What's new
What's new

mastercam support pushing additional training?

cnczack

Aluminum
Joined
Sep 14, 2020
I've been programming for my shop now for a year and about 2 months back we had training from the re-seller. he came out for 2 days. I gained a lot of knowledge with this training but he told me to continue to reach out to support with ANY questions. Fast forward 2 months and i occasionally contact support. sometimes once a week if i get stuck. sometimes less sometimes more.

now last time I contacted support they took 2 days to get back with me (usually very quick response time). then the tech support manager suggested online style training through them. now as far as my programming abilities go, id like to think i can program anything but occasionally struggle, hence "support" calls. i do reach out to them regularly because thats what i was told upon the last training course.

im kind of insulted at the suggestion and me still being newer in this position i dont want to look like i dont know what im doing but basically my question is.. is this normal of a reseller to do? i know thats where they make a lot of money. does it make me look bad as a programmer for them to mention training after just 2 month of them being here? im open to any and all thoughts.
 
It's normal depending on what your question is. I've had this happen to me too with a a couple different softwares. If your question is something like, why can't I extract this curve from my model, even though I am pressing the right button, they'll help. If your question is "So how do I create a curve?" (obviously oversimplifying here, not saying you don't know how to create a curve), they'll basically tell you that they're not there to train you. Training always costs money and they don't want to train you for free.

If it's something that they reasonably feel like you should know how to do, they will respond like that. That being said, what issue are you having? A lot of times you'll have better luck asking those kinds of questions on a forum like here or Emastercam.
 
im having a variety of questions. my last two messages to support (over a 3 week time span) have been. "errors when opening a file"& "thread mill goes deep on one hole of 4", "how do i use my stock to have incremental drill heights on my material that is not matching my finished part, that i have models of both". kind of personalized questions that i find hard to search for. also some of these are very time sensitive. where the program may an hour away from running or currectly running so i feel the need to reach out to them. also i have never tried posting on forums. what are the best besides this one? ive only recently made an account because this website stays very active.
 
Also just to follow up on how many questions ive sent in to them. since meeting with them 2 months ago ive sent 7 support related questions..
 
im having a variety of questions. my last two messages to support (over a 3 week time span) have been. "errors when opening a file"& "thread mill goes deep on one hole of 4", "how do i use my stock to have incremental drill heights on my material that is not matching my finished part, that i have models of both". kind of personalized questions that i find hard to search for. also some of these are very time sensitive. where the program may an hour away from running or currectly running so i feel the need to reach out to them. also i have never tried posting on forums. what are the best besides this one? ive only recently made an account because this website stays very active.

I agree with you, those kinds of questions should be answered with tech support IMO. Have you used the zip to go utility to send them files? That will help your case, as well as them getting a little more detail than "how can I do this". I think if they see, for example, you have built a couple solid models to try and program for/with, it shows you have put effort into figuring it out, and you are not trying to "mooch" free training from them.

As far as one thread mill going to deep, that might be a glitch that might be resolved by closing Mastercam and re-opening and regening the toolpath. Had that happen to me last week. Showed 4 chains in geometry, but when I ran backplot had a mysterious 5th chain that it was doing a (wrong) toolpath for. I selected, rechain all, but it kept picking an extra chain somehow. Delete duplicates, delete wireframe and redo the add curves function, nothing worked. After a restart it was fine.
 
im having a variety of questions. my last two messages to support (over a 3 week time span) have been. "errors when opening a file"& "thread mill goes deep on one hole of 4", "how do i use my stock to have incremental drill heights on my material that is not matching my finished part, that i have models of both". kind of personalized questions that i find hard to search for. also some of these are very time sensitive. where the program may an hour away from running or currectly running so i feel the need to reach out to them. also i have never tried posting on forums. what are the best besides this one? ive only recently made an account because this website stays very active.

Emastercam. If it is time sensitive, you might as well post your questions here and on Emastercam while you're waiting on support. There's plenty of people here that would be happy to help.
 
EXACTLY! Thats what im thinkning. ive done 90% of the work. just tell me where im going wrong so i can get the damn part out lol. ive used zip files when sending so they see exactly what im doing. when they dont get back with me within a timely manner i do call them so i can talk with someone to get the ball moving faster.

The thread mill i ended up finding out that if you select the side of a whole sometimes it picks up the bottom of the hole as an incremental depth, which i didnt know going from 2017-2021 where in 2017 that wasnt even possible.
 
For direct Mastercam questions, use EMastercam Forums. The wealth of knowledge there is typically going to serve you better, and faster, than any support you can get from this forum or even your reseller.
 
One other thing, MCX support varies wildly by region. In northern IN I got same day support probably 90% of the time. Tampa area , FL, a week easy, with way too many "I don't know" answers...
 
I've been programming for my shop now for a year and about 2 months back we had training from the re-seller. he came out for 2 days. I gained a lot of knowledge with this training but he told me to continue to reach out to support with ANY questions. Fast forward 2 months and i occasionally contact support. sometimes once a week if i get stuck. sometimes less sometimes more.

now last time I contacted support they took 2 days to get back with me (usually very quick response time). then the tech support manager suggested online style training through them. now as far as my programming abilities go, id like to think i can program anything but occasionally struggle, hence "support" calls. i do reach out to them regularly because thats what i was told upon the last training course.

im kind of insulted at the suggestion and me still being newer in this position i dont want to look like i dont know what im doing but basically my question is.. is this normal of a reseller to do? i know thats where they make a lot of money. does it make me look bad as a programmer for them to mention training after just 2 month of them being here? im open to any and all thoughts.

