5-axis

[RCaffin]

I am not sure I would want to hand-code Boris!
But then, creating the CAD model would not be all that easy either.
Cheers
Roger

[dharmic]

10s yes. I only looked at creo and zw3d, both around 15-20k. Both fairly capable.

Kinda sad that PTC don't do a hobby license but they will do educational. The good folks at ZW, last time I spoke with them, seemed open to some reasonable discounting for non-commercial use.

But still all fairly expensive.

[mountaindew]

[I]

If you can describe the turbine fan blade mathematically, you can write the g-code by hand - in a fairly small program. I will not argue that the maths can be complex! But the control that gives you is immense.

Cheers
Roger

I would guess major engine makers use much better software costing 10's of thousands of dollars
No, I believe it costs a LOT more than that. Tens of $ks is cheap ...

Cheers
Roger

You made my point! Thank you!

[sansbury]

If you want to learn about how 5-axis is really done go to the CAD/CAM forum on the Practical m*chinist site. Hand-code has its applications but they are comparatively rare.

Siemens NX is one of the other marquee tools used in complex manufacturing (automotive, aerospace, marine, etc.) and its first predecessor hit the market in 1972 to give you an idea of how developed a system it is. CAD/CAM seat runs into the 40s give or take according to the folks there.

[MichaelHenry]

We have a guy at work running three old Bridgeports like that Roger. Although we have Creo onsite and the machines are capable of running drip fed g-code, he's having none of it. He'd rather spend half a day (or two or three days sometimes) entering a program for a part than have the CAD guys generate it. Old school

Sounds like a union guy that gets paid by the hour

[dharmic]

Sounds like a union guy that gets paid by the hour

Nope. He's been doing this stuff since the sixties and, on the verge of retirement, is happy doing what he does with no interest in learning all the new stuff. He wants to be a machinist, not a CAD drawing/designer. And he argues that allowing a free flow through CAD to the machine just encourages the engineers to fiddle with things instead of making a program to make a part then making X qty of that part and getting on with the next job. I think he has a point there

[RCaffin]

Is he happy?
Does he do a good job?
What's to worry?

Cheers
Roger

[dharmic]

He is, he does, no worries from my perspective - even though it slows things down a bit, the CAM guys take almost as long sorting out toolpaths to generate the G-code anyway. And this forces them to dimension and do drawings of things, which is another chance for the engineers to discover any issues before it goes to the shop, rather than just hitting the RUN button.

I mentioned it as a real world example of a viable commercial CNC environment that still hand codes instead of drawing lines and setting parameters in CAM.

Of course, he isn't doing 5 axis turbine blades