MastercrapX3

better too shallow than too deep

not a problem for the competent

I would think even at the most basic level, the programmer one way or another dictates the tools cutting. If not, they better get back out on the floor. Btw, NX used to come setup with Planer Milling defaulting to .030 wall and floor stock as the default install values.

-- Bill

X4 has some really cool shit too.

I've never noticed the defaults on that stuff, because I have all of it set to my own favorite defaults.

What happened with the UG job?

-- \|||/ (o o) ______.oOO-(_)-OOo.____________________ ~ Gil ~ the self proclaimed IT13=A9=AE king

What happened with the UG job?

******** First of all I came in relatively low, not realizing the place was and still is on a wage freeze. Then due to people getting better they ran out of programming, so I was running cnc mills at night. Thanksgiving came and no turkey, no nothing. Then a good job opened up as a moldmaker, good pay, benefits, good working conditions, etc... So I sat on a grinder for the first month and a half, loving life, this week....I'm programming. MastercamX3.

Bad part is UG spoiled me big time. I never realized just how cheesy mastercam actually is. it works, and does a lot of stuff, but UG is DaChit!!

Personally, I'm sick of cnc, I'm sick of computers. I'd just as soon stay on my grinder...The day flies on a grinder.

Here Here! Done that been there! I'm sooooooooo happy nowdays, not having to listen to complaints from opperators- can you change this , I dont like that, ya but its alot faster this way- SHUT THE FUCK UP! & just do it! , bosses- we aint making any money. How come this & how come that, doesnt anybody check anything, when ya gonna be done(so I can lay you off) then pulls away in his new Mercedes, BMW or Lexus. Hmmmm shop owners..............

Ya sitting in a "cube" pounding out progies burns you out. Some how its a dis-connection from the shop? The shop floor is our "roots" What goes on out there cannot be put on the tube. Its the real world- so to speak. You make it happen with your own 2 hands, not a mouse or spaceball. I must me getting old.......... nah, wise (ass) because its actually fun now to go to work & "play" in the shop. Not having to worry about shutt-offs, fits, other guys missed work or blown dims,is this nylon mold gonna flash at .0005? how we gonna fix this f*ck-up? & so on......Talk about stress, sleepless nights & bags under he eyes- no thanks. Like I said Done that been there!

Yesterday I had 2 CNC's programmed(H & H Heidenhain&Hurco conversational), setup & running with intermittent "stop hot jobs", whilst drilling,taping & c-boring a few holes in the Bridgeport & every so often back to the polishing bench for de-burr. I think the other guys are pissed I'm hogging machines (& maybe making them look bad?) Naturally this does not happen all the time, only when the jobs are "right" Yur right the days fly by. There's somthing to said about holding nicely finished parts in your hand that you made, unlike CAD data / G-code that vanishes quicker than shit.

Keeping up with all the current software can only help you out. Thats being "well rounded" & good for future job prospects. Got Masterscam- no problem Got UG - no problem Got Cimatron-........... problem

What are you doing using X3 when the latest version is X4 MU3?

Despite some nagging WCS issues (I keep sending them to QC and they do keep getting fixed but on an untimely basis) that have been around since it was first implemented in version 9, X4 MU3 is the most rock solid release of Mastercam to date.

I hope the next release has the capability of using different stock to leave values for drive and check surfaces in high speed surfacepaths. After nearly a decade, I've all but given up hope the WCS will work without tripping you up once in a while.

Resistance is Futile, You WILL be Assimilated. Heh.

What is the WCS? Work Coordinate System? Do you have to move your part to 0 0 0 otherwise to program? Last time I tinkered with Mscam ver9 it had Tooling plane- I believe that sucked too. Drive & Check surfs? You mean leaving different values of stock on the machined surface(drive) as apposed to the surface to stay away from (check surf)? Just trying to compare the latest & greatest X4 MC mu3 to Cimatron IT of 15yrs ago which had all those "Mastercrap's" buggy features your referring to that worked fine in IT. Hmmmm What is it with the worlds #1 selling cam software?

-- \|||/ (o o) ______.oOO-(_)-OOo.____________________ ~ Gil ~ the self proclaimed IT13=A9=AE king

Yes. Is UCS in other systems such as Autocad.

Yes.

Tool planes work well for their intended purpose. 4th axis indexing, tombstones, etc.

Exactly.

Leaving different stock on drive and check surfaces using standard surfacepaths in Mastercam works so well doing so is pretty much mandatory to get decent tool motion at edges. Sometimes all it takes is leaving .00005" less on check surfs than drive surfs to get a tool to "roll" at edges without being ragged or hopping around like a squirrel tweaked out on Red Bull.

That isn't doable in only the high speed surfacing toolpaths.

It keeps selling. Since my employer also uses Cimatron (E whatever the latest version is) I used to have the desire to put forth the effort to learn it. Now, I'm contemplating purchasing a seat of Mastercam for myself. Despite all it warts (some are big fugly nasty ones, too), I've yet to come across anything I couldn't program with it.

Here Here! Done that been there! I'm sooooooooo happy nowdays, not having to listen to complaints from opperators- can you change this , I dont like that, ya but its alot faster this way- SHUT THE FUCK UP! & just do it! , bosses- we aint making any money. How come this & how come that, doesnt anybody check anything, when ya gonna be done(so I can lay you off) then pulls away in his new Mercedes, BMW or Lexus. Hmmmm shop owners..............

