I think what you might be looking for is HST Optirough. It will essentially do what you have shown in your picture. You must put a value in for "step-up" so that when the tool reaches the extents of the part, the tool will "step-up" by whatever value you choose. In this case I would suggest a step-up of .1 as your depth cut is set at .5 You may also have to check the box "mill vertical walls". Carmen

That's a wire-cutting job no matter how you look at it. Even if they do stack 8 pieces together ( unsure of thickness ), 28 minutes is a bargain. Based on the perimeter of the part, that wire edm would have to be flying. Carmen

You still have it with the preview pane. File/open/ mouse click on file/ and the file shows up in the preview window. Carmen

I break my toolpaths up into groups based on machining regions. For example, when I am roughing a mold cavity,that will be one group. When I finish the cavity, I use another group. Then if I have work on the other faces, each of those will have their own group. It keeps things very neat and organized. Making a separate group for each toolpath is an odd approach, not to mention how cluttered the operation manager will become. Carmen

There is a Mastercam c-hook called "check holder" which I think is what you are looking for. It is supposed to allow you to machine different regions based on stick-out and toolholder clearance and then the toolpath can be broken up in different tools with the same description, but different stick-out amounts. I've personally never had much success with it, however, maybe you have some more patience and time than myself. Carmen

Opti-rest has a few funny quirks to it. I would suggest creating a new operation with the same tool and values and try that first. The only other thing I can think of is are you using negative stock allowances? The HST rest toolpaths are frustrating at times. Carmen

This has been a bug for many years. At least 50% of the time, you will get " no projections found". Don't panic. Close Mastercam, then reopen the file and do it again and it will work. This is the only workaround that will guarantee success. Carmen

Allan, I hear your complaint. What I do to address this issue is immediately after using area clearance or core roughing, is to follow it up with a horizontal finishing toolpath to get the same stock on the floors as I have on the walls. Unlike the legacy tolpaths that have "detect flats", you are on your own to come up with something that works. "add cuts" is only used to get more detail on fillets or shallow angled areas. I wouldn't use it unless absolutely necessary due to the ridiculous calculation times and also it will usually add that cut around the entire model which will kill your machining time. Carmen

Once you get past the anxiety of trying something new, you will actually learn to like the new paths. For simplicity, the toolpaths are broken down into "Roughing toolpaths" and "Finishing toolpaths". That in itself should give you a good starting point. For Roughing, the two that you will likely use the most is Area clearance and core roughing. The two toolpaths have a lot of intelligence and many of the same features, but the easiest way to figure out which one to use come down to whether the part you are trying to cut is shaped more like a cavity ( area clearance ) or more like a boss standing up ( core rouging ). Essentially, area clearance cuts pocketiing passes from the inside toward the outside, and core roughing starts from the outside and works toward the inside. Keep in mind that it is still intelligent enough that if you do have a cavity shape within your model/surfaces, then it will automatically switch strategies and pocket it from the inside toward the outside. Opti-rough is a toolpath that utilizes the flutes of and endmill to essentially "peel mill" your 3D model. This is a fairly new approach, yet, it is very effective and is typically used on high-speed machines. If you are using inserted flycutters/feedmill for roughing, this strategy will not work, so stick to the two I mentioned above. Rest rough is basically a toolpath that picks out all the areas that were not addressed with larger tools. Let's say for example you roughed out a cavity shape with lots of detail with a 1-1/2" flycutter. It would be reasonable to assume there is a lot of remaining corners and detail that needs to be picked out prior to finishing. You can choose a much smaller endmill ( say 1/4" ) and it will pick out the areas not cut by the 1-1/2" tool. It will make multiple passes where there is excessive stock. The finishing toolpaths are not that much different than the legacy toolpaths, except they have way more funtionality and control. Carmen

Few people truly understand high-speed machining, nor do they know how to apply the technology for programming purposes. I have done nothing but high-speed programming and machining for Makino's and Microns over the last eight years. You cannot blame your employees for not knowing how to use the toolpaths, but even further, training institutions know even less as the instructors usually possess no practical knowledge of machining, especially on the high-speed front. Machine tool technology is moving toward high-speed at a rapid rate. You would be doing yourself ( and your company ) a favour to learn how these toolpaths work to get the most of your investment, not to mention tool-life, surface finish, and most importantly, productivity.

