even a four flute - yet you still have to contend with the ribbon build-up on the cutter. The approach is sound - spot then drill aggresively, then machine the profile accordingly. Try clamping the vice or strap clamps using only your tongue - I'm serious here. Regards, Jack

Since I've heard it so often - this sort of belongs in this forum. Hey! I just push the button. I cannot believe that running down your fathers leg got bleeped out. maybe the poster truly does have a conscious. Regards Jack

Although parasolids are the prefered method; please consider an SAT import as well. Avoid IGES at any cost. DWG doesn't work worth a **** - stay away from this. - you have been warned. The problem with all converters is the frequency of updates and new version releases. Everybody needs to learn about tranlations, and yet nobody can profess total competance and gratitude since Asis & Parasolids go through so many enhancments & revisons. Tough this out - You will gain confidence as you learn about each translation method. At one time I did extensive work in this area, only to document and forward the inherant bugs of each new Mastercam release and the work arounds I needed to document. The problem is that I have done a lot of work in the past and was beaten to the punch by others that realised the same. I won't Beta test anymore - bet hey, it's a good thing. Regards, Jack

As a registered user of Smartcam since ver 4 I would suggest formating your hard drive and losing the thousands of hours you and your company have wasted in the first place. Look at the bright side, you will learn how to program in Mastercam rather quickly. We call this an honest education. Regards, Jack