I'm with Keith, use Hss, run it at about 900-1000rpm with 0.9ipm & 0.02" peck, works for me all the time never broke a drill yet.

Is there a way to peck tap in Mastercam, i.e. Tap the hole down say 0.1" then reverse say 0.05" back up then go back down another 0.1" until it reaches the depth you want. Can I choose in the drill toolpath or do I have to setup my own config. Thanks

I know that you can use manual/center for picking up drill holes in 2d using the auto cursor, but is there a method that allows you to just predd on the arc and it automatically picks the center other than constantly hitting the manual/center command, thanks.

Peter, what is the benefit of using contour and shallow as opposed to parallel, I found that using contour that it would sometimes undercyt if the angle it was cutting on was say aroung 5 deg. That was why I stopped using it.

Until recently when roughing out (dies) I always ran a parallel finish leaving 0.008 of stock right before my finish program to remove excess stock left by the surface pocket program. I have been told that the detect flats option can be used for this, anyone know if its any good or not?

Does anyone work or know of Work NC. I start a new job in a few weeks and they only use work NC, what is the general consensus on it, thanks.

Does anyone know why sometimes a rough contour cutterpath takes more material off than it should. I have noticed recently that on flat pieces of material that have and incline or decline to them that when the rough contour path goes over them it takes off more material on angled surfaces. Is there any reason for this, I generally leave between 0.006 - 0.01" of stock to clean up on a finish pass, It will clean up everywhere that the rough contour cut before except for angled surfaces, it is almost like it undercuts on angles. When it is verified it shows it as perfect, any ideas.

Has anyone everhad a problem where you know that a leftover pass should machine in an area yet it won't. I am machining a progressive die, where the parts (surfaces) are mirrored yet the leftover pass will only clean up on one side of the die. I have checked my drive surfaces, and boundary boxes (these are mirrored too). Any ideas?

The tool shop where I work has recently purchased a CNC bridgeport with a Anilam 5000 controller. Does anyone know what post processor is required to post files from mastercam as I can not find anything in the paperwork.

Thanks guys, the machines running again just now, but I'll try these suggestions for sure.

Has anyone ever had any problems with Servo Amplifier faults on Fadal VMC's. Every week or so our Fadal goes down with either a Y-axis fault or a motor spindle error. The Technician comes in messes around byt switching it on and off and within a few hours its up again for another week or so. Anyone had similar problems?

Is anybody having problems with the new maintenance release. I installed it this morning and since the netHasp is having problems, anyone having similar problems.

Does anyone know how to solve chaining problems. Whether I try to translate of create a flat surface the lines I have won't chain, I have used plane mask, redrawn the lines on top then deleted the old ones, but to still no ovail. I know that the touch as I have also extended then trimmed them but it still won't chain. any ideas please!!

I posted a topic yesterday about merging surfaces once they have been machined in verify. I tried it with the STL, but it took forever to load the STL file. Is there a quicker way to merge two machined surfaces to check for clearance.