Hmmmm....Maybe CNC is planning on adding the "Dynamic" and "Optirough" as another add on???? IOW....charging people to use those paths???? Lets hope not.

Ok, getting more into some of the newer paths in X5. Optirough to be specific. When I post out, MPMASTER (an updated X4 version) spits out the operation note "(TOOLPATH - FLOWLINE.........)" during a Optirough operation. I downloaded the X5 MPMASTER, but it does not appear that Optirough has been added in that one either. Has anyone gone through and added this in?

before X5, this was easy to do. Now that they decided to move things to machine specific folders....its a PITA For example, the mastercam .kmp (keymap) file is located here on my machine..... C:\USERS\JAMES.cvm\DOCUMENTS\MY MCAMX5\CONFIG\MASTERCAM.kmp on a machine with a different user it would be something like this.... C:\USERS\joeblow.cvm\DOCUMENTS\MY MCAMX5\CONFIG\MASTERCAM.kmp thats just figuring bother users are running windows 7....the paths in Windows XP are different. all of these paths are in the .config file....pretty much what I have started to do is make a config file for each computer and run a .bat file to copy all of my preferred settings.

M22 (UNCLAMP) G54.2 P1 G0 G17 G90 G54 B90. X-17.0139 Y5.4693 S600 M03 M21 (CLAMP) G43 H#518 Z12. blah blah blah G0 Z12. M05 G0 G90 G49 G53 Z0. G54.2 P0 M01 One thing you need to make 100% sure of...When you make a move with your rotary axis, make sure you have you X, Y & Z called out along with your rotational axis (or axis's in case of a 5 axis). The above example I don't have a Z because the rotation is called out with it retracted. However, during a full 4th or 5th axis move, you need to have all axis's called out on the same line.

Try Surface Finish/Blend. Can be made to work like flowline, between 2 curves.

What I came up a while ago in excell.... =(.5(Tool Dia/WOC))/SQRT((Tool Dia/WOC)-1)*desired chip thickness (WOC = width of cut, so at 10% stepover with a .5 tool is = to .05) so to work it out... .5(.500/.05) = 5 sqrt ((.500/.05)-1) = 3 say you want a .003 chip (5/3)*.003=.005 so you program for .005/tooth

another worthy program worth mentioning is Multi-DNC. It has some features dealing with version control that might be right up your alley.

Please tell us you are installing X5....not V5

Point can & will do this...tho it is a bit cumbersome. If you don't do it that often, it is a good option. If you use it alot...custom drill cycle is the way to go

I have seen Mori's like this also.... in the PSOF$ section of your post you should have a line that looks something like this: pbld, n$, *t$, "M6", e$ Change to this pbld, n$, *t$, e$ pbld, n$, "M6", e$ Above example would be a MPFAN post

Very cool idea. We have some machines that need to have the dia/length offset match, and some machines that we need to add 30 to the dia offset. Either way looks to be easy & slick to add to the post.

I cannot figure out how to get rid of a error file from being posted using a horizontal machine def. We use the same post for our verticals and never get the error file. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <0> - Report created. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Initialize posting log file 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Using MP run version 14.00 and post components version 14.00 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Initiate opening the post processor file(s). 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\POSTS\MPMASTER.PST 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - The post processor file has been successfully opened. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Post version information (input): 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - UPDATEPOST Version 14. was used to modify this file. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - The file was modified by this product on 03 Jan 11 11:19:06 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - The post was written to run with Mastercam Version 14. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - The post product type is Mill. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Initialization of pre-defined post variables, strings, postblocks was successful. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Search for defined post variables, strings, postblocks was successful. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'mtol was re-initialized from 0.0001 to 0.00001 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'met_mtol was re-initialized from 0.001 to 0.0001 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'ltol was re-initialized from 0.0005 to 0.002 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'maxrad was re-initialized from 999.9999 to 999. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'met_maxrad was re-initialized from 9999.999 to 9999. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'helix_tol was re-initialized from 0.0005 to 0.0001 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'met_helix_tol was re-initialized from 0.005 to 0.001 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'atol was re-initialized from 0.5 to 0.01 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'dec_seq_right was re-initialized from 3. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'dec_seq_left was re-initialized from 3. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'omitseq was re-initialized from 0. to 1. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'sub_seq_typ was re-initialized from 0. to 1. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'bldnxtool was re-initialized from 0. to 1. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'nobrk was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'nobrkxz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'nobrkyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lnobrk was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lnobrkxz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lnobrkyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'arcoutput was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'arcoutputxz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'arcoutputyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'larcoutput was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'larctypexz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'larcoutputyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'breakarcs was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'breakarcsxz was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'breakarcsyz was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lbreakarcs was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lbreakarcsxz was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lbreakarcsyz was re-initialized from 0. to 2. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'do_full_arc was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'do_full_arcxz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'do_full_arcyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'ldo_full_arc was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'ldo_full_arcxz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'ldo_full_arcyz was re-initialized from 1. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'rotfeed4 was re-initialized from 2. to 1. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'rotfeed5 was re-initialized from 3. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'lrotfeed4 was re-initialized from 2. to 1. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - CONTROL DEFINITION - Post variable 'sub_level was re-initialized from 0. to 0. 07 Feb 2011 08:18:53 AM - <2> - Successful completion of posting process! I have it set to only keep the file during fatal errors....but I am not seeing one. Any thoughts?

