Correct me if I,m wrong

[ZipSnipe]

Ok I,m really wanting to get into machining and cnc. So far I have gathered that I need these Items in no particular order to be able to start cnc machining. 1) Cnc milling machine, 2)drivers( is a controller the same as a driver ) 3) cad software ( I starting to like Turbocad and for a freebie Cad Std) and 4) Cam software. Now what am I missing?

[Al_The_Man]

2) Drivers are used to indicate several things, but they generally refer here to Servo/Stepper drives (amplifiers)
You also need CNC control software that takes the part program etc and operates on the drive(s) to produce motion, there is a few ways to go, You will see alot of people here favor the PC software that controls the machine through the PC parallel port, there are other ways also, including dedicated systems like the major machine manufacturers use.
If you have a complete CNC machine, then you should have this sytem in place already.
Al.

[ZipSnipe]

Thanx for the reply Al, Is Cam software not the same as cnc control software?

[Al_The_Man]

Cam does not actually run the machine, it takes a CAD file and converts it to a machine path drawing which usually includes a post processor that converts this machine path into the language of the machine, taking into account the tool offsets etc.
This post file is then fed into the machine CNC controller, which in turn operates the servo's and machine functions in order to machine the part etc.
Look in the Forum heading 'Machine Controllers Software Solutions' will give you an idea what the controller consists of.
Al.