Newbie- Overwhelmed, need help

[Vicanic]

I am a professional SolidWorks modeler, and I just so happen to have gotten a CNC machine and a copy of SolidCAM recently from my uncle. I thought I'd be able to figure it out, I've had experience working a simple engraving machine before, however since beginning to research all of this, I am incredibly overwhelmed and have no idea where to even start.

I don't even know if the machine works or not, because I haven't been able to figure out how to test it. All the characters on it are in chinese, I have no idea what company even made it, it looks new though. On the label the model number, or at least I think its the model number, says TS-3040C, but when I google search that, I find pictures and information relating to a machine that isn't this one.

And I don't know heads from tails on this SolidCAM, nor can I find any onboard tutorials. I'd really like to get this thing working, can someone please help me, or tell me where to go to find help. I don't even have the most basic information, so where to find that would be a great start.

Thanks in advance.

-Vicanic

[broby]

Try searching youtube for training videos for Solidcam.
Last time I looked there were heaps there.
Also, there are videos that you can download from Solidcams website.
Cheers
Brian.

[broby]

Bugger! Submit worked twice with out showing that it did!
Cheers
Brian.

[Vicanic]

after searching all night I finally found pictures and a description of the model of machine I have received.

Buy CNC 4 AXIS ROUTER ENGRAVER MACHINE, CNC 3040C 4 AXIS ROUTER ENGRAVER DRILLING, ENGRAVER MILLING MACHINE, NEW 4 AXIS CNC ROUTER ENGRAVER MACHINE PCB'S ROUTING one business day ship out at Aliexpress.com

[Brakeman Bob]

Having looked at the manual it seems to me that the machine is designed to run directley off ARTCAM. You need to find out what the CNC control software is, get a programming manual for the control and then you can begin to construct your post processor.

You have an awfully steep learning curve - good luck!

[Vicanic]

Forgive my ignorance, but what exactly is a post-processor?

[SOLIDCAMSTEVE]

Dear Newbie, the post processor is a software link in the CAD/CAM chain that communicates instructions from CAM to a CNC machine in the same language the machine is using ie Hiedenhain or G code.
Good luck in your endevours.

[prestondocks]

Not sure how much you do or do not know, so I might be teaching you to suck eggs.

Looking at the machine you got, it looks the same as some I have seen on Ebay. I am sure that they describe them as being compatible with Mach 3 which is the software that drives the CNC machine. I think it comes with a Free version of the software, if not you can download Mach 3, just do a search on Google.

The Mach 3 software needs some instructions in order to tell the CNC machine the path it should move it's cutter in. These instructions are called G Code.

When you have designed your part in Solidworks, you can use SolidCam to create the cutting paths to create your part. When this is done you tell SolidCam to generate a G Code File.

In some instances you may need to use a post processor specific to tailoring the G Code to work with Mach 3. When Solidcam generates the G Code it will ask you which machine you want to generate the G Code for, just choose the default machine. The first few lines will not be understood by Mach 3, you need to delete these, to where the line starts G0. Unless you are generating very complicated code, I think Mach 3 will work just fine for you with the code generated, but it will be a case of trial and error.

As far as setting up Mach 3 is concerned, this is another learning cure. You will need to download the manual on the Mach 3 site. While it is all complicated, I am sure you can master it to get a basic, cut just stick with it, keep googling and keep reading PDF files and watching YouTube Videos.

I am also a newbie, and to be honest I am still saving up for my first machine, but I have spent a few weeks reading up and trying to use use all the different software.

Good luck

[Vicanic]

I found the Mach 3 website, however I am concerned because I don't have a compatible computer. I'm running Windows 7 64x on a laptop I'm going to try it anyway, however are there any more recent versions? maybe I'm on an old or out of date website?

[prestondocks]

The web site for downloading is ArtSoft USA - Software Downloads

I know that from what i have read Mach 3 will either not run on a laptop or may give undesired results. The manual states that this is due to the power saving features built into laptops.

The main feature that you are going to require on any PC that you will Mach 3 on is a Parallel port. While it will help you to have a modern PC, it does not have to be a 64bit, Quad Core 16GB supper computer. A cheaper PC with Windows XP is going to do the Job as long as it has a Parallel port (Most of them these days dont have parallel ports) so you can just buy a parallel port card from Ebay for a few pounds to put in it.

The other alternative to Mach 3 is EMC2, which runs on Linux. It uses G Code the same as Mach 3 and might allow the use of a laptop, but you would need to check this out. EMC Documentation Wiki: Using EMC2

Of course you are then going to have the learning curve of Linux and if you want to keep windows on your laptop, then you would first need to install VirtualBox, which is free, but is gong to add a further level of things to go wrong.

Keep going and let me know how you get on with your machine. What are you planning to use it for?

Simon