I need your advice......

[pairofjacks]

I'm new to CNC machining. I haven't built or purchased my machine yet which is why I need advice. I have two things that I want to use the machine for: The first is just engraving text onto plaques. The second is.. I want to create wristwatches. I can buy the mechanical parts for the watch but want to make my own case, and bands so there will be quite a few intricate parts that I need to make. I don't anticipate making watches until I learn exactly how to use the machine and software, which leads me to the part I need advice on. I have a computer that is running Windows 7 64 bit. Is there software compatible with Windows 7 64 bit? As for doing the engraving of text, can I import .jpg images of the text that I want to engrave? What is a good beginner program for doing text engraving?

As I mentioned earlier, my ultimate goal is to build watches. I also want to create intricate watch winders and I'm sure I'll find a lot of other things I want to make with the CNC machine as well. I've seen several 3 axis machines on eBay and plans to build one myself if I go that route. Will a 3 axis machine be suitable for what I want to do? I also can see myself getting into sculpting and using the CNC machine to cut out foam sculptures so would I be looking at a 5 axis machine for making my watches and foam cutting? Can most 3 axis machines be upgraded to a 5 axis machine?

Thanks for taking the time to read my post. I'm really interested in the software recommendation that will work with my computer and allow me to engrave text. I'd like to get familiar with the software while I'm building the machine so any recommendations would be appreciated.

[jalessi]

Pairofjacks,

Check your personal messages.

Welcome to the Zone,

Jeff...

[cavenaghi]

Hello,

I feel like I have a very similar need to understand how 3 or 5 axis machines work in the context of watch casemaking. I use a personal computer and have very little skills on how to process a design into production with this type of machines.

It would be very helpful for me to get some guidance on how this all works in the context of watchmaking and how I could best benefit from this technology.

Thanks for your answers

[awerby]

I don't see the same mill that cuts your watch cases also doing the big foam sculptures. I'm not sure how big your plaques are, so those could be done on one or the other of these machines.

Most people start out by getting a good handle on 3-axis milling before adding a 4th, then a 5th axis. You can probably turn out at least some kinds of watch case designs on a 3 axis machine, since they've been made since before 4 and 5-axis machines were available. It will likely take some fixturing, though. I'd suggest getting a small mill like the Taig to start with; you can make watch cases and do some engraving with them, although for really fine-pointed engraving tools, a faster spindle would be good. Fortunately, it's easy to retrofit the Taig with 3rd-party spindles - jewelers do that a lot. And no, you don't want to use JPG or any other raster format for your engraving - that requires vector graphics.

The bigger machine for cutting foam would be a better DIY project. Tolerances and rigidity requirements are much looser with foam, so you'd be able to get away with things that you couldn't if you had to make watchcases on the same machine. But you could use your smaller mill to make mounting plates, etc. for it.

Most current CAD and CAM software is compatible with Windows 7 64 at this point. I'd suggest waiting to try the CAM software until you've got a mill to try it out on, but there's no reason not to jump right into the CAD modeling right away. You should be able to use free demos until you find a package that suits your way of working. But keep your eyes open for a dumpster-grade PC with a parallel port that you can dedicate to running the mill itself. That doesn't have to be anything fancy, and you'll strip out anything inessential. But it's good not to have to tie up your good design computer when running the mill, and it's not likely to have a parallel port anyway.

Andrew Werby
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