I had similar problem when we were developing our Rotary axis. Its either we change the sign of the rotary axis in the program (via post processor), e.g. +A to -A or vice versa; or we change the direction of the rotary axis by changing the parameter of the machine. We change the parameter in the machine.

Thanks you very much... this certainly satisfied my curiousity .

Im just curious, has anyone tried making a bolt thread in solid?

9 VMC's 3 of which are 5-axis.... ... those were the days. now as a tech support for Germen CNC router Manufacturer and without MasterCAM on my side.... Boring I want my Mastercam days back.

After using Mastercam for more than 7 years, I finally had the chance to work using PRO/E. The new job requires me to migrate to another country (MIDEAST). After a month of self-training, I concluded that Pro/e could never give me the flexibility the way mastercam can. My Programs with mastercam are 'Personal' meaning i decide how the tools cut the metal unlike Pro/e where the programmer let Pro/e generate the toolpath. The problem was that all the old programmers here hardly generate appropriate programs for specicfice portions of the mould, too bad. Worse is that they are not considering changing their system. Fact is, they hired me because of my experince in CNC programming in 3 to 5-axis Milling (nobody in the company is brave enough to generate 5-axis NC codes from Pro/e to run on their 5-axis machine). They risked hiring me without any skill on Pro/e. Now that I discovered that Pro/e could not show my true potential for the company, I quit. It may not be the best decision, but i beleive that staying will make me more a liability than an asset to the company. By the way, these programming guys here were the tech support of pro/e in the philippines when I was working with the local mastercam dealer back in the philippines. Mastercam Rules! All I need now is to go home and find a new programming job. HAHA

Is there a chance for us foreigners without visa to land a programming job anywhere in the US? ...Just asking.

Is there a command in macro so that it will continue playing until a key (e.g. 'Esc') is press? Sort of a DO-WHILE loop? Thanks!

We make our CMM programs using mastercam. Our CMM uses Win CMES. We just 5-axis drill some pts on a CAD Model. Recently, I edited our Post and Mill TXT file so that we can preselect in the drilling type what type of pts do we check (e.g, hole or profile). I can still Imagine my boss' smile when i prsented to him the new post and the edited 5-axis drilling menu of mastercam.

--------------------------------------------- Philippines to Kansas, killer commute Dude. --------------------------------------------- its a good way to save on labor! isn't it?

AH OK, Customize drill cycle!!! that would be OK... Thanks for all your help!!!

thanks guys for the replies. I am not used to writing macro and i am not sure wether the machines where they run the program supports macro. Im in Philippines and they are running the program in Kansas. Does this mean that its not posible producing the NC file in Mcam without manually altering the NC file?

Thanks Mayday for the reply. hmmm. OK, I forgot to add that the setup requires only vise because we only need to make a few pieces/part. the part requires cutting in the right length and its shorter than the vise jaw. i could have put the whole program for the locating pin but as Manual entry but the part has different lengths? using the vise and the locating pin is seems more feasible than using fixture with locating pin hole.

I've recently had an NC program (generated by mastercam v7) which i cant avoid editing manually. My program uses a locating pin used as a tool so that it will be used as a part stopper (to locate the part). To position the pin i used CONTOUR toolpath followed by a MANUAL ENTRY 'M0 (STOP PART USING PIN)'. The produced NC file is what I had expected, The locating pin went to the designated location but returned to the Clearance height then to machine's Z0 before the manual entry appeared. This resulted, as i have said to a manual edit of the NC file where i had to put the manual entry in its right sequence, that is before the pin goes up to the clearance height. I could have lived with editing the NC file, but i made this kind of program for 21 parts this past few days now and my boss told me to expect more. YAIKS!!! Is there a way to avoid this? just to lessen the risks. what if i use V9, would i avoid this problem?

Hey, does this mean that it wouldn't be doifficult in finding programming jobs in the USA. My wife is applying for an immigration visa, (She's a nurse). So pretty soon we'll be there. I have a 4 years experience as an MC trainer and technical support, three years in CNC programming (3 and 5-axis) in an aerospace parts manufacturing co. We haven't decided on which state to settle but i hope that there's lots of mastercam around that area.

RETIRING!!! At 28, Im still hoping to work in the US of A. hopefully Ill fulfill that by 30, which means starting to look for a shop job. retiring seems to be too far when one hasn't started