I'm sorry if this is a stupid question that is beneath all of you guys that have been doing CNC machining forever! I was recently hired into a great machine shop company thru a friend and they are going to teach me how to operate a Mazak Quick Turn 30 Lathe to make all sorts of different pieces for our many customers. This place has dozens of cool CNC and milling machines of all sizes. The thing is, I am totally green and have no experience as far as CNC and I told them this in the interview. The boss asked me if I can read micrometers and calipers and I told him that I can so he hired me and I am ever so grateful. I'm training with a great guy and I'm good with the controls, setting the machine up, touching off the tools with the tool eye, and so much more. The only thing that has my head spinning is attempting to understand how he is programming the info from the blueprint to the CNC computer. I try to ask him questions about it as he programs but he's not really answering me. We have a ton of orders to get to so I don't want to keep stopping him and asking too many questions all at one... he is teaching me as maybe if I have prior knowledge of CNC and he knows that I don't. He really knows the machine and Mazatrol, he's just not the best teacher, I'm guessing.
I've worked in the steel industry for 17 years, operating different wire drawing machines and steel tempering furnaces but programming this Mazak machine is confusing to me (and I usually catch onto training on industrial machinery pretty quickly).
I am hoping that maybe there is a thread(s) for fresh-off-the-boat newbies like me! Maybe some threads or websites or PDFs or ANY info to get me started in the right direction. I can read prints pretty good and my basic math skills are top notch but wrapping my head around programming these past 3 weeks have been challenging, to say the least! Some of the guys in the shop tell me to don't panic and it will take a while to learn it.
What kind of advice would you guys give a green newb like me?
Thank you for ANY input!