I took the CNC fundamentals workshop last week. I had started a thread asking about how to prepare for the workshop previously, so I figured I would post a followup thread.
First, here is the description of the course, from the Tormach site:
CNC Fundamentals is a 3.5 day workshop designed as an immersion course in CNC for prototyping and custom manufacturing. This is a survey of the CNC process, from concept to cutting chips, with an emphasis on learning and building confidence.
This workshop is hands-on. Each attendee will gain practical experience in CNC programming, machine control, and machining as they build a dial indicator holder. There will be significant emphasis on Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), advanced CNC control, and workholding techniques.
Mission accomplished! As a newby to CNC and CAD/CAM the workshop succeeded in making me comfortable in the knowledge that this stuff is doable and can be learned, and has removed my concerns over the software. Thanks to Eric and Mike and Rory (the machinists), as well as the numerous engineers that came by during the week, it was a blast! Everyone was very helpful and the entire week was filled with impressive knowledge and experience, as well as some extremely humorous approaches to teaching. We all had a great time and learned a lot.
To prepare for the class I would recommend watching as many of the videos from Tormach as you can, and look over the white papers and the other literature they have on their site. Also write down any questions that come to mind so that you can ask them, everyone was very capable and willing to answer any question. Erics depth of knowledge of Sprutcam is truly inspiring, as is his humor.
There was absolutely no pressure to buy, or sales pitches at all. It was 4 days of willingness to demonstrate and teach. The people that work there seem to be happy to be there, which is refreshing.
Thanks to all the people at Tormach who were part of this workshop. I would do it again in heartbeat.
Jim