Try changing arc output in post to 3 IIRC. This forces R- output so machine knows arc is over 180 deg. -- Buzz

Thanks. I do some weird stuff in programming according to anyone outside my factory. I use sub routines all the time and each of my programs usually consist of 6 to 30 sub programs. I do this for neatness of programming and it is a standard way of writing programs "for us" that I developed years ago. It has made a big difference in the day to day programming & set-up of our machines. For example the set-up people know that O0099 is always the main loop, and the first thing in there is all there tooling and set-up infromation. It also contains all the saftey stuff like spindles off & retract, return all axis to 0. O0099 calls sub O0098 and sets it in a repetitive loop. O0098 is what I call the tooling control loop. It loads the tools, selects the tool offsets, work offsets, set the spindle speed and direction, etc, then calls the sub routine for that tool. This keeps the G code all seperate from the M code. I know it don't make any difference to the machine but it does to me. I may also call a sub routine from a sub routine such as a custom drill cycle or for any repetitive task. I just did a part that had 86 elipses that had to be machined with 4 different tools. I drew a circle at the center of each one and posted a simple drill program first. Then I did an incremental post on one of the ovals. For the final program it positions absolute and calls an incremental cycle. I did not have enough memory to write a total absolute program anyway, and this is a simple way of doing it. -- Buzz

I'm not experienced with using cycles in Mastercam. I do however use sub-routines & cycles all the time. I would do a simple drill - no peck on all the holes then after posting code do a search and replace and manually edit the code. There is a way to do this in mastercam using "misc cycles?" I think. Our dealer set us up a bunch of preprogramed mortise cycles to select from simple drill - no peck, but I never use them. Here is an example of how I would do it after posting code. Fanuc code. O0099( POSITION & SUB ) G00 X2.5000 Y1.0000 Z1.0000 M98 P0005 G00 X3.0000 Y0.5000 Z1.0000 M98 P0005 . . . M99 O0005( DRILLING SUB ) G00 Z.1 <---- RAPID TO ABOVE FIRST HOLE G01 Z-0.5000 F10. <---- FEED THRU FIRST WALL G00 Z-1. <----- RAPID TO NEXT WALL G01 Z-1.5 < ----- FEED THRU NEXT WALL G00 Z1. <--- RAPID OUT OF PART. M99 -- Buzz

Are the holes different depths? If so how many different depths? All at different depths? You say staggered, do you mean non uniform grid and/or non polar coordinates? -- Buzz Lightyear

Did anyone take a look at this? Do you see what I'm trying to say. I am not very good at explaining things, or understanding someone else explain them either. I am a "show me" kind of person.

Thanks for the replies. I think I will ask my dealer to demo this for us. -- Buzz

I think I know why this guy is having trouble and I thought about this today at work and I tend to dissagree with the statement that "you can post only g17 code by using filter options". I have created 2 almost identical parts to prove my point and posted code. I will upload these 2 files & the posted code to the ftp site when I get through explaining here. Trash.mc8 is an octogon projected onto a sipmle raidial surface. Trash.NC is the actual posted code. I tried every filter option I could think of and I still get g18 output. Trash3.mc8 is an octogon with the front & back lines changed to arcs with a .0001" deveation from a straight line. I then project this onto the same simple raidial surface, leave the filter off, and can post g17 only code. See Trash3.NC. This was all done using Mill 8.0 Level 3, and my customized post. Does anyone know how to force only g17 output, without having to modify the octogon? The mc8 files are in the (mc8 files) folder and the posted code is in the (all NC programs) folder. One more thing. I know that the filters are designed to reduce program size by making longer straight lines or by "arc fitting". So if you filter code that already has arcs in it I dont think it will take them out. -- Buzz Lightyear [ 02-01-2002, 04:38 AM: Message edited by: Buzz Lightyear ]

I have also ran into problems when I project straight lines on to surfaces created from arcs. When I post code it will frequently changes planes which will screw up tool radius comp. My solution has been to move the line endpoints .0001" in opposite directions before projecting. This forces, depending upon you set tollerances, mastercam to stay in the g17 plane. I wish there was a selection in mastercam to force only g17 output, even if it an arc in the yz or xz plane, break it up into short linear moves dependant upon your max depth variation setting. Sorry I can't spell. How about putting a spell checker in this forum?

