Level naming seems odd. When attempting to create a new level the name doesn't stick. Key in a new level number and then enter a name and the name doesn't stick after the level manager closes. Is this a bug or am I doing something wrong?

We are a CNC router Jobber shop. I have thought about the concept of the a router only forum, but the potential problem I see, is that all the experience and knowledge is on this forum. Even though questions may be specific to Router, from us wood guys, the answer or remedy is found in Mastercam. I have always been afforded a quick response to my concerns when posting a topic on this forum. I also try to answer questions that are related specifically to my knowledge of Router or Mastercam. I think this forum is a great help and tool for anyone working in the Mastercam environment - to all have conversed on this forum, keep up the good work and thank you!

Jan, Thanks for the response. I find the C-hook, but I do not have the doc file. Does anyone know where I can get the doc file from?

I am currently working on a dome project. The dome's outside diameter is approximately 15 feet, and the curve of the dome is a 9'-6" radius. The height of the dome is approximately 42" at the center. I need to machine the ribs that will support a sheathing material. There are to be 16 ribs equally spaced around the dome and will form the support structure. There are to be 16 sheathing pieces, that will be pie shaped that shall be attached to the ribs, and will form the dome in a faceted manner. The challenge I need to overcome is to determine how to lay out the pie piece itself. I have created the 3D wireframe and surface model of the entire dome, but I do not know how to "flatten" the segemented sheathing pie piece. I need to cut the sheathing from a sheet of plywood, and then curve the part to affix to the ribs. I have tried the squash command, but that simply creates a line that is the distance from the two endpoints, and does not flatten the curve. Can anyone offer a method that will work?

We have a KOMO, and no it is not enabled for Macro b.

Thanks for all the input so far. I utilize a simple laser pointing device as our method of following the template, and that works fine for its function. I am only looking to record the X and Y values. Currently I set up a laptop adjacent to the controller and manually input the X, Y values into a spreadsheet on the laptop. You can only imagine how long this takes and the chance for fat finger error! I do not have a teach function. My goal is to harness the ability that supposedly resides in the connection from the FANUC to the onboard PC. I was attempting to see if anyone has done this.

On occasion we use our CNC router to reverse digitize parts. I know many of you would think this is a waste of machine time, but it is something we need to do to get templates into CAD drawings. Our controller is a FANUC 210i-m. I have been informed that it is possible to grab the coordinates (in X and Y) and use the PC front end that is incorporated inside the controller pedestal, and insert them into a spread sheet or database that would reside on the PC. I will be using VB to create the code on the PC side to make this function work. My dilemma is how do I actually grab the data off the FANUC? Does anyone have experience with this?

I am an AutoCad "convert" and would like to know if Mastercam can lock levels. Autocad has a feature in the layer manager that allows the layer to stay visible, but keeps it locked, meaning that no commands affect any and all locked layers. Is there a similar method of editing in Mastercam? I have used to level mask feature, but as far as I see that applies to one level only - more of include all commands on this level. I would like a method to exclude commands across multiple levels.

I had run into a similar situation in that verify did not show a collison that occurred. I had traced it down to what is called a Dog Leg rapid move, aka interpolated rapid move. This means that the machine will move in both X and Y at the same speed until the position of the rapid move is achieved. Something like a G00 X98. Y3. will move the machine in both axis, but the Y3. value will be achieved much sooner then the X value (a dog leg move). I discovered that this is not always a good thing. There are two fixes for this, edit the rapid move in the G-code, that is if you can find it, or set the CNC controller to non interpolated rapid moves. I use Meta Cut to double check my parts, and Meta Cut has a setting to look for dog leg moves - you just need to know its there! Once I had Meta Cut set up properly the gouge in the part was readily apparent.

I am unable to share the part, per customer proprietary issues. I do understand what you are explaining Millman, and had that in my thoughts also. I was just hoping to find a method that required less work. I also like the idea of seperating the head and modifying that as its own part, splitting the neck down the center and modifying it and rejoining the head to the neck. I will be examining both methods. Thanks to all who offered input. I'll let you know how it went.

