[automizer]

I was talking with a friend the other day who is starting to get in to CNC work and only found out about it as a career because of me. So I'm wondering how everyone else came in to it.
I myself started CNC in high school there was a 2x2 Precix table stuffed in a corner not being used. I asked what it was and when I found out I could mix my two loves (computers and woodworking) I went all out. I spent about 8 months going to school on my sat. with my shop teacher to get the machine in working order. By the time I graduated there was a full cnc program in place and I go back about 2 times a month to tutor kids.
So thats my story what about everyone else?

[Khalid]

I learn CNC myself by experimenting with my DIY milling machine..So far I broke only two endmills in 1.5year period

[Beer_Guy]

I was trained on a $500,000 CNC router at Lexington Furniture Industries in Lexington NC. about 10-15 years ago. I've always been pretty mechanically inclined, and after watching that machine run every day I just knew I could build one. I built a 4 x 8 Gantry style machine in my basement mostly out of wood. I made a few smaller machines out of metal. The rest is history,,, LOL

I'm having fun, I love this stuff.
Gary

[project5k]

my start really came from a couple of the projects that i was working on.. i needed to reproduce parts so that i could sell them, so CNC was the logical step, not to mention that there are some things that could be made by cnc that theres just no way that i could make cutting them by hand.. so after much research i started building from scratch a 3x3 plasma table.. well the farther i got into it the more i realized i needed a mill to make some of the parts i needed to finish it.. so i got a x3, well i already had some of the parts for a cnc, so i just cnc'd the x3 so i can make the parts for the plasma table, and then i ran outa money for the plasma, and so thats how far i've gotten with that... now i'm making a few parts here and there on the mill when i have time...

[Paulo E.]

I started fresh out of Highschool in a program in one of the local colleges, being in Chicago the industry was HUGE, so there was always a high demand for machinist and you always got hired in your second year before you even finished. During my second year we got introduced to the Cnc's and boy oh boy it was love at first sight !!!!! LOL, to think I dint have to kill myself on the mill or lathe all day long working on a project. Just set it and forget it. Needles to say I was going APE about the whole cnc thing and I would skipp clases just to go play with the machines. Luckly I had some of the best teachers ever and they were able to match my interest and take it to the next level and here I am 15 years later since I set foot on that college, still working in the field and loving it. :cheers::cheers:

[gandalf1]

I needed some wheel patterns for small garden railways but could not find anything suitable so I built a small furnace to melt metal for castings. Did not have much success with wood paterns so decided to try Lost Foam ones but of course the pattern goes up in smoke each time. Since I needed many identical patterns CNC was the obvious answer so I built a table top sized router just big enough for a work area of 8 inches by 12 inches with a 2 inch throat height. Software was a problem but unlike most Mach in any variation did not control my machine but I found a little program called MasterCNC especially for model engineers that works fine. Mostly I simply use the machine directly from a DFX drawing adjusted so the drawing origin is the page centre. Works fine cutting softer metals and of course high density foam but I also cut foam with a hot wire but that needs Y and Z axes swapping over. Hot wire cutting needs careful consideration of the cutting sequence though so that the wire is not dragged back through the middle of the pattern at anytime but continues around the shape so it ends up at the start without taking any 'short cuts' across the foam.
John.

[neilw20]

Mate bought an 8 ton OKK to get retrofitted.
I supervised the project and learnt Gcode along the way.
I write most of their programs. Nice having 7HP servo feed motors !
Eventually got a 15HP VFD on the spindle.
If the chips aren't blue wind up the feed !
Good experience working on a machine that can create vast amounts of swarf.
Now I do tiny stuff on my SX3 and LC20 15HP 5 ton lathe.
Nearly all hand coded. Plenty of parametric stuff.
If you can't fill a 200 lit. drum (with swarf) in a shift you need better tooling.

[Geof]

I got into CNC because my business needed it to get modernized and improve productivity; so the questions devolves into why did I get into machining and then manufacturing?

Almost half a century ago I originally wanted to be a diesel mechanic; I grew up on a farm and liked big diesels. I interviewed for an apprenticeship with the largest trucking company in New Zealand and all the guy could talk about was how wonderful his company was...absolutely nothing about what I could expect to learn.

So a said screw that and went for my second choice, an Apprenticeship in Fitting, Turning and Toolmaking.

Why did I start my own business? I got fed up working with bosses who were stupider than me.

[Khalid]

Geof How is ur business now?..Are u satisfied with it...

[GONE1445]

I was going for my degree in mechanical engineering and hating it then I saw they had a CNC program at a different college so I figured I'd give it a shot and I love it our teacher lets us make out own parts and what not I made a few things for my R/C truck and this fall I'll probably make some stuff for my dirt bike its pretty cool

[bsharp]

I started working in a fab shop running cold saw and gang drills. I then moved up to running a manual punch press and helping the sheer operator and also helped out the guys running the turret lathes once in a while. The old sheer broke down and they bought a real nice new one. I got the job running it on second shift. At the time there was only three people on second shift myself "running the sheer and wire wheeling parts" the supervisor "he ran the CNC Trumpf punch press" and another operator that ran a CNC plasma table. The guy that ran the plasma table got a job in R/D so I asked about running it and I got the opportunity. The thing was riddled with problems and was finicky as heck. I was pretty good with computers and always had a real good mechanical aptitude. After working with the techs and trouble shooting the thing almost on a daily basis I learned cnc pretty quick. A CNC programmer job opened up on first shift and I was pretty much handed the job "with no experience". I pretty much grew board setting in a corner and programming for five years so I got a job in engineering at a different place. The skills I have acquired over the years are as diverse as planting corn to designing software "CNC" is just one of them. I always thought when you are playing in a world market you better set your sights just as wide. And the older I get the more it seems I need to learn. :cheers:

[Geof]

....... And the older I get the more it seems I need to learn. :cheers:

You are probably a couple of decades away from it at the moment, but at one point as you get older you need to learn to start taking it easy and smelling the roses.

[bsharp]

You are probably a couple of decades away from it at the moment, but at one point as you get older you need to learn to start taking it easy and smelling the roses.

That's what I am counting on at the moment. :banana:

[wongstein]

My father was a machinist, but sadly he passed away many years ago. I did learn a lot from him anecdotally, however, and I have the use of all of his precision tools. It's an honour to be able to use my father's tools; I hope he would be proud, although I have to admit I'm quite sloppy by professional's standards.

My impetus for learning machining is to develop a prototype of product I'm working on. I also want to make my own turntable tonearms for fun, and generrally to get away from software developemnt which I've been doing for 10 years. The programming experience helps a bit. I picked up Sherline's book on tabletop machining, and bought a used Sherline machine already converted for CNC. I also bought Artsoft Mach3 Mill controller software. Sherline's book got my head quickly around the basic concepts. As for G-Code, I find that almost everything I need to know is in the Mach3 user's guide, but occasionally I google search, or search these forums. I haven't had to post any questions on this forum; I usually find the answers because someone else has already asked.

Now I'm making parts, mostly just Delrin because I don't want to run coolant in my spare bedroom, and I'm just using a big carboard box (wardrobe box from a moving store) to house the sherline. Now I want a bigger machine, like a Tormach, but I wonder if I'm ready for it.

Cheers,
Anthony