Good tutorial books

[nervis1]

I need to get some good tutorial manuals. I did get a CD video tutorial for 4th axis work that is great so far, I need to learn the rest of it though. I see a TON of tutorial books on the net, anyone read any that they can reccomend?


The rep gave me a peek at Ver X beta3 during the demo. Looks alot like camworks / edgecam etc in it's GUI, really user friendly. He told me around the beginning of the year as a possible release date, but nothing in stone yet.

[Alan T.]

Sorry,

You did not mention the name of the Software in your question??

[nervis1]

Sorry I just assumed every one would figure Mastercam since I'm posting in that forum. My bad.

I see a post down below about the same subject but only two sources mentioned, Davis and another, TMMN or something like that. In a search I ran across a dozen or more books and manuals, just wondering if anyone can reccomend one they have actually read and found useful.

[nervis1]

wow...echo.....

guess I'll buy a couple from different sources and post my results back here.

[nervis1]

Heres the start of Dave's list of great MC resources.

1. "tips for manufacturing" 4th axis tutorial video 5hrs. (website of the same name, just take the spaces out) goes over indexing, 4th axis wrap, and full 4th toopath generation. Has vertical and horizontal instruction, two included posts for fanuc, a section on post modification. Goes over setup in the software and the machine, as well as saftey issues / avoiding crashes. 175$ was money well spent.

2. the mill book that comes with the sofware is really informative as well, sometimes does not explain why parameters are set the way they are though in going through the tutorial.

I have three other books that just arrived, I'll review in the coming weeks.

[dmealer]

I have had master cam thrown at me to. No books, no training. i have been using www.streamingteacher.com Best $170.00 I have spent in a long time.

[cadcam]

nervis1, like you said there are alot of books to be found but not all have updated info on the newer versions.

The link that Dmealer gave is some thing new that most of us dealers are offering.

As for version X this will be a good one we are about to step to Beta4.

[nervis1]

Ok heres what I have so far, ISBN 1-886552-16-9 Mastercam 9 by Lin and Shiue. A big fat very detailed tome. Still has a lot to offer as far as raw info, some details won't be up to date but still the best buy for me in terms of detailing the how and why of toolpath parameters and their setting. Every little detail of the software appears to be covered, and it's written so well I read it in bed (and I don't pass out with it on my chest).

The tutorial series, as offered by MC most are 02 vintage but still apply far as I can tell. I really don't like these books. I bought solids, 4 axis, mill, design, and "beginner training" tutorials.

They are step by step tutorials, draw first then do the tool paths. Only problem with these books is a big one to me. They almost never explain why the toolpath parameters are set the way they are. It's like having a power user at your elbow saying click this click that...set that to 5, etc without explaining anything. I have to guess why things are set the way they are and open the "big book" mentioned above to give me the explanation.



The little books that came with the software (mill and solids) are much more useful than the tutorial series IMO.

Might as well tell you about the software too.


As far as the software itself goes I'm pretty darned happy with it even in it's DOS looking dress. It is fast, really fast to navigate once you see the flow of things a few times, and the tool paths available are vast, the number of parameters you can adjust is almost overwhelming. No crashes, no hassles. Awsome stock library of tools. It generates tool paths even over complex solids faster than anything I've used so far. The verify needs some work. Onecnc's verify eats MC's for lunch. You can't rotate, pan, or zoom while the tool is moving and even after only if you have solids and "tru solids" checked before you hit the run button. In 4 axis verify you can't rotate or pan at all without the optional plug in that is $ more. I hope that issue has been addressed in X. The op manager, is a serious strong point. I never had to look at the book to start manipulating it, seems to be very intuative, pretty much drop, copy and drag, right click for the "everything is right here" list of options.

The tool paths are all associative, change geometry, move the model around and just hit the regenrate button. all done in 10 seconds. Too cool.

I have not had any problems with import of solidworks files (once I got the free add on) direct in native format. DXF has been fine, IGES was buggy but I've never had luck with IGES, I did not even bother trying after the first attempt failed, no reason to.

One of the things I really love is the ability to put equations in the parameter boxes, say you want 0.1 above the stock to be the feed plane, click on the top of the stock the z coordinate gets put there, and just type +.1 or whatever. You can also just click on geometry to fill the boxes, like the bottom of a pocket for depth , and the depth z coord is placed in the box. Now that is slick.

I'm sure I've used about 20-30% of the software capability at this point (maybe less?)so the above is just a noob, just getting the feet wet opinion.

The MC forum has been helpful, most all noob questions have been covered dozens of times so the search button has become my friend for now.

The reseller support seems to be one of the strongest points of my purchase, the guy calls back in 5 min when I leave a message, gave me his cell number, and e-mail, and told me "I want you to call ME when you have a question or problem Dave..OK?". Damn I like that.

[cadcam]

Dave I really think you are going to like the MC-X when it comes out, just by your reply.

As for the Lin & shu it does have allot of info. I have found over the years there are some issues and misstatements but over all it does cover allot.

The older versions of this book covered Mill and lathe and solids was Sep.

What is the one main issue I found is that it has a statement saying you can not 2d path a solid model. WHAT!!!!. Well we know that wrong.

If you get a chance look at the Volume series of book from Charles Davis his books go into direct detail of your options with a definition.

Dave also what is your board name on the Mastercam forum?

Thanks jay

[nervis1]

I'll check those out, the Davis books.

My name over at emastercam forum is DaveR.

[nervis1]

Just got the Fmmt video on mill 9.1

I'll make this short.

It's not as good as the Mike Mattera vids but it is very in depth, and detailed.

Some of the explainations are pretty cumbersome, The interface is a bit clunky, I found myself going back multiple times saying to myself "what did she just say?"

So the Dave score for video tutorials is

Mattera (tips for manufacturing) =A

FMMT MC 9.1 =B-