You actually have many options. Just for rough comparisons leftover could be replaced by HST pencil, restmill Shallow could be replaced by HST raster with a slope angle, HST scallop, HST hybrid Contour could be replaced by HST waterline Start using the new toolpaths and you will rarely go back. Carmen

I had to read this twice because I thought it was a joke. HSM can't finish a part??????????? I have been using the HSM toolpaths since they were first introduced and never looked back. Less than 5% of my programming uses the old toolpaths. You have way more tool control not to mention smoother transitions and multi-threading. I would suggest spending a little time learning how they work. Carmen

That PS95 is a sweet machine. We had one at my previous place of employment and it was very fast and reliable. The only drawback was we had to run all our programs off a flash card as it doesn't have a data centre like the other Makino's. This machine will make your Haas's look like garbage........ wait a minute, Haas's are garbage. Carmen

High-speed raster toolpath could be your friend here, but you would want to limit the slope angle from zero to lets say 30 degrees so it only cuts the shallow areas. Waterline would also work, but you would need to "add passes to shallow areas" to get the results you want. Scallop will work, but quite frankly it is a crap toolpath due to all its herky-jerky movements. There are several other options, but it all depends on your skill level and what you are looking for on the end results. Blend would also work if you know how to control things. Carmen

I used Makino's exclusively for 8 years. S56, V56 and F5. Great machines and you will want to throw that Haas into the scrap bin once you get your hands on the F5. Very accurate and dependable. Carmen

They fixed it so you don't know what was fixed. Brilliant plan. Leave the customer scratching their heads. I has been posted before, but don't get too excited.

We use the AJX feedmills exclusively. We cut 15-5, 17-4, 420 Stainless, P20, H13 every day and the inserts last literally forever. Proper engagement, toolholder, and programming techniques make all the difference. Carmen

Seems a bit strange, but usually minimum retracts works fine unless you have changed the clearance value. Also check your "master" retraction height. Carmen

Shunk is very good. No matter what system you go with, it will be pricey. Keep in mind that with the tribos system that you will need one of their special hydraulic setters. With shrink fit, you would need either an induction shrink unit which is pricey but efficient, or the cheaper "hot air" type.I would also take a look at Nikken/Lyndex as this is what I have used in the Mikron our company had. Carmen

I expect plenty of new bugs, and the lack of any progress on old bugs. Oh, and a new mouse pad too. Carmen

Scaling will definitely not work. Spark gap is constant whereas scaling your model will totally distort the spark gap. I have always programed with negative stock. I just extract the surface that comprise the electrode area and then machine it with negative stock on all areas. The only difficulty is when programming with a sharp corner tool. You cannot go to a negative stock condition with a sharp corner tool on a 3D toolpath. The work-around here is to program the tool with a corner radius equal to the spark gap. Carmen

I get this crap all the time. I cannot even launch Mastercam with the desktop icon. I have to go through the start menu and single click on the X6 application. Even by doing this, there is probably about a 50% chance it will corrupt the config file. I just keep a copy of my config in another directory and then copy and paste it back to the config folder. A pain in the xxxx, but it is the only fix I have come with. Carmen

Actually, grease in not grease. For a lathe chuck, Chuck-eze is the way to go. It is a moly grease for high pressure. Great stuff. http://www.chuckeez.com/ Carmen

My sympathies to your company.

I realize this. It would make a lot more sense if someone actually posted a screen shot for people who have not downloaded the update. Once I get a few minutes, perhaps I will have to do this for others. Carmen