I wouldn't need to. This has been a long time coming.

Why is it such a big secret as to what was fixed? Everyone knows Mastercam is riddled with bugs, this is no secret. At least by posting a list of bug fixes, it would give people who have not "upgraded" a glimmer of hope that someone at CNC Software actually gave a crap about the end user.

I would personally like to punch the person in the face who set-up the default values in Mastercam. Just unbelievable.

What freakin' language is this ? I haven't even started drinking yet.

If you can click a checkbox and press enter, then you will have success. That is all it takes to update your current posts.

Post migration is a no brainer. You would not have any difficulty upgrading to X6.

For general purpose turning, you would want to get an 80 degree diamond style tool. I prefer the trigon style toolholders where you get 6 corners per insert. You would also want to get a 55 degree tool and possibly a 35 degree. A part-off tool is generally a common tool. OD grooving tool where you can use grooving inserts as well as threading inserts. Boring bars are dependant on the type of work you do. For turning tools, my preference is Kennametal, Sandvik, and Seco, but there are tons of great choices out there. Carmen

The leftover toolpath is not designed to be used with bullnose tools. You would be much better off using the HST restmill toolpath. If you upgraded to X6, you would have even more options to choose from. Carmen

Core mill is used in instances where you have a boss ( core ) protruding from the part and the toolpath works from outside to inside. As mentioned above, area mill works from inside to outside ( pocket/ cavity ) Carmen

ProE and Mastercam work well together as long as the part model was completely modeled with ProE from scratch. If the engineer is using imported data ( especially from the automotive industry ) and then building components from the data, or creating assemblies, problems can certainly arise. I have worked with ProE files in Mastercam for the last 8 years using the ProE/Mastercam file converter. 99% of the time it works well. The other 1% we had to convert the file to STEP in the engineering department and then import that into Mastercam. This anomaly could almost always be tracked back to customer data that was created in UG/CATIA or was modeled with a very open tolerance, and our engineering department tried to "tighten things up". I would also run the utility "check model / check surfaces" to see if there are any "bad" surfaces or corrupt model. Carmen

The image that John posted above is exactly what I was refering to for your settings. I use surfaces exclusively without issues. The only thing that comes to mind about your slow calculation time is that you might have the "add cuts" function enabled. If so, generation time is excruciatingly slow. For roughing toolpaths I use .001 tolerance and all my finishing toolpaths are set to .0002

If you have enabled the advanced filtering function, you can turn off the arc filtering and then enable the function that will only output linear code. You also have the option to specify the maximum length of any linear move. I generate all my finishing high-speed toolpaths at .0002 without any problems. I'm not sure how many surfaces or complex your geometry is, but 45 minutes for calculations time seems quite high. Again, who knows how powerful your computer is too. When I encounter the message "Unable to find valid machining zone", it is usually caused when I copy and paste a high-speed toolpath and change the toolpath type. The best solution I have found is just to create a new toolpath. The other instance where I have seen this is when you ask Mastercam to calculate something that is not possible. Carmen

Surface/Finish/Contour Carmen

In the tool data for that particular tool, you must be defining the tool with a taper shank. Make the shank straight and you should be good to go.

What do you mean by "doesn't like it"? I have used helix arcs with G5 P10000 on a Fanuc control for years and the machine just eats the code. Carmen

I have machined many undercuts in X6 with a lolipop endmill using surface/finish/contour. Carmen

Erowa and System 3R are the most common fixturing systems out there. More so the 3R. Another high end brand is Hirschman http://www.edm-products.com/9000.htm No matter which system you use, it is VERY spendy. Carmen

Gee, I thought I was the only one that had a pet-peeve about the jumping red arrow. It never worked right from the introduction of the "X" product.

AGIE / Charmilles make a great line-up of sinkers. I have used them for roughly 15 years and had great accuracy and reliability. http://www.gfac.com/gfac/products/products-details.html?tx_agieproductdb_pi_navigation%5Bmodel%5D=productgroup&tx_agieproductdb_pi_navigation%5Brecord%5D=2&cHash=32a09887da23739f976900b3841a398b Carmen

The simple fix for this is to uncheck the "rapid" and use a high feedfate which will produce a linear move rather than a dogleg. On our junk Haas mills, I use 300 ipm for the "rapid" feedrate. This way, whatever you see in backplot/verify, is what you will get at the machine with no surprises. Carmen

On a quadrant ( 90 degree arc ), you should be able to hold .0001 The problem arises on full circles. As I mentioned earlier, the issue I have seen on the Makino's is reversal spikes, meaning, the arc has a little bump ( high point ) at 0,90,180,270 degrees where the servo motor changes direction. All Makino's come with a ball bar test report in the rear cabinet that shows the test from the factory.

Even if you have the Moire scales on that V56i, holding .0001 for circularity accuracy is going to be very difficult. Check the report that came wth your machine from the ball-bar test and I will bet that you will not see accuracy of .0001 Makinos typically have reversal spikes at the high points of the axis which will cause slight irregularities. For the ultimate accuracy use G5 P10000 M252 . Whether you use arc commands or linear code, your Makino will give you the same result. The reason Makino recommends short linear code is to take away the "thinking" that the control must do to calculate arc centres. On 3D surface models, this will produce great results at high feedrates. On 2D machining, it will have no effect at all. I have 8 years experience using V56 and S56 Makino's. Carmen

1/8" x 3.5" ....... I'd just like to see the tool. EDM is your friend here. Carmen

The I/O channel should not make any difference in this case. On our Makino V56's, there is a M198 sub-folder above the DNC Schedule list. I used to dump my subprograms into this folder via our FTP software. My main program was in the control memory and used the M198 sub-program call. There is a good description of what is permissible in the Fanuc manual. Your main program and your sub-programs cannot reside in the same location. Carmen

Will anything change? Highly unlikely. History has a way of repeating itself.