Yes. The origional question was what will Router Pro offer me as programmer in the woodworking industry that Mill 8-III does not. We get along just fine with Mill but there is a lot of stuff in Mill that we never use, like boring, drilling and tapping cycles. I have not seen Router but I imagine that it is Mill with all the metal specific functions removed. If there is no great outstanding advantage to using Router, I will just stick with Mill and someday if I ever have to go into metal working I will have experience in a metal cutting cam package. To see some of my handywork check out item # 170 on the following link I machined most of the parts for this bed from blanks to finshed parts. web page One more, this armoire, item # 130, is an assembly of around 200 individual parts. I machine at least 50 of these parts also from blanks. I did all the work to the doors an to the curved crown. web page Thanks for looking. I know it's not aerospace work but I am proud of it. -- Buzz

Yes, I cut wood. I program for a furniture company. Someone said Router has nesting capabilities, but I see "auto-nesting" as more of a plywood cutting tool. I cut mostly solids, ash, maple, cherry, walnut, etc. I do nest parts, from time to time, to save material, but grain direction means everything when cutting solid woods, and is always specified to run in a certain direction on the part. You must machine all your cross grain cuts first then machine with the grain to clean up any tear-out. I wonder if Router will support feeds and speed for different species of wood with different tooling. It is experience & trial and error up to this point. And from my experience tool salesmen tend to stretch the truth about what their tools are capable of, so go ahead and cut their reccomended feedrates by at least 25%.

What are the advantages / disadvantages? We are now using Mill 8 Level 3 for our CNC Routers, Point to Point boring machines, and laser cutters. -- Buzz Lightyear

108 Locations? Sounds to me like a great place to use an incremental sub-routine. --- MAIN PROG BODY --- G00G90X-1.Y-1. M98P0005 G00G90X-2,Y-1. M98P0005 . . . ------------------ O0005( SUB CYCLE ) G01G90Z-START DEPTH G91 G01 G03 . . . G00G90Z1. M99

I program for a furniture company. There are 3 programmers where I work keeping 11 cnc going 24/5 +. We also have to program 3 Z-laser projectors, that we use to position parts with. Cut sizes are less than 100pcs. Cycle times range from 3 minutes to a hour an a half max. We usually introduce 30 to 40 new pieces of furniture each spring and fall. I wrote 7 programs tonight. Five 2&1/2 axis parts & two 3 axis parts. I have certificates from Community Colleges, MasterCAM, and various machines dealers where I have taken courses to try and better myself. I have 3 years operator experience (CNC router), 1 year (job shop cnc operator) and 8 years programming. What do I get? 14 buck an hour an a huge headache. They have pretty much lost all the good help out on the floor, so what do they do? Don't wory about it they say, Ole Buzz is up there in the office if we need anything. And some of the engineers we have couldn't draw a box. Hey those 2 lines don't intersect, well don't worry about it, ole Buzz will catch that when he is Camming that part, let's go out and eat and then play a round of golf. Zero respect 0. I'm done ranting. No one more thing, get an education if you can, even if it is in basket weaving, you get more respect and probably better pay. -- Buzz Lightyear [ 01-15-2002: Message edited by: Buzz Lightyear ]

CNC Programmers and good operators get zero respect. I'm getting pretty sick of it myself. I just don't know how to change it. -- Buzz

I don't know much about end mills either, but I do know that the tool geometry is different from a router bit. Hook & relief angles are different. One of our engineers gave me a 3/4" end mill the other day and said this thing should last a week on a router cutting wood, cause they can cut metal with it all day. I ran one part with it, about 50" total cut length and it was smoking like a freight train. I took it out of the machine and it was as dull as a butter knife. I don't use anything but carbide or diamond on our routers except for a high speed steel drill once in a while. I don't expect that you will have very much luck with metal cutting tools, but if you do please let us know. -- Buzz Lightyear

I got this table running. I actually had it set right all along. It seems that there is a bug in the test command. It works fine but when you select test, it does not respond. Thanks for all your help and sorry it took me so long to reply. Buzz

Hi, I finally got around to trying to hook this digitizing table up. It is the large format Drawing Board III (44x56)?. I read the digitize doc in Mastercam and I configured the table by the numbers. I removed Wintab32 from my seat of NT 4.0 and turned off the fifo under the advanced port settings. I still can't get it to communicate. Someone here said they had recently hooked one up, could you give me any advice before I loose the rest of my hair? Thanks, Buzz

Hello Everyone, I live and work in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina. I am one of two cnc programmers for a local furniture manufacture. We left NC Polaris and went to Mastercam V6 several years ago and have been using Mastercam ever since, we are currently running V8. We have eleven cnc machines running 24/5 and are currently negotiating our first 5 axis. I will be the one who post more questions than answers.

We have recently purchased a GTCO CalComp Digitizer, Drawing Board III, Model # 34600 for use with AutoCad, and we would like to know if it is compatible with MasterCam V8, which we are also using. I have talked to our VAR and he told me about the C-Hook for digitizers, and he said he thought that the digitizer C-Hook had not been upgraded for some time now. I tried to get it to work but failed. Any information on this anyone can give us would greatly help. TIA, Buzz