cnc/cad/cam help

[ChrisH]

Originally Posted by chbix

From what I understand he wants me to do it, (hes going to pay me $50k a year to move to northern Cali) I dont expect to jump right in and do, once they get the mcahine, im gonna spend a weekend or two and go mess with it to see if I can do it. I jsut need to figure out what CAM program I need to learn to take their blueprints and put them in cad/cam to get the g codes out.

Picking the right CAM program might be a little like trying to find the right religion. CAM people can be pretty opinionated about which is "best", almost as bad as M$ v Mac. If your uncle's new machine is a major brand then most CAM programs will support it. So in general you can pick the CAM system you want to use and then let it do the work on making G-code. Notice the disclaimer "in general". No CAM program is perfect and all should be watched closely, everytime.

You have to be pretty meticulous about machine programming. It takes a special personality as well as special skills. I once had a part that was being NC'd. The program worked perfectly, so when it finished the operator walked up and pushed the "home" button to get the head out of the way so he could unload the part. It proceeded to take a straight line right through the part. I was standing right there and pretty near had a heart attack. Fortunately it was a foam practice piece and not the $100K chunk of Unobtainium we really wanted to machine. In this case, the programmer forgot include the return to home in the program (standard practice here). It could have been a very costly mistake.

If I were you I would definitely be checking out the local community college and see what they offer in the way of machining classes. Both basic machining and NC. You can't program very well if you don't understand the machine and you won't understand until you've run one.

Good Luck

ChrisH

[petek]

[quote=ChrisH
If I were you I would definitely be checking out the local community college and see what they offer in the way of machining classes. Both basic machining and NC. You can't program very well if you don't understand the machine and you won't understand until you've run one.

Good Luck

ChrisH
[/QUOTE]


If you haven't done much machining, I'd like to second Chris' suggestion about taking a basic machining class. You need to understand cutting speeds and feed rates, cutting direction (climb vs. conventional), chip removal and a number of other things which are important to getting the part to come out right (and to not wear out your machine & cutters prematurely).

CNC is kindof like CAD: it makes the job easier and faster, but it can also let you make mistakes faster. You still have to know the basics for the job to come out right.

Where I used to work, they really encouraged designers and engineers to take a machining class at the local community college, even if they would never run the machines themselves - the experience made them appreciate how their designs would be made and the effort it takes to set a job up. Basically, it made them better designers.

(for the record, I don't use CNC myself, but have spent a little time in shops where it is used and talk to the machinists)