Newbie- Need help what program to use

[stevef12005]

Ok this is a total newbie question what programs are best for a newbie, i have never really used cad or cam software & what i want is a very easy program to get me going I’m using Mach 3 as the controller software, the machine is Rockcliff home built cnc all i want to do at the moment is cut some carbon frames for my Rc Helicopter.
So i want to be able to copy the frames. Ie draw the frames then cut them out
As i say i have never used cad or cam software but have played with a few demos
I’m looking forward to read your replies
Thanks for looking steve

[flyboy1015]

Steve,

For CAD, I'd recomend A9CAD. It's free--great feature. For CAM, I'd recommend using CAMBAM. It is also free and does a pretty good job with engraving and other machining operations. I have AutoCAD and Cambam. I also use Mach3. Sounds like you are on your way.

Chad

[Cartierusm]

I hope I'm not hijacking your thread but I have a question. What kind of carbon fiber are you using? Is it pre made rigid sheets? If so where did you get it? What kind of bit is needed to cut it on a cnc router? I need to cut some next week and need some guidance.

Anyway, in responce to your question. When I was first getting into CAD/CAM I knew nothing as well I went with ArtCam although it's very expensive. But even though I out grew it quickly for 3d stuff for the 2d stuff I still use it. It's very easy to use and it has a CAM built in. I can whip stuff out easy. For a regular CAD I would recommend Rhino, it rocks. If you are looking for a free or low cost program I don't have any experience.

[stevef12005]

Hi & thanks for both replys,
I found CamBam over the weekend small program with lots to offer had a quick go on there Tutorials quite good, I'm going to have a look at A9Cad mybe later today, so may thanks for your input

Carbon fibre sheets at the moment i have only looked on EBay i'm after sheet form only want 1mm to 2mm thick an 200mm x 70mm so i have been looking for small cut offs, i have only 2 small heli's but maybe going on to bigger ones.
also i have no real guess on what cutters are best

as i say thanks very much for your inputs someone mite beable to say somthing on the cutters
cheers steve

[Hirudin]

I just saw that the Rhino educational license is $145 over at novedge.com ... I don't think you're ever going to find a more capable CAD package at a better price.

[CarveOne]

Carbon fiber plates are very hard on steel cutters. The dust is very bad stuff to breathe and clean off of you. Plan to build or buy a good dust collector and air filtration system for your work area if you plan to do more than a few pieces a year.

I really don't like working with it but it's a necessary part of my work.


CarveOne

ps, Google "Carbon fiber plates" and you will find a number of sources.

[Cartierusm]

Carveone, thanks. Although you say hard on steel cutters, is that what I should use or carbide?

[CarveOne]

I work with carbon fiber and fiberglass cloth mostly, and make control horns by hand from 3/32" CF plate material. (Wind tunnel models and RPV construction type work.)

Carbide cutters will last longer than HSS cutters for sure. HSS dulls in a very short time. (Minutes) The longest lasting thing that I have used in a Dremel MotoTool for straight cuts in 3/32" CF plate material by hand is the small thin diamond wheels sold by Harbor Freight as #31501. They are cheap when on sale. The Dremel thin, brittle, cut-off wheels are also pretty good for hand cutting the CF plate material. Neither of these will do for cnc router work though. They could be used in a specially made cnc plate slicing machine where the plates are just cut to simple square and rectangle sizes. CF cloth can be cut with regular scissors, electric scissors, and the rolling blade cloth cutters without problems.

I suppose that most of the R/C heli and car CF plate parts are being cut on a cnc waterjet machine to eliminate tool wear and dust problems. Will do some investigation about this as I'll eventually try making some CF plate parts for R/C models with my cnc router, so some effort will need to be spent finding some viable cutting tools also.

I worked with some Dragon Plate recently that the boss ordered thinking that it was solid CF. It is a plywood core with outer layers of CF cloth. The boss has been making his own version of it for many years. We use birch plywood or balsa for core material as needed for strength.

CarveOne

[Cartierusm]

cool. Thanks I'll try a carbide.

[CarveOne]

You might try a RotoZip cutter if you can adapt it to your router to see how long they last and if there is too much chatter due to the length. I haven't looked to see if they make shorter cutters. At least the geometries are closer to being suitable for CF plate cutting. If you can't adapt it to your router you can make or buy a mount so you can change to the Rotozip router just for cutting CF plates. When I built my z carriage I made the router mount removeable for swapping mounts as needed.

CarveOne