If you mean checking the posted program the Mastercam editor and Cimco have an NC functions tab, and under that there is "Find XYZ extents" in the MC editor but it is global for all tools, and Cimco has "Toolpath Stats" that will list all the tools plus times.

To help diagnose the problem try putting a 4th axis unclamp (M46 on my old Mazak) just before you start the rotary motion and re-clamp (M47) when it's finished. If this helps then what's happening is every line that does not contain and A or B it will try to re-clamp the 4th. If it does not help it may be limitation of the control to read blocks per second, in other words the code movements are show short it requires a large amount of code to move a short distance and the machine simply cannot process the data as fast as the machine is capable of moving. A very simple test of this theory is to override the feed down and see if it smooths out at any point.

Rob, Group I have a similar issue, so I was trying a variant of your solution with out the If/Then. Apparently it does not pass through this section for every hole as the code below shows it reverts to 2 places for all subsequent holes. Can you or someone help me identify another section that needs the feed updated? Thanks John ptap$ #Canned Tap Cycle pdrlcommonb result = newfs(11, feed) # Set for tapping Feedrate 3 place pcan1, pbld, n$, *sgdrlref, *sgdrill, pxout, pyout, pfzout, pcout, prdrlout, *feed, strcantext, e$ result = newfs(15, feed) # Set back to 2 place pcom_movea O0000(TEST) (DATE - 07-26-10) ( T191 | NO. 8-32 TAPRH | H191 ) G20 G0 G17 G40 G49 G80 G90 ( NO. 8-32 TAPRH ) T191 M6 G0 G90 G54 A0. X0. Y0. S300 M3 G43 H191 Z2. G98 G84 Z-.5 R.1 F9.375 X1.4632 F9.38 <------- Changes back to 2 place X2.8052 X3.6226 G80 M5 G91 G28 Z0. A0. M30

Off the top of my head: -Make sure to eliminate the obvious first, make sure machines overrides are all at 100%. -Open the program in the Cimco editor and go through the NC functions-Toolpath statistics and see what that gives you.

I have no experience with Hurco, and I'd like to see a bit more of the program, but you might try a couple of things: -Raise the Z up a good ways (4" maybe) between the work coordinate changes. -You may be forced to cancel length comp and pick up again with new work coordinate.

Hey Joe788, I stopped short of setting up another user account to avoid the login screen on startup. How did you get around that?

Ditto on manual entry. Just put in between the ops where you want to stop and check that the "as code" button is on and type your code in they way you want, example: _____________________ G91 G28 Y0. Z0. M00 (FLIP THE PARTS) _______________________ One note, if your are inserting between 2 ops using the same tool, open the operation after the manual entry and check the box for "force tool change" (on the Tool tab under speeds and feeds)

Do you mean access the drives on the CNC from another computer? I have yet to solve that problem, my big problem is user access restrictions. The windows based control wants a valid username and password to allow remote access and I have yet to get one to work (even after calling mazak). Mazak gave me the "Admin password" but it does not work to allow remote access even when I share the drive from the machines OS. It was looking like I would have to setup another user within the windows enviroment with admin rights but I did not want to do that and cause any bootup (start up) issues with a login screen, so I left it. So to do backups a carry my USB mouse over to the machine plug it in the USB port and copy, drag and drop to our network drive every couple of weeks. I have also thought about writing a an old fashion DOS batch file to copy the files over to the network from the machine and run it as a scheduled task. John

The info tip does supply a lot of info, but I don't think this is the answer he wants. In the following example I have a constructed plane at 20 degrees of rotation from the front plane. The info provided gives some coordinates that probably calculate to 20° but it does not come out and say 20° anywhere. like this example: _______________________________________ Name : BASE_20 Comment : Origin : X0. Y0. Z0. Number : 19 Matrix : X0.93969262 Y-0.34202014 Z0. : X0. Y0. Z1. : X-0.34202014 Y-0.93969262 Z0. Associative : No Color : 9 Used in toolpath : Yes _________________________________________________ Am I missing it somewhere?

What machine and what control? Mill / Lathe , M32, Fusion, Nexus? I know on the Mills, M32 control, you use the standard G54-G59. Lathe with Nexus control, we use a Mazatrol program as a main to handle the setup and subcall the G-gode. Ditto on Dave's comment, call the applications people, it's no charge regardless of machines age. Be prepared to leave a message and wait for a call back, have your machine serial # handy.

My hat collection is also quite large. I am back and forth from computer to multiple machines all day. Basically I guesstimate my time at the end of the day. I've wondered if I should get one of those chess clocks for my desk so I could get a more accurate picture of time spent programming. This would not solve your scanning requirement but would nail down your time spent.

Interesting, I have tried to send an .stl created in MC to a customer who has Solidworks and he says the file comes up invalid. I do not have solidworks but I do have the E-drawing viewer and it comes up fine.

I'm not clear on what type of machine you are on here, 4 or 5 axis VF or a horizontal. Either way when working on the 4th on our VF and on the our EC horizontal I setup a safety zone in Mastercam and it does a good job of keeping the the tool out of trouble on rapids most of the time.

Mine does'nt blank out, but looses it's position when I close and re-open. I run my Op manager on the the second screen (undocked) normally, and when I re-start MC the op manager is split between the 2 screens. Also, on some files I open it re-docks the manager all by itself.

