Quote:
Originally Posted by asid61
Could you elaborate on the problems? I was planning on using a CNC as a manual mill with the little dial if we got one, in case I can't learn how to properly set up CAM on the computer in time for build season.
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If your CNC mill has a control with a user interface like a Haas you can usually put G-code into the mill manually right on that user interface. In some cases, like the Haas, you can even setup some operations without resorting to G-code.
I guess I am old school. For simple operations I prefer G-code. For complex operations I prefer tools like: HSMWorks, BobCAD, MasterCAM (HSMExpress you can get for free to mess with and it works fine for basic operations and it integrates right into SolidWorks Student Version). So since FIRST will give you SolidWorks Student licenses and HSMExpress is free: take a good look at the price of a MasterCAM Student license and if you never did CAM before see if you can justify spending a few thousand dollars on it when you can play around for free.