Chris,

We have that problem all the time if using incremental drilling depths, which is why we don't use them anymore. It must be a post tweak because verify AND backplot miss it.

Bruce

Gunther,

Everything works great. I have 2 questions though.

Why do I get a litle box character in the manual output wherever there is an and of line or carriage return? Its no drama, I'm just curious.

Would it be possible to have the option of selecting the name of the excel template that it outputs to?

Many thanks

Bruce

Thanks for all of the responses. All that have shown an interest are more than capable of doing this work.

A vice President of the company interested will be visiting here next month. I would then probably have a more detailed idea of how they would like to see the finished article.

Since I now have a bit more time, and I have sorted out some other issues its it now time for some more "bait"

Whoever does this work must also handle any paperwork necessary for the manufacture of firearms.

Bruce

I might just be a surface area contact issue. It would be easier to wind a thread into a nogo if there was only 20% of the part in contact.

I would try this if I had a small torque wrench in in/pds or n/m. Measur the torque it takes to stop the thread in the nogo before milling. Measure it after and see if the torque has decreased by as mach as the relative surface area lost.

Think of it like a cluch in a car. small cluch + big load = slip.

HTH

Bruce

I didn't explain myself very well. Product already works. I just don't have time to make another one with some small modifications. If all goes well the whole project should take no more than 2 weeks to organise.

I am interested in getting quotes for this job more than I am in finding a partner at the moment. I just can't send this to some of the bigger manufacturers as there are a few intelectual property issues. Small jobbing shop would be the most uncomplicated way to make this happen. I get the impression that a lot of manufacturing happens in small operations in the US so I thought I would see what sort of response I got from these shops first.

There are more than a couple of reasons this needs to be done over there. I'll see what sort of response I get. I might need to post some more "bait".

Bruce

I have designed a product that I am hoping to license to a US company. I have made the first prototype and now need to make some changes and make another one. I could continue to scrape around here for machine hours or even contract it to someone locally, but the problem is distance and time. The people who need to see the product are in the US. Who knows how many times small changes would be needed before it is spot on?

Ideally I would like a small company interested in a prototype development project. Someone self-employed with his or her own machine shop would be ideal. The project would require some manual manufacturing skills also. They would need to be willing to take responsibility for sourcing all of the items necessary to finish the assembly. This may or may not include recommending design changes. Above all I need someone who will pursue the project as if it was his or her own.

I cannot give any details unfortunately, but I am sure that once any interested party has seen it that they will jump at the chance to be involved.

Other requirements.

1. Mastercam (Obviously)

2. Solidworks 2005 (preferable)

3. Must be willing to sign a comprehensive Non disclosure agreement.

4. Lathe

5. Mill with at least a manual 4th axis/ indexer.

I have not yet decided wether or not to ask for a quote for this work, or to offer a partnership agreement. I am open to negotiation on this subject.

If you are interested think about the implications for a couple of days and then e-mail me at my home address [email protected] with a resume of your capabilities. If anyone knows of someone they think might be interested, please pass this on to them.

Thanks all.

Bruce

[ 04-13-2005, 09:59 PM: Message edited by: BC10146 ]

Works like a dream.

Thanks Gunther. I'll load that when I get to work tomorrow.

James. What I am actually doing is having all the instructions for a job in the mastercam file. I have the ncdatasheet assigned to the F12 key. My goal is that all I need to do when sending a job out into the workshop that I select the correct WCS and the ops that go with it, press F12 an voila!

We have an issue at the moment where we have hundreds of setup sheets on the floor that are not in any way traceable back to the master data for that job. Some of these sheets have been manually added to by operators and often the operators have added their own bits and pieces without informing programming. Many of these are aerospace and defence jobs. The auditors as well as the big companies and governments that we deal with all insist on traceability of information.

Bruce

Thank you Gunther.

I have tried the output from manual entry and it shuts down mcam if I have more than 200 characters of text. Is this an excel issue?

Bruce

We use deckels for 5 axis. Not much simultaneous though. It is just another learning curve I guess.

Most problems we have had with simultaneous stem from geomety issues rather than the software itself.

Bruce

Roger,

File is on ftp. trial3.txt under tool and material libraries folder.

Bruce

Yes. You may need to reselesct some geometry though.

Bruce

Thanks Roger, I'll do that when I get back to work tommorow.

Rekd, depends on who you ask.

Bruce

Still having no luck. I am sure something like this was discussed recently. Does anyone remember a similar topic in the not so distant past. I tried serching but came up with nothing.

Bruce

Your dealer may be right. Many fanuc components are proprietary and they charge accordingly.

Bruce

Everyone here on this forum has seen a job that could have been designed/marketed/made better. Why not use your knowledge to design a new product or improve an old one? Why must we always put all of our energy into making money for someone else? I am currently in the process of patenting a couple of things and have a couple of manufacturing companies sniffing around already. Put some thought into it and it will cost you less than setting up your own shop, but the financial returns on a licensing deal can be HUGE.

Bruce

Mastercam demo???

I think standard holders are ok. With that machine you have the option of buying holders that are spec'd for flange contact also.

HTH

Bruce

Good evening everybody,

I know that this is a bit of a loaded question, but if you had to pick just one brand of tipped tool that would cover all turning, drilling and milling apps, which would it be.

I understand that no one company will have the best tool for every job. I am curious to know what others think, as we are looking to standardise the united nations that has become our tool store. The amount of time we spend on jobs due to not having the same tool as the previous batch as well as the inventory hassles adds up to $$$$$. Even if we lose a little time on some jobs due to tool selection I estimate we will recover about a quarter of our down time and inventory costs.

I am thinking Iscar. Even though it is not my personal favourite I reckon it will cover most of what we do nicely. We are concentrating on defense and aerospace work, but also do a lot of electronics bodies and automotive castings.

Bruce

Internal pocket? or surface rough pocket?

Bruce

I think that alarm is caused by having too many z moves too close together. i.e small pecks while drilling. The encoder/driver must get dizzy

Being a metric user I don't know what settings are at play in your example.

Bruce

There is a line space between lines 9 and 1 but it didn't show when I pasted it. Is this a clue?

Ok. I have removed the tabs by importing into word and replacing tabs with spaces. The text file that I get as a result looks good, but creates an empty library if I try and create library from text. Here it is:

 # TOOL LIBRARY FORMAT - Mon Apr 4 19:24:15 2005     

Does anyone see anything wrong with this????????

Bruce

Good evening all,

I have no trouble reading a tool library into excell, but how do I go about saving it back to its original spacing format?

This is related to this topic

tool library

Thanks

Bruce