One tip: If the offer is that good, get it in writing. I got burnt BIG time by someone who used to be a friend. I paid for it, and it hurt. Sadly, it makes it hard for me to put trust in people, in this game. Still, my mistake in the first place. Make sure you get everything tied up right. Other than that, good luck. Move onwards and upwards. I've got that feeling in me, that I need to move on too...And I'm starting look Cheers, Mick

Well, I understand what your saying, but I was under the opinion that by shortening the contour, at both the beginning and the end, this would have worked. But it clearly doesn't. I'm not using G41/G42 (can't when moving in the Z axis on the machine I'm programming anyway ) My understanding, is that you *should* be able to shorten the contour, and still ramp. Maybe its a bug, or merely a feature that needs a bit more enhancing. i wonder if it was CNC Software's intention to be able to use this option on ramp Cheers, Mick

Hi there, Has anyone struck this: I just chained a contour, which is 2D, and chose ramp, and set the required parameters. I also set under the Lead In/Lead Out option, to shorten the contour by 6mm (Radius of the cutter). When I generate the toolpath, it doesn't shorten it. However if I switch the contour to 2D, it does it. It is an open ended contour (actually, just a horizontal line) Does anyone else get the same problem? Tried it under V9.1 and V9.1SP2. Cheers, Mick

Hahahahaha The day I see an endmill smiling back at me like that, is the day I quit.... If not before Cheers, Mick

Well, I agree. But this is to tie them over until I get back on site to set their defaults I'm sure there must be some way of setting the post to do it Cheers, Mick

Hi there, A customer wants to force the sequence number output to start at N1, and have increments of 1 (N1, N2, N3, N4 etc etc) I can force seqinc = 1 in the post, but does anyone know the variable for the starting sequence number? I can't for the life of me, find it anywhere :/ Cheers, Mick

Would you consider someone from overseas? I'm just curious Mick

All I was cautious of, was the fact that the reseller had it, and was starting to hand it out to customers. I was thinking from the customers perspective, that they wouldn't be too happy being given an incomplete or incorrect service pack In terms of patience, well, I would be telling the customer(s) to hold off until they know for sure its the correct service pack. Mick

My dealer has the 9.1 SP2 CD. I assume thats the correct/final release? I hope so... Mick

Ok, so the SP2 that the dealers have been given is OK? Or is there a problem. Because there are some users out there who already have it. Mick

Murlin, Yes, I remember you dancing the jig (How could I forget...hehehehee) Just seems strange that the post has "disappeared" Or maybe something is screwy at my end of the line... Mick

What happened? There was a post this morning about SP2, and it shows up in the search, but it says it doesn't exist. Was it removed? And why? Mick

Er, what actually happened? All I see in the message is ohohohoh etc...and lots of symbols... Or maybe I drank too much bourbon last night Mick

Anyone know when SP2 is due out? Just curious Mick

I have that CD..It works really well. Speeds and feeds seem to be pretty right too.. Just cut a 42HRC mould, and it worked great Mick

---> +1. A well respected and well rewarded programmer is key. Rewarded? How do I become one of those? hehehee Mick

James, Nice toolpath. Unfortunately, I dont think I made myself clear, but this is a lathe profile I'm dealing with Still, maybe the Toolpath editor might allow something to be done there I might look at it later (tho I'll need some coffee to keep me awake ) Cheers, Mick

James, I'm staying tuned Actually, I'm keen to see your example. Its great to see other ppl's thoughts and examples. And Andrew, yes, after talking to these guys, and seeing how they program for jobs like that, I can see the benefit. Imagine how much I could have saved on carbide in the past :/ (Actually, best not to think about that..hehee) Regards, Mick

Can someone tell me, if any new seats of Mastercam are supplied with the latest release (ie current SP release) or does the customer have to apply all service packs? Also, this new c-hook..is it a cost option, or a no cost addon? (just curious ) Cheers, Mick

Roger, If you get a chance, have a look at the file. What you suggest is pretty much what I did. And thanks to all for the responses. More proof that this is one of the best Mastercam resources avaliable. Cheers, Mick

Millman, Hehe, you dont get that out of what he typed. He asked me, and then told me later that he had put a request on the emastercam forum. I figured that he had quoted only *part* of what I told him. Put it down to inexperience on his part Needless to say, thats why I jumped in and explained it a lot clearer But yes, it would be a handy feature. Something along the lines of "shorten roughing contour on first (insert number passes) and finish to length vertically, or something like that But for now, it looks like the method I used is the only way. Certainly seems to work. I had a play on our Okuma lathes today, but you're right, there's certainly nothing in the LAP cycles to accommodate that Cheers, Mick

Thanks for the answer Andrew. Hehe, yes, it was my opinion also. When he showed me this old version of Smartcam, and what he could do with it, I do have to admit, it had a bucketload of flexibility for its age (and believe me, it was old. This was a DOS version :/) Anyway, I'm still pro Mastercam It certainly was my opinion, that the only way to achieve this kind of toolpath, was to do as I had done, and create extra geometry. Cheers, Mick

Heya Guys, What Prosoft is wanting to know, is wether Mastercam can provide a roughing path which can do a standard OD rough pattern, but at the end of the pass "stop short" of the end of the contour, retract, and then face rough the end of the contour. The reason for this, is that a potential customer of his, is looking at purchasing Mastercam. They machine a lot of stainless steel components, and when machining the second op, if they use the above method, it removes the "waste ring" of material that is left, which can jam against the jaws, and/or hammer the insert. They find they can get really good insert life using this method. They're currently using an old version of Smartcam, that allows them to add this little move at the end of each roughing pass (its only needed on the passes at the beginning, which breal pass the face left from op1), but I've played around with sample files, and I can't find anything there that would allow it to be done (quickly) I've uploaded a sample file under Lathe on cadcams FTP site, called ROUGH-TURNING.MC9, in which I've "mocked up" these roughing passes, by using some finish contour passes. This could very well provide the solution. Just a little time consuming to achieve it, thats all Feel free to check the file out. Cheers, Mick

I've been using Mastercam for the past 12 years. In that 12 years, I spent 5 years of using Unigraphics, and while its a powerful design system, and has a lot of toolpathing features, I found it really clunky to use, also a !@#$$%^ to learn. But I back up what others have said here: Mastercam's posts are easy to modify, and you get a bucketload of predefined posts with the system, and I also agree, there hasn't been a part in Mastercam that I haven't been able to program. Plus, Mastercam is easy to use Regards, Mick

I'm curious. Do any new shipments of Mastercam receive V9.1SP1? Or do they receive V9.1 and the service pack has to be applied afterwards? I had a potential new customer ask me this today. Regards, Mick