Hi all,
I am sorta new to Bench top CNC milling. I have done CNC CAD work in the past, so I'm good there and I understand basic milling concepts. But what I am lacking in is the actual hands on of setting up raw materials and cutting. There seems to be so many ways to setup for actual cutting.
Most of my experience was from PCB drill/routing, with some other experience with flat sheet routing as well. Just barely got into full 3D milling and changed careers. So, I am familiar with cutter deflection, cut direction, those kinda concepts. Even went through some training for Uni-graphics, but I always worked on the computer side. Plus, the PCB cnc programs had standard pinning programs or the PCBs to be cut were pinned from the inside and the sheet materials were screwed down into a wood backup piece of material.
Now I am involved with Scale RC aircraft and have recently come into possession of a Roland MDX-15 Bench top 3D mill. It was mainly used to mill jewelers wax, but I intend on using it for aluminum to cut parts and also to cut master molds for plastic injection.
What are good sources for information, and more importantly, illustrations on how to setup for cutting & milling. How do I setup for holding the workpiece? What are the best endmills to use? So far, I have not been able to locate a decent "how to" for a beginner. I have been reading articles from cnccookbook.com, which are great, but those articles seem to be geared more for intermediates and not so much for a noob like myself.
Any help or info you can give is greatly appreciated!
BTW, I already have a 3d model of a simple part I want to cut, but have no idea exactly what to do next. I do have some pieces of aluminum stock to try, and will get some wood as well to start out with...