need some guidance/info on CAD/CAM

[chrisf]

I have been doing some design & development work for a gentleman that has setup a small yet very accurate vertical end mill. Currently he is driving it using a PC, various keys controlling the movements along the axis.

I want to drive this machine using CAD/CAM software.

Anyone have any advice on what would be the best application for what I need?

~Chris

[MattKellett]

Surfcam or MasterCam

I use surfcam at work, it's not cheap, but it's very good software. You can get up and running fairly quickly and then the more time you have, the more experience you can gain. But I would say after a few days you will be making basic 2d parts.

[jim72911t]

Chris, you've opened up quite a can of worms here. What do you want to do with the machine? Prototype work? Production work? A combination of both?

From the sounds of it, your friend has what is known as a hobby type machine. Nothing wrong with that, but don't expect to do anything but simple stuff, and it will be very, very, slow.

You need to know if the machine can read G-code, the language of the CNC machine. If it can, then software like Surfcam or Mastercam will work well (as Matt pointed out), but be advised that it will be expensive. Eg: I'll be upgrading my seat of Mastercam this year to the tune of ~$15K or so. There are, however, other options, but expect to spend at least a grand.

Some sites to check out:
http://www.cnczone.com/ (a mix of hobbyists and professionals, but slanted toward the hobbyist)
http://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/ (obviously geared toward the home shop guys)
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ (the Pelican Parts of the CNC world. Mostly professionals, and some great info can be found if you search)

PM me if you'd like more info. I've been in this game for close to 20 years, and still don't know what I'm talking about

[Schumi]

The problem with taking that setup and running g-code through it is that you will not have any inherent form of backlash compensation or closed loop feedback. Operating it in an open loop condition is going to result it slightly worse tolerances that you would think, and the possibility for creep in the encoders.

It can surely be retrofitted with the correct software/hardware interface to make it a vernerable machine no doubt- at a cost.

[chrisf]

this is a little bench top or desk top mill that he built himself, and seems to be of good quality. Driven by high count encoder motors, which are controlled using a desktop, not sure what type of interface though. He has spend a great deal of time calibrating and it seems to be highly repeatable. I will develop suitable fixturing for it.

It will be, and has been used for prototyping aluminum parts, and they are small. We need to prototype some parts that I have designed as a result of further development on a project I am working on for him. The outside profiles of these parts can be negligible for the protos, and the c2c of the holes I am confident I can nail manually.

I just need to find a way to program the tables to trace some bore holes around the tool. If it can be that simple.