Couple of things:

Mastercam University is free until the end of the year I think. Mastercam University

Also, if the training is free for you then take it. Mastercam has so many ways of doing things you're bound to pick up something you didn't know, or find a better way of doing what you've been doing and it will only make you better. I've been programming around 20 years or so now and I'm still picking up new things with it. Plus they update so things change. If you're really confident in your abilities and it's just a matter of getting to know the software better then why wouldn't you do it? If you're worried about saving face or whatever it's really no problem just tell the boss it's a huge program with many ways to do things and you want to see if they can teach you to do it better.
 
Full disclosure.....
I use Gibbscam not Mastercam.....(I actually teach a class)I give my students my personal email and tell them I am not tech support....but i am willing to help if i can after normal business hours but Customer support should be the first go to.I think my comments will be valid across formats.
If you need help with something TODAY then the reseller or tech support should be able to help you in a timely manner. If it is a "do or die" type question they should be willing to talk to you on the phone and/or via a facetime...go to meeting etc. When i first started with Gibbscam I even had our reseller do a portion of a part for me that was above my ability that we needed done asap. They should want you to be successful with their software. Especially if your company is paying the maintenance fee. (I would argue even if they arent maintenance)
I would recommend taking whatever classes are reasonably available. If the class is a good class it will answer questions you dont know you have. You may find you have been doing something that could be done in a much easier fashion. Many companies will reimburse for the class fee.
Alternatively, there are many videos that a person can watch that help with most (all???) CAM systems. I learen better face to face with someone able to answer questions. Alot of ppl do fine with the video or remote learning model.
My personal view is that I dont look negatively on ppl who want to get additional training......I do look negatively at ppl who arent self-aware enough to realize when they do need it.
 
i know thats where they make a lot of money. does it make me look bad as a programmer for them to mention training after just 2 month of them being here? im open to any and all thoughts.

Training is free until the end of the year, take advantage of it!!
Does it make you look bad? Who knows, maybe the questions you had were....basic elementary questions? (Didn't read the entire thread).

I've been programming Mastercam since the mid-90's and even I've looked over their training once in a while,because there's always something to learn or even something insignificant and small that I might pick up on that would make my QOL better.
 
Last edited:
Training is free until the end of the year, take advantage of!!
Does it make you look bad? Who knows, maybe the questions you had were....basic elementary questions? (Didn't read the entire thread).

I've been programming Mastercam since the mid-90's and even I've looked over their training once in a while,because there's always something to learn or even something insignificant and small that I might pick up on that would make my QOL better.

I never thought using the mouse wheel to scroll drop down menus instead of clicking would have that great an impact on my life, but it has.
 
Training is free until the end of the year, take advantage of it!!
Does it make you look bad? Who knows, maybe the questions you had were....basic elementary questions? (Didn't read the entire thread).

I've been programming Mastercam since the mid-90's and even I've looked over their training once in a while,because there's always something to learn or even something insignificant and small that I might pick up on that would make my QOL better.


I did their free online training about 3 months back. also a little on my background. i did 2 years of schooling for an associates in programming and machining about 7 years ago. I did E mastercam online training in 2017 on lathe and mill. it seems like no matter how much you know, theres always a little tip or trick that opens up a whole snow ball of information. However this is the first time in a dedicated programmer position.
 
They always try to sell more :(

I've been programing for years using Mastercam and still have to contact support line time to time,
this is what you pay for - support
anyway i went through many of formal trainings (there are free courses in mastercam university now)
and also learn new things from youtube videos from people that actually use mastercam on daily basis

You can check out youtube channels:
Mastercam channel is a must
ASPE aerospace engineering - i like this one for multiaxis learning and you can download 3d model for each tutorial
Caminstructor - good short clips showing some very basic stuf, i like it


Mastercam releases new version of the CAM every year so we all need to learn something new constantly
Best solution for me was to watch youtube clips and practice
Being honest all those expensive trainings didnt give me as much as my own research, utube tutorials and practice
 
I've been programming for my shop now for a year and about 2 months back we had training from the re-seller. he came out for 2 days. I gained a lot of knowledge with this training but he told me to continue to reach out to support with ANY questions. Fast forward 2 months and i occasionally contact support. sometimes once a week if i get stuck. sometimes less sometimes more.

now last time I contacted support they took 2 days to get back with me (usually very quick response time). then the tech support manager suggested online style training through them. now as far as my programming abilities go, id like to think i can program anything but occasionally struggle, hence "support" calls. i do reach out to them regularly because thats what i was told upon the last training course.

im kind of insulted at the suggestion and me still being newer in this position i dont want to look like i dont know what im doing but basically my question is.. is this normal of a reseller to do? i know thats where they make a lot of money. does it make me look bad as a programmer for them to mention training after just 2 month of them being here? im open to any and all thoughts.


First of all you don't know shit about Mastercam. Don't take this wrong I was in the same shoes as you when it came to learning a new software package. I was also a reseller also and did tech support so I know what is like to be on both sides of doing support and asking for support. You think you know enough to be dangerous with after 2 days of training but I will tell you that you probably got the basic training which did not expose to the bells and whistles of Mastercam. It will take a lot of time to really learn a package and I would suggest to get some follow up training but set up the training to be what you want to learn. Send the reseller a couple of files and explain in detail what you want to achieve which gives them times to prepare your training.


As a reseller who did tech support I can tell you how frustrated people can get on the phone with trying to explain their problem. Some of worst situations I encountered was having a person now understanding how to use a mouse. For example right click the mouse and they will click the left button or hold the right mouse button down too long to get the shortcut popup to show up. It is not easy telling a person what they doing wrong because they think it is the software issue. When I did support there was nogo meetings, I had to have a person email me their file back in the 56K modem days. One more thing tech support is not teaching you how to use the software over the phone which is a problem some people seem to have a hard time understanding.
 








 
Back
Top