Hi all,

I'm brand new to the forum. I'm a toolmaker who had a shop until 1997 (32 machines), and for various reasons returned to school. I am now opening a new shop. I've purchased (financed) a Fadal 4020HT with full 4th axis, a 2 axis lathe with Fanuc Control, a used Pratt and Whitney Drill/Tap with Fanuc control, and a Fanuc controlled CNC ram EDM. I'm using Inventor 11 Pro. I am very strapped for cash and hope that will ease up after 12 months as I get some work in. Years ago I just used Cadkey for design and wrote my own CAM translators. I am now doing more sophisticated work and that won't fly.

The part I am working on starts out as a solid bar and has a complex deep internal shape on one end. It needs to be held in a collet in a rotary table *that is tilted up at a 45 degree angle* in order to reach inside. The internal surface is complex, so the machining is not just simple engraving at the centerline of the collet. X, Y, Z, and A are all used simultaneously at this 45 degree angle. If the software is intelligent enough, the output could be XYZ with A axis positioning.

I've been reading the posts on this amazing forum, and have looked at websites for RAMS, OneCNC and others. I am looking for a low cost CAM system but don't know if this is considered 3+2, 4 axis or 5 axis (oh please let it not be 5!). More important, no matter the terminology, is there a low cost programming system out there that will get me through this part? Preferably one that will use Inventor models (I can do the fixturing in Inventor Assembly mode.)

As some money comes in, I will want to purchase a programming system that does full 4th axis and will do roughing and finishing for both the mill and lathe.

Does anybody have a recommendation for a programming system for this (family of) part(s)? Even timeshare would work, if there are any around.