nooby hobbiest

[crossleymarko]

hi all great forum,
im in the proccess of getting a cnc router setup..
any advise is needed. controller software, cad software. how it all works from design to cutting.. my cnc will be homemade.
that bit i have sorted.
ive got a copy of rhino 3d,vcarve and mastercam.
mastercam baffles me. rhino and v carve seem alot easier.
so from design how does the cad program link to the cnc..

thanks in advance

[awerby]

Once you've made a model in Rhino, you can export it into your CAM program in one of various formats; STL is the most universal. In this case your CAM program is MasterCAM, which is powerful but rather opaque for a beginner. You will tell it what controller you've got, what tool you plan to use, how fast you want to cut, etc. and define the area in which machining will take place. Then the CAM program will produce or "post" a toolpath program which is essentially a text file, that tells the CNC control program (the most common one used here is Mach3) how to move the machine in order to carve out your part.

Once you've got your machine up and running, if you still can't get your head around MasterCAM, try downloading DeskProto or FreeMill for a simplified experience of 3D toolpath generation.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[crossleymarko]

Once you've made a model in Rhino, you can export it into your CAM program in one of various formats; STL is the most universal. In this case your CAM program is MasterCAM, which is powerful but rather opaque for a beginner. You will tell it what controller you've got, what tool you plan to use, how fast you want to cut, etc. and define the area in which machining will take place. Then the CAM program will produce or "post" a toolpath program which is essentially a text file, that tells the CNC control program (the most common one used here is Mach3) how to move the machine in order to carve out your part.

Once you've got your machine up and running, if you still can't get your head around MasterCAM, try downloading DeskProto or FreeMill for a simplified experience of 3D toolpath generation.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

thanks for the info...
its a little clearer now.. been playing about with rino and dp. problem i have is how do i know how big the peice is or going to be... v carve asks you what job size is how do i do this. in desk.

it seems so easy. just dont know my job size. or were on the bed it should go...

[awerby]

to the CAD program's coordinate system. You can place your X and Y zeros on the corner of your workpiece (usually the front left corner) or in the middle. This is generally the corner of the stock piece; the part itself should fit within it. It's also usual to touch off the top of the stock piece and call it Z zero, in which case all the Z values in your program will be negative. But you can also call the base zero, and make the values positive.

To figure out the part size in Rhino, use the "Dimension" command. Normal dimensions are straight up and down or side to side; "Aligned" dimensions go from point to point diagonally. (there are other types too, but those are most applicable here). In DeskProto, pressing the "Info" button will bring up the dimensions of the part, including everything you've imported. You want to use a piece of material that is at least as big as your part dimensions.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

[crossleymarko]

to the CAD program's coordinate system. You can place your X and Y zeros on the corner of your workpiece (usually the front left corner) or in the middle. This is generally the corner of the stock piece; the part itself should fit within it. It's also usual to touch off the top of the stock piece and call it Z zero, in which case all the Z values in your program will be negative. But you can also call the base zero, and make the values positive.

To figure out the part size in Rhino, use the "Dimension" command. Normal dimensions are straight up and down or side to side; "Aligned" dimensions go from point to point diagonally. (there are other types too, but those are most applicable here). In DeskProto, pressing the "Info" button will bring up the dimensions of the part, including everything you've imported. You want to use a piece of material that is at least as big as your part dimensions.

Andrew Werby
ComputerSculpture.com — Home Page for Discount Hardware & Software

ok well thankyou again andrew.

heres a test ive done.http://dl.dropbox.com/u/19756368/des...0test.dpj?dl=1

now ive no idea what size it is or the size and position of the material..

i know ill get it just need some pointers. its all a learing curve. lol

thankyou for your time.