I have been wondering how different shops certify their QA people. I there a university or college program that spits out certified QA people? Does the company have an internal program to train and self certify it's people? It seems to me if there are programs to train machinists to make parts there should be a program to train the a$$ that is going to fail and scrap a bunch of parts. I question this because I have never seen document to say some one is certified and wonder it such a thing exists.

Dan, Don't give up hope.

Hi Randy, I'm sorry I can't help in the job hunting but I can wish you luck in your new adventure. I hope you find work soon. All the best.

I have a file called 2643.Z2G on the FTP site under the MCX2_file folder. I have some questions regarding how you set up the machine definition manager's "lathe left spindle C axis options. The machine coordinate is set to A why would it not be C? It posts correctly but I wonder why this is set to A. Under fixed/continuous positioning options / axis supports continuous positioning I had the "signed continuous" checked but I didn't like having numbers wrap up beyond 360 degrees. I changed it to "shortest direction" and code came out more to my liking. I also tried "signed direction" but got an error saying "signed axis positioning move over 360 degrees" yet still it posted. Can some one please explain the differences in these settings, which ones you use and why and is this the correct place to make changes so the code doesn't wind up past 360. The uploaded file has the holes picked in a continuous CCW direction now so the positioning numbers are reasonable when winding up but when I was given this to work on the code was winding up the chuck to around C2600.00 or so and there was a lot of time wasted just spinning the part. Hopefully I have not made this post too confusing. Thanks

I don't even try the whole part off and transfer to sub thing any more. Got too frustrated over the years.

I find that leaves too sharp a transition that's why I go with a 45 deg angle. In 25+ years I have never had a problem with that.

I usually use 45 deg as stated above and cut it so the chamfer goes .02 or so larger than the major dia on an internal and the same amount smaller on an external. Basically go enough so that there is no sharp burr after the threads are cut.

quote: Nadeem thanks for the email this morning. Steve, It didn't take him too long to learn that lesson.

I have not used Ugima's 304 but I have used their 316 a lot. It is fantastic to machine compared to regular 316. It's very consistent throughout the material so you can cut with higher speeds and feeds without worries of hard spots. Just so you know Carpenter carries a US made product called Project 70. It is just as good and is domestically made. Buy Canadian, oops, I mean buy American. If you use these products you will be very happy you did. quote: greatly enhanced machinability characteristics In my experience of 30 + years machining, this is not an understatement.

I hope In-House will be rolling it out here around the same time as well. In the past we have not gotten the release at the same time as our American brothers (and sisters) and have had to sit here watching everyone else get stumped and pleased by new and old features. How about it CNC. Same release dates????

It might be a Canadian thing. Or I heard it from a European machinist somewhere in the past. Good luck with the job.

The sandvik u-drill is the better way to go but if you don't have one you will need to buy one. We use them a lot here. Slot drill will work too and more likely than not you already have one. Just contact your sandvik dealer. I always feed to a stop. Just my old school way but it has never let me down. Also if it ends up being a sleeve and the bottom is not there after parting off you don't need to waste time facing down to center. Edit: a slot drill is just a center cutting two flute end mill.

I would peck with a 3/4" slot drill at X0 and then step up in X (be sure to set the cutting edge on center) still pecking to break the chips. Leave about .015 on the I.D. and .005 of the face then bore the I.D. to size and face down to center to clean the bottom oh the hole. Face past center by two times the radius of your insert so you don't leave a xxxx. You could also rough bore the hole after the first slot mill plunge. You will have less chip issues this way. This is only one way but it works for me.

Rob, What material and is this on the spindle centerline or oriented somewhere else?

Nice looking tool. I have made my own tools using grooving inserts in the past that have worked well for us. Broaching up to a shoulder can give you troubles with the chips. I suggest a small depth of cut so the chip is not too big. I programmed it using the canned groove cycle G74.

Why not just draw a new 3d globe and project the logo onto it? Wouldn't that work?

You could also have Mastercam program it long hand with alternating flank wear. Go to the "thread cut parameters" page, click in the box for "nc code format" and set it to "alternating". When posting out it will be longhand and alternating.

quote: I have flats to put on a part and made the programs and it looks good, but when it gets in the machine it's very different. The tool is in the air most of the time, and then it gives me an overtravel alarm. Do you have to probe the edge of the endmill for live tooling? Greg, contact in-house and get the latest mplmaster.pst from them. With this post you no longer have to start and end at C0. It allows you to use lead in and out with very few problems. Before this post (thanks Brett) you had to draw your lead in and outs. I do try to start my cutting passes somewhere close to C0 and not on the opposite side of the part. This just seems to work better. You do not probe the edge of the endmill you set the geometry offset to the center line and the tip of the tool. In mastercam I set the offset to "wear" and in the control I set the geometry "R" and "T" values to "0". This is important. You need to be careful to not have the center of the cutter pass over or too near to the center of the part. Doing so will force the chuck to rotate too fast as it tries and keep up with the programmed feed rate. If you are forced to get close to the center you can use the toolpath editor to slow the feedrate down. Good luck.

I have never seen a round bar in verify. Gcode, quote: X4 Loose lips sink ships. But thanks.

The reason R can give you errors is that there is often more than one way to get from point A to point B. Having code such as X* Y* R.5 tells the machine to move to a position by moving on .5 rad. It does not know which .5 rad path to take. Using I J K tells the machine exactly where to go because it knows where the starting point is and the I J K describe the distance from the start point to the center point of the arc. There can be only one solution to the path when using I and J.

Kennametal, Seco and Sandvik are moat of what we use. I have yet to be asked to find cheaper inserts so I am not help but I WILL keep an eye on this thread for future reference.

They are just to the left of the "translate this blog" section. If you can't see them maybe try a different browser.

Very nice. It would be great to see some Stock transfer,flip and advance when someone has the time. Thanks.

I agree with Chris. Putting side pressure on a face grooving insert can cause it to come out of the holder. Straight on and bi-directional with pecking is what I would do.

Viper1, You can set your work offset by going to the toolpath parameter page, click Planes, check the box beside work offset and by putting a 1,2,3,4 etc. you can set the offset to use. 0 is G54, 1 is G55 and so on.