Ya sitting in a "cube" pounding out progies burns you out. Some how its a dis-connection from the shop? The shop floor is our "roots" What goes on out there cannot be put on the tube. Its the real world- so to speak. You make it happen with your own 2 hands, not a mouse or spaceball. I must me getting old.......... nah, wise (ass) because its actually fun now to go to work & "play" in the shop. Not having to worry about shutt-offs, fits, other guys missed work or blown dims,is this nylon mold gonna flash at .0005? how we gonna fix this f*ck-up? & so on......Talk about stress, sleepless nights & bags under he eyes- no thanks. Like I said Done that been there!

Yesterday I had 2 CNC's programmed(H & H Heidenhain&Hurco conversational), setup & running with intermittent "stop hot jobs", whilst drilling,taping & c-boring a few holes in the Bridgeport & every so often back to the polishing bench for de-burr. I think the other guys are pissed I'm hogging machines (& maybe making them look bad?) Naturally this does not happen all the time, only when the jobs are "right" Yur right the days fly by. There's somthing to said about holding nicely finished parts in your hand that you made, unlike CAD data / G-code that vanishes quicker than shit.

Keeping up with all the current software can only help you out. Thats being "well rounded" & good for future job prospects. Got Masterscam- no problem Got UG - no problem Got Cimatron-........... problem

****** Well...I have cimitron installed at home for learning purposes and the tutorial. i spent a few weeks screwing around learning the basics. Then this mastercam x thing came up. Soon I will be back on learning cimitron. We will eventually have 2 seats, and the toolpath on mastercam is well....not at the level of UG or what I expect cimitron wil give me.

That stuff you said in the beginning about programming was right on the money. I'm printing that stuff out and tossing it on the bulleting board at work. It's friggen Zen level stuff....Kudos.

I gotta jump in here....Hope ya'll don't mind.

No maint. Ended at 3 when they purchased Cimitron. Maybe you meant MR3? Not MU3?

I made 2 programs, and I just moved the blocks to 0,0,0. The next program I did was going to be with the WCS...but maybe I shouldn't. It's quick to move the block using transform origin and real safe? I'm not using solids, so why bother? What's yall's opinion on that?

I never used the high speed stuff except in a tutorial when it first came out in x2 i think. That limitation of check surfs sux. check surfs rock in mastercam.

Sounds like I shouldn't use it?

I use em to cheat all the time. You can add extra values to walls to keep the tool away a bit more. or to leave polish stock in an area. neat stuff, Ug was very similar.

it's the wallmart of cam systems. It has something for everyone, it's cheap, and works at the basic level.

Yep, I wouldnt buy cimitron or ug if I was contemplating buying my own. Too expensive and requires too much dedication to keep current on. Mastercam is cheap, does it all, but SUX. lol

You spend a lot of time getting the toolpath to verify good in Mastercam. In ug...bang..its done the first time. I still don't know about cimitron. The learning curve is a lot bigger than UG's is and I won't know for a year.

My employer has both. 5 or 6 seats of Cimatron and 4 seats of Mastercam, all are current.

It's "Maintenance Update 3".

Some things break when using WCS. Transforming toolpaths uses system coords. Verify won't run in turbo mode. Stock needs to be defined in (system) top WCS / Cplane /Tplane regardless of WCS. See previous if using STL files written from verify (rest milling stock for example). I recently had a simple revolved toolpath totally bork out when using a WCS. Transforming the geom to system coords solved the problem. Was sent to QC and got a bug log number back. Projecting toolpaths sometimes breaks requiring a transform to system coords. Cplanes relative to WCSs occasionally produce unexpected results when creating geometry. If a fillet screams way out in space, can anyone her it?

I use WCS mainly when machining from multiple sides of a part so I don't have to have copies of the same part transformed into different positions on different levels or in different files. That pretty much covers 95% of what I do. :)

When getting used to using the WCS in Mastercam, DO NOT just fly through it like business as usual. Pay very close attention to what you're doing and expect glitches.

I'm using the high speed stuff more and more especially for roughing and rest roughing. High speed finishing often takes way to long to calculate so I find myself using the standard surfacepaths if smoothing (inside sharp corners in a toolpath) isn't a concern.

Is a major limiting factor in high speed finishing at times.

See above, user beware.

Don't move the part, move the zero. Open the view manager (on the bottom of the screen, click the WCS) and select a new origin, or type it in, there are also options in the right click menu. You can have a different part zero for each view. If you need to rotate the part 90 or

180 or 11.2, you can rotate the graphics view and set the WCS equal to that, then set the new zero and it's all set to program.

Mike C

Me and transform toolpaths are synonymous.

*****

Verify won't run in turbo mode. Stock needs to be defined in

WHAT! Wholly shit! So basically it's worthless!

Yah, and they bleed each month because they deserve it?

Woah!

Thanks for the tutorial.

I didn't know that.

It isn't worthless. It does work. Just not quite like one would expect it to requiring several work around.

It was first implemented in version 9 around the turn of the century.

Perhaps by the end of THIS decade they'll eventually get it right?

One caveat to remember here....when doing this...don't f*ck with your "system views" (ie Top, Front, Back, Right, ect). Changing the origin on system views WILL f*ck things up. Instead, make a copy of whatever view you want to manipulate and change the origin there. Things will play much better.