"Unpatriotic corporations abandon our country and shift industries abroad, along with what is left of their allegiance to our country and our community," Nader charged at a news conference at the National Press Club, where he also described government agencies as "indentured servants" for corporate interests. Not that I have made up my mind as to whom to support. I do believe that this coming to the forefront in a presidential debate would be great. Glad someone is looking out for us poor manufacturing types. Story here.

Nez's crime is that he is a total waste of oxygen. And that he is sitting around using up our good air. Just an opinion. But hey, everyone is entitled to my opinion.

Most of us are jealous. But, still hope you have a great time. Walking barefoot in the surf sounds really nice right now. Especially after trudging through the 2 new feet of snow that we got last night in order to get to work. Mahalo!

REDMOND, Wash., Updated Feb. 13, 2004 -- On Thursday, February 12, Microsoft became aware that portions of the Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0 source code were illegally made available on the Internet. Subsequent investigation has shown this was not the result of any breach of Microsoft’s corporate network or internal security, nor is it related to Microsoft’s Shared Source Initiative or its Government Security Program, which enable our customers, partners and governments to legally access Microsoft source code. Microsoft is working closely with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation on this matter. Microsoft source code is both copyrighted and protected as a trade secret. As such, it is illegal to post it, make it available to others, download it or use it. Microsoft will take all appropriate legal actions to protect its intellectual property. Questions about the investigation should be referred to the FBI. Microsoft reaffirms its support for both the Shared Source Initiative and the Government Security Program. At this time there is no known impact on customers. We continue to be committed to protecting our customers and their networks, and we will take any appropriate steps to ensure that we meet this commitment. There was some very good discussion of this over on Slashdot. What I found most interesting was the debate over whether someone could examine this code and then ever make any contributions to an open source project without running the risk of being viewed as "tainted" and potentially subject to a lawsuit. Right now there seems to be a lot of grey area with regards to the lines between copied, derivative, or "inspired by" code.; and I think it won't be long before the courts have to step up and draw those lines more clearly.

Actually, I was referring to Deckel FP3NC mill in my post. I assumed that is what you were speaking of when you said quote: There is also a Deckel FP3 with CNC in “very good condition,” but I haven’t gotten a price yet. It will probably be high. The manual mills are nice. But, really not much more than a glorified Bridgeport.

Madbub, Yeah I tried that, to no avail. Millman, thanks. I figured I would have to go that route. Rat, you may be on to something there. I will try it. Thanks again guys,I appreciate the input.

That's what I was afraid of. I tried that and it broke it into 172 arcs. Man are my fingers gonna be tired. I was hoping it would be able to average it and make it much less than that. Thanks!

Oops double post. +1 to post count at least.

I did a search on this. But, found nothing that is applicable here. I am attempting to machine a core on a programmable lathe. I have my core geometry that I created off of the part file with the shape I need to turn. Problem is that it is in splines. I have squashed the curves to 2d and have tried everything I can think to convert this to arcs. Mastercam keeps giving me "no splines converted". This is a manually programmed lathe that I seldom use and we do not have any Lathe cam software. So I need to enter in the arc size, start and end points, and center of arc coordinates, etc. If I .iges this file out and take it to another guys computer here that is running a different software it will convert it fine. But, Mastercam should be able to do this, right? Anyone have any ideas?? Thanks in advance.

I used to run Deckels. They are pretty neat machines. If you get the FP3, it should have both horizontal and vertical heads and each has a quill with roughly 3 inches of travel. You just unscrew 4 cam lock screws in the head and tip it sideways to reveal the horizontal spindle. Plus it should have both horizontal and vertical tables with it. Not really what I would call a stout machine but really versatile. If memory serves me correctly they are a gear driven spindle and max 6300 rpm. This is also probably a mid to late 80s machine since it is before they merged and became Deckel Maho. Probably has the Grundig Dialog control which has some really nice canned cycles in it. I really miss running Deckels.

I probably shouldn't jump in here, but..... First let me say Jimmy that was actually an Aaron Tippin song. Now that I am done being a lyric policeman, maybe I can confuse this a little more. I have often heard references to this saying. However, I have never been told which word was used for "know". The Greek has several words for "know" and this is where it becomes interesting. Well at least for me. The Greek word epiginosko (ep-ig-in-oce'-ko); means to know upon some mark, i.e. recognize; to be acquainted with, to acknowledge. While the word ginosko (ghin-oce'-ko); means be aware (of), feel, perceive, be resolved, be sure, understand. The first would be to understand where you came from, your family values, your traditions, etc. While the second implies thoroughly understanding who you "are" rather than where you came "from". I would liken this to my own theory about the knowledge we each possess. We have both informational and formational knowledge. Informational would be just as it sounds in that it is just stuff you know. How to get to the store, work, turn on the television etc. Whereas formational knowledge are those things that through application become a part of who we are. For example: just because I can play Chopsticks on the piano does not make me a pianist. But, through application, (the principles of continued practice) playing can eventually help to form who I am. Does that make any sense? How is that for rambling???

