1 hour ago, JParis said:

Your reseller can get it to you

Ah, I'll have to contact them in the event that the regular MC2017 installer doesn't give me a working Code Expert.

Is there any way we could receive the download for the HLE edition through EApprentice Colin? If not does anyone know where to get one? I put it on my PC quite a while ago and deleted the install file.

Does anyone know if CodeExpert works with the HLE edition of Mastercam? Whenever I try to open CodeExpert I receive an error but the HLE still opens up fine.

So the drop down menu for selecting machine definitions is gone, well at least from the normal "Mill" icon in the "Machine" tab on the ribbon. Clicking the icon doesn't drop down any of the list options, in fact the icon doesn't have the downward arrow. If I add that same icon to the quick access toolbar it has a drop down menu. This is only effecting one of our work stations and I'm not sure who changed what that lead to this. I'll admit it was probably me. Anyone seen an issue like this?

Took the easy way out and just set sg95 to "". Blocking the "pbld, n$, sgfeed, e$" line just moved the G95 to the end of the tapping cycle so that rabbit hole is going to go even deeper and setting sg95 to "" works fine. Thanks for the guidance guys!

Still wanting to use the pitch for tapping, just don't need the G95. Setting use_pitch = 0 won't fix the issue since the machine automatically puts itself into feed per rev with its G93 for rigid tapping anyways. For some reason that spits out a G94 to cancel rigid tapping immediately followed by a G93 to put it back into rigid tapping. Definitely seems tied to use_pitch though since it didn't output a G95.

Edit: You were quicker then me C^Millman but I'll start down that bread crumb trail.

Tried that early today. There is an sg95 format defined in the post but it isn't used anywhere as far as I can tell. MPmaster uses mi6$ for unit per rev but I'm not using that misc interger yet it still spits out a G95.

It's the latest MPMaster.

I'll take a look in pmisc$.

Edit: pmisc2$ only has pdrill$ in it.

Realized I wasn't signed in. Today might just be one of those days.

I was going to look into setting up each probe cycle in custom drill cycles down the line when I had more free time but I was just looking for something quick and dirty. My goal is to get my shops posts to the point that you don't have to do any hand editing to the program but in the mean time posting out just the template as an operation would be fine. Guess we could just do the whole copy/paste but then the operation sequences won't be in order without even more massaging of the program. 

So I'm trying to get a template of our probe cycle to spit out as a tool operation. I'm trying to use manual entry but it connects the template file as part of the next operation.

Example:

N1 ( RENISHAW PROBE )
M191/*PROBE*/
G53Z0M58
T30M6
(READY)T1
M60
/2 G54 J0
/3 G55 J0
M58
M39
S700M3
G4 P1000
M38
M59
G31G90X0Y0F#505
M81
G31G43Z.5H30
M81
( -Z- )
G310 X Y Z0 R.5 B.1 C.1 T.1 W F E D
( -X- )
G311 X Y U Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 W F E D
( -Y- )
G311 X Y V Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 W F E D
( 4 WAY )
G314 X Y I J U V Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 B.1 C.1 T.1 W F D E
( HOLE )
G315 X Y I Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 B.1 C.1 T.1 K W F D E H
(CENTER -X- )
G311 X Y U Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 E105
G311 X Y U Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 E106
#107=[#105+#106]/2
G300 X#107
(CENTER -Y- )
G311 X Y V Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 E105
G311 X Y V Z-[#508/2+.1] R.5 C.1 T.1 E106
#107=[#105+#106]/2
G300 Y#107
(RECALL OFFSET)
G#4012 J#4080
M58
G53 Z0.
M1
( SPOTTING .125 HOLE )
(MIN Z DEPTH = -.063")
M191/* N1 - 1/4 SPOTDRILL */
G53 Z0.
T12 M6 (1/4 SPOTDRILL)
(READY) T13
M60
/2 G54 J25
/3 G55 J25
G0 G17 G90 X.6475 Y.375 S1200 M3
G43 H12 Z.1 M8
G0 Z.1
G94
G99 G81 Z-.063 R.1 F1.5
G80 M9
M5
G53 Z0.
M1

After the first M1 I am wanting to break up the two sequences and have "N2 (SPOTTING .125 HOLES)" 

Am I going about this the wrong way? Will I even be able to get manual entries to have their own sequence numbers or should I be looking down a different path? 

