Count me in. I want to do what I can do to help a wounded soldier. I would like to do more to support vets in the future as well when I can, if you know of how to contribute to vets groups. Also isn't the gov't in some way supporting soldiers wounded in combat? I'll email you Lars. Phil

Well, I logged on this late Fri nite to get some Mastercam insights but I was 'hijacked' into this thread. Actually the discussions here are a lot more dignified and intelligent than any other political forum I've ever been on dealing with the real hot button political and moral issues of the day, The Mideast crisis, Good & Evil, Individual vs State, Democracy vs Tyranny,,which I enjoy discussing with mature people. There are so many spoiled, hateful, anti-American, anti-Semetic, pro-Marxist xxxx at large that they make regular on-line discussion impossible. Here's my take. The American revolution, the victory of a rag tag army fighting for Liberty against a tyranical empire triggered a world wide revolution of human rights never known to man. It was actually started when the Puritans escaped from the religious persecutiton of the Church of England. Bear with me now, I'm getting to the point of this thread. This is our inheritance as American citizens. We should wear it proudly, protect and defend it against any threat. One threat as Rekd so eloquently put it is the iilegal immigrant problem. Why? because things basically changed after 9/11 and we are at war now. My grandparents were immigrants too but now that we are in a war to protect our American heritage from enemies who would destroy it, becuase we are free, one of their methods- by crossing our borders, entering our nation illegally, and trying to gain citizenship while plotting agisnt us. Wake up! It's happening! Now, hang on, I'm getting to the point. Mexico is a constitutional democracy on paper. In reality it is an impoverished, un-educated, feudal third world country where land ownwers control the population and the contryside is ruled by drug lords who pay off the police, who in turn protect them becuase their salaries are so low. Voting is rigged and the status quo is maintained by Vincente Fox and his corrupt wealthy 10%. Yadda Yadda Yadda. And that is why they risk their lives to come here, where in the words of an immigrant "the poor are fat". If anyone is still listening, here's the point. Rather than escaping from their own collective karma and destiny, they have to learn from us, stand and fight the corruption around them rather than importing it here with them. After 9/11 the definitions changed and those nations and peoples who don't fight against the onslaught of tyranny, cannot be considered democracies, on the side of the free world. Rudy Guilliani is helping stem the corrupton there and that is a good thing. We should help them. We are now importing Liberty to the rest of the world rather than welcoming populations fleeing tyranny. They must use the American revolution as their guide and if there is a provision in the Mexico's constitution to overthrow their gov't if it becomes corrupt and tyrannical, they should follow it. And we should give whatever support we can like Haiti rather than propping up Mideast monarchies and Latin American puppet dictatorships. But that is going in another direction, when I'm really about trying to imporve my Mastercam skills. Phil

Thanks guys. Oops! DXF not DFX. That's how long it's been since using Autocad. Phil

Just be careful with 6061. Its a gummy material and can choke up the cutter. Use 2-3 flute cutters and give the cuts plenty of breathing room. ie, if you are contouring use multi-passes. Get that flood coolant hooked up ASAP! Phil

+1 to all! Way to go guys. Now let the rest of the country say it to Ted Ralls the wacko cartoonist and his ilk. Phil

Just a simple 'I forgot' question (if you don't use it, you loose it). Can an Autocad drawing file be imported into MC with dimensions? Will the dim appear in MC if it's brought in as a DXF, IGS and as a DWG file? Thanks Fellas Phil

His name is Ted Rall and he's syndicated cartoonist who's a delusional wacko. His email is [email protected] and I'm writting to tell him to pack his bags and get out of my country so he can claim I'm violating his 1st ammendment rights. Go live in Syria for a year and see what fundamental human rights really means. Evidently he was canned from the NYT of all venues! Phil

I am a part time instructor at the college and adult ed levels and have taught beginner level MC courses. I devised some basic projects of my own based upon existing turorials but would always be interested in sharing and learning new approaches. Please add me to the list. Phil

