I have had some experience with creating custom lathe tools, and I don't seem to have any problem with drawing, orientating and position the tool how I want, but it seems like there is no control over the "thickness" that it makes the insert/holder, when you run verify. When I say "thickness" I am talking about the "height" of the tool assembly displayed in verify along the "theoretical Y axis". Because it displays the holder way thicker than it actually is, it shows over-cutting and collisions during verify. My main purpose in creating custom tools is for tight clearances on very small solid carbide boring bars/threading bars. Is there any way to control this? I attached some pics of the 2d drawing file of the custom tool, and what it looks like in verify. Its type is set as "threading" for the custom tool type tab

Is there any reference material for using Active Reports? I've never looked into that.

I currently have all my vertical mill posts (Mazak, Haas, Fanuc) setup to post sequence numbers only at "operation comments" using the pcomment2 block pcomment2 #Output Comment from manual entry scomm$ = ucase (scomm$) if gcode$ = 1005, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn, e$ #Manual entry - as comment if gcode$ = 1006, scomm$, e$ #Manual entry - as code if gcode$ = 1007, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn #Manual entry - as comment with move NO e$ if gcode$ = 1026, scomm$ #Manual entry - as code with move NO e$ if gcode$ = 1008, n$, sopen_prn, no_spc$, scomm$, no_spc$, sclose_prn, e$ #Operation comment if gcode$ = 1051, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn, e$ #Machine name if gcode$ = 1052, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn, e$ #Group comment if gcode$ = 1053, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn, e$ #Group name if gcode$ = 1054, sopen_prn, scomm$, sclose_prn, e$ #File Descriptor this is the only place that sequence numbers are in my programs ex: N10 (SKIM FACE OF STOCK, +.002 FOR FLY CUTTER) T01 M06 (1.5 FACE MILL | H01) G00 G90 G56 X16.025 Y-2.1249 S3500 M03 Z2. T6 I always put comments on every single operation, this way the operators not only know whats going on in every section of the program, but can quickly search and start at the relevant section. however, i would like to create, if possible, a buffer which sends all of these comments with their sequence numbers to a .txt file that i can print out as a reference with the job setup paperwork. Is this going to be more complicated than its worth?

Colin, I have only done very basic edits to the post so far. Mostly just deleting/adding variables to existing post lines, as I have learned what the variables output. I haven't done any formulas/logic yet, without others help that is. David, Thank you for posting that section of code here. I'm afraid I just don't understand enough yet to be able to use it though. I tried copying it into my .pst and got all kinds of errors.

Trying to bump this post back up. I haven't been able to get anywhere with this issue. The MP documentation just does not explain buffers well enough, or give any relevant examples that you can learn from. As I mentioned in the OP, I have contacted my reseller, and they don't even know how to do it. Thanks,

I have made a couple of custom lathe tools, and MC accepts the geometry just fine, and they work in the operation, and the NC code comes out correct, But in the verify the tools come out looking really weird with like a super tall insert sticking out of the bottom of (thru) to holder geometry. This is for a small boring bar, from the ISCAR PICCO line. I was trying to post a screen shot here, but the forum keeps saying cannot upload/post or whatever that file type.

You are right! my mistake. I just went out to the lathe and tested it out, it does work correctly.

This is MX7. On a HAAS ST-10 Lathe. Colin, I messed around with those settings a bit, but they seem to only affect where the cutter comp is placed in/out of the canned cycle

Hello, I'm not sure if this is a Post question, or if I am missing something among the operation options within MC. When I setup a canned turning cycle, one rough operation, one finish operation, and I have "force tool change" UNCHECKED, I get the finish feedrate from the finish operation output inside the programmed toolpath, rather than on the G70 line where it ought to be: (ROUGH FACE) T101(CNMG 431 TURNING TOOL) G54 G97 S3000 M03 M08 G00 X.55 Z.125 G50 S3000 G96 S500 G72 P100 Q102 U0. W.005 D.0625 F.005 N100 G00 Z0. G01 X-.06 F.003 <--- N102 Z.125 G00 X.55 (FINISH FACE) G70 P100 Q102 G00 X.55 This is a problem, at least for my HAAS lathe, because during the rough cycle, it overrides the rough feedrate that I set in the G72 line (F.005) and runs at the finish feedrate even while its roughing. It also does this even if I have "Force tool change" selected on all operations. I would line the finish feedrate to post out on the G70 finish cycle line. G70 P100 Q102 F.003 And I am hoping this is not a post issue as the coding for canned cycles inside the post looks quite complicated. Thanks!

