Anyone also using CNC?

[roykirk]

I do a ton of CNC programming, from 2,5 axis to 5 axis. I use Creo Parametric, PowerMill, EZ-Cam and VisualMill. I would look into VisualMill if I were you, although cost might be an issue. Anything specific you need to know?

Thanks, Sebastian. It's fascinating to think of some of the other design "doors" that will be opened by jumping in to CNC. It's a little intimidating to think, however, that most of the CNC machines that I can afford (including the one I purchased, and even the X-Carve) are definitely not "run straight out of the box" like the FF is. Software seems a lot more complex as well. That being said, I downloaded trial versions of Fusion 360 as well as Meshcam. Fusion 360 made my eyes glaze over and gave me a headache after 30 minutes of playing with a couple of imported STLs. Meshcam is nice in that it essentially has an "idiot" option for people like me. Input your stock and tool size and it will pretty much do everything else automatically for you. Once you get the hang of things there are also manual control/design options. Not bad, but also a $250 price tag for the luxury.

One other thing I'm still trying to understand about CNC has to do with "roughing" and "finishing" settings/tools. I'm to understand this enables you to use a bigger tool at the beginning to take out lots of material faster and then the finishing tool and settings are used for the finer detail. So how is this accomplished? Does the machine basically pause and retract at some point so you can change out your tool?

[GammaRays]

The way you handle a roughing and finishing pass depends a lot on your machine. Generally, the less you spend on your CNC the more work you'll put into doing this. It also depends on the software you use to generate your gCode. But, for your case, the machine will likely pause and retract for the tool change, like you mentioned.

A major difference between a print job and a CNC job is that a 3D print job is an all in one job. It almost always begins your part and finishes it without stopping. CNC jobs are usually done in segments. When I make an aluminum part, for instance, I do all of the CAM work in HSMWorks to go from my stock to my finished part. However, this entire job is broken up into different subsets. One subset may be finishing the top of the part, another could be drilling holes, and one could be chamfering (smoothing cut edges with an angled cut). Depending on the software and CNC you have, you can run each segment one at a time, at which point your CNC will return home where you can change out a roughing bit for a finishing bit. On inexpensive machines with free software (XCarve + Easel), the machine will automatically return to its home position after doing the roughing and wait for you to put in the finishing bit; then you tell it when its ready to start cutting again. There are some simple (but not precise) ways of changing bits, and expensive (very precise) ways of changing bits. For most hobby cases, you can get away with changing a bit and then adjusting the z-height manually to deal with the difference in tool lengths between your roughing and finishing bit. This way your machine will know the new height of the new bit and can continue cutting the original part. More expensive machines use automatic tool changes, where you tell the CAM software which bits to use and it will physically change out the bits from a reserve of bits that you setup near the machine.