We have a Fanuc x-z axis lathe with live tooling. When we make c-axis contour programs we post it out using the generic c-axis slant bed post. The problem we are having is that the lathe wants to cut it to the opposite side. Instead of engaging the material at +x it engages at -x. This isn't too much of a hassle for face contouring, we have to cutter comp the whole diameter of the tool we are using though. The main problem is that when we do cross holes the tool rapids to the start position as -x therefore it would rapid through the part and start cutting through the bottom of the part into air. I don't know if this is a Mastercam setting, a post setting, or a setting on our lathes but I know this isn't right. I have attached a crude picture of what it is doing. Any ideas and/or suggestions to fix this is greatly appreciated

Okay, Thank you JParis, I was wondering if that was the issue, there is a definite break in between those surfaces. I got a contour surface finish to work pretty well for me so I think I will try that out. I'm going to take down the videos and break the links for security. Many thanks,

Okay here is a link to the cropped down file: http://1drv.ms/1FfOB6L

So I messed around with the cut directions and there is still a rogue ending to my toolpath. The best I could do was changing the retract length of the lead out to 0 which changed the "Z" to a straight line. I uploaded a video of the toolpath here

Hello Friends, I have a Surface Finish Flowline toolpath that has an ending I don't like. After the surface has been cut the tool retracts moves feeds in then cuts straight into my part. I have attached a picture that shows my two drive surfaces and the toolpath. The part I'm trying to get rid of is the backwards "Z" Anyone have an idea on how to get rid of it? Thank you, drawing.pdf

That is checked. But it wasn't when I went to hit G1, not sure why this is. Thank you all for your help and sorry for any frustration

Jay, We do but part of the problem is that I'm not being prompted. When I hit G1 it just processes and then Cimco opens up with the program. I never get a dialog window to choose where to save the file.

CJep, I don't really want it to go to a specific folder every time, I want to be able to choose that folder every time like I can with my mill machine, I guess that's what I'm looking for. Jay, That is a good idea except that we have folders for every single part we do (we're a job shop) and I would like to be able to be versatile and choose that folder specific to every part. The mastercam file will be in the folder that I want the program to post to every time so if there is a way to make that the default that would work as well. Would this feature be in the post processor itself?

CJep: What should it be overridden to so that I choose the destination every time? 3rdstring: What options should I change? The options are set to be the same as my Mill machine definition.

This may be a very noob question. When I Post out my toolpaths (G1) while I have a Mill machine selected it will open a save window that asks me where to save this file. This dialog opens to the folder where my mastercam file is saved. When I have a Lathe machine definition selected it automatically saves the file to a generic folder without opening a save dialog window. This means I have to go to this generic folder and get my file and re-save it elsewhere. I am sure there is some setting that I don't know about that I can change so that the Lathe machine definition will also ask for a post destination like it does for my mill definition. Can someone point me to this setting? Thank you, Luke

Rob, That fixed it thank you! Now I just need to get one of those fancy 3D mice...

Sadly that did not work, I didn't restart my computer, just mastercam.

This is a general user interface question. I am working on a part where the 3rd op has the part standing on end. What I want to do is use the same model as the other 2 ops in the same Mastercam file. I rotated my view about the Y-axis 90 deg. This way when I hit [alt]+[1] I get a top view of when the part is standing on end. The problem is when I try to navigate my view with my mouse (aka, rotate to look at my part using button 3 or scroll wheel) The view jumps back to the original TOP WCS view. Is there a way or a setting to make this not happen? Thank you,