G-Codes vs. CAM / CNC Forums

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by indieFan

Hi Everyone,

For those of you that have been exposed to both G-codes and CAM packages, which do you prefer and why?

If you prefer G-codes, have you gotten into parametric programming? Any examples of the most difficult shapes you have programmed for cutting?

Also, has anyone been on any of the forums for CNC discussions? If so, how are they?

Thanks,
indieFan

I have been priviledged to watch the owner of one of our sponsors (J&F Machine ) hand code parts for our robot, directly on the machine. He used G-codes to do that. But it was mostly round holes with a particular center. OTOH most of the "real" work he does is programmed using CAM and is a lot more complicated.

It is good to remember that a CAM program is merely an automated way to produce G-code. So being able to read G-code, even a little bit, would probably be helpful, even when you use CAM for most of the work. It certainly helps figure out where the program went wrong.