AFAIK, the answer is no. And it sucks.

Since they don't have to be end cutting....how bout just cutting one off?

Someone changed something. Either the program, tool offset (height or dia). A machine does not run something fine once and then do something weird. Someone changed something & is not coming clean.

picture is worth a thousand words......

Thanks Ernie. These tools are a "must have".

Bingo! I did have to save my .workspace file after doing this but it did work. Thanks!

Correct, it is in the verisurf preferences. I make my changes there, restart mastercam, they come back on. I make my changes again, save my workspace file, restart mastercam, they come back on. I try again, saving my .config file and my .workspace file, they come back on when I restart mastercam. I just cant get a setting to "stick"

hmmm...does not seem to be sticking. I am using the design.workspace file. I make the changes, save my .workspace file (the date modified changes, so i am sure it is saving) and restart mastercam. the verisurf WCS gnome shows up again.

Is there any way to get these to stay off when you restart mastercam? its easy enough to go into verisurf preferences and turn them off, tho it is a little annoying to have to do it each time I fire up mastercam.

Like Tim I use smachpath. It works pretty good, tho if I were to do it again I would use smachinedesc. In one post I have Yasnac, siemens & fanuc machines, both horizontal & verticals. Seems like all use mfg specific codes for things like rigid tapping. It was a bit of work to get set up, tho it makes updating the post a breeze.

Fortunately the 1 bore that is in aluminum is on a size by itself. 4 bores, 4 different sizes. Although 1 bore is only .001 larger than another one......another tool to the pile, another $2000 for a boring head.

Pretty easy to homebrew your own....get one of THESE & cut to suit. very easy geometry to duplicate.

Ever get the mylar overlay prints? just set your part on a piece of mylar & if it falls within the outline is good. Simple concept unless the part is 3 dimensional....like they all are....

Got a part coming up...small production run with the potential of becoming many. has 4 different bores, ranging from 1.380 in dia to 1.850 in diameter. Kicker is all the bores are +.0003 minus nothing....so .0003 total tolerance on the bores. All have true position of .001, however, all the datums can be machined in the same setup as the bores so that doesn't bother me so much. The part is cast aluminum...one of the bores is in the aluminum and the other 3 are in 4130 sleeves that are pressed into the part. The .0003 tolerance does make me raise any eyebrow tho. I have used romicron heads in the past & they are easily adjustable to holding that tolerance. My question is will they repeat toolchange after toolchange? I have my choice of machines to run them on, our Mori NH5000 or the Matts H-plus 405 are the leading candidates. The shop running these previous were having the bores jig ground to size. They also had a 50% scrap rate from position & size problems. So...possible to do consistently with boring heads? any thoughts?

Biggest issue I come across is say a pocket is 1 inch square. Paper print has a tolerance of +.000 -.030 Model is drawn at 1 inch. Programmer does not catch this....part is cut & its on the edge of nothing or scrap....

Machine Def's, posts & tool libraries are all on the server here. I tried op defaults but noticed some lag. With those 3 things on the server I never noticed any lag at all. We have 6 or 7 seats in the milling department here....the thought of going to each computer to update a library is enough to make me want to bang my head. Then I would run into an issue where someone would accidentally recreate tools, or make tools & not define them correctly. Or they would go in and ph*** around with the machine def, messing things up.....moving these to the network made it possible for me to make them "read only" to the majority of the users in the shop.

I gave up on circle 5 axis when I found out it linearized the arcs. Whats even worse, I never did find a setting for the tolerance it used to linearize. Till it works like regular circle mill, its just one of those things that is there but is never gonna get used.

I dare ya...get this one. http://www.ganeshmachinery.com/site/Products/3-5-Axis-VMC/5-Axis-VMCs/5X-8.aspx Curious to see how a machine made in India holds up. I have a feeling I would beat the xxxx outa it in a week. This one is much more promising.... http://www.matsuurausa.com/matsuura-machining-centers/mx-850

The graphic improvements are so nice...that makes it worth it all in itself.

bunch of vids on youtube http://www.youtube.com/channel/UChJt5ruSkqnmFH44WsXVZLw

Crazy....5 flutes for alum? you got it.... http://benchmarkcarbide.com/catalog/products/55050020.html Benchmark does make some nice stuff.

Good call Joe....checking this route.

All, I have been given a project where I must reach right about 10 1/4" deep with a 1" cutter. The part will be set up on a 50 taper horizontal. I thought I found a source for the tools that I need to reach this length....using modular screw on heads, as the attached pic shows. Korloy has a carbide shank in their catalog that would allow me to reach this depth and have plenty left to put up in a holder. unfortunatly no stock in the US or Korea. Anyone got a source for some LONG extensions that will allow me to reach this depth AND give me a couple of inches to hold on to? I have looked and I can get there by stacking up extensions, however I would rather have a 1 piece setup. No particular brand loyality, as long as the thing works. I did notice that Dapra has an 11" long extension that would work but is made of heavy metal (tungsten) rather than carbide. Seems to me that on this much of an overhang, I want as much rigidity as possible, so not sure if heavy metal would work. http://dapra.com/cutting/modularheads.htm Thoughts/advise? Thanks!

had a similar issue a few years back......

picometer.... 1 millionth of a micron? I don't even want to think of those tolerances.