Another quick question for you guys. How do you pad comment lines so that they line up in a certain way? Not sure what the term is to actually search for because I'm not getting any real hits for it when search on here.

I'm wanting my tool list to look like this:

(TOOL LIST:)
(T1 - 2"  FACE MILL          		D2.0000"  - OAL:2." )
(T2 - 3/4 UNDERCUT BULL ENDMILL		D0.7500"  - R.0300"  - OAL:3.825" )
(T3 - 3/16 BULL ENDMILL      		D0.1875"  - R.0100"  - OAL:1.2" )
(T4 - 1/4 SPOTDRILL          		D0.2500"  - OAL:1.125" )
(T5 - NO. 25 DRILL           		D0.1495"  - OAL:3." )
(T6 - NO. 6-32 STI CUT TAPRH 		D0.1800"  - OAL:1.35" )
(T7 - NO. 31 DRILL           		D0.1200"  - OAL:3." )
(T8 - NO. 4-40 STI CUT TAPRH 		D0.1450"  - OAL:1.2" )
(T9 - 1/4 BULL ENDMILL       		D0.2500"  - R.0300"  - OAL:1." )
(T10 - 1/8 BULL ENDMILL       		D0.1250"  - R.0100"  - OAL:.5" )
(T11 - 1/4 BALL ENDMILL       		D0.2500"  - R.1250"  - OAL:1." )
(T12 - 1/16 BALL .312 LOC ENDMILL	D0.0625"  - R.0313"  - OAL:.4" )
(T13 - 1/8 CORNER ROUNDER     		D0.0400"  - R.0100"  - OAL:.75" )

Instead of this:

(TOOL LIST:)
(T1 - 2"  FACE MILL          D2.0000"  - OAL:2." )
(T2 - 3/4 UNDERCUT BULL ENDMILLD0.7500"  - R.0300"  - OAL:3.825" )
(T3 - 3/16 BULL ENDMILL      D0.1875"  - R.0100"  - OAL:1.2" )
(T4 - 1/4 SPOTDRILL          D0.2500"  - OAL:1.125" )
(T5 - NO. 25 DRILL           D0.1495"  - OAL:3." )
(T6 - NO. 6-32 STI CUT TAPRH D0.1800"  - OAL:1.35" )
(T7 - NO. 31 DRILL           D0.1200"  - OAL:3." )
(T8 - NO. 4-40 STI CUT TAPRH D0.1450"  - OAL:1.2" )
(T9 - 1/4 BULL ENDMILL       D0.2500"  - R.0300"  - OAL:1." )
(T10 - 1/8 BULL ENDMILL       D0.1250"  - R.0100"  - OAL:.5" )
(T11 - 1/4 BALL ENDMILL       D0.2500"  - R.1250"  - OAL:1." )
(T12 - 1/16 BALL .312 LOC ENDMILLD0.0625"  - R.0313"  - OAL:.5" )
(T13 - 1/8 CORNER ROUNDER     D0.0400"  - R.0100"  - OAL:.75" )

And is there a way to get rid of the trailing zeros? Not sure why OAL doesn't have them but tool diameter and corner radius do.

Just got around to reading this. I'll be honest, a good bit of it went over my head but I'll keep rereading it from time to time and I'm sure it will start to make sense. Thank you Colin for the briefing on the basics of buffers!

Decided to just go with using the tool projection's overall length. The other guys will just have to deal with properly setting up their tools in MC when doing a program or with generic 3" stick outs in the tool list. I think what I wanted to do with "min_depth" would be possible but would require way more to do with buffers when I am capable of doing at the moment.

So in case anyone was wondering I'll share what I ended up going with in case someone down the line has a question similar to mine. This was all pretty much already included in the MPmaster post.