To avoid crashes, (becuase I had too many) I would change the lines: N70 G43 H1 Z.1 N80 G99 G81 Z0. R.1 F2.5 to: N70 G43 H1 Z2. N80 Z.1 N90 G99 G81 Z0. R.1 F2.5 Then I would single block it, lower the feed on the override and watch the dist to go page!!! Mucho safe! Phil

I'm a little late, but you can assign a button to it as well. Phil

Thanks, Eeyore. I owe you a few beers. Phil

Can I create a swept surface from 2 across contours and 2 along? I thought I was able to, but it seems MC will only allow 2 or more across and 1 along. Or on the other hand, 1 across and 2 along. Is this true? Hope I am wrong. Phil

Jim, it can't hurt I'll give it a try with a G94 & some others at the top. Thanks. Phil teh

Thanks Les for the suggestion, but as Nadeem corretly stated it is a control issue, not the nc code. Welcome to the forum! Nadeem, any idea what settings in the control need to be changed? The default is a G94 which is Inch per minute feed rate. Phil

Yes, I mean restart the VMC. The last time the problem occurred it was on this line of code: G01Z-.05F25. It moved at 1/100 the feed rate and the control G & M parameters page read F.2 ! Phil

No it's unchecked by default. Once the 1% feed rate reduction kicks in, it occurs on all G01 moves. Go figure. Phil

I got problems Unexpectedly sometimes in the middle of a program run, the feed rate jumps to exactly 1% of its prgrammed value on G01 moves. If the cutter is moving at F20. it suddenly jumps to F.2 !!! I am programming in V8.1 using MPCIN850.PST to post. The VMC is a Cincinatti Milacron Sabre 750 with an Acramatic 850SX control. Shutting it down and starting it up sometimes remedies the problem for a little while. Now it's happening more frequently than before. Help!! Thanks again to all for your help and/or sympathy, Phil

Thanks to you guys in warmer climates! Have one more on me Eeyore! Phil

That clarifys another problem with bending and warping when I was cutting thin Polypro parts. Fortunately the warping wasn't an issue and there wasnt enough $$ in the job to filp it a few times. George, my spindle barely cranks out a measly 6000! It would be nice to have decent equipment! Phil

Can someone clear up some questions on DNC and file transfer ? Just a bit fuzzy on this. 1. Can I use Mastercam communcations for transferring files to the control via the RS232 cable? I have used it in the past for DNC which works great, but never used it for simply sending files (not drip feeding) and running them from the control (for Haas & Fanuc controls) 2. Can the DNC Transmission feature included in CImco Edit be used to transfer files to the control as well as to DNC? Thanks in advance for anyone still indoors like me on this nasty rainy Sunday in NY! Phil

Pat Tillman is a true hero that I can only shake my head in awe. He never wanted recognition or press coverage of his decision to do the right thing for Liberty after 9/11. So many other undecorated heroes go unreported by the media which tends to focus in on the bad news, the drug use, steroids and bad examples in the limelight. But Pat is just one example of the courageous volunteer soldiers fighting overseas so we can enjoy freedom here at home, becuase if they werent there, the enemies of freedom would bring the fight to our shores as we have seen on 9/11. Fight on courageuos soldiers and we will stand behind you all the way! Phil

Thanks, my friends. Sounds like I'll be having a fun week except for the burrs or strings, maybe similar material cutting parameters to the polypro job I recently did. Phil

I will be getting in a job to machine 50 small parts in high temp nylon involving milling & turning. Never having machined this plastic before I submit to the knowlegeable opinions of my friends on the forum. What speeds & feeds, air or coolant etc. Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Phil

How about propeller beanies?

Tried some of Eeyores tips, to avoid breaking up a ruled surface into single selections. Tiny corner fillets work great. Converting to splines doesnt work - still outputs sharp corners as does synching it by entity. Thanx guys. Phil