[Azzono]

Hello all,

This is my first post and am glad to have found a forum (off Facebook) that specialises in CNC Stuff.

A quick low down on myself....I'm from the UK and have a college diploma in mechanical engineering + part of a degree. I can work with autodesk (autocad) quite well. I also have half decent knowledge of Catia V5.

To the main part now.... I have designed a product on Autocad (could replicate it in Catia v5 if needs be). I want to precisely machine this part (rough dimensions 30cm width x 30cm height 30cm depth) using a CNC milling machine (that I don't have). Can anyone give me any suggestions of any low-priced machines (in or around the UK) that are compatible with the software I'm using. It'll also be helpful if you could give me any brief steps I'd need to take to get it all up and running. I wouldn't be buying a machine just to machine one part, but with the vision of doing many more parts in the future.

Thankyou!

[Jim Dawson]

All CNC machines are compatible with AutoCAD or Catia. But you need an intermediate step to convert the drawing or model into G-code that the machine can understand. You need a CAM program to do that conversion.

As far as the actual machine, what you buy is going to be dictated by the complexity, material, and required accuracy of the part.