thanks i figured it out i dont use the tip comp as it sinks coutersink too deep i guess all coutersinks are differnt as the MC depth was like .481 i only needed .370 and added the z depth to that as i was .250 down and it worked perfect part turned out great till i went to chamfer outside of it . they should make a better way of figuring out chamfer tools as it seems to take so much trial and error with each new tool to get them to follow contour once you get it figured out in the 2d chamfer parameters it works great but ive also found the if i put a negative value in xy stock to leave about .010 seems to help as well .im sure you guys have figured out a better way as im new to this i await your expert opinions. also when pocketing aluminum with a .750 2 flute endmill could i get a better apearance finish on bottom of pocket if i used a 2 insert carbide cutter of the same diamter? i have this tool but havent tried it yet . Thanks Joe

yes i mean countersink using a 3/4 countersink for 3/8 countersunk bolts so do i draw the arcs at a dif z level or should i just say depth -.250 with the tip comp on as the pocket will be .250 deep and the holes will already be drilled from the previous z 0 ht ?

ok lets say i have a part .5 thick i want to drill 4, 3/8 holes in the center of it and then counter bore them with a 3/4 countersink but before i do this im pocketing part to a depth where the part is .250 deep what parameters do i put in for the counter bore or do i just use tip comp on and pick a zero for depth.a friend asked me if i could build a battery box for his race car think this would be good practice for me.Thanks Joe.

ok lets say i have a part .5 thick i want to drill 4, 3/8 holes in the center of it and then counter bore them with a 3/4 counterbore but before i do this im pocketing part to a depth where the part is .250 deep what parameters do i put in for the counter bore or do i just use tip comp on and pick a zero for depth.a friend asked me if i could build a battery box for his race car think this would be good practice for me.Thanks Joe.

hi thanks for your response i found the type i think they say box mc9 they seem simple and tried it without using engrave just a contour with window around the letters and seems to work fine with cutter comp off .what is smallest endmill i can use with only having 4200 rpm max speed? appreciate your help guys i know i ask simple questions but we all have to start somewhere.ps i have learned quite a bit since joining this forum so all your help is very much apprecitated .

Im wondering what is the simplest letters to pick from the letters menu i just want to do single line letters without to many curves with a small ball mill and lets say they are only half inch tall i have the engrave program on the mastercam i can do some letters but all the ones im picking seem to have multiple edges instead of a simple letter, and also should i turn the accel decel off im seeking the simplest fastest way of doing this so not to take up to many lines in the nc file the depth of the letters only need to be about .020 deep and also max spindle speed im using on this machine is only 4200 any suggestions would be very helpful . thanks Joe.also any tools to recommend would be helpful as well.

i have all that working now so when your defining a stock for a little job like this, that is what has been screwing me up if i dont put a stock sz in then the backplot works fine but i guess you may have to redefine stock for each operation ? as in one way it shifts stock down the other way its up etc... im sure others have run into this as well? maybe its not something to worry about and this is just how its done?

ok i think i finally got it with the rotate about y axis and putting a new point in thanks guys now i need my machine to pause on the s54 code in post processor or g 54 as i guess you know of it any suggestions ? you guys have been very helpful its very much apprectiated like they say its confusing till you have done it then its so easy after .

when running a backplot how will it show up i think this is the part that is confusing me the most at this point as one tool comes from top then the other comes from bottom but im having a hard time determining the depth for that tool it seems to come from the bottom and go all the way to the top crash tool ?

thanks i got your email i think ill send you one back with a simple part and you tell me what the origin will be if i flip the part . i got your email but it confused the hell out of me sorry im not that smart nice work by the way ? just for sake of discussion if you have a square block lets say 3x3 and origin is in the upper left hand corner with z 0 at top of part and you flip the part to machine back side of part will the zero still be at same corner of the vise? Thanks

ok ive tried it im confused thad i tried what you said i want to make a new x and y coordinate on a part i tried the steps you said the new x and y by drawing some lines where i wanted my new x 0 y 0 and clicked save i followed your instructions exactly how you wrote them seemem to sortof work but when trying to view that part the active grid would keep changing to differnt points. there must be something im doing wrong

thanks for all your help guys i will try it today ps email is [email protected]. ps tim johnson yes you have hit the nail on the head so to speak that is exactly what i want to do . so what is the most common method of most people doing this? i keep getting different answers to the same question some say use the wcs some say dont .

the machine i have is 3 axis so im not sure what to do then? simple answer im assuming if what ever pattern is on the part when i rotate it the tool path will have same origin?

thanks i read that simple ? though lets say the part is sqaure like the tombstone in that tutorial i ran the test the supplied but what i need to know is to set the To for the tool if on my original drawing its in the upper left when i rotate the part 90degress will it still be in the same location providing i dont change the hts or where the part is located ? from what i can tell all you do is go to the wcs right click on the view you want then set cplane and t plane? then if you check a w in the line it will come up in graphics window as a top view is this how most people normally do this ?

Im new to mastercam and in college to learn it my ? is when you have to flip a part to machine the backside of that part does the tool offset still remain in the original origin you picked eg lets say a simple 3x3 rectangle made into a cube by xform translate entites to a z-3 and the origin is in the upper left hand corner . I've tried the wcs system but it confuses me lets say i move to a new posistion it says my z is now at 3 in my origin and x and y remain the same i tried picking the origin from the wcs screen and when i go to do a tool path it starts in the bottom of the part . any good articles on this ? thanks for your infinite wisdom and if this ? is to stupid to answer let me know. ps when you run a verify for toolpath verification does it flip the part or what happens when i have tried it the tool either comes in from the side or bottom im assuming and i cant see it .