Metric Tools in Inch Toolpaths

[yongchiprsnapr]

if been trying on and off to get, metric tools to work in an inch design, everytime, say i put in a 5mm endmill it displays a 5 inch endmill. would be nice when running small contours and pockets, to be able to do it?

ive even tried to change the diameter of a new tool into the inch decimal equvilent. however still in the mm tools. could you put it in the inch tools folder, but with a tool name of 5mm?

[Mike Mattera]

If your in Inch mode, just grab a 1/4 inche end mill and for the diameter key in "5mm" and Mastercam will convert it to inches for you.

Mike Mattera

[yongchiprsnapr]

haha, is it really that easy. never thought of that. thanks mike

[Superman]

Just to take Mike's info a little further

Mastercam has the ability to convert metric to inch and visa-versa

eg
type 3mm in a inch setup will convert to 0.1152
or .125in in a metric setup will display a 3.175

This applies to any field requiring a dimensional input value
( this depends on your system config as to the number of decimals to display )

[ObrienDave]

MasterCam will also do simple formulas in an input box.
You can enter the conversion as 5/25.4 to get the inch equivalent.
Multiplying or dividing by 25.4 is accurate to 14 or so decimal places.

[Mike Mattera]

Actually you can use any type of units.

12ft Feet
12cm Centimeters
12in Inches
12km Kilometers
12m Meters
12um Microns
12mm Millimeters
12yd Yards

#pi will return 3.14159265

12d 30' 30" = 12° 30min 30seconds = 12.5083

and the math is handy when your doing fractions. 5/16 will return .3125

12Ft 8in 3/16 = 152.1875 (144 + 8 + .1875)

Go to Help ad search for "data entry shortcuts".

[yongchiprsnapr]

ok, so i tried it a couple of days ago. just wondering if its right, never cut chips. but i used a 1/4" tool. and put the 5mm into the diameter. on the backplot, it still shows the inch tool? because the tool went over the contour boundaries. but looks like it would cut properly for the smaller metric tool.

[Superman]

OK, you put "5mm" in the dia box, it then should have immediately converted it to 0.1969, you then get a dialog box asking if you are modifying, or creating a tool or to cancel, you should say modify, then your operations that use that tool should have "dirtied" and need to be regenerated.

What this about a 1/4" tool ?
There should not be any mention of a tool for this dia.

UNLESS, your shank is still 1/4", and it is this dia that you are seeing overcut the contour

Make the shank the same as the tool dia and then check

[Mike Mattera]

Always best to right click on the tool and select Edit Tool.
If you just change the diameter on the tool parameter page, and then reselect the tool it will go back to 1/4". You have to edit the tool parameters. Your not just changing the numbers, your changing the tool.

Mike Mattera

[yongchiprsnapr]

just here to say thanks got it working. i tried just changing the diamter in the toolpaths screen not the tool geometry.