Using the variable "oa_len" to grab the overall length from the tool's geometry, this is what my tool table looks like.

ptooltable # Write tool table, scans entire file, null tools are negative
           tnote = t$
           toffnote = tloffno$
           tlngnote = tlngno$
           spaces$=0
           if t$ >= zero,
             [
             if tcr$>0, scomm_str, *t$, ptspace, " - ", plistcomm, " - ", *tldia$, punit, pdiamspc, " - ", *tcr$,  punit, " - OAL: ", oa_len, punit, scomm_end, e$ # modified by ck
			 if tcr$=0, scomm_str, *t$, ptspace, " - ", plistcomm, " - ", *tldia$, punit, pdiamspc, " - OAL: ", oa_len, punit, scomm_end, e$ # modified by ck
		   space$=sav_spc

in "pwrttparam$" you will need this line. This allows "oa_len" to grab its value from tool's geometry.

if prmcode$ = 20007, pilot_dia = rpar(sparameter$,11)

The end result looks like this.

(T1   - 1/2 FLAT ENDMILL     - D0.5000" - OAL: .6")
(T3   - 1/4 SPOTDRILL        - D0.2500" - OAL: .5")
(T4   - 5/64 DRILL           - D0.0781" - OAL: 1.1")
(T5   - NO. 2-56 FORM TAPRH  - D0.0860" - OAL: .8")

Thanks guys for help, if you have any advice or suggestions on this topic still I'd love to hear it.

Colin I can't seem to find the list of parameter numbers in the "What's New in Mastercam 2017" but my reseller gave me the parameter reference for what looks to be X2. I am sure that they have changed or added some stuff to that list in the last decade. 20007,3 would be holder parameters overall length though. Tool projection probably won't work for me because we don't usually edit the tool in MC, we just use the default tool library for the most part. I know it would probably be better if we did edit the tools to reflect what will actually be set up but I work in a small job shop and I get the feeling the other guys won't do the extra steps in writing programs even if I set up the post to show the tool projection's over all length.

I know that MPmaster, which is the post I'm modifying, uses "min_depth" for the min z when posting tool comments.  Problem is when I add "min_depth" to ptooltable I just get 0 as an output. If I add "preadbuf5" before "min_depth" I actually get some numbers but they aren't the right ones. Feel like I'm making this more complicated then it needs to be. 

Looking to add tool min stick out lengths to the tool table to speed up setups and lessen the chances of things crashing. I looked around to see if anyone had posted this before but the only I found was this post.  Maybe I am searching for the wrong terms.

The bit of code posted by K2csq7 didn't work for me and I'm not sure if its the best way to get what I'm wanting anyways. Is there a way to lowest  z min depth to post out for each tool in the tool table?

my ptooltable currently looks like this 

ptooltable # Write tool table, scans entire file, null tools are negative
           tnote = t$
           toffnote = tloffno$
           tlngnote = tlngno$
           spaces$=0
           if t$ >= zero,
             [
             if tcr$>0, scomm_str, *t$, ptspace, " - ", plistcomm, " - ", *tldia$, punit, pdiamspc, " - ", *tcr$,  punit, " - ", "STICKOUT - ", *min_depth, punit, scomm_end, e$
			 if tcr$=0, scomm_str, *t$, ptspace, " - ", plistcomm, " - ", *tldia$, punit, pdiamspc, " - ", "STICKOUT - ", *min_depth, punit, scomm_end, e$
			 ]
           spaces$=sav_spc

but what I get as an output is this:

(T1   - 1/2 FLAT ENDMILL     - D0.5000" - STICKOUT - Z0.")
(T3   - 1/4 SPOTDRILL        - D0.2500" - STICKOUT - Z0.")
(T4   - 5/64 DRILL           - D0.0781" - STICKOUT - Z0.")
(T5   - NO. 2-56 FORM TAPRH  - D0.0860" - STICKOUT - Z0.")

Obviously I'm missing something. Do I need a buffer to make this work?

