[minisoft]

hello, im new to this cnc milling.. and was wondering how i made the code . what i mean is if i wanted to make a square with circle in middle how do i do that.. like i said i no nothing about cnc.. can someone direct me to a 101 tutorial.. and just tell me what to do ... what programs ill need.. i downloaded the mach3 from the website.. and demo of autocad.. what else do i need and what do i do with these .. thanks

[chazmtu]

Hello,
What your looking for is called Computer Aided Machining Program or CAM. There are a lot of them out there gcam, kcam, meshcam ect. I use CamBam http://www.cambam.co.uk/. There is a free version available and tutorials to get you started. This program will let you draw basic shapes and machining operations. For more complex shapes you'll want a cad or vector drawing program. Try Inkscape, it works pretty good and also free. Also, always test out your code in a simulator like NCPlot. That should get you running.

Chuck

[minisoft]

so what do you use the autocad for.. or solidworks. i see everyone using this for what reason i dont know..lol..

[chazmtu]

You use autocad, solidworks ect. for designing the part and a CAM program to tell the machine what kind of cutting operation is done to which lines, and details about the tools your using, and it generates the g-code. Inkscape will do 2dimentional drawings to cut with what is called a 2.5d milling operation. 2.5d will cut lines down any depth you choose. More powerful CAD like Autocad3d or 3d Studios can be used to draw 3d shapes and cut them out like they appear on your screen. The best advice I can give you is to try some tutorials. There's no substitute for experience. You can easily cut out simple circles and squares with just the CAM software and once you try something simple the process will be much the same for other parts.

[minisoft]

thanks everyone.. i think i got it now.. even the 3d cutting.. made lots of stuff.. this is to easy..lol.. cant believe i couldnt figure it out.. .. thanks again

[chazmtu]

Happy to help