Allan, Thank you so much! that worked perfectly. MIL-TFP-41, Thank you for that reference to MP documentation. I just got a copy of the .PDF from my reseller, so now I know where to find those pre-defined variables.

Ok, this time I only posted out the Tap operation. Here is the whole NCI: 1050 16 53 26 9 2016 10 37 33 \\MACH1\CNC PROGRAMS\SHOP PROGRAMS\5.CAM PROGRAMS\MASTERCAM PROGRAMS\M00007444-00.MCX-7 20600 1804 9D3EAE0B-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "" "" Machine Base 20600 1805 9D3EAE0D-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "Z" "Z" Lathe Left Spindle Z Axis (-->+) 20600 1806 9D3EAE0F-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "X" "X" Lathe Upper Turret X Axis 20600 1807 9D3EAE11-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "" "" Lathe Upper Turret 20600 1808 9D3EAE13-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "" "" Lathe Tailstock 20600 1809 9D3EAE15-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "" "" Lathe Chuck 20600 1810 CA66FCA9-83F4-11E6-8574-001AA0C69940 "" "" Chuck Jaws 20600 1811 CA66FCAB-83F4-11E6-8574-001AA0C69940 "" "" Stock 20600 1812 9D3EAE17-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 "" "" Lathe Steady Rest 20601 1823 9D3EAE26-FBBA-11DA-991B-001111AFFC59 0 Left/Upper 999 64 0 7 1051 HAAS ST-10 1053 HAAS ST-10 1008 PARTIAL TAP M6 X 1 HOLE 1011 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 1012 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1013 0 0.11811 0. 0 5 0. 0. 0. 105 M6 X 1 TAP, SPIRAL FLUTE 1014 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 0. 0. 1016 7 4 64 1 0. 0. 0. 41 0 0 2 0 25.4000508 9 1 3 7 13 1017 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 950 0 0 0 1823 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1025 3050 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1027 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1020 3.235 0.5 0.5 -1.6175 0. 0. 0 0. 0. 0. 0. 1 3000 STEEL inch - 1030 - 200 BHN 20010 TOP 20011 20012 LATHE UPPER LEFT [TOP] 1 20013 20014 TOP 20015 20016 STEEL inch - 1030 - 200 BHN 20017 MEDIUM CARBON 20018 OPERATION 1 20019 20001 M6 X 1 TAP, SPIRAL FLUTE 20002 NONE 20100 3 4 1 0 0. 1 9 9 2 20101 0.03937008 82 0. 300 0 100. 100. 1 8 0 77 20102 5 0. 90. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0 0. 20103 M6 X 1 TAP, SPIRAL FLUTE 20104 68 0. 1.5 0. 0. 0 4 0 20105 0 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 20106 0 0 0 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0 20107 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 20108 7 0.23622 0.375 180. 1.25 1.25 35. 2 0.1 0. 0. 0. 0.03937 2 20109 3 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 20110 NONE 20111 0 1.625 0. 0. 0. 0.125 1.5 0. 0. 0. 0. 1 0 0 0 20112 C:\USERS\PUBLIC\DOCUMENTS\SHARED MCAMX7\LATHE\TOOLS\NONE 20800 0. 1001 74441 100 2 9 9 3000 5 300 -0.03937 0 0. 0. 0.1 5. 0. 10. 1 0. 0 0 0. 0. 0.1 1000. 0 82 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 81 3 0. 0. -0.25 0. -0.03937 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.1 0.1 0. 0. 0. 0. 0.1 0 0 0. 1003 5. 0. 10.