Actually, I should be a little more clear. For a nice entry level machine. One that you would use around the house for surfing the web, doing your bookkeeping, writing letters, and light multimedia. The lower end Dell and eMachines are pretty darn nice. (Personally, I lean toward the eMachines and have put 3 in service for people I know recently.) If you want a machine that you can run Mastercam on then you get into a little bit of a problem. Whether you know it or not you have stepped into the power user bracket simply due to the way the program runs. Which means you really should have higher end hardware. Operating system is another thing to seriously consider. XP pro is only another $30.00 and makes a big difference over XP home Lower end Dell and eMachines, etc. keep the costs down by using lower end hardware. Usually video and sound are integrated in the motherboard. All of the other components (except floppy, cd, ram, and hard drives) are designed specifically designed to fit into that proprietary computer case. This makes upgrading later much more of an ordeal. Usually, you are not able to upgrade hardware components other than drives. Even the power supply is not interchangeable unless you get it from the manufacturer that you bought the machine. (power supplies are another area that they really skimp. Just spending an extra $12.00 to go from a 300w to a 400w power supply makes todays processors run faster and much more stable.) If you want to get something that is lower end now but still have the option of upgrading a few components at a time later then start with an ATX form factor case and get all the components that you can afford that will go into it. Later you can buy a new board and processor and ram, slide it in and have a considerably faster machine for a fraction of the cost. There should be several smaller computer stores that you can quiz about this. I would recommend staying away from the Best Buy, Circuit City, etc places when purchasing. Although the prices may be a bit better, usually the smaller shops do far better on service. Just a rant on my part. I hope this helps.

Real time pricing for components can be found here. I would recommend putting a wish list together on paper and then having a local store put you one together. Dell and Gateway charge too much for the same stuff. At least if you check out the price list you will be able to know how badly Dell and Gateway are overcharging. I buy all my systems and parts from here. You can customize their complete systems or have them build a custom one from the ground up. Hope this helps.

Scott, I didn't mean anything (nor did I intend to hijack). I sincerely appologize anyway. I wish that NASCAR raced on more road courses. Those are always the best to watch IMHO. But, I also know that this is the biggest week of the year for all the fans that have waited too long over that blasted winter break. Personally, I was always an Ernie Irvan fan. However, those days are long gone...... Cheers

Actually, this is a little more my speed. The new Ducati MotoGP bike. 230+HP at 16,500 RPM. 326 pounds. Last years bike hit a trap speed of 209 MPH at Mugello. Can't even imagine going the speeds these guys do, draggin' knees around the corners. Especially with a contact patch the size of a credit card. Can't wait until April 18th!!

Oops, that's what I meant. Musta been typing faster than I was thinking.

What kind of info are you wanting about .IGES files?? If you are asking because you have an .iges file of the same part you are looking to scan, Mastercam can bring it right in. Just go to file/converters/iges then locate your file and boom your in. IGES stands for International Graphics Exchange System (sometimes also .igs). It is an older and pretty generic format that files are saved as in order to be read into other cad systems. I don't know of any cad systems that do not have .iges converters in them to both read in and write out files. .Iges is capable of saving surfaces and splines unlike the .DXF (Drawing Exchange Format) of the same time period. .Iges still works pretty well, however there are much better formats out there now. Maybe someone better informed could jump in here.

Well, I continued searching the same site that I found the exploding whale movie that was seen in this thread. I found this one to be especially disturbing. So, I had to share. What the....?!

Have you seen this one? Kinda the same thing. Watch the movie

Might as well have these, too. [ 01-29-2004, 01:55 PM: Message edited by: Moto GP ]

Well, after reading some of the stuff that has gone on here lately, I have one that I have been dying to use. So....

Sorry, I don't have a woodstock. How 'bout this?

Well, I have a bunch more. Any requests??

I was curious if you have tried OKDNC. It should have come with your machine. It is specifically written for the OSP controls by FMS Technology. Personally, I think it works great. If you have not tried it and are interested you should talk to your Okuma dealer. Or, if you want, I can get you FMS's phone number.

Best I could do: