DIYbanter - Learning CNC Routing

"Nickie Name" wrote in message
oups.com...
A friend of mine who has a custom millwork business is saving up to get
a CNC router for his shop, and we are hoping to pool our meager
computer knowlege to get it working. I've been wondering what the
curriculum is like if you could even find a course at the entry level
of this specific field, since there are so many different programs for
this. Does anyone know of a book called "Basic CNC Routing", or
anything of the sort? I think it would help to know Autocad.

You might contact the fine folks at ShopBot (www.shopbottools.com) and ask
about their monthly classes (http://www.shopbottools.com/training.htm). You
can also ask them to provide you with the names of shopbot owners in your
area that are willing to show you their operation and answer some of your
questions.

My boss and I visited them, took some sample files with us, and watched the
entire conversion process from TurboCad drawing to cut part (they cut it out
of 1" foam board to save time and materials). We did the rest ourselves ...
using TurboCad to create flat cut files, importing them into Part Wizard
(included with the Shopbot) which generated the machine code to direct the
cutting. Then, it's only a matter of loading the material and the correct
tool, running the cut file, and removing parts.

There IS a learning curve ... and sometimes it pays to NOT let the software
decide when to cut a particular line (really helps if you cut inside holes
before cutting an outline ... trust me on this!). You'll learn as you go ...
and if you invest in a couple of sheets of foam insulation board the same
thickness as the material you are cutting ... you can save most of your
material waste by seeing exactly how a cut is going to work out. You can use
the scraps as loose insulation or packing material. I think we finally used
up the last of the four sheets we originally purchased two years ago ... it
goes a long way if you perform "air cuts" ... running the machine through
the cut pattern with the router off, and the Z-axis held off the work
surface. You get to see whether you'll run into your material hold-down
hardware (NOT a good idea), or if you've accidentally sent the 'bot out of
limits.

You may also try searching this newsgroup with Google to see what's already
been written up about CNC routers. There is a LOT of stuff you can learn.

If you have the opportunity, don't buy the PC router as your spindle motor
.... go directly to a Columbo (or other) spindle motor. It's more expensive,
but the spindle motors are much quieter than the router motors, and you have
a lot more power available, which means you can raise your cutting speed to
reduce machining time. Spindles may require 3-phase power (but there's ways
around that if you use a 1/3 phase VFD to control your spindle motor).

You also want to check out Morris Dovey's web site ...
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/index.html and take a good hard look at the
photos and text. Morris has a LOT of great ideas and is free to share them.

There's also the Shopbot forum on the shopbot web site ... you can find it
easily enough. There are a number of different discussion areas that should
keep you going for quite some time.

And yes, there are other CNC routers available ... I happen to know about
the Shopbot because that's what I have here. Do a Google Search (DAGS) ...
remember, Google is your Friend ... and you'll find a great deal of
information on CNC routers.

Hope this helps,

Rick