I am using Solidworks to design my parts and I have the add-in MasterCAM for Solidworks to build my tool-paths and output my g-code. I've tried adding in the MasterCAM X8 post-processor for Mach3 to output my files. I recently saw something about using the update.dll in C-hooks to update the post-processor and I haven't tried this yet. I will be trying it tonight , but I wanted to get this out there to see if anyone knew of a way to get the output for MasterCAM for Solidworks formatted properly. I have noticed that when Mach3 reviews the code in loading that it hangs on what is probably the first IJ command and I wanted to also know if Mach 3 doesn't do IJ interpolation. I've out-put as a standard FANUC post format, and I still have this problem. Could I remedy this by setting all my output to incremental? Just throwing out ideas. Hopefully someone on here knows how to get the correct post-processor for MasterCAM for SW working and I can solve this issue. Thanks.

Just call up MasterCam and ask for a MACH3 post .

Mastercam SHOULD have a post editor in the program. The older versions did.

What exactly was the error message you got on IJs ?

Just a thought, (;-) TP

Called up MasterCAM and they redirected me to my local reseller who I had already spoken with and didn't know what Mach 3 was. It has a post editor, but I don't know enough about the difference in coding to make the changes myself. There is no error message on the IJs. The compile however stops on them when I load up the code into Mach 3. Then if I try to run the program it goes to the first line of I and J's and stops. It's only an assumption on my part as to whether it is actually a problem. I cam going to go over the code I've created for my part tonight and compare it to a program I know works on my machine and see what is different in the code. Thanks though.

OK when it loads and stops on the IJs is there an error message ??

Post some of the code where it stops.

Early Fanuc post tend to wotk ok.  There is a MC post on the Newfangle solutions website under post downloads . Can't say if will work for your version.

(;-) TP

I've tried uploading the MasterCAM posts from the mach 3 post processor page and I can't get them to work. It looks like MasterCAM for Solidworks uses a different file format...with a lot different formatting. I can open the PST file type (standard versions of Mastercam use this format for their Posting script) in Notepad and can actually make sense of all the I/O commands and such ,but the MMD is a scattered mess that isn't legible with Notepad. I finally got a response from MasterCAM that could give me some hope though. So hopefuly I can get it all up and running next week. I'm definitely going to post it up for anyone else who might happen to be running the same setup. Thanks.

OK THE MMD is NOT the post file the post files are still PST. The MMD is the definition file for your machine.

Just a thought, (;-) TP

Thanks. Yeah, once I tried setting it up the way you proposed it worked out great. I ran it doing 3d parallel passes for awhile. Eventually I tried to do some 2d contouring and profiling and ran into a new problem. The code will output but when I put it into Mach 3 it seems to get hung up on the IJ circle commands. Does anyone know how to change the settings so Mach 3 can interpret the radii properly? I think once I have that figured out I will be good to go...I mean MasterCAM is still a ridiculously convoluted over priced/bloated Cam program but it is what I have to work with.

I know it's an old thread and you've probably gotten it all figured out by now, but I've just joined the forums and thought I'd share my insight on this.

I just started with the whole CNC Milling thing within the last couple of months.  I'm using FreeCAD for the modeling software, BobCAD/CAM for generating the tool paths and G-code files and of course Mach 3 for the controller piece.  I ran into what I believe is the same or at least similar situation when getting things set up.  What I found is that the I/J mode needed to be changed to "Incremental" in the General Configuration page.  Prior to this change I was getting an error message about I/J moves.  Once I changed that setting, no more problems.

Hope this helps,

Stephen "Highspeed" Kruse