could be much easier than you think. MPMASTER has a pspindleout and a pfspindleout that would be easy to modify....in fact they are already set up to not output during a rigid tap cycle. It would look something like this if not((opcode$ = 3 | opcode$ = 16) & nextdc$ = 3 & rigid_tap | t$=48 )), *speed, *spindle

agreed.....tho I have found that using toolpaths like dynamic or optirough/volumill/adaptive clearing (all in the same boat) one can do some serious damage in a short amount of time. Treat it like you would inconel and you are in the ballpark

Everything...and I mean EVERYTHING is an option for Fanuc. MTB's should be wise to this...and include things like this.

Dynamic offsets (G54.2) and a tilting axis is not going to happen. http://www.emastercam.com/board/index.php?showtopic=60878&st=0&p=681347&hl=g54.2&fromsearch=1entry681347 It does work great for X,Y & Z & the rotational axis...tilting things really mess things up. See above link

About big-plus and spindle wear....it can and does happen. To what degree....I have no idea. I do know that a 10 year old spindle that has been rode hard is likely to be slightly different than a 1 month old one. Lyndex/Nikken's "3-lock" design is more a forgiving dual contact system.(They use Bellville washers to maintain contact) Downside...you cannot run a 3-lock holder in a standard spindle.

agreed on the curve 5 axis....tho for the tool axis control I would use "Chain" (pick the upper chain) with the "Closest point on chain" option checked. I always get much smoother output using this rather than swarf.

I did this recently inside the MPMASTER post. I added this line to the parameter tables (note...you are going to have to set the table count to the proper size) 10204 cut_tol # Cut tolerance non HST paths JMC Then in your format statements (where is has the number of decimal places output) I added this fmt 2 cut_tol # Cut tolerance surface toolpaths JMC Then in the pstock area I added one line in else, [ n$, pspc, scomm_str, "STOCK LEFT ON DRIVE SURFS = ", *stock, scomm_end, e$ if check<>0, n$, pspc, scomm_str, "STOCK LEFT ON CHECK SURFS = ", *check, scomm_end, e$ n$, pspc, scomm_str, "TOOLPATH TOLERANCE = ", *cut_tol, scomm_end, e$ #JMC <--------this line added in This outputs the value in the red box It would be very easy to do this with the HST paths also.

cheers and thanks!!! A follow up question here....can you do this with a canned cycle or does it have to be in longhand?

All, We recently got a Multus B300 with a OSP-P200L controller on it. We are trying to find an example of how to have a drill spinning in the spindle with the lathe chuck is running also (we call in sync drilling). I have this all figured out for our Mori's....but the Okuma is a different animal. Any examples would be appreciated!

Sure it does.....I just make a custom tool library for each machine. I have a library named "MAM72-63V" that has 200 tools in it....they always stay in the machine. I also have a 120 tool library named "H-plus 630"

Joe hit on a key word here....support. There is a couple of reasons we have 15+ Matsuuras in various vintages and configurations.... 1- They are well built, they don't go down often 2- If they do go down, the support network behind them is excellent to say the least In 20+ years working with Matsuura's, we have had 3 spindles go bad....2 of those were due to an operator putting way lube where DTE oil light is supposed to go. Niigata used to have this reputation also....awesome machine....but now no support. Support is one of the reasons we have never looked into some of the European brands (there are some great bridge mills, horizontal boring mills out of Europe....none of which have good support in the US)

The only time you should be taking a "gage cut" is for the first article. If you find yourself having deviations after that, then likely you have other issues.....taper problems will rear their ugly head every time with inconsistent boring results. You noted that you have problems with chips in the spindles....this should never be an issue with good housekeeping. I have run bores from 1" in diameter to 32" in diameter (manual toolchange that one!) with no issues with repeatability.

Agreed 1000% my Israeli friend. NEVER in my years have I used this "feature". The tip comp thing is kinda useful.....gets you close to the actual "point of the drill", however, putting the actual depth of the hole on an entirely separate page is gust plain stupid.

