The size of the hole for form taps are much more critical. Even more so for small screw sizes. A little small and you will break taps. Too big and you will get almost something like a double start thread. Something to keep in mind are chips in the hole. Even a small sliver could break a tap. Not to scare you, just things to keep in mind. I love form taps in blind holes and have done 1000's of 0-80s just need to cover the details. Rick

#Rekd may have it. The max radius in the Fadal is 399.9999. Does strange things if that is exceeded. There used to be a place in the post to limit this number but maybe that is done in the control definition now. I also agree in using IJK. Rick

Can't help with that problem. It seems to me that you want to set tool lengths as the distance from the gage line to the tool tip as would be done setting tools offline then using the fixture offsets for the different jobs. Don't know if that can be done on a Fadal in format 1. Maybe in format 2. All of the Fadal manuals are available online and maybe somewhere in those there would be information that would point you in the right direction. There is a thread on the Practical Machinist where someone has a method of setting positive tool offsets. I didn't read through it so I can't comment if it would be what you are looking for. Sorry I can't be more help. Rick

The G43 is not needed in the Fadal using format 1. E1 is the call to use fixture offset 1. E0 cancels fixture offset. I usually run with values for X and Y in my fixture offsets with Z being zero. My tool offsets are always negative and is the distance with z in home position from tool tip to Z zero on my part. Press the manual key until "Enter next command " in display then type in DF for fixture display, DT for tool offset display, There a tool length setting utility Type UT and select option 1 and it will walk you through setting the length. If you want to set tools off the table you should be able to compensate to your part zero using the Z value in the fixture offset but I have not done this. More info on this is in the operators manual and these are available online but don't have a link in front. Rick

That looks very interesting. Will this work in MC 2018 ? Rick

Hi Pete The file has something in it. 935kb. I am wondering if there is some setting that the sender needs to select. I will send the file tonight. No NDA. I trust you to keep it among the need to know. Thank you Rick

Hi Pete I gave STPviewer a try and got nothing. It seems to acknowledge that there is a document there but nothing else. Just to clarify, I have a number files with the same problem. I will see if I can send you this file but it will be a day or two before I get to it or get permission. Where do I send it? Thank you Rick

I tried that first. I also pasted the header info from a good step file on to this file and got the same result. No errors but no entities. Rick

I forgot to mention that I know that the file came from ProE and a add on translator would be needed to read the native PRT file but this file was exported as a step file. Looking at the file in a text editor and comparing it with a step file I can open, it looks like a step file. Another odd thing, the file came without the STP extension. This is a new company for me and getting through to the right person to ask questions or to get another file format isn't easy but I will see if they will do. Thanks Rick

Hello I got this file that when I try to open it in Mastercam 2018 I get a blank screen. No errors and statistics shows no entities. I can not share the file but if I open the file in Cimco in the header the source is "CREO PARAMETRIC BY PTC INC, 2018010". I tried earlier versions of Mastercam , ( X6, X9 ) with the same result. I do not have Mastercam 2019. Has anyone else come across this and did you get a solution.? Is there something my customer needs to do on the other end during the export? Thanks Rick

You may want to look into electro-chemical deburring also. Special electrodes would have to be made for the different part numbers, but very controllable. Chemtool was the company that did it as well as selling equipment but they don't seem to be around anymore. Rick

Please share where you found these. Thanks Rick

That fixed it. I had to redo my RMB and ribbons but better than a reinstall. Thank you Rick

Hi I have the plane manager displayed on a second monitor and it is not responding to any mouse action. I also have the tool path, solids and level managers there and they all work as expected. If I change my planes using any of the other available methods the display will update. I have tried opening and closing the manager from the view tab, different files, rebooting the computer and uninstalling Verisurf Tools with no change. I am running Mastercam 2018 level 3 on Windows 7 pro. I noticed this a few days ago and updated from update 2 to update 3. I have not had any updates recently to windows or any drivers. I still have Mastercam 2017 installed and the plane manager works there. Any ideas Thank you Rick

That works. Thank you gcode. Rick

In the past when rotating geometry I was able to key in the letter A for the angle and I was then able to select 2 lines, 3 points etc. I can't do that in 2018. I type in the letter A, hit enter and the field goes to zero. Am I missing something or did this option just go away? Thanks Rick