Colin, here is the section of the NCI TAP M6 X 1 HOLE 1011 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 0. 1012 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1013 0 0.11811 0. 0 5 0. 0. 0. 105 M6 X 1 TAP, SPIRAL FLUTE 1014 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 1. 0. 0. 1016 7 4 64 1 0. 0. 0. 41 0 0 2 0 25.4000508 9 1 3 7 13 1017 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 950 0 0 0 965 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1025 3050 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1027 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1. 0. 0. 0. 1020 3.235 0.5 0.5 -1.6175 0. 0. 0 0. 0. 0. 0. 1 3000 STEEL inch - 1030 - 200 BHN 20010 TOP 20011 This is my ltap$ section in my lathe post ltap$ #Canned tap cycle, lathe pdrlcommonb pcan1, pbld, n$, *sgdrillf, *sgdrlref, pfxout, pfzout, prdrlout, *feed, strcantext, e$ pcom_movea I had to copy the rigid tap section from my haas mill post because the original haas lathe post used G32 for tapping and its just not correct type of cycle for Haas. Also, what does it mean when a variable or postblock ends with "$" or begins with " * "

Hi Allen, I modified my prpm: prpm #Output for start spindle speed = speedrpm if nextdc$ = ltap, "(next operation is rigid tap cycle)" e$ if speed = zero, pbld, n$, *spindle_l, e$ #RPM = '0', output just an 'M05' else, pbld, n$, *sg97, *speed, *spindle_l, pgear, e$ !css_actv$ But now, it posts out my test comment (next operation is rigid tap cycle) at every output of prpm. It seems that logic is not working. I get an error log on that line of The formula/boolean failed (general message), , Label has not been defined[20], and then at the end of the error log: The math calculation/formula has an error a bunch of times in a row

I am developing my HAAS Lathe post, based off of the "Generic Haas tl 2 axis lathe" post included with MX7. I am wondering if it would be possible to write a logic within the "ltlchg" postblock to look ahead to the upcoming operation to see if it is rigid tapping, g84 to keep the spindle OFF. With haas lathe I have found it is better to keep the spindle off before the g84 line and let the canned cylce turn it on. So, I would like the 'ltlchg" postblock to still output the speed selection and RPM/CSS selection but NOT m03: G97 S300 G84 x0. z-.50 r.1 f.039 Is this very difficult? Here is my ltlchg: ltlchg$ #Toolchange, lathe toolchng = one gcode$ = zero copy_x = vequ(x$) pcc_capture #Capture LCC ends, stop output RLCC c_rcc_setup$ #Setup LCC on first 60000 plcc_lead_begin #Save original in sav_xa and shift copy_x for LCC comp. pcom_moveb #Get machine position, set inc. from c1_xh c_mmlt$ #Position multi-tool sub, sets inc. current if G54... comment$ if home_type < two, #Toolchange G50/home/reference position [ sav_xh = vequ(copy_x) sav_absinc = absinc$ absinc$ = zero pmap_home #Get home position, xabs ps_inc_calc #Set start position, not incremental #Toolchange home position if home_type = one, pbld, n$, *sgcode, pfxout, pfzout, e$ else, [ #Toolchange g50 position pbld, n$, *sg28ref, "U0.", "W0.", e$ toolno = t$ * 100 + zero if home_type = m_one, pbld, n$, *sgcode, *toolno, e$ else, pbld, n$, *sg50, pfxout, pfzout, e$ ] pe_inc_calc #Update previous absinc$ = sav_absinc copy_x = vequ(sav_xh) ] toolno = t$ * 100 + tloffno$ pbld, n$, *toolno, " ", ptoolcomment, e$ pbld, n$, pwcs, e$ pcom_moveb #Reset machine position, set inc. from last position pcan pspindle #Added for 'css_start_rpm' logic if css_actv$, [ if css_start_rpm, prpm # Direct RPM startup for programmed CSS else, pbld, pcssg50, pcss # NO RPM start - just output the CSS ] else, # Direct RPM was programmed [ prpm # Output programmed RPM ] sav_absinc = absinc$ if home_type > one, absinc$ = zero pcan1, pbld, n$, psccomp, *sgcode, pfxout, pfzout, pscool, strcantext, e$ plcc_lead_end #Use sav_xa to position with comp. LCC pcom_movea #Update previous, pcan2 ps_inc_calc #Reset current absinc$ = sav_absinc #Added for 'css_start_rpm' logic if css_start_rpm, pbld, pcssg50, pcss # CSS output AFTER a G97S???? RPM spindle startup c_msng$ #Position single-tool sub, sets inc. current if G54... toolchng = zero And here is my rigid tap: ltap$ #Canned tap cycle, lathe pdrlcommonb pcan1, pbld, n$, *sgdrillf, *sgdrlref, pfxout, pfzout, prdrlout, *feed, strcantext, e$ pcom_movea

Thank you for the replies. Where can I learn about buffers?