thx guys, working fine for me also now. Kyle

Is anyone else having problems getting to there website today? Thx in advance, Kyle

I know this has been asked many times before but when is a realistic date that x will be available, are we talking next year now. I agree not to rush and let most of the bugs out first but I was just wondering if there was a date that cnc is going for. Thanks, Kyle

You could try Tesco, also osg has a line of them also, there is also crystallume and others. Kyle

mill 3 does not have the step, it is also an add on, it allows you to get to the point where you pick the file and then will ask for you codes if you did not purchase the add-on Kyle

thanks for the quick replys, we are running 9.1sp2. Thanks again for the quick responses.

Does mastercam allow you to cut and undercut with say a lollipop type cutter using surface finish contour? What I have is say a cylinder that looks like an hourglass, typically I know when I have used contour and it sees undercuts it goes vertically down the wall. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I got the sw2004 converter for mastercam from my dealer and installed, but still can't open the solidworks 2004 file directly, am I doing something wrong? Thanks in advance.

We are currently looking at purchasing a new machine from Mikron, just wondering if any of you are familiar with these machines, we are looking at them for cutting graphite, we currently have a Bostomatic 32gs. I also see that they come with a Heidenhain iTNC 530, what are your thoughts on this control, is a post hard to come by or are they similar to a Fanuc type controller, I am used the the gf6 from Makino. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

ssaults, If memory serves me correctly, in the knowlegde base of ptc's website it tells you particular setting for different config importing and exporting to other cad/cam systems, although I believe for mastercam it only gives setting for importing files into proe. We typically use absolute accuracy instead of the relative accuracy because we are usually using pro-mold, most of our parts are under a 1/2 inch so we usually start at .0001 absolute accuracy.

We also use proe for design, most of the time iges works very well to bring into mastercam, although now and then there will be a bad surface that won't trim, then I either re-create the bad fillet in mastercam or import the file into solidworks and read the solidworks file in directly. Being we work with small parts we usually set our proe accuracy to 1 tenth. Hope this helps.

thx for the help guys...one limitation we have is no coolant, we will be cutting on a bostomatic graphite mill, plus have to go down a 1/64 for some small corners. Again thx for the help and the quick respones.

I am new to machining plastics, I would greatly appreciate anyones help with speeds and feeds, type of cutter to use, depth cuts and stepovers. Thanks in advance.

Matt, we have a gf6 and exactly what are you looking for, you can mdi a tool change at the control or am I not seeing what you want, is it just a post problem?

Diamond coated endmills work very well in graphite, we currently use 2 types, there are typed that have whats called an amorphous thin film diamond coating with is fairly thin and edges of endmill stay very sharp and are a little easier on the pocket book, then there cvd diamond coated endmills which in the last year have come down alot in price and they are much more available in a wider range of sizes. They tend to have a thicker coating although companies like osp now offer a thin film type, just for reference say a 1/4 dia. ball will run around $100 but they last very well. There are numerous suppliers now some include osg,tesco, and sp3inc. Sp3inc.com has a pretty good website explaining the coating. Here in Wisconsin we have a supplier that grinds there own endmill and sends them out to get coated and have a pretty extensive range of sizes and lengths, if you would like any extra info let me know. Hope that helps a bit.

we've gone to fraisa also...pretty nice cutters

as far as price goes you may want to take another look...you can get a foundation seat of proe for under 5k pretty comparable with solidworks.

for autocad files imported into proe there is a free module called autobuildz for creating 3d solids from 2d models, is not a perfect tool but would be beneficial for new users to proe. I much prefer proe to solidworks, granted ease of use is definately there for solidworks but wildfire has come a long ways, even seems like they were looking at solidworks for ideas, imagine that.

I have looked at purchasing a milltronic, what did you not like about the machines?

key to A2 and D2 is to leave as little grind stock to work with after heat treat. A2 to is not bad to grind D2 can cause headaches. We use A2 alot and D2 for high volume shuttle molds and shuttle molds with stampings. Have not done alot of work after heat treat to these steel beside c-bores and venting.

Try turning the open gl off in screen config, had a puter that took forever loading files and such and that made a huge difference.

I have an 11 tooth external gear I am trying to create, I have root and outside diameters and the circular tooth thickness and am not getting good results, do I need to request more info from the customer...do I need pressure angle,pitch diameter and the diametral pitch. This is probably an easy question but is new to me and I would greatly appreciate any help. Thanks in advance. Kyle

add a surface to fill the hole and will cut like you want.

Saying -.005 will remove .005/side off a dia. If you had a 1.000 dia. it would then cut .9900.

Thanks again for the help Roger and James, I seem to have gotton the curves I need but can't seem to get a surface on them, Mastercam just sits there with the hour glass. I may be doing something wrong. I will try and get a file to the ftp site, I greatly appreciate the help!!