Zero, Your post gives me exactly what I was after. With 5oo lines of finished code with my post, yours reduced the same tool path to 255 lines. Almost half of my old code was blank spaces! I compared the two posts for about a half hour and gave up. They are very similar, but I wouldn't recognize the difference between the two if I was staring right at it, since I am not a post expert or amateur for that matter. I thank all of you for the excellent input...Steve

Pactec, I'll have to try what you did as a test. I'm using the CIMCO editor also. The code looks the same in the editor on the PC as well as in the controller after I download it. My hunch is it's a post issue as others have suggested. Not sure why it worked for you.

The post was set to default "0" for spaces between blocks and I also made the tool parameters changes but, I still get the same code with to many spaces. Here is a sample of the output: Rapid Z 0.0000 X 0.0000 Y 0.0000 Tool# 3 Rapid X-0.3101 Y-6.3634 Rapid Z 0.1000 Line Z-0.0286 Feed 6.4 X-0.3406 Y-6.3273 X-0.3668 Y-6.2881 X-0.3883 Y-6.2467 Any other ideas or do I need a better post than the one supplied? Thank you for the suggestions.

The standard Anilam post MPAN113X.pst(conversational language output) that is included with version 8 is outputting single and double spaces throughout the program on a 3300MK controller. Is there a easy way to modify the post for no spaces to appear in the finished code? Do MC8 posts also work for the Router version?

In a perfect world I would agree with Mike 100%, but the reality is most high school programs would die a quick death if instructors taught all the basics first. When I first started teaching I taught a lot of the basics and that resulted in boring the kids to tears or putting them to sleep. I now teach a combination of the basics and MC to be successful. With short class times (87 min.) and being an elective class you have to keep it fun for the kids or they will vote with their feet and your numbers will drop. MC must be aware of this since they put a lot of effort in developing Quickparts 2D and 3D. I feel that a HS instructor’s job is to expose kids to what’s out there in the work world, not to produce ready for employment workers. HS instructors should be getting students ready for grade 13 whether that is a university, community college, or on the job training. This is just my perspective that may have little validity for others. Also, out here in Oregon we don’t have much for HS trade schools. I realize trade schools have a different emphasis than what my program offers. What are other HS instructors focusing on?

Yea, I lost one...ahhh threw one out! When I first started teaching I didn't know what a SIM was. I threw out the out 386's with the SIM attached! When I went to update MC I then realized what I did. I had to get the administration to fill out a lost report for MC and pay several hundred $$$ to get a new one...Live and learn! Steve

Do you folks get a lot of industry support? How about from the machine tool dealers? In our area 5% is the max discount. You would think they would do more to help out education and get their name out there for good P.R. If they followed MC's lead on pricing for education I would have a well equipped shop by now.

I have used MC7-8 for a few years on the router. Several months ago I switched to Router and won't go back. I didn't even have to change the post to make Router work. I love the tabs feature. The students make a lot of plastic and wood parts that they simply cut out on a band saw then finish sand the nubs off. It's an inexpensive subsitute for a vacuum table.

How did I forget! My newest addition is a Bridgeport knee mill with Servo CNC retrofit (Seven years old with just a few hours on it). I mooched it from our CAD dept. You folks make me drool! Was all this equipment in place or did you put it together over the years? You must have a lot of support…moral and financial. Is your equipment updated regularly?

I've had real good luck with Techno Isel routers (stepper motor). I run them hard everyday at school. Their great for anything non-ferrous. New ones sell for a little over 5K new, but they come up for sale on Ebay used for about half price. Also there are many other brands new and used for the price you are looking for on Ebay. Steve

I teach at Mountain View H.S. in Bend, Oregon. Its been a struggle to get CNC into the program because of the costs. We have to beg, borrow, and cobble things together to make ends meet. We have a few seats of MC, two small Techno Isel 3 axis mills, and a broken Rhino CNC lathe(that nobody knows how to repair). Our local industry donated a 5'X14' CNC plasma cutter which is our only gem. It took a while to get setup and interfaced with MC, but it now works great. The shop also has the basic manual lathes and mills along with some welding equipment. How about you folks?

Thanks for the good info!

Hello...I had a part that I programmed and when I cut it I realized that I had 0,0 at the center of my part rather than my normal lower left hand corner. I caught it before I made scrap. When I went to translate the geometry and regenerate the tool path to the lower left I wondered if there are other ways to do it. In the help menu there appears to be many ways to offset geometry and tool paths, none of which I fully understand. Does the job setup / stock origin have any effect on tool paths or does it just help you to setup the stock visually for verify? In the operations manager there is Home, T/C plane, and Ref. Points? None of which I’ve used. Then, there is the Transform tool paths page. Is there any that I’m missing? What is the best way to go?...Thanks in advance...Steve

I think part of the problem is that the sender of the AutoCAD file is not real experienced. He wasn't very familiar with the "exploded" command. James is the paper space in AutoCAD or MC? I'm not familiar with that term or AutoCAD itself. Also there are no splines, just 2D lines, text, and dimensions...Thanks

Hello...I received a simple 2D autocad drawing that is missing a lot of data during the import. There were no errors during the translation. I was told Autocad has a level 0 but MC doesn't, could this be part of the problem? Or is it something else?

I recently purchased Router (love it) for my high school. Router is an add-on to Mill 8.1 in educational sales but appears to be a stand alone product in industry. Besides the tabs, nesting, and engraving features on Router what are the true differences / similarities between the two? Do I need both on my computer or just one? Thanks for the help.

How does one post to a CNC lathe that does not support G20(Inch), only G21(metric). 99.9% of our parts are in Inch dimensions....Thanks