Newbie- Just saying Hi

[mystie]

Hey, I am pretty new to cnc in general and have been given an opportunity to try my hand at it loading parts. I have only ever had exposure to Haas machines and I feel a bit overwhelmed at the vast amount of information out there but I am very interested in learning more and getting better. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or advice on where to begin ?

[Matt@RFR]

Mystie, I learned CNC programming on my own. I never went to school for it, nor did I have any mentors or friends to ask questions in person. It took me several years, but before I ever even touched a CNC machine, I had a good idea of what I was doing. Not great, but I had a decent understanding of the concept.

First, read this and other reputable forums. Start at page one and take as many months as you need to get to the current page. Learn to decipher who knows what they're talking about and who doesn't! There is some mighty fine machinists here, but there are a few you want to avoid. (Luckily this particular forum is quite good in that regard)

Second, go to this page and read some more. Be aware that the manuals on that page are for current Haas controls, and dependant on what era machines you'll be around, may have some incorrect information.

Third, buy a book or two. Peter Smid is one author that everyone seems to agree is compitent.

You say you'll be loading parts, which makes you an operator. In your reading, try to concentrate on things like:

-How to load programs into the control
-How to set work offsets
-How to set and adjust tool offsets
-Fixturing
-Speeds and feeds (watch as many youtube (etc.) videos as you can to get a feel for what all this is supposed to sound like, but beware there are some very bad examples out there as well.)
-Quality control, as in measuring parts and comparing those measurements with the print

As you get more comfortable with the above, maybe you can show your employer that you are interested in furthering your knowledge and experience, then the practical application will follow the theory you've learned.

When you run into a problem or question that you can't solve with research, ask here.

My first piece of advice: The 5% rapid button is your best friend! No program, no matter how it was written (CAM or hand), is trustworthy until it has been proven. All it takes is one misplaced decimal to create several thousand dollars worth of damage.

[automizer]

Originally Posted by Matt@RFR My first piece of advice: The 5% rapid button is your best friend! No program, no matter how it was written (CAM or hand), is trustworthy until it has been proven. All it takes is one misplaced decimal to create several thousand dollars worth of damage.

Or a miss placed offset, or bad entry of wear or....or...or... the worst is first thing in the morning when you haven't finished your coffee yet; run the first cycle of the day and the coolant comes on after the bit is an aluminum lollipop.

[mystie]

Hey thank you for the info and advice, I really appreciate it. With all the info out there it is easy for one to get overwhelmed and confused. Having a start point and something to go on is a big help

[big_mak]

Welcome Mystie!

Do you have any manual machining background at all? Maybe it's just me but the most important thing to learn is machining fundamentals!!!! it's key to programming and seting up parts to run!

Lot's is getting lost in the world of CAM. Almost everyone thinks they are machinists when they are driving machines with little or no hands on experience.

Not to through a wrench in the gears or anything but look around in the manual machining threads as well, and see what problems people are running into and have an idea of what to expect.

It's a fun Job, but most of the real fun is problem solving on really challenging jobs. These seldom go right the first time, and it's the smart guys that take someting away from every job they do and continue to learn every day that they walk into the shop.

Good Luck!

[Matt@RFR]

Originally Posted by big_mak Lot's is getting lost in the world of CAM. Almost everyone thinks they are machinists when they are driving machines with little or no hands on experience.Good Luck!

I couldn't agree more. I forgot to mention that she (and everyone else) really should learn G code even if they will spend the rest of their careers programming with a CAM program.

I program nearly every little thing in CAM, but can do the same thing with hand written code, albeit WAY slower. It sure helps when diagnosing a problem with a program and such.

[big_mak]

The problem I find once you know too much G-Code is that you start tweaking at the machine, and you lose the association of your CAM generated program and what was run the last time!!!!!!!!

[Geof]

Originally Posted by big_mak ....Do you have any manual machining background at all? Maybe it's just me but the most important thing to learn is machining fundamentals!!!! it's key to programming and seting up parts to run!....

To expand on this it is not just manual machining but also a good background in math, trig and geometry, an idea of mechanical principles such as levers and gear ratios and properties of materials.

To a very large extent it is possible to pick up the CNC stuff, sort of half pie, just by guess and by golly, referring to sources like Machinery's Handbook, and other references, for suggested speeds and feeds. But that is only a portion of the story because you need to know how to hold a part efficiently and effectively. You need to know what are the typical properties of different materials, what is steel? What is alloy steel? What does the T number mean in aluminum alloys such as 6061 T6? Is brass the same as bronze? And also these days you need to know about plastics, composite materials, exotic materials like titanium and tungsten. And if you progress over the years into a senior position you need to worry about work flow planning and operation sequencing.

And if all this does not discourage you and prompt you to become a barista at Starbucks, good luck.

Anyway Starbucks is contracting and laying off about 12,000 baristas so maybe learning CNC stuff is not a bad idea.

[big_mak]

Damn... I just sharpened my resume and was off to the SB for an interview!

[Geof]

I dug through my library and and checked Amazon.

Do a Google on;

'Metals in the Service of Man'

Structures or Why Things Don't Fall Down'

'The New Science of Strong Materials'

These are from the late 1960s and into the 1970s, but I have never come across any later books that present things is such an understandable manner.

[mystie]

I am afraid I don't have much of a background in machining, CNC or manual. But I am really enjoying it from the bit of exposure I have had and I am definetly willing to put in the time and effort to get better.

In the coming fall I have enrolled in an CNC Intro course to teach me the basics of G Code. So I am hoping that will help me out a little bit. It seems I have worlds of information I need to learn.

Thanks Geof I will definetly check those out. (And I'm afraid I've tried the service industry and I must say it dosen't suit my taste. Starbucks will just have to do without another barista to lay off ).

[hoidahl]

One thing that I think seperated me from the other operators when I was starting out. When your machines running and your finished part is deburred and finished. Don't just stand there or talk to the next door operator. Watch the code on the screen and try to understand what its doing. Maybe get a basic list of g and m codes from the programmer. To many operators in my experience just don't seem to care why there machine is doing what its doing. They either stand there and go duh or their bsing with the next guy.