Hey Lee, I just have to ask this. Is that a boat on a trailer or are you just happy to see me? Sorry but it's late and I'm in a good mood. Regards, Jack

Years ago I redrew the 123 block machining exercise drawings in order to add geometric tolerances. – The 1984 standard that is still absent from most college and high school drawings. I took a lot of heat for applying these changes from the old school BS faculty. The basic trouble being that a student needs to drill and tap for 1/4-20 and 5/16-18 threads. The crib attendant already knows this since it has been unchanged for the past 25 years. The well practiced routine is that a student needs to install these holes and asks the crib attendant some foolish question regarding tools – she in turn says, what are you trying to do? Her next move is to hand a small box containing all necessary tools to install these threads. I drew these parts up with a few different things in mind; Detailing a hole as drill and tap for a 1/4-20 thread x .7 deep causes a question – I want the question – I want to show a student how to read a tap drill chart gracing the walls of almost every machine shop in America. So I go on vacation and the BS faculty deems that my drawings are too busy and confusing. In my absence they decide that the original drawing from 25 years ago is what they want to use and proceed to forbid me the authority to change the proper way of teaching things – which is the primary reason for why I don’t teach today. Phil, if you follow what it is that I am saying – It ain’t worth the grief. So the students keep on getting the box of tools and proceed to install what ever is in the box and get full credit for their predictable expertise. Let’s face it, if even 5% of the students pursue a career in the metal cutting trades then I would be surprised. Although it’s novel and commendable that you would care enough to help the instructor with this task; I would tend to agree with James. It still makes me smile when I see a student ask for a .201 drill and that classic stupid look from the crib attendant; but then again, there’s always a student that drills it out at 1/4” and cannot understand why the tap won’t cut the threads. Regards, Jack

Hey Randall, Drop in a little more often. Regards, Jack

The force that I use comes in two flavors: Light - use your pinky finger and take care not to break it. Heavy - use the pinky and the next one to it and take care not to break them. Insane - use hammers and extended tubes and take care not to shatter the vise. 18 vises personally, and one abused, but what the heck, I'm still learning. P.S. Ultra Light - use your tongue. Regards, jack

I have searched high and low and cannot find the AMG logo for a Mercedes Benz. A jpg or bitmap would even be sufficient - my thoughts are doing this up in stainless (European size) for the front of the car. Any thoughts or hints? Regards, Jack

stanektool, An interesting comparison between both systems. I personally, would tend to agree Ron Branches response. “The mans asking a question about purchasing MasterCam. Go ahead xxxx him off. Lets try being constructive.” I disagree; it is not my position to sell this to an obviously informed person – This is for a salesman, specifically one that services the sales area in question. Please be assured that this opinion is very much constructive. WorkNc and many others drive the competition to what it is today and that is what causes Cnc Software to develop a clear cut and competitive solution. Stanetool stated an obvious benefit that serves his/their needs; I could only wish that other competitors would as well. WorkNc’s market share appears to be miniscule but that does not necessarily mean the system is not equal to the task. The 8K yearly maintenance seems rather extravagant considering Mastercam and the rest of the cam market in general. Regards, Jack

Motch - Big, bad, and lots of attitude if you're into 3/4" cuts. Regards, Jack

Hey fastercam, No offence was intended - just jump on in here with the rest of us; life is fun and we always enjoy the good, the bad, and the ugly babies too. Regards, Jack

Sorry about that Storkman - but alas the baby was rather ugly and it seemed appropriate at the moment - not too late though, I could edit it all out if it appears offensive. Regards, Jack

