Roughly 6025mm x 3112mm footprint. Options, we only sell them one way; loaded. • 4MB CNC Memory (you run all the CNC Programs off the Dataserver anyway) • 1GB Dataserver • 1k Block Look-Ahead if doing mold/impeller type work. 600 Block Look-Ahead otherwise. • Tool Center Point Control • Tilted Work Plane • Work Setting Error Correction • Renishaw Laser or Touch Type in-machine Tool Measurement System • Renishaw OMP-400 w/ Inspection Plus amd GoProbe Software • 1k Through Spindle Coolant w/ Mist Collection • 320 Tools Minimum That ought to get you going in the right direction.

SSD has a great effect on speed. NVMe drives have a tremendous effect. On my rig I don't use a PageFile. I've got 64GB of RAM. When I've got multi-thread toolpaths regenning, I set them to High Processing in the Multi-Threading manager... If you want, I can run a regen on your file to compare speed.

The thing about printed specs are they are absolute BEST conditions imaginable. Climate controlled environment, temperature controlled coolant, mist collection, etc..... to get to low single digit microns and beyond. Expansion coefficient and physics are a real b!+(# . No joke.

Talked to a friend that has a number of Vickers A2100 and Siemens 840D controls in his shop the other day. He began converting all those old platter HDD's to SSD's in the PC based controls during the slowdown earlier this year and he said machine performance went up as did reliability. He said it took him a few tries to work out the process. Basically he cloned the drives on a Linnux machine then added the IDE to SATA converter and plugged the SSD's in and away he went. He said 2.5" Indstrial SATA SSD's worked the best out of the 3 or 4 (Samsung, Intel, Crucial, and another that escapes me at the moment) he tried on the oldest machine (late 90's).

Now you're catching on.

I believe that's Productivity's Territory... cool. I like those guys.

If I may ask, what state are you in?

A "new" MAM72-42V would be a factory order. They are no longer stocked machines in the US. That's probably why it's taking a little time to get the quote. People seemed to prefer the MAM72-63V over the MAM72-42V. We only have 1 or 2 in our territory (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada and Utah) that I am aware of. I have no idea cost though. I only help people learn how to use 'em. I don't actually quote or sell them.

Thanks for the honesty and insight @MIL-TFP-41. It was good seeing you a few weeks ago.

@jas6142, we've got a customer @MIL-TFP-41 that buys used ones. They've even bought a few that were abused and managed to bring them back. Like @crazy^millman said, try to get a service record and find out what option package it has so you can make an educated decision.

Maybe related, maybe not; when I draw something in my CAD (doesn't even matter what CAD and/or CAM package), I always, without exception draw EVERYTHING sharp. Once done, then I add draft faces, after that, fillets and chamfers. And ALWAYS without exception going from largest feature to smallest feature. Doing things with that method gets me exactly what I want about 95% of the time. Every once in a while I'll need to do an extrude cut to get something just right, or I may need to reorder the solid operations. JM2CFWIW YMMV

There's NOTHING wrong with brute force when you need to solve a problem. Solutions to problems aren't always elegant. US Navy SEALs have a saying; the only easy day was yesterday. Adapted to our industry in the same vein, it could be said, the only easy project was the last one.

Yeah @JB7280, there are some bitter people in this trade. It's truly unfortunate because we're in DIRE need of more people that can get excited about making stuff. There's a LOT of really awesome people in this forum truly. Some of my best friends I've met in here.

I think graphical toolpath editing would be a better next step.

I'm never the smartest guy in the room so I have to rely on brute force to be my superpower.

Should be an interesting ride... I wonder if Vericut will decide to jump into the Post Processing pool now?

That's a VERY valid AND fair criticism. On the Applications Engineer side, you've got every skill set from "...I know how to turn on a machine and do and teach basic functions..." up through I can take a dysfunctional control , make it perform as expected or better, AND teach someone else how to do it" and everything in between. The VAST majority being in the 1st camp. I found out early on when I worked for Mori there's two basic levels of understanding regarding CNC machines. 1) The "Operator" Level; meaning I understand the control and machine from an operator, programmer and setup standpoint and 2) The Engineer Level; meaning, I have a problem with a function on my machine and I know how to troubleshoot and solve the problem. My personal goal has always been to be on the latter side as opposed to the former side. Me, I'm still learning every day so... at least I'm on the path . I feel like I have a long way to go to be THE MAN. The reality for that level of knowledge and expertise is that it has to kind of be a personal mission type deal. IOW, when a customer or a competitor says "... you can't do that...", or such and such "... is impossible...", you have to want to be the "... oh, yeah... watch this..." kind of guy. There really are FEW that are willing to put in the time and effort to be THAT guy. They are your 6 figure guys. The top end of the talent pool if you will. They are few and far between unfortunately. Because they are so few and far between, it often makes machine tools look unnecessarily bad. JM2CFWIW

The easiest thing to do then would be to open up one of his projects and see what he did, what post he used, etc...

Pay less attention to that stuff and more attention running parts. You'll get more done. JM2CFWIW

Understanding the business the way I do, believe it or not, there are legitimate reasons that could be the case where two back to back machines could be configured differently. MC1 is a factory pre-order, configured per the sales order. MC2 on the line was set to be a "stock" machine. Configured in a basic manner. Happens all the time. Dealers and builders shift machine orders all the time for a variety of reasons. Now, "should" a machine tool builder configure all 5-Axis machines the same? That is a legitimate question. A LOT of questions would need to be answered first. JM2CFWIW

There's actually a few parameters that dictate that behavior in various conditions.

I use it strictly for a safe pre-position move. You are absolutely correct in the claim of it not being required. This would fall under the category of a "preference".

TWP is activated independently and before you activate TCP. Usually you do not run them together. TWP is not a rotary type function. It is a 3+2 type function. TCP is the rotary type function. On a FANUC, you would activate things in the following manner; N5T5M06(1/32 Stub LOC Ball E/M - BBT40-MEGAER16-90NL) G49G53Z0.0T6 M08 G131F1(ACTIVATE HIGH SPEED LOOK AHEAD FOR MATSUURA) (Flow ISO-TC39SC2-N2185 Feature - Side 1) S20000M03 M132(UNCLAMP A AND C AXES) G00G90G54A-29.755C-147.24 G54.4 P1(ACTIVATE WSEC) G68.2 X0.0 Y0.0 Z0.0 I-147.24 J-29.755 K0.0(ACTIVATE TWP) G53.1(ACTIVATE SPINDLE DIRECTION) X0.5398Y0.4636 G69(CANCEL TWP) G43.4Z0.5H#517(ACTIVATE TWP) X0.0994Y-1.152Z0.8547 G130(CANCEL HIGH SPEED MODE) G00G90G49(CANCEL TCP) G53Z0.0(MACHINE HOME Z-AXIS) G54.4 P0(CANCEL WSEC)

Definitely a HIGH production machine. I don't see a whole lot of that kind of work. Maybe 1-2 a year.

Only true if you haven't run the vector calibration cycle and if you don't use vectored probing cycles. We always do the vector calibration and use the vector cycles when appropriate.