Swarf is not a toolpath I use often. It has been 3 years since I last used it. I am using upper and lower rails, I have my geometery sync'd by enity, and it backplots good as a 5-axis toolpath. The C-axis is only moving +/- 2 degrees off of 270, with all the tilt being on the b axis. I want to lock this to a 4-axis tool path but it goes crazy during backplot leading and lagging the tool down the straight side. Is there a way to stop this?

Thanks Ron, my nerves are shot from trying to figure out what to do but if I don't try I will never know. These really are good people and I hate to leave but opportunity knocks.

I will be leaving here in a couple of weeks to move on to other things. We will be looking for a replacement for me. Location is Granite Falls, NC. Pay is doe and well above average for this area. Must be smart enough to come in out of the rain and pretty sharp with Mastercam and 5-axis machines. These are good folks to work for and they have treated me well. We manufactor curved plywood and supply over 100 different customers. Feel free to email me or respond here. No phone calls please.

To output a "#" with the post, you have to use the ascii equiv which is 35. pbld,sgcode,"Z",35,e will output /G01Z# Sorry I see someone else already stated this. [ 06-27-2006, 11:13 AM: Message edited by: Travis Buchanan ]

Zoober, I punch in off the wall values in my programs like that sometimes, making notes on a sticky and use search and replace to get the desired result after posting. It's also a good ideal to note that you did that in the op comments box so a year from now when you pull up that file you can remember what you did. Else I am like WTF is this crap?

OK I may not have alot of luck with the Thermwood but I have did a little of this type of work. If you want to do this you will first need to wite new programs for each part and get them approved. Write all them incrementally from an absolute position. Creat a point and line for reference in each drawing. Make each tool path a seperate program. Then you can nest and rotate in Mcam and call sub programs Here is a sample how I would do it. ( MAIN PROGRAM ) T01 M06 S18000 M03 G00 X0 Y0 call sub program - part # 1 - tool # 1 G00 X10. Y0 call sub program - part # 2 - tool # 1 G00 X15. Y0 call sub program - part # 3 - tool # 1 G00 Z UP M05 ( --------- ) T02 M06 S18000 M03 G00 X0 Y0 call sub program - part # 1 - tool # 2 G00 X10. Y0 call sub program - part # 2 - tool # 2 G00 X15. Y0 call sub program - part # 3 - tool # 2 G00 Z UP M05 . . etc. . M30( END MAIN PROGRAM) ( PART # 1 - TOOL # 1 - sub program) ( ROT = 90 )- SET ROTATION HERE G91 G01 Z-### G1,G2,G3, . . etc. . G90 Z UP ( ROT = 0 ) - CANCEL ROTATION M99 To do this straight out of MCAM you could set up custom drill cycles and use Misc vairables for rotation. This would require a nifty thrifty post or you could post drill points and do a little hand editing. I hope I have given you enough infro and maybe helped you in some way, if not this place is full of people that can. I am not sure of the code for rotation on a Twood or if it is an option you have? I never have used rotation except on Fanuc and Osia Controlls.

Set-Up some template drawings in Mastercam for each part. Merge dwgs and do toolpaths. Use colors for each tool. I do this once a week here. I use blue where I need a 5/16" tool, green where I need a 3/8", etc... I don't know how you deal wth you customer not wanting the source code changed. If your using a Thermwood 5-axis your lucky to get it to cut 2 parts alike.

How about just the prapid moves?

BTW welcome to the forum CyberRazor3. Where do you work in Hickory? We are only 10 miles up 321.

We replaced the x-axis ballscrew and had Fanuc-USA send in a tech to do a servo tune. Most all problems have been solved. We tried to upgrade the control to AICC but this option would not work with sycronis(sp?) swapping of Y&V axis. Twin table machine. All is 10x better than it was.

Here is where the Fanuc control suffers. The Osai control will do diameter comp & length comp with ease. It is a royal pain in the a$$, to do this on a Fanuc, not to mention the $25k for the option. I like the Fanuc controls and I ain't bashing them, but I would rather have an Osai when using 4 or more axis.

quote: to bad that the BSA can't hammer everyone who does that crapWhat does the Boy Scouts of America have to do with cracked software? J/K

There are several ways to group enities. I use colors, levels, and groups. For those of you who have never used groups give it a try. You can create a group, name it then, alt-e that group for tool path selection or whatever. I may have a group called 7/16 boring. When I get ready to do drill toolpaths I alt-e, all, group, then select the 7/16" boring. I have never saw anyone else using groups, I just experimented on my own. Also current system group and result is a very handy group tool.

I enjoy going to the classes/seminars I usually pick up a few tips/tricks/shortcuts, and you get to meet other cammers in your area. It is also a good way to judge yourself as far as how good you think you are to how good you actually are. Travis teh still pretty dumb but learning everyday.

quote: Is it normal to have to do editing at the machine? Yes and no. On complex parts with a lot of ops and radical machining angles I prefer to be at the machine during 1st set-up. This way I can tweak the program for cycle time as well as verify that I don't crash. You will also learn a lot watching your programs run and tweaking them.

Peter, MatQ uses the same ideal as we do. Have your post force absolute retracts between ops (for crash saftey) and optimize your program at the machine. Be sure you have your incremental retracts set long enough to completely remove the tool from the part. Backplot to be sure. I have found this to be a safe and effective method for avoiding crashes. Then at the machine you can block out or shorten the absolute retract you don't need. Do you have an Osai control? Are you programming TCP? If so this method is a must.

Skir, You can toolpath all those short line segments as a chain then use the filter to create longer lines and arc in the program. Tick the filter box located in lower right corner of contour parameters, then click on filter and a parameter page will come up. There you control how it filters those line segments or a spline. You may also turn thos segments into a spline by create spline curves and chain what you want. Either way you still need to use the toolpath filter. HTH

Create - Spline - Curves will fix your dwg. Turn filter on under contour parameters tab and adjust setting to your liking for nc program.

Are you trying to fix the drawing or the nc program?

Turn on your filter and set your tolerances.

School is now in session. Thanks UK.

Is this correct? FYI - Fanuc Memory Standards ----------------------------- 80 Meters = 32 kilobytes (standard on 6m) 160 Meters = 64 kilobytes 320 Meters = 128 kilobytes (standard on 16i) 640 Meters = 256 kilobytes 1280 Meters = 512 kilobytes 2560 Meters = 1 megabyte 5120 Meters = 2 megabytes

Ok, I think I got it. 1 Meter = 1.6 kilobytes FYI - Fanuc Memory Standards ----------------------------- 20 Meters = 32 kilobytes (standard on 6m) 40 Meters = 64 kilobytes 80 Meters = 128 kilobytes (standard on 16i) 160 Meters = 256 kilobytes 320 Meters = 512 kilobytes 640 Meters = 1 megabyte 1280 Meters = 2 megabytes 2560 Meters = 4 megabytes 5120 Meters = 8 megabytes

I used to know this but I have forgoten. I searched the forum but could not find this. So how many kilobytes of memory are there in one meter of memory?

3 Machines total. 1 5-axis Onsrud Router. 1 5-axis Thermwood Router. 1 3-axis Super Shoda.