No sweat Jay! The show went pretty good. The most important aspect of this whole thing is that IT's OVER!!!!!!!!! If you send me yer mailing address again, I'll send ya another keychain! Respectfully, Mike R.

Hi Kathy! Or if you're using Cimco edit, you could just click NC Functions, Remove Block Numbers, then Insert Block Numbers. HTH, Mike R.

Thanks Jay! Could you please post it here on the forum instead of emailing it to me? I can get to here from my lab, but I can't (or don't know how to) get to my email from there. Thanks bubba!! Mike R.

I need a part to run on Sunday for an open house. I'd like a surface model that I can run, and I'm limited to a max of 60K of memory. Any suggestions???? Thanks again people!!!! Mike R.

Thanks ALL!!!!! Got it.. I really appreciate your help in this. I'm in need of more practice when it comes to using mcam lathe!!!!! Thanks again!!!!!! Mike R.

I'm trying to do a simple groove, just plunging down (just like doing a thread relief). I've tried a bunch of things, but the toolpath doesn't go where I want it! When I see the screen that asks how many points define the groove, and I want to pick the midpoint of the bottom of the groove, how do I pick it? Any help at all is GREATLY appreciated!! Thanks very much for any help! Respectfully, Mike R.

Hi all! It's been a while since I played with mcam, so this may be a silly question. I have a fixture that will hold 2 parts (G55,G56), and I'm using the mpsubrep post. The problem is when I face mill, I want only one "operation" which will do both parts. All other operations need to use subroutines. So, how do I get this post to do 1 face mill operation, and THEN make the subs? (I know I could just post everything but the face, then add it by hand latter, but I'm wondering if Mcam will allow me to do what I want). Using V8.1.1 Thanks in advance!! Mike R. [ 07-26-2002, 06:51 PM: Message edited by: Michael Reynolds ]

Thad, When you're in backplot, put your mouse on "step" and hold your left button down. Then to "scroll" thru the backplot, hold (or release) the right mouse. This allows you to "toggle" between step and run mode. Hope that helps!! Mike R.

Ok, I haven't posted in a while, but I gotta ring in on this one. I started as a toolmaker, became a programmer, then a professor of machine tool tech. I know that some toolmakers are arrogant (some without warrent). I regard myself as an excellent toolmaker who has a lifetime of learning ahead. Does that make me a "primadonna"? I don't think so. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ranting. How about the other side of the coin? I've seen quite a few "primadonna" engineers/programmers who couldn't program themselves out of a wet cardboard box. Are all engineers like that? NO. In my opinion, more than half of the job of a programmer is knowing HOW to machine a part efficiently, and THAT is where a toolmaker's knowledge and experience shines. Additionally, I see the role of machinist/toolmakers shifting into the cadcam/programmer's arena (which makes perfect sense to me). Humbly stated by: Mike R.

Hey now, what about students who are using the demo version to LEARN mastercam? Certainly, we cannot and SHOULD not exclude them from this forum. Thoughts? Mike R.

Hi Eric! When you are in the tool parameters page, click on "change nci", then check the "force tool change" box. You could also go into screen, config, and set that as permanent. Hope that helps! Mike R.

James, Thanks! That did the trick! Who'da tought??? But that's a great trick!! Andrew, I've had the same problem when using (trying to use) the facing routine and "moding" bosses. I always end up doing just what you said, using a pocketing routine and call it "facing" in the pull down menu. Again, thanks fer all yer help!!!!!!!!! Mike R. respectfull mcam instructor/learner

Thanks for getting back to me, Tony! Ya, I know, use lines like construction lines in drafting. I was just wondering if there was a way of getting around that. Thanks for your reply!!! Thanks again, Mike R.

OK, I've gotta say it. This topic is unproductive at this point and should probably be locked. How's about the question Mike Reynolds posted a few lines down???? Mike R. Loyal Mcam user

Hi All! I'm trying to do a facing operation on a part that has an open pocket below the face, therefore it has no contiguous chain. Is there a way to do this WITHOUT creating construction lines? Thanks in advance!! Mike R.

If your cutters are dulling too quickly, I'd say you need to be feeding faster or slowing down your spindle. I'm not a router guy, but it makes sense to me. Mike R.

Sandy, I'm emailing you a video file that explains the WCS function in V9. It was created by someone on the forum. Hope this helps!! Mike R.

Hey Mark, Did that help ya out? Mike R.

Mold100, MDT is AutoCAD's Mechanical Desktop & GD&T is Geometric Dimensioning & Toleranceing. Mike R.

Thanks James, but the earliest version v8.1.1 offers is V4. Any other ideas? Thanks again for all your replies Mike R.

Thanks PDG, but I was outputting an SAT. It showed up in the folder -n- everything. Just wouldn'd show up in mdt. Zero, I've got that c hook, but it doesn't work very well. The feature control frame is whacked. Can I import a parasolid (x_t) into mdt? Thanks all!! Mike R.

Try running "hasp setup" again. Mike R.

Ok, I've gotta ring in here. Yup, UG SMOKES mcam in it's design capabilities. No doubt. And for most applications, mcam SMOKES UG on the cam side. BUT, one thing UG has now that mcam does not is a graphical post editor, which is much more customizable than mcam's post. Granted, right out of the box, mcam has more posts, and they are usually very reliable. BUT, UG is catching up on the cam side. Please don't get me wrong. I teach both Mcam and UG cam, and I'd MUCH rather use Mcam. Additionally, (like someone else said), the learning curve of UG is HUGE compared to Mcam. I guess my point is that, for now, Mcam would be my choice for CAM software. (Hey PDG, how's your graphical post editor coming??) Very respectfully, Mike R. Humble Mcam user

I know this sounds backerds, but suppose I want to model a part in mcam (cuz I'm not familiar enough with mdt), and bring it into MDT (version 2). I only need to do this to dimension the part (GD&T is needed). I tried converting the mcam part to sat, but when I imported it to mdt, there was nothing there. No error messages, etc. BTW, I'm trying to import a solid.. What am I doing wrong? ps, I've tried easy draw and the like, but they don't seem to work with my graphics card. Thanks for your help!! Mike R.

Thanks guys! Yup, a .125 wide insert won't fit into a .125 groove!!!!!!!!!! My bad............. Thanks again! Mike R. Humble mcam user