CAD/CAM Buddies

[Neale]

I'm a member of the local model engineering society (South Devon) and amongst 40-50 members, I seem to be the only one with a CNC interest. I know of one other member who is trying to get to grips with 3D CAD, but this seems very much a minority interest in the hobby/home machining community. I suspect that Fusion360 and OnShape, free for home users, might well change this over the next year or two although in my experience many model engineering types are not that quick to pick up new technology. Don't know about woodworkers - not an area that I'm part of. So, the chances of stumbling over someone who shares what seems to be very minority interests are pretty low! That's why, I suspect, this forum is a great chance to exchange ideas with others who actually understand what we're talking about.

[magicniner]

I used to be a member of my local Model Engineering Society but left once it became evident that it was a place for people to grow old, build steam locomotives, savagely under-pay widows for engineering equipment and Nothing Else! ;-)

[Leadhead]

I can share that experience!

[suesi34e]

I am on the Isle of Wight if that counts. I wish I was better with CAD and CAM no very good with either. I wish I was better with CAM as it would mean I could do a lot more on my mill.

If your ever in the area your welcome to get in contact

Thanks

Steve

[Leadhead]

Steve - Thanks for contact. Likewise if you happen to be over here.
Currently switching to Fusion 360 and with an SW grounding (and Y/Tube) it is becoming an excellent resource. Happy to help if a discussion would be of value. Even a "calm down" chat can be very effective in my experience? Perhaps you know what I mean??
Running Mach3 50/50 metal and wood. Benchtop Router, Mill and Lathe.

[komatias]

Leadhead
Since you mentioned SolidWorks. The next of kin to that program is OnShape. It is written buy the same people. If you have time it may be worth having a look at it. I did not migrate to that because of some of their policies. Also working Fusion as one of my clients still draws in Autocad and fusion adapts models very easily from dwg files. Fusion also have a very good native CAM module.

[Leadhead]

George - Yes I use F360 for design, programming, and postprocessing to Mach3. Only needs an occasional tweak to suit my gear.
Very successful and could not be cheaper.
Still struggling with your SS however!!!

[suesi34e]

Steve - Thanks for contact. Likewise if you happen to be over here.
Currently switching to Fusion 360 and with an SW grounding (and Y/Tube) it is becoming an excellent resource. Happy to help if a discussion would be of value. Even a "calm down" chat can be very effective in my experience? Perhaps you know what I mean??
Running Mach3 50/50 metal and wood. Benchtop Router, Mill and Lathe.

Thank you very much Leadhead.
I have Fushion 360 and have watched lots of videos on it. I have not used it yet or my CNC mill for about 6 months for that matter. I will be even more rusty when I get back to it sometime this month! I use my mill for plastic but hope to have a go at some aluminum sometime. It is good of you to offer to help with a chat that could well help me a lot. It is the CAM side I get a bit flustered with the most!
I look forward to making a start the basics using Fushion360

All the best

Steve

[AndrewMawson]

Well I'm in East Sussex, and have been playing with CNC and hence CAD/CAM as an interest for more years than I care to think about. Been retired many years now, and have spent my time resurrecting 'beyond economic repair' industrial CNC machines.

As well as a fairly comprehensive manual machine setup I have:

A/ A Beaver Partsmaster CNC mill with Heidenhain TNC355 controller

B/ A Fanuc TapeCut Model M Wire EDM machine with a Fanuc 6M controller

C/ A Traub TND350G 5 axis dual spindle lathe with a TX8F controller

All the above have been dragged back into life having got close to being scrapped - the Traub being the one that was the greatest challenge (it weighs 4.5 tons !!!!!!)

Fortunately when I retired I fulfilled my ambition to create the 'ultimate workshop' so have room to squeeze them in :)