Whats the best course to take for cnc applications ?
I was thinking of getting myself a CNC lathe and mill (or converting my little Sherlines) but before I did that I wanted to make sure I was gonna be able to use it properly. I already have some machining skills and have made some live steam engines, RC submarine parts, and even some airgun parts.
So is ther a course I could take that would help me ? I was thinking maybe Autocad? Or is there something more appropriate for CNC applications.
P.S. and by the way, if this course could help me get a half decent job somewhere it would be a bonus too.
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hey guys dont be afraid to go cnc. the g- codes are simple if you can remember them. we used to make our own programs —up for hobbing gear teeth . pretty simple. g0 means rapid traverse g1 means feed. and then u have m- codes m8 = oil on guess what m9 is?? oil off. most machines that i worked with came with manuals which were way to difficult some times. if you have good sound machining skills any one can do it. a big plus is a lot less labor involved. some of our cnc machines already had several programs made up so all you had to do was find touch-up length of travel etc a just change the values. depth of cut no of teeth feed rate etc even had pics to show your travel direction of travel etc___ just fill in the blanks sweet!!! miss it though im retired. cnc only way to fly kingpin
I checked into our local community college here, and they teach mastercam, touting it is the most used software at the moment. Wish i had the time to take the course, would love to try that.
Im not buying anything. I just wanted to know what course to take first.
The solid edge program I am currently using cost 10,000.00 shore happy I have a business partner to split the bill with. I would suggest finding out if there is a school that offers cad classes before you decide to purchase don’t just run out and buy one make sure the local school can teach you the proper way to use the program.
im pretty sure you will be pretty good at it…
G-Code is the instructions used to run the Machine – You can use 3d Computer Aided Design (CAD) software to design parts and then Computer Aided Manufacture (CAM) software to convert CAD drawings into the G-Code that the CNC controller can run.
Sometimes its easier to just know the G-Code and enter that directly into the CNC software, but for more complicated parts its either too difficult or time intensive to do the math for the G Code – i.e things with compound curves etc.
Here’s an example of G-Code for a circlular pocket for example (Borrowed from CNCZone) –
N10 G00 G90 Y0 X-1.313 Z+.1
N20 G01 Z-.1 F100
N30 G90 I0 J0 G12 H-180 F200
Marin Community College has a course titled “CNC operator and programmer, and associated machine trade specialties” It starts of really basic so if you have had any machining or maths experience you’ll be bored out of your mind… It does get more interesting throughout the course…
I only have 2 cnc’s..a 3 axis Bridgeport mill and a 2 axis Milltronics lathe..I have never taken a cad cam course.. all of my programming is done at the machine, no g codes here..the software converts it.. 😉
Auto CAD tends to be the industry standard over here but mainly for big companys as the licences tend to be high price wise , smaller companys run all sorts of CAD / CAM packages to reduce costs. A good understanding of any good CAD software will get your foot in the door ! , have a look at Solidworks for 3d , tends to be well used in europe. 😀
Isn’t CNC all about writing programs in G code? No idea what that is, but i have heard mention of G code many times pertaining to CNC. Someone here must know. Wheres the machinist?
BTW = I just received your M/O and I will ship it out in the morning 😉
Helder, D.V.C.(diablo valley college) in pleasant hill use to and I’m sure still dose, have a very good machine shop along with excellent teachers with nice and reasonable registration fees
Thanks, but what course? Autocad? Or some other program?
Check out your community college for classes. Sometimes you can take them for no credit and save a lot of $$
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The problem with CNC is that there’s several controllers out there (siemens/fanuc/heidenhaim/okuma…) with their own proprietary codes, but the most common instructions are almost always the same. I took a CNC course a few years ago, it was a year long and in that time I learnt the 5-axis lathe by heart. It helps to have some programming background, like assember, as both G-code and desktop computer machine code are very similar in principle. In my country CNC-machinists don’t get paid too well, though (8-15 euros a hour, depending on productivity and skills). If you take a course, expect to learn some AutoCad, basic 3-axis milling and at least 2-axis turning, first you draw the workpiece in autocad and then write the G-code by hand. There could be some CAM stuff (MasterCAM) too, for milling complex pieces.