Mrs. Cam steps out from the platform pushing the little newborn along in the Pratzi pram, proud as a peacock; while Storkman could be seen vomiting along a Bay street gutter. All was normal today as it seems to be all days anymore. The children playing stick ball were timing it out for a little bread and sugar while momma is screaming from the 3rd floor kitchen window to get on up here before I send your father down. Fastercam leans into the pram without permission and boldly states “Wow- that is one ugly baby.” A fire hydrant blows; a car crash at the corner; a three alarm fire just launches while bells ring incessantly; children laughing, a bus blows off a huge cloud of diesel smoke, babies are crying – all in all a completely normal day, that is until Mrs. Cam grabs fastercam by the throat and says – WTF did you say? Darn, I just missed him - he was on when I started typing but just got out when I posted. Regards, Jack

ktd, You are all over the map with this one. Please restate your problem and I will attempt to help you – your initial question is quite frankly, too confusing for us to attempt a reasonable answer. Mazatrol Eia control does not exist – M2, M32, Fusion 640M, etc are Mazatrol controls that also allow for EIA/ISO programming. The VTC/41 most likely has the M32 control. What error is given on the screen IE: error number? Please try a cut & paste approach if you’re concerned with Mastercam code generation so that we can see what it is that you are trying to accomplish. S0 M03 is valid and certainly has its place. M05 is a waste of code on any Cnc machining center since a manual key, M19, reset, MDI, M06, etc will all accomplish the task for free. I am not smart mouthing you with this reply but I expect a more specific question rather than the generalization you have submitted. Regards, Jack

Under rev a solid carbide slot drill thru the center - you might snap a few of them off but if burning is not an option then this method should work. Another method would be to freeze the tap with an aerosol like contact cleaner and then smash the puppy hard and fast. - wear your safety glasses. Regards, Jack

Hey John, I cut aluminum bronze all day and every day up here. I would attack this cost differance at a 4:1 margin because ampco 18 will give a pretty good fight. If the customer wanted ampco 21 then I would cost this out at a 6:1 margin. I cannot imagine why such dissimilar materials are being considered by your customer but I would talk him out of the ampco quite handily. Your tooling costs will double with the 18 and triple with the 21. The machining time will as well. Midnight Oil seems to have a fairly good handle on this topic as well. Regards, Jack

$100 per hour - even if only 2D work. It separates the BS from the real need. Lot’s of customers might balk at the cost but in my opinion it is a fair price. I might suggest not programming as a favor to close friends but to recommend somebody else since you are too close to the source and might only gain grief in the future. Two easy steps to take are to never sell yourself short and avoid the conflict of friends using friends – please do not take this as friends needing friends. The truest method as to what to charge a customer is your ability to sense the need and how you carry yourself. Regards, Jack

quote: The machine (Deckel DMU125) interprets this as an arc move of about 8" diameter. Very bad thing. Getting an output of four decimal places is actually a good thing. Is it possible that the machine tool parameters are taking the vectors from origin and not incrematally from each point? There is nothing wrong with cutting a 40 inch radius across a small area of .1" is what I am saying here. Regards, Jack

Darn it all Chris, I missed your contribution once again IE:[ 10-25-2004, 09:19 AM: Message edited by: Dave Thomson ] Better luck next time. Regards, Jack

Gary, Yes this is a parameter. If you look at all the screens you will notice the number somewhere around 12 or 15 inches - look at the screens with an open mind and try to imagine how you as the machine tool builder would construct the feature. At machine referance you will see a number clearly displayed - use an empty tool at turret index (a bore mount is best since they are always to "X" zero) and you will have the exact value echoed in the parameter that matches the screen value. As always, you will need to change the parameter, power down, and then power back up - your change will be reflected upon referencing. Why the sudden change concerns me that the tapered turret pin is worn or loose - I would tend to make the call for service and observe the steps the mechanic takes to correct or adjust this situation. P.S. A Mazak Quick Turn 20 is not a brand new product line. I would also want to sweep the face of each turning holder with an indicator to ensure that this problem eliminates the turret as opposed to the tool eye. What the heck - sweep all the bore mounts and eliminate the chuck as well. Extra extra PS - get a few cans of contact cleaner and blast everything in sight. This might even be caused from a small cutting laying on the tapered pin(s) as well. Regards, Jack

In the past year I have had read/write errors four times on a 1X Sandisk flash card and zero read/write errors on a Lexar 12X flash card. Regards, Jack