That worked beautifully Colin. Thanks for the guidance. I still have a long way to go on this post but I have faith it'll get there eventually. Any chances of holding that beginner course sooner?!? 

Sorry for the late reply guys.

The new one that I am modifying looks like this at the moment.

N6(TAPPING 2-56 HOLES)
(MIN - Z-.25)
T5 M6 (NO. 2-56 FORM TAPRH)
( READY ) T1
/2 G54 J3
/3 G55 J3
G0 G17 G90 X-.75 Y.5
G43 H5 Z.1
G95
M29 S1110
G99 G84 Z-.25 R.1 F.0179
Y-.5
X.75
Y.5
G80
M5
G91 G28 Z0.
M1

I'm trying to add the M0 just before it starts tapping.

N6(TAPPING 2-56 HOLES)
(MIN - Z-.25)
T5 M6 (NO. 2-56 FORM TAPRH)
( READY ) T1
/2 G54 J3
/3 G55 J3
G0 G17 G90 X-.75 Y.5
G43 H5 Z.1
M0 (LUBE TAP)
G95
M29 S1110
G99 G84 Z-.25 R.1 F.0179
Y-.5
X.75
Y.5
G80
M5
G91 G28 Z0.
M1

I was trying to use the "subsequent peck" dialog box. I am assuming I still can but would just need a statement that uses "$peck2" as the variable? Not to sure how to get the post to put it on the line after the height offset is called though. Colin I'll definitely be taking your course in June. 

Hi guys,

Been trying to modify an MPmaster post slowly the last few days. One thing I want to do is have an option in the tap cycle for an M0 to appear before the tap starts tapping.  I got the dialog box to show the dialog I want but am not sure how to go about changing the tap cycle to spit out the M0 if there is anything other then zero in the dialong box. Looking at ptap$ I'm at a lost on how to implement an if statement because I don't know how the dialog boxes are called upon. Am I going about this the wrong way to begin with? Should I be using a custom drill parameter instead of the dialog boxes?

Glad to hear that there are plans for another course this year! Will be looking forward to it.

Just now, jlw™ said:

Colin recorded it but if I understand he has not edited the videos yet.

 

Maybe you could offer some help there.

 

Colin is top notch, I assure that.

Have a buddy that was pretty big into doing Youtube videos for a while so he could probably help me with editing those sessions. I reach out to Colin on here. Thanks for the help man, very much appreciated. Such a helpful community here. 

13 minutes ago, jlw™ said:

There is a class that Colin did some where on here and made videos FOR FREE.  Look it up.

I saw that he did some back in Dec for free. Really kicking myself for missing that! Thought he had good reasoning for it being free as well with the whole charitable expectations in return for the course. Do you know if anyone recorded the sessions? I know he was cool if people did, even giving links to free video capture softwares.

Edit: Just read further down in that thread. I guess I just need to get in touch with Colin for videos of the sessions?

Hi everyone,

I've recently become very interested in upgrading my shops posts after seeing the power and efficiency that can be gained by having a great post. Our current posts are from 2002 and were tinkered with by people long gone since then. I have very little experience with posts and coding in general but after reading the MP documentation for the last few weeks in my spare time I'm starting to wrap my head around it. Does anyone know of any good courses that I could take though? I've noticed the Eapprentice no long has Mastercam related courses, at least at the moment, but I've already learned a good bit just from Colin's posts on this forum.

No, you're in the right spot. Open an empty file, do the same process but save the control def and the machine def again then close that session.

Figured it out. I was only making that change to the local copy of the control definition. Under the master control definition in the feed tab there is an option for adjusting the feedrate of arc moves. Thanks for the help man! 

As far as i know this can only be done in the property tab under the machine def in the file.

Maybe it's the long day that's getting to me but do you mean the Tools Settings tab in the Machine Group Properties menu? Unchecking the adjust feed box does turn it off for the session if you do it here but whenever I start a new session the box is checked again. I might be looking in the wrong area. I am on 2017 if that makes any difference.