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I'm a beginner at MasterCAM, but have some experience with 3D CAD & CNC machining, so bear that in mind when reading my comments.

A well designed book, but it's only covers 2D. It's also a bit expensive. The included CD with the MasterCAM X demo was nice. I found the original official MasterCAM X tutorials to be more inclusive, covering 3D surfaces & solids. However it did satisfy my needs to understand how to extract True Type text geometry into an AutoCAD DWG file for use by another 3D CAD program (AlibreCAD in my case). Bear in mind, the demo version provided does NOT allow you to save files. That exercise (text) is also NOT supported by the demo version despite what it says in the book. You need a full (expensive) version of MasterCAM X to run the text exercise.

The book does have a few errors & omissions, but I didn't have any problem finding my way through it. It is a bit tedious, as it covers EVERY option & 2D tool, but that's what I wanted. The key with the exercises is to follow the sequence of numbered actions carefully, following both the text AND the graphics. The graphical approach is nice, but you have to use your imagination in spots to find your way through. There are files on the CD to support some of the examples, but there are NO file names with each exercise. Imagination definitely required here! There is supposed to be a CD icon associated with each exercise that use a CD file, but there isn't.... Just associate the exercise title approximately with the CD file name & you'll be OK.

this is not a book for anyone not familiar with previous mastercam releases. I've been working with mastercam 9 for 3 years and this is o.k. for making the transition from 9 to 10, but it does not explain any fundamentals or how any of the functions work, only the keystrokes and mouse cliks necessary to execute them. I also have trouble understanding the refrences to the exercises on the C.D. The C.D. does not have a file for each exercise.

At first the book was confusing. Once I understood the example on the pages was often before and after then I got it! Although I think I could write a better instruction book. I'd still buy it again.

I found this publication an excellent introduction to Mastercam X and the whole concept of 3D Milling. The projects are easy to follow and are easily translated to producing your own projects. I am sure the more advanced sections will become useful as I progress in 3D Milling.
WELL DONE

Did anyone actually do the problems given in the book? If they did they would have discovered that key strokes are missing and some dimensions are wrong. Awful, don't bother.