Modelman
Titanium
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2007
- Location
- Northern Illinois
Anyone still conversant with MasterCAM Version 9 Mill?
This is a question I should have asked ten years ago, but didn't have a forum to ask, so I'll ask it now.
MasterCAM V9 has the ability to transform a tool path; any discrete toolpath operation can be mirrored, rotated, or translated, either copied or moved. The translation options are Rectangular, which will produce a grid with selectable X and Y spacing; Polar, again with selectable spacing, or Between Points. About once a year I get a job that requires copying the toolpath for a small detail hundreds of times, and because the details are not regularly spaced, Between Points is the only choice. Unfortunately, V9 will only allow me to select one "TO" point at a time, and once it is accepted, requires cycling through three screens to get back to the proper screen to select the next TO point. I'll tell ya, this gets old really fast.
What I'd really like is the ability to make a selection set of the points I want to copy an operation to, using the normal criteria, Window, Mask on Arc, Color, etc., then have V9 automatically copy the operation to all those points.
Lacking that, it would be nice if, as soon as a point is accepted, to immediately return to the screen to select the next point, rather than being kicked all the way out to the main menu.
Anybody ever see a solution to this? Did anyone ever write a "C-Hook" utility that will do this?
Dennis
This is a question I should have asked ten years ago, but didn't have a forum to ask, so I'll ask it now.
MasterCAM V9 has the ability to transform a tool path; any discrete toolpath operation can be mirrored, rotated, or translated, either copied or moved. The translation options are Rectangular, which will produce a grid with selectable X and Y spacing; Polar, again with selectable spacing, or Between Points. About once a year I get a job that requires copying the toolpath for a small detail hundreds of times, and because the details are not regularly spaced, Between Points is the only choice. Unfortunately, V9 will only allow me to select one "TO" point at a time, and once it is accepted, requires cycling through three screens to get back to the proper screen to select the next TO point. I'll tell ya, this gets old really fast.
What I'd really like is the ability to make a selection set of the points I want to copy an operation to, using the normal criteria, Window, Mask on Arc, Color, etc., then have V9 automatically copy the operation to all those points.
Lacking that, it would be nice if, as soon as a point is accepted, to immediately return to the screen to select the next point, rather than being kicked all the way out to the main menu.Anybody ever see a solution to this? Did anyone ever write a "C-Hook" utility that will do this?
Dennis
