Well the old saying you get what you pay for. Cheap out and expect issues plain and simple.

Tell them Step files or you get what you get for bad parts from I guess it is close enough surface files that they cannot save correct because they don't know how to set the save tolerances correctly. Where there is smoke there is fire and this person needs training.

SAE AS8879D-2018 SAE Link I have the Rev B Spec and it says .4916 is the Minor Diameter min 0.4983 is the Minor Diameter Max.

Diameter never changes for the OD even on a UNJ. 9/16 = .5625 for what you program in Mastercam. What changes is the effective PD and where you need either a Thread Mic or a GO NO-GO set of threaded ring gauges to ensure it is correct. PD on a Class 3A is .523-.5264 and what is really what you are shooting for on the thread. I have never seen a Class 2 UNJ thread called out that I can remember they are always Class 3. Make sure you have the correct anvils on your thread mic for a UNJ seen some bad measurements because of the point anvils being used and parts scrapped over it. Gauges are the best and help ensure you are hitting the correct size.

Yes you are okay with your method remember in 2020 you could modify the diameter if it was a different size that you were having to drive the toolpath from. Sorry OT. Remember and UNJ OD tool is different than a UNJ ID tool. The OD tool can be used for the ID, but the tool that can be used an ID will not cut a correct UNJ OD thread. The UNJ OD thread must have the radius on the threads. Most ID tools don't have the correct crest diameter on them and people normally make the ID oversize to make it within spec. SCT and others make the correct OD UNJ threadmill. End OT.

Colin great response and if you don't mind me going even further OT. (OT Police will be along any minute to give me warning points and kick me off the forum, but I digress.) Well with CAMplete being bought by a competitor of Mastercam not sure how long that is going to be a viable option. Great Software and think they do some pretty amazing things, but like you said things they don't do needed for certain project like Autodiff and building your own machines make it a deal breaker for a lot of companies. CNC Software 3rd parties are some of the best in the business and yes on very complex involved machines it can be some work, but for 90-95% of the users out there out of the box takes care of everything they need. The 5-10% users will always have some development getting them dialed in and yes even CAMplete needs help in this area just like any other CAV.

Then link to that topic and others will be allow to follow the rabbit trail.

Not tied to the post so simulation is not going to be as accurate. You want it closer to real world then purchase a post that is linked to the machine sim. No you cannot purchase one directly from CNC Software. In-House and Postability offer this service and they both should work with your dealer. Everything else will be days upon days of wasted time.

Excellent answer and trial and error is what it takes sometimes to dial it in. All else fails I draw the motion I want for a pocket then drive a contour toolpath no comp. Oldscool, but like we use to do it when I learned to program in the late 80’s. Make the shape then offset the radius of the tool and then make offsets of that shape from there. Once you have the base pattern figured out you can write a program by hand in 15-20 minutes.

Sorry should have given it a little more thought before answering. Now that I think about it not sure it is possible unless it is a Nethasp. Might check with your dealer and get a Wibu license and then I think you could check it out to use at home. I believe it does away with a Hasp and goes to a Software License.

Powersurface tip. I have an area across some cross holes I need to machine. I didn't want the break dance process where I grabbed the surfaces around the hole and then had it jumping across to the next surface. I spent time trying to get Model Prep to remove the holes and the shape was just to complex. Spaceclaim couldn't handle it either. I made up a bunch of surfaces, but problem is they are surfaces and the toolpath is not nice and clean. I am getting little studders in the motion. Running a 5 Axis tool that is 18" gauge length with studders is not a good thing. I wanted a good surface and fought to better part of the day getting something. I finally got a good chain network to make a Powersurface, but the problem was it was not smooth towards the end of the shape and it was wrapping to close to the edge. I extended the cross chains .25 past the tear drop shape and then redid the Powersurface and now it fits into the area perfectly. Powersurface is a awesome tool and when we give it a little help it will do exactly what we need.

Many topics talking about this very subject over the last year. Do a search and you find many are doing it with success. Might run into some lag issues from time to time, but that has been what I remember as the only major issue anyone has run into.

Adjusting 5 Axis vectors for toolpaths can be a task. I have shared any different methods on this thread over the years. Jacob Ladder, back plotting toolpaths with certain lag and lead angles to get starts, end and edges for creation of vectors to drive 5 axis toolpaths. A new method that is proving helpful is 4 extents Vectors. I am machining the ID of a Large Cylinder using a Knuckle 5 axis head. Not full C axis as it is limited to +200/-200 of travel. Along the walls I have some ribs not normal to the ID and make putting the 500 lb gorilla of head into the 5lb space extremely difficult. I broken up what was one surface into 6 different surfaces and what was one toolpath into 4 different toolpaths. I used the my 4 vectors tweaking them until I got the motion I needed to keep the head from slamming the back of it into the other side of the ID, but also keep the tool from shanking out on the part. Trick was how to tweak these 4 different vectors at different angles real easy? Xfrom/Dynamic and the use the Gnomon adjust alignment switch to adjust Z to align to the Vector. Switch back to adjust and now I can move each vector the 2-5 degrees I need to see what happens. I have a floor surface with some crazy features and transitions I made one toolpath for. Problem was what looks good in Mastercam was gouging the crashing in certain places in CAV. I had to break it up into 32 different toolpaths and trim and remake some drive surfaces to get good motion, but what it takes sometimes.

This the SDK development section also please post your questions in the correct section of the forum. From your dealer it is free.

Not from session to session. People have certain defaults they like. They want to always use those values and Mastercam in a lot of the newer sections doesn't have the ability to give the end user that functionality. Operation defaults allow us the control for toolpaths. End users want the same ability with things like this. Why cant there be a set to defaults button in these dialogs like the toolpaths? If there were then solves this issue and give the database a quick method to store them using a different subset of data to track and allow customization like other CAM software such as CATIA and NX have. Biggest gripe I hear from NX and CATIA guys moving from those software to Mastercam is things like this. I just fat finger so much stuff I cannot track all the key strokes and typing I do in a year. I wear out keyboards quite regularly. My A and S are deformed on this keyboard. Esc was normally wore off, but since about 2019. I have backed off the using the esc key as much since it doesn't do the same things it use to in a lot of the dialogs.