A few of us here have been seeing this issue. I am glad that it has been identified and is fixed...tho I am severely pi$$ed that CNC Software would let a bug like this just go & make us wait for the next MU & at the same time not give even a ballpark release date. So what do we get to do now....go back to X4??? Thats like leasing a new car but having to drive last years model. Grow some stones CNC Software...quit fixing real bugs that cause real issues by waiting to do a complete MU. How bout an old school service pack?

Works till you have to use the same cutter to do a contour. CNC Software should fix this one.

I remember a while back this caught me....I wound up deleting the whole area in the post responsible for the "R" output on an arc....in the parc section of the post I believe you can just try to comment them out & see what happens if you do have your control def to output "R"'s. If I remember right...it did delta start to center...then again its been a while

Very cool idea.....& I like that it can be implemented "today"....and going off of that....sounds like CNC Software should talking to Sandvik to totally refine it into lathe.

I think most people here with their bias toward nVidia cards are still living in V9 days. ATI and V9 got along as well as Israel and Iran. Since the original version X came out....things are a bit different. Mastercam changed their engine...ATI was bought out by AMD....its a different world. That being said....I have used both nVidia's and ATI's cards. The "workstation" cards (ie the Quadro and fireGL) cards do have some very subtle differences vs. the gaming cards in Mastercam. Little things like in your tool manager...when you go to the filter....with a gaming card it is tough to tell what category (flatmill, bullmill, ballmill, ect) is highlighted and what is not. With the workstation cards it is obvious. As far as the difference between a Quadro and a fireGL...I think it is a toss up for quality. On the very high end market nVidia has the advantage....however mastercam's graphics are far from what I would call high end. End of story is that I have had great luck with fireGL cards with and with any "X" version. As far as verify time....a few years back I did testing with a Quadro FX 4000 and a GeForce 6800 (and also did the softquadro thing to the 6800) and found no difference. At the time verify seemed processor dependent (and I would bet that it still is)

This is what I do also....I will put a .005 fillet at the beginning of my chain....works great.

old forum to Paul. I must be looking at toooo many things.....to "if's" in a statement

the .pst file extension did not change....tho it did make a backup with a .pst_vX4 extension. I figured a work around...not very elegant but it works. There should be something simpler than this... if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode Mcam X4 [ mach_type = 5 smachname = "V-MAX800 3AX" result = newfs(18, dwell$) #Reset the output format for 'dwell' use_pitch = 1 #0 = Use feed for tapping, 1 = Use pitch for tapping fan_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output M29 Fanuc) yas_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G93 Yasnac) sie_rigid_tap = 1 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G95 Siemens) hstype = 2 #high speed type ] if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD-5", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode (Mcam X5) [ mach_type = 5 smachname = "V-MAX800 3AX" result = newfs(18, dwell$) #Reset the output format for 'dwell' use_pitch = 1 #0 = Use feed for tapping, 1 = Use pitch for tapping fan_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output M29 Fanuc) yas_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G93 Yasnac) sie_rigid_tap = 1 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G95 Siemens) hstype = 2 #high speed type ]

I have updated the post. X4 still works with it. Near as I can tell...the only thing that the update post does is change the very first line.

OK, I am using a modified version of MPMASTER. I use "smachinepath" to cpature what machine definition is being used to set things like dwell format, what kind of high speed machining, rigid tap output ( we have Siemens, Yasnac, and Fanuc controls and they are all different) So right now my section looks like this.. if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode [ mach_type = 5 smachname = "V-MAX800 3AX" result = newfs(18, dwell$) #Reset the output format for 'dwell' use_pitch = 1 #0 = Use feed for tapping, 1 = Use pitch for tapping fan_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output M29 Fanuc) yas_rigid_tap = 0 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G93 Yasnac) sie_rigid_tap = 1 #0 = Floating tap output, 1 = Rigid tap output (suppress spindle output and output G95 Siemens) hstype = 2 #high speed type ] Works great with X4. However, in X5 they renamed the machine definition extension to MMD-5....so the first line would look like this: if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD-5", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode Problem is we still want to be able to use X4 for the next little bit and still have it work for X5 I have tried both of these combinations and neither work... if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD" | "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD-5", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD" | if smachinepath = "P:\MASTERCAM MACHINES\MACHINES\V-MAX800 3AX.MMD-5", # V-Max 800, G95 to start rigid tap mode Any ideas???? [edit] the "smachinepath" is captured here... if prmcode$ = 19105, smachinepath = ucase(sparameter$) #capture path to determine what machine def is being used

What controller? Anything older than an Yasnac I-80 I would not look at them. However, the I-80 is a very good rock solid control. Downside is that they are limited on memory and high speed toolpaths will choke it up. We have on that we have been running for something like 12 years. Only problem...and the only problem I can remember is that a spindle bearing froze up. Fortunately...8000RPM spindles are not so picky...it is possible to do them yourself. This machine still runs a ballbar test with less than .0004 error. Not bad at all......

Does it have a upper and lower turret? If so....look elsewhere [cough]Esprit or NX[/cough] Single turret....should be not much of a problem...although....currently Mastercam will do diddly squat for simulation...IOW...there are more robust solutions out there

tokenized??? tokenization???? gotta say I have never heard of these terms....I can also say that I have had machine and control def's and post on our network since X first came out and have never had an issue. It makes things like managing them easier....rather than going to 5 seats to update a post or a definition, you do it once. X5 maps just fine to the network location.