Steve Yes % at the top and bottom only. I'm not sure what you mean by reserved program numbers. In the 16i my main program goes in as O0000 and the subs O0001 thru O0009. I then just alter my Main program number. All the programs are listed seperatly in the control directory under the numbers above.

Steve I can send all other programs to the 31i control with no problems. Just this one that has my main program and all the subs in one file will not go in. So I'm thinking it might not be an IO problem. But I've been wrong before As I stated above with the 16i control everything goes in fine.

Said wrong data used I am out of here for the day I try some more in the morning. Thanks for the help!

Using Cimco edit 5

Hi all I am trying to send a program to the machine but I'm having problems. I have no problems sending to the 16i control. But when I try and send the same program to my 31i control I am getting an alarm. The program I am trying to send has all of the subs in it as well. At the control I just press read then exec without labeling any kind of program#. Press tranfer from pc and all programs go into the control. Any ideas why I am getting an alarm on the 31i control? Thanks Mike

Tech you don't have any masks on do you?

Ok Thanks again!

John Thanks it worked perfectly. Is this the rule of thumb for bringing in assemblies?

Hi all I am trying to bring in a solidworks assembly file. The problem that I am having is anything that is under the mates in the feature manager is not coming into mastercam. Any ides? Thanks Mike

g I like the way igs files come in with not as many levels. If I have 20 clamps the igs file puts them on one level the parasolid has everything on its own level and can make it a pain to find and name levels once in mcam. Not sure if I am on to something but it seems that when I bring the file in I can do pretty much whatever I want. Once I save it I begin to have problems.

Jim I am having the same issues as you. Don't feel bad I just drew a fixture in solidworks 2008 then tried to bring it into mcam. It opened up with some missing parts so I just saved it as an igs out of solidworks. The igs file opened fine in mcam. Now the problem I am having is when I try and mask on level to change the color of something mcam crashes almost everytime I select all. I have had this happen on translating as well My reseller had me change my memory buffer in system config to 70% for the translating issue. That seemed to help a little but I am still having issues like yourself!! Mike

Yes I'm using spiral point taps. I don't usually form tap through holes but maybe I should give it a shot

Thanks Kyle I'll have to give them a try

J The machine is 2 months old. And have have done lots of tapping on it already with no issues. Kyle Not sure what Yamana is. Is it a name brand?

quote: I always liked the OSG Taps. elektraLUBE is a good coating and done over 300 10-32 holes in 1141 steel with one tap. They do have these in MSC in the size you need for about 20 bucks a tap. J I tried these with the same results. CNC apps I never thread milled a hole this small. What kind of tools are out there for this. I can tap these holes without issues off cycle using Molly D for lube. So I'm thinking my coolant might be an issue. Using water soluable oil here and the concentration is good.

del I'm pretty much there already my hole size is .067

Hi all I'm tapping some 301 HH x .06 thick material here and I'm not having much luck. They are breaking after every 2 - 10 holes. Tap size is M2 x .4. The last speed and feed I tried was S300 and F4.72 (rigid tapping in fanuc robodrill) I am using standard HSS bright taps. I'm looking for other tap style suggestions coatings ...etc. I can't seem to find many in M2 size. Thanks Mike

John I new how to do this but an excellent disciption on the step by step method Mike

This is awsome news. I'm new to the solid works side but I can see this being a great addition. Looking forward to it!!

John +1000 to the Solidworks forum! New to solid works here and learning what I can from our sheetmetal guys. And I don't have time to be on two forums all day

I think this is a sfile problem. I just called up a few other parts and had no issues...

John If you get a chance close MCAM then try again. I just tried again and it worked fine. Restarted MCAM then tried again and I crashed?

Hi all Not sure if this is a bug or its just not supposed to work this way. I am doing a level mask then holding CTRL and picking a couple levels. When I do this I crash. Are you not supposed to be able to mask more then one level? Can anyone duplicate this? Thanks Mike

You guys don't miss a thing 24,000 it is!! What kind of chip load can I put on a 1/32 endmill in plastic? 24000 with a .001 chip load at .020 depth of cut is a little slower then I wanted to go. I'm rethinking this one. The small depths of cut are going to kill me in cycle time. I'm thinking of just holding this in a couple of vises and using a keyseat cutter. Did not really want to go this route but the cycle will be much faster

Doug Thanks for the link but I didn't see any single flute endmills