I am considering the purchase of a mill with the Duality lathe. My concept has been turned into CAD files in both SolidWorks and IGES. I even have prototypes that my designer made on his CNC so I know the parts can all be made with a mill and lathe. I have no experience with machining, but I learn very fast. I have a few questions that I though I would ask existing Tormach owners:
Would it be best to attend a Tormach workshop at their facility in WI?
What CAM software would work best with the PCNC and Mach 3 to make my G code? There seem to be a bunch of them.
Would it be better to farm out the G code to someone who knows how to do that for the PCNC?
What about finding and hiring another owner who is experienced and having them make my parts while I watch and video it? That way I would have an exact reference to follow right from the start. Then I could learn more about all the stuff as I went on. My designer is only a few hours from me, but he doesn't have a PCNC. Still I could get him to show me how to do it either on his machines or on my own as an option.
I am going to be making four parts: two out of 6061 that need to be turned with a little milling, one out of polycarbonate that is mostly milled (I'm still so new that I don't really know the way to make that one) and one out of some hard plastic (the prototypes are Derlin) that will be turned.
Thank you for your time.