Ditto on the engine hoist. Took the outrigger legs off, welded a square angle iron frame around the bottom, used the casters on each corner. Built a "box" on the back side with angle iron and sheetmetal and filled it with scrap metal. Use it for the rotary, tombstones, long heavy parts in and out of the lathes, works well. It is a bit heavy with the "ballast" so it takes quite a push to get it rolling.

It's the same on my EC-500 and on my Mazak H-400N horizontal. Center of pallet is at some number in X appx. center of travel limit. My EC-500 is X-15.946 (I have it written on a posted note on side of the machine near control panel) I just punch it in my work coordinate and go. I would call your HFO and ask them if there are settings that let you do what you are asking. Don't worry about the "different machine" comments, I think the Haas is good value for the money, it's our second one. It's not as heavy duty as our Mazaks but they are half the cost.

Expensive! $400 a month (or is closer to $500 now). Basically just to have access to quote. We tried them a few years ago, not very good results for us. Only got a handfull of low margin stuff. We gave it up when we realized we could'nt clear enough profit to keep paying the monthly fee on what little bit of work we were low bidder on. I've suggested to them on several occasions to cut the monthly fee and charge only on bids you win (or the very least, only charge if you bid), I'm not holding my breath.

Standard set of tools is good start, we have 1-10 standard on all our mills, works out great. We have a spot drill, edge finder or probe (depending on machine), Drill chuck, 1/2 rough, 1/2 carbide finish EM, 3/4 Rough and finish, a facemill and square shoulder insert cutter. It's not uncommon to due an entire job but just adding a couple of drills and or taps and go. As far as "going preset tool offsets manually offline and attempt to upload the offsets" , I cringed a little. If the measuring device is accurate and interfaced in some way to digitally send the information to the machine you should be fine. If you plan on having a human punch in numbers to the control I would run screaming from the room. One missed keystroke and you'll be crying. All but one of our machines have tool measuring probes but even on the one that does'nt we measure each tool as it is installed and average time to install and measure a tool is less than 60 seconds. As far as setup times being a problem do some studies as Rick mentioned, see where the real time bandits are and get a baseline before making changes so you can see real changes. For example follow the tool prep all the way through on a couple of jobs and find out how long it takes. On average it takes us 4-5 minutes per tool to locate the tool (described on a tool list), find the appropriate tool holder, load tool in holder, load in machine and measure. All but the last step of loading in machine can be done while the machine is running. If the machine is sitting idle while this happening there is a huge issue that needs resolving 1st. The work offset idea can be good idea, but again find out how long it takes to indicate, edgefind or probe your work coordinates before you make changes to procedure.

Just a sidenote, make sure your power options are all turned off so the computer does not try to hibernate,sleep, shutdown hardrive or anthing of the sort. I run mine with only a blank screen for a screen saver and no other applications running.

If you want to do a little wiring, you could break the wiring to the actual switches on the doors and run them through the user M-code (M54,M61) relays. I would use the M54, M61 because it just flips the relays on or off, M21 probably would not work here because it waits for an M-Fin signal. There is some tech info in the Technical section of the manual and the connection points usually are pretty easy to find in the panel. We use the user M-codes for tool break detection (we do not have the probe) and we have a bell that we activate at end of cycle. You can hook up all kinds of things really.

How new is the Haas? If it's old you can run DNC right from floppy, the manual will tell how to activate the DNC. (however you are limited to what the floppy will hold) If it's newer and has the USB, you can run from directly from the USB. Better yet, if it has Ethernet you can run from that (FNC I think it's called). If none of that works you can fall back to the old RS232. You'll need a cable, check the manual it should have the pin out, if it does'nt I can send it to you. Hook to your computer, set the parameters in Cimco as mentioned above to match the machine and you can run as big a file as want.

I also love the control over the fanuc. I have a lot of experience on an SL-20 and we ran a lot of aluminum, some mild steels and a bit of Stainless. As mentioned before rigidity is not as good as other machines we have (mazaks) but that's not a fair comparison if you consider the cost. We can typically make accomdations by making lighter cuts or tooling changes. The Haas "is what it is", but I too consider it a good value for the money. No regrets here.

Anyone have experience machining any Aluminum 1100-F (I don't)? I understand it to be almost pure with no hardness, extremely gummy and stringy. We have to turn some cone shapes and maybe do some surface milling. Any tips or tricks would be appreciated. Thanks

I would like to get folks opinions on setting up a machine just to run CAD and MasterCam. Remove all the E-mail, virus scanners everything but just CAD/CAM. Block internet access at the router and only allow access to the network drive to pull in files (the Network drive is virus scanned) and post code. I realize I would need to use another machine entirely for Internet and communication. But I can't help but think the dedicated machine would run much better. Thoughts? Anybody doing this?

I know that in SmartCam you can create any shape tool want. You simply open a new file and then sketch the profile of the tool, and holder too if you want, and save it. Then open your part file go the tool planner (manager) and there is box for the filename of the custom tool, fill it in and that's it. The only other thing you have to remember is where you store your tool files. I have a folder called CUSTOOLS (custom tools) and I keep all of them in the same folder. John