Why is it that through 5 major releases and 10 minor releases of X it STILL does not work with a 4 axis horizontal UNLESS you put things like an aggregate head in the machine def....or add another rotary axis? This one is getting old already. Now can anyone tell me why they changed the location of tip comp in X5? Below is a screenshot of X4.... Note how tip comp is right there, easy to find...... In X5 some idiot decided to move it to "Collision Control". Can someone PLEASE tell me what tip comp and collision control have to do with each other? Also, how come the installed default for breakthrough with drill 5 axis is set at 1/2 the value of pi? (Literally it is set at 1.570796....1/2 of pi) Maybe its an inside joke at CNC software, however, for us end users, it is annoying at best. Below is a screenshot of the linking parameters page, fixed with my mad paint skills. Even with my custom changes, there is still alot of gray real estate left.

Sad but true. Problem with lower quality and more open tolerances is that it makes the STL compare feature worthless.....which is a great feature that I don't think many utilize. (saved my butt just yesterday) I am very surprised to see this. Everything I have seen says that verify is very CPU dependent.....this warrants further research.

Going off a test I did a few years ago, video cards have NOTHING to do with actual verify speed. The test i did was a GeForce 6800GS vs a Quadro FX4000. Verify times were 100% identical. When it came to things like STL compare, a totally different story. The quadro card smoked the geforce. The Quadro card did make things a bit smoother inside of mastercam also. All of that said, I would never run and CAD/CAM application with onboard video. Been there, tried that, it sucks.

We do about the same thing....cept we use a different machine group for each operation. Then inside of each machine group we have toolpath groups...named things like rough, finish, holes, ect. Lots of parts we do the different operations are done on different machines, so we could have a 3 axis machine group named "stock prep", then a 5 axis machine group, then maybe another 3 axis group.....

I've been down this road MANY times. Everyone seems to like Blaser....I hate the stuff. Leaves a film on parts, the film builds inside a machine so you wind up with a goo thats like something out of a science fiction movie that you have to scrape off once a month. Trim-sol is the same way. Like moldman said, Ho-cut is the way to go. Minimal film, & as long as you take care of it (skimming off the way lube or whatever once a week) the stuff will last forever & not smell like a 2 bit wh0re .<---wow...the language police REALLY have this place locked down...not being able to post WH0RE

Matsuura G-Tech 30i on a H-plus 630...also on a MAM72-63V....tho that one is taken care of by a cell manager

Care to share the details on this? Could/would come in way handy

The limitation I have come up against with using G54.2 in a 5 axis machine with Fanuc controllers is that it only compensates for an offset of the program origin from the rotation center of the C-axis, it doesn’t compensate for an angular displacement for the table surface- IE if a part doesn’t sit square on a fixture.Lets say your guy had to put the A-Axis out minus 2 degrees at C0 for the part to dial in. Rotate to C180, and now your A would have to be positive 2 degrees for the part to dial in. I am not sure about Mazak's flavor of G54.2...tho I can say that Fanuc will not do this. They do have yet another option, G54.4, which does

This can be easily done with a standard peck cycle.....you just have to turn off "used canned cycles" in your control definition. The output is longhand...something like this... G0 G17 G90 G54 X0. Y0. S2515 M03 G43 H1 Z.1 M8 Z-.35 G1 Z-.75 F4. G0 Z-.35 Z-.74 G1 Z-.8 G0 Z-.35 Z-.79 G1 Z-.85 G0 Z-.35 Z-.84 G1 Z-.9 G0 Z-.35 Z-.89 G1 Z-.95 G0 Z-.35 ect

no coolant....air blow. Step up your feed to 140 IPM & leave the RPM where you are at. At 100 IPM with a 10% stepover your chip is too thin....or wait....I think the V-Carb is a 5 fluter....so maybe 178 IPM

I believe this says it all....

This is exactly why I originally wrote As it stands now CNC is not losing a dime to Volumill....in fact CNC could be gaining sales because Volumill can (used to) be used within Mastercam. No matter what, It will be interesting to hear what David has to say.....