Well, good advise, but I had tried the scale in Y prior to my original post and it doesn't give us the proper part. Example to show why - each fret is a different length, so if you choose any one fret to derive the scale factor, it will only apply to that one fret - all shorter frets (those nearest the headstock) will be less than, and all larger frets(those nearest the body) will be greater than the .25 increase - otherwise that would have been the perfect solution. Solids? The answer is no we don't have solids, so that does not help. Trim about a center line - that will not work as the headstock is asymetrical.

I am in search of the best, most reliable way to modify a proven part. We have created a guitar neck that utilizes surface machining to mill the part. The customer was so happy with the results of his last run, that he would like us to create a second style guitar neck. He would like to increase the width of the existing part along the long axis (drawn in the X axis) by .25". Is there a simple way to split the part in half, move .125 in each direction along the centerline and then merge back together, or do I need to start from scratch? I should say that the original part was created in Mastercam by interpretting values and cross sections that were hand drawn by the customer on graph paper. A wire frame was created and then surfaces were derived.

Thanks to all who offered help. I tried the simplest method first - Modify - Break - Draft/line, and that did the trick. Great job all! Thanks Again.

I am in need of some advise. I am working on a project that requires the parts be engraved with identification letters and numbers. The customer I am working with is providing me files in ACAD format. I have tried some test imports with simple ACAD fonts - romans.shx - looks like the font of choice. My problem, is that the imported parts file is a series of labeled parts already nested on 4' x 8' sheets, and Mastercam sees the indentification letters & numbers as a Font. I have discovered that the engrave toolpath will not see the ACAD letters. Is there a method of exploding the font into geometry so that the engrave toolpath function will work. I have created letters in Mastercam from the Create - Letters command and then analyzed them, and they are broken up into geometry and are not considered as a font.

Is there a method for deleting levels from the level manager?

I am looking for information on using the graphical setup sheet in Router. For some reason my times are showing all zeroes. Each tool shows 0hrs 0mins 0sec, and the total time for the cycle shows zero also. Is there a setting that needs to be changed somewhere?

I am running a cnc router with mastercam router and would like to be able to utilize the setup sheet information to derive some time estimates. I understand that there are two different types to utilize, the .set which is linked to the post and the graphical. I am able to generate a great looking graphically enhanced tool list which is a joy to setup the tooling with, but I can't seem to get a handle on the .set version to give me the times I'm looking for. Could someone explain how to set this up?

I have run into an odd situation, between my laptop and desktop computers. When I am running Mastercam Router on my desktop (which is a newer machine by years as compared to my laptop)I am having a difficult time with the setup sheet. When I invoke the command, no text will appear or print.However in looking at the same file on my laptop the setup sheet appears and prints without a problem. I have been advised this is a bug, but it does not make sense that it will run on an older laptop, but not a newer (1-1/2 year old) desktop. Any suggestions or simple things I can check?

I spent a great deal of time working through a drawing to produce a carved part and was looking for some advice. The description of the part is fairly simple a wooden blank 1" x 10.5" x 22". An ellipse offset in from the edge by about 1" and .375" deep. A smaller ellipse is at the center of the piece and .125" deep. Twelve spokes extend from the center ellipse to the oute ellipse with the depth to match. The area between each spoke is curved (surfaced). I utilized a rough parallel pass with a .5" end mill, followed by a finish paralle pass with a .5" ball mill, completed with a finish leftover pass with a .25" ball mill. Both ellipse were cut with a 60 degree vee tool to depth these cuts were done first. The difficulty I encountered was in programming the surface tool paths - If I did not program the area outside the outer ellipse, I would get a tool gouge into the intial outer ellipse v-cut. Is there a method of setup that can be used to cut the surface within the ellipse setting the cut line of the ellipse as a boundry?