[Gearbreaker]

Hi all. I tried to run before walking, tripped and fell... I have a situation where I need to mill some slots and drill some holes in injection molded ABS parts. I have made some mistakes and am ready to admit them. First I have ordered a Chinese machine (XJ1218) with a 200mm clearance option because the parts that need to be machined are about 6" tall. (I am still waiting for the machine to arrive). I am planning to build a holder and fasten it onto the machines table to make it so that parts can be snapped into place for the repetitious machining. I had the choice of NC Studio or Mach 3 when I ordered the machine and was talked into NC Studio by the sales rep. It seems that this was my first mistake due to the lack of support. However, I am hopeful that it will work okay.

My problem is that I was led to believe that I could use NC Studio to "Drive" the cutter to each location that needs a hole and mark the point in the software. The machine would then know where it would need drill each hole. After that I supposedly could go to each area that needed a slot machined and continue to mark these areas as well. Again supposedly, the machine could then be told to repeat these steps every time a new part was put on it. From what I understand after reading many posts on this forum, this is totally backwards. It appears that what I really need is a CAM program to generate C code to feed into NC Studio.

After reading the reviews I decided to try Sheetcam. It really did seem to fit the bill. However, with no CAD experience my mind got caught in a loop. I won't go into it but I have a learning disability which interferes. However, I make up for it in enthusiasm and can work my way through any problem as long as I know I am doing it with a rainbow and pot of gold at the end. (:

I am looking for suggestions on how to get the machine to perform this task with minimum cash outlay and with minimum headaches. I need a software package that is relatively easy to learn. The accuracy of the holes/cuts only needs to be about +/-.005 but I do need repeatability because each part that I need to machine costs me $300 so scrap can add up fast. :nono:

After this project I am going to want to use the machine for others so a software package that I can progress with would be great.

Any suggestions?

[txcncman]

You could always post your part drawings here on the forum and others can help walk you through the programming aspect. It is usually best to start with manual programming (writing programs by hand with a piece of paper and a calculator) before stepping off into CAM software.

[Gearbreaker]

Perfect, I had no idea that it could be done that way. I wouldn't think it to be too difficult to calculate as they are simple straight cuts but it does sound like a great way to learn.

I don't have the print of the original part but I will put together a rough print that represents the cutouts in the part with dimensions.

Thank you. Chris.

You could always post your part drawings here on the forum and others can help walk you through the programming aspect. It is usually best to start with manual programming (writing programs by hand with a piece of paper and a calculator) before stepping off into CAM software.

[Gearbreaker]

Please don't laugh, I'm just learning..... Are manual programs edited in simple word processor programs to look like C?

Here is the cutout part of the project (It should be clickable). If I master how to do this I am sure I can figure out the drilling part. I apologize for the crude drawing. Please let me know if there is a more appropriate place to move this post to. Thanks again.

You could always post your part drawings here on the forum and others can help walk you through the programming aspect. It is usually best to start with manual programming (writing programs by hand with a piece of paper and a calculator) before stepping off into CAM software.