“Bernie, I think most of us would scare you to see us. Most of the pics are gone now from the neighborhood thread Jack started last year” So discouraging is the money grab from all the picture vendors that I will establish an FTP solely for the purpose of retaining these pictures in the near future. My experience is limited to G6 Beta from 4 years ago, however; if somebody can recommend an alternative then, that would also be nice. I expect that it will take a few months to set this up but I am sure that everybody would be happy to have a solid FTP to place their pictures. Regards, Jack

bub, Please hike it through the forum search for this has been well documented and asked many times before. - it's all there but you need to put the effort in as well. Regards, Jack

Bingo - I got you there. Yes this is one of the most complex and misunderstood features available on machine tool controls. Basically, it's your best friend or worst nightmare given your understanding of the basics and how to apply them. I have many good/bad habits to teach and with the end result in mind ( a learned student that can comprehend what it is, how to use it, and the do's and don'ts when applying it). My background includes many different controls and will work if the student takes the time to go through the lessons and exercises. The effort is large as are the drawings that I have prepared through the years; I should really publish these in a PDF format. This is monumetal since I need to plan a learning application and then suffer the argument back from those that approach it differently - but notice this - nobody else is doing so why not I? Liken this to vectors - most likely 90% of programmers don't understand them and prefer to allow a cam program to generate them or the radius value that so many controls of today recogize. There is much to learn in this field as well. But alas I am a little too busy right now to go for it, when I do I will put it on Jayson's site prior to publishing on the forum; Busy like in an S55 AMG that I'm going to pick up tomorrow at 4:00PM. Regards, Jack

quote: was something along the lines of CRC not being accurate/you didn't like it/it should be used as a last resort. CRC? refresh my memory please. I don't understand the term. I can present an argument though. - ****! now I'm starting to sound like a politician. Regards, Jack (the beaten pulp) Mitchell

Thad - always trying to make me look bad 1 rev = .025" on an inch micrometer. 4 revs = .1" therefore 40 revs = 1 inch exactly Therefore Thad = the hero and Jack = the putz But at least I got most of them right Besides - how many of the American members would have actually attacked the metric feed question? Maybe that's why I only got 79% on my Certificate of Qualification. Regards, Jack

2= .03937*2 therefore .07874 pitch 100rpm works out to .0787 feed or 7.784” per min. 1/10 is .100 pitch therefore 100 rpm works out to 10.0” per min. The Micrometer spindle has……. Threads per inch Inch micrometer 25tpi The direction in which the chip leaves the work is influenced by: Rake angle Carbon in material: Decreases ductility - really odd way to state the question though. Increases hardness seems much more intelligent; but hey, who's the genius that wrote this dribble? The tensile strength of a material indicates: Maximum stretching or Maximum load before breaking – bad term used here, I see it as the maximum load before permanent damage or failure to return to its previous natural state. The first answer seems to be the most accurate. The cutter load or force is created by the: Method of milling Length of thread in a tapped hole should be: As long as bore The same diameter as the bore 1 ½ times diameter 2 ½ times diameter All BS – maybe the first answer is sufficient though. The real length of thread is stated on the print and handily given by the machinist. To test a grinding wheel for cracks before installing: The ring gage answer is surely brilliant We call it ring testing when you hold by bore and tap with a non metallic object. If the safety factor on an overhead crane is 3-1 and the crane is rated at 20 tons what is the heaviest load that can be lifted safely? 20 Tons looks about right to me. So, do I get the job? I would have loved to see Rodney Dangerfield answer these questions on a live broadcast. Regards, Jack [ 10-18-2004, 07:28 PM: Message edited by: Jack Mitchell ]

Kodiak, I might be wrong but doesn’t surfacing toolpaths require the purchase of Mastercam Level 2 as a minimum? Perhaps this is what is causing the trouble. Try a regen with all operations checked except the surfacing., then try a regen with only the surfacing checked - just an option to verify what it is that you are saying. Regards, Jack