Leon82 Thank you. That did it. For clarification, my contour option window defaults to C-Plane. Selecting 3D and then window the contours and everything works as it should. I still think something weird is going on, but it works for me. Thanks to all for the suggestions and feedback. Rick

I will try this file on my laptop tonight and see what happens. So far it seems that the video card may be the problem. I wanted to hear something else. Rick

I tried 2D and 3D. Wont select. Video card: Nvidia Quadro K620. Roger Can you tell me more about you system. Video card Thanks for the ideas Rick

Yes. I have tried many different places such as in a blank space, end point or center point. After I do that no geometry is selected and I am asked to "select contour chain 1". Rick

Hi I have had this problem in the past but I would just bull my way through but I am seeing more of this type of work and I would like to know a solution. The geometry I am trying to use are circles that were created as edge curves on a solid model. I want to window select these to cut them using a contour but nothing gets selected. I can window select for delete, change level, change color, transform but not contour. The solid model was imported as a STEP file. I do not know what software was used to created the solid model but because of the nature of the company it is one of the big players. I am using X9 for this but have the same problem in 2017. I have tried this on another system with the same results. I have tried Combine Views and the circles got moved, but still won't select. To add to my confusion, I created a similar part in Alibre, exported a STEP file, imported that into Mastercam and was able to window select the contours. I imported the original STEP file into Alibre, saved it as an Alibre file, exported a STEP file and Imported that into Mastercam and now I can not window select the contours. I have completed the part by creating circles in Mastercam using the geometry in question as a template so I don't need a way to do the job, but I would like to know why I can't window select. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Rick WINDOW CONTOUR TEST.mcx-9

I give up. I had tried the things that were suggested, but none worked. Jay suggested that I download the CIMCO editor for a trial to see if there were maybe something wrong with my computer. I did that before starting the removal and reinstall of Mastercam and it seems as if all function work including the tool path statistics. I then uninstalled Mastercam, deleted all folders in programs, programs (x86), My documents, public documents, etc., cleaned anything in the registry file that I could find related to CIMCO , CNC software. Rebooted. Installed Mastercam X6 64 bit first release. Started Mastercam, started clean. Configure start/exit for the CIMCO editor. Tried to edit a program and tool path statistics still not working. Checked the editor settings and they are the same as before, not the defaults. Somewhere there if a file that the editor uses for the settings that I can't find. I thought that maybe the install disk for X6 may be bad. Installed X5 32 bit. Tried the editor in X5. Same thing. And again the settings where not the defaults. Started X6 and selected the editor in X5 at the default editor. Same thing. Thanks to all who offered ideas. Rick

Daniel That is what I will try first this weekend, but in that I have copied over complete folders from a system that was working I have my doubts. Because the DNC settings didn't copy over it seems to me that there is something else somewhere that is being missed. Maybe in the registry. Speaking of the registry, in one of Jay's early posts, he showed the registry tree having a branch off the CNC software folder for editors. My system doesn't have that on my desktop or laptop. Jay I have looked at the full version of CIMCO edit and may go that route but it really is more than I need and I really want to solve this problem. I understand that being a Mastercam user it would be discounted. Could you PM me the details? Thanks all Rick

I plan to do the reinstall this weekend but before I do I have another question. I have a desktop and laptop setup. It is the desktop that I am having the tool path statistics problem with. As mentioned in my first post I copied to the desktop from the laptop the CIMCO edit 5 folder and all of the subfolders over to the desktop. On the laptop I have 2 machines set up for DNC and on the desktop I am setup for only 1 machine . After doing this CIMCO edit starts up on the desktop fine, everything works except for tool path statistics but I have only 1 machine setup for DNC. Somewhere there is some more file or files associated to CIMCO edit that I am not transferring. Any ideas? Thank you Rick

I am only running X6 so I will delete the CNC software folders in the registry if the registry cleaner Jim recommended doesn't do it for me. I have relatives visiting next week so this will give me a good reason to be unavailable. Again thanks to Jay and Jim and I will report back the results. Rick