With a better grasp on these initial pro's and con's as they may affect me. I'm wondering if the following lathe and mill "setup" may already be available in an off-the-shelf CNC package running Mach 3 software on one computer?
First: A setup which would have the ability to more or less emulate manual/DRO lathe and mill so that even if hand wheel control were not offered the operator could emulate this by plugging X, Y, Z and maybe even A "go to and stop" directions by simply plugging these coordinates into the appropriate fields on the monitor and clicking a "run" icon, but not having to write G code, at least to start with but leaving the door open to gradually biting off more. This may be naive thinking of course but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Second: Find someone who could write me a routine that would require me to hold down a key/button/whatever for anything to run at all. Lift my finger, it stops. A nuisance for many for sure but a possible blessing for me. That way, the opportunity is there for me to intuitively and immediately stop travel in any/all coordinates instantly just by lifting my finger during those visually prompted "Oh S#*t moments" even if the chuck is still spinning down.
I'm thinking of something like the Syil C6 & Super X3 combo. Well beyond my budget at this point but maybe something to save for?
Thanks so much for the on-target advise so far. My skin is thick - any further advise on this thought would be most welcome.
Thanks kindly,
Gerry  |