Originally Posted by
The Blight
"If the machine is so wonky that it takes multiple goes and operator hands on input to get it right.......that ain't CNC"
It really depends on what you are making. What about die and tool makers? Do you think they just scrap parts all over the place without trying to measure, and correct before it gets that far? Imagine working on a injection mould and just running through the program without actually checking what the machine is doing because "that ain't CNC". Nah! The operator should just lean back and cross his fingers!
I actually do this for a living, so I should know a thing or two about it. If I'm working on a big series of parts I can accept a few scrap parts along the way, but when working on single off parts or small series I can machine them to tight tolerances without ruining a single one. The material usually cost too much to scrap any parts at all. I have on several occasions machine parts from 316L (Stainless steel) that are Ø45mm (1,77") L300mm (11,81") to a H6 tolerance (+0 -0,016mm / +0" -0,00063") over the entire length. I haven't ruined a single one of these yet, and I have machined quite a few.
If you scrap multiple parts where the material costs $500 for a single one you wouldn't keep your job for long. After having machined 10.000s of parts in all sizes I haven't even filled a 10 gallon bucket with scrapped ones yet.
In one breath you say you are new to CNC, and the next one you are lecturing people about it like you know what you are talking about. Last I saw you don't even know how to program one of these things and you have 4000+ posts on a CNC forum!