learning g code or cad-cam code output?

[slow_rider]

hey,

i'm very new to cnc and all i done thing far was manual milling. a friend gave me a first generation emco f1 which is a desktop cnc mill with 4th axis which i want to use to drill small boxes and a few other simple tasks. the machine needs to be programmed and i don't know how well would that go and maybe i should get something i can draw the parts with and export to a g code and enter the code by myself?

what would be the easiest way to start running this machine?

[monk_egram]

Use cad to creat a dxf and you should be able to download a free code generator to turn the dxf into code. There is also softwear that lets you creat dxf's and code them, I use we-cim. I have recently downloaded free softwear that lets me scan a pic. and turn it into a dxf, then code it. ( raster to vector)

[Kzar]

Originally Posted by monk_egram Use cad to creat a dxf and you should be able to download a free code generator to turn the dxf into code. There is also softwear that lets you creat dxf's and code them, I use we-cim. I have recently downloaded free softwear that lets me scan a pic. and turn it into a dxf, then code it. ( raster to vector)

Hi!
Can you tell me which free software you use ?

[dpuch]

My opinion on this is you should know at least enough G-code to understand and follow the output from the CAM package. After all it is your machine on the line if it is outputting something unexpected for your machine. And because each machine is slightly different, your best resource is the machine manufacturer. Lacking that, check out http://www.linuxcnc.org/ Their documentation is a free resource for fairly standard g-code.

As far as CAM packages, I googled up this list of free and commercial software. Also a bit off topic, but this looked like a nice referance for Open Source Engineering Tools no CAM specific software though.