I guess I wasn't clear with my question: In the Operation Manager, under the Machine Definition, you have "Properities" then you have 4 selections to choose from ... Files Tool Settings Stock Setup Safety zone I especially want to change, permanently, the defaults under "Tool Settings" For example, under "Toolpath Configuration" I want the box CHECKED for "Assign tool numbers sequectially" Sorry to be so wordy ... Keith ... thanks

Permanently ... I tried Control Definition but noithing is listed under 'Control Topic:'=> 'files' ...

How do you change the defaults in Machine Group Properities?

THANKS TO EVERYONE ... This confirms the direction I took and given me some new ideas ...

When milling or drilling 304 stainless steel: 1)What type of cutters do you recommend? 2) cutting speed? RPM? and/or Feed? 3) depth of cut? 4) step over? AND, best methods for ruffing, finishing, facing, and slotting, Let's not forget drilling?

I use the FRONT face of the tombstone as TOP PLANE and program MC naturally (IMHO) ... that will make Z0 anad X0 the center of rotation, the operator picks up Y0 and pushed the buttom ... If we transfer to verticle (rotary) then it is minor changes in Z0 and regenerate ... of course, you need to use incremental tool path to make your program versatile ... I know this might be against the grain, but KISS ...

quote: Over the past 4 years, I've completed 3 Mastercam Classes at the NTMA. He was in my Mastercam class at NTMA ... quick learner, teachable, and hungry to understand ... great character and conscientious ... he will be an excellent full time programmer ... Good luck Bill ...

Try this with a single toolpath under 'linking parameters' (note numbers are suggestion): Checked Clearance and absolute at 2.0 Checked "Use clearance only at the start and end of operation" Checked "Retract" and incremental at .100 Checked "Feed Plane" and incremental at .050 HTH

yes ... it was checked ... turned of and OK ... thanks ...

Just started today ... When backplotting 2D or 3D ... np problem Backplotting 5-axis swarf ... screen goes blank whether geometry showing or not ... if I do a group of all toolpaths, I can see all til it comes to the swarf op, then goes blank ... What's going on?

quote: know what I mean? I do now ... just trying to help ... I think that is something that needs addressing in the next release ... send in your suggestion ...

quote: Were you creating a solid? no ... It only happens when I open the file ... it was created in X3, but changed to X4 and now to X4MU3 ... no dirty operations and if regen, no problems ... no dirty solid and if regen, again, no problems ... just a pain when opening the file, having to hit enter several times ... I usually put my stapler on the ENTER button and wait ...

If it is JUST geometry, use File ==> File/Merge ... If it is toolpath AND geometry, first EXPORT toolpath from Operation Manager (saving with geometry), then IMPORT into operation Manager ... HTH

I don't have any dirty ops ...

I get this and was wondering if anyone knows how to find these "entities" quote: There were some unrecognized entities creaded by the operation.

quote: 1.000 ENDMILL1 FLAT This is based on tool type info ... not sure how to get rid of it ... quote: 1 INCH FLAT ENDMILL This comes from your tool definition page under "parameters" ==> Tool Name ... this can be edit by you quote: 1" INDEX This comes from your "Toolpath" dialog box under "Comments" ... this too, can be edited by you I hope this is what you are looking for ... BTW quote: Your screen shot shows as white squares around your ops. When I turned background to grey, I don't get the white boxes either ... I usually have it very light yellow ...

Milling or drilling or both?

quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Replace the hd with an intel x25-m -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My SSD is: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2R5 Solid State Drive - 160GB, SATA, 2.5" Cost: $429.99 Performance rating is 7.8 (7.9 isthe highest you can get) ...

quote: Replace the hd with an intel x25-m My SSD is: Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH160G2R5 Solid State Drive - 160GB, SATA, 2.5" Cost: $429.99 Performance rating is 7.8 (7.9 isthe highest you can get) ...

How to dedicate your CPU CPU_347.bat @echo off Start /affinity 98 c:mcamx4mu3mastercam.exe 98 is hexidecimal for CPU 347 Others are: 1 is CPU 0 2 is CPU 1 4 is CPU 2 8 is CPU 3 10 is CPU 4 20 is CPU 5 40 is CPU 6 80 is CPU 7 100 is CPU all For combinations, a few are: E is CPU 1,2,3 1C is CPU 2,3,4 5F is CPU 0,1,2,3,4,6 60 is CPU 5,6 90 is CPU 4,7 Have fun ...

Go to this post and read what I did to get my system base score up to 7.1 (out 7.9) ... Processor: Intel® Xeon CPU E5430 @2.66GHz ... score 7.7 Memory (RAM: 20.0 GB ... score 7.7 Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro FX 4800 ... score 7.1 Gaming graphis: 5119 MB Total available graphis memory ... score 7.1 Primary hard disk: 85GB free (149GB total) ... score 7.8 All this inside a Dell Precision Workstation T7400 with Windows 7 Professional (64 bit) using 8 processors (dual quad core) ... It is so fast, that I even have time to write on eMastercam ...

quote: Must be that CATIA will run natively in 64bit I am running CATIA-64 bit ... I not only program, but manages the department ... so I am wearing many hats, at one time, but now with the extreme speed, I may not need to open so many MC at one time ... way faster opening time ... files that took up to 8-9 minutes to open, now opens in less the 1-2 minutes ... simple files FLASH on the screen ... hope they don't melt the monitors ...

quote: Like that program load time for CATIA? lightening ... it is faster than Mastercam now ... quote: 4) wrote BAT files forcing Mastercam infinity affinity. Maybe, I didn't misspelled it ... Interestingly, by using the affinity settings, each instance of Mastercam I open using this method, Window 7 is directing about 2 GB of RAM for each, thus, all the files operate at the same speed ... no bogging down as before ... I usually have 3 mastercam, Vericut, Office Word, Outlook, and CATIA or NX (or both) opened and being used at the same time ... all run with independent RAM dedication ...

Keep in mind that Vericut 6.0.3 cannot do "multiple" setup from one file ... Multiple setups wasn't intoduced until 7.0.0 and MasterCAM interface would combined all multiple setups into the first WCS ... This was fixed in 7.0.3 ... If you are happy doing one setup at a time ... you are OK ... If you have more than one WCS, machine, etc. then you MUST go to 7.0.3 ... HTH

Well, this is what I decided to do: 1) changed HD to INTEL Solid State Hard drive (149 GB) 2) changed video card from NVIDA Quadro FX 3700 to NVIDA Quadro FX 4800 3) increased RAM from 12GB to 20GB changing the "memory channel mode" from 'dual' to 'quad' 4) wrote BAT files forcing Mastercam infinity settings to access designated CPU ie. one file uses only 2,4,7 CPUs and another uses only 3,5,6 CPUs My system rating basic score went from 5.9 to 7.1 with 7.9 as the highest possible score ...