[JohnToner]

Its not anything elaborate, just two rows of eight holes, 0.780" dia. on some scrap 6061 I had. This was my first piece made on the Tormach. Since I haven't a CAM program and can't even figure out how to use my old Turbo Cad, I manually coded the thing and it ran without a hitch. The tool is a four flute .500" HSS, no coolant (I don't have the coolant fluid yet.). The program is in two parts. The first part is run in G90 mode and indicates the location for the center of each hole. After each center location is designated, the program calls the second part which is a subprogram that is run in G91 mode, uses G42 compensation and G2/Z for helical interpolation. After completing each hole, mode is changed back to G90 and control is returned to the next sequential instruction in the main program.

I was pleased that G42 and G2/Z worked without issues. At each hole, I gave G2 a 0.390" lead in while bringing the Z to just meet the surface. Feed was 42 and RPM at 4800. Each half turn of the G2 included Z-0.065

I'm sure there are better ways to have done it, but it worked flawlessly. And as the old saw goes, "any landing you can walk away from is a good landing."

The part will be a holder for my TTS tools. With 2" between centers, the Tormach's X travel limited me to eight holes. The size of my stock limited me to just two rows. In all, 16 holes with 0.780" dia. Maybe I should've gone with a dia of 0.760" or so. The 0.780" is a little sloppy.

John

[MetalZilla]

Sounds interesting but how about posting a pic to go with your elaborate description?

[JohnToner]

M. Zilla, I'll give it a try. I believe I still have my photo bucket account. I'm not very good posting photos. Hopefully it will work. Not much to see, just a 4"x15 3/4" piece of Al with 16 holes. When I locate some 3/8" stock I'll fashion some ends. I thought about posting the code, but it might be laughable. But - it worked.

P1010126_zps1376af7f.jpg photo by mysnoopybird | Photobucket

If the photo worked, the surface will seem grainy. The metal was scrap and I tried to wire brush out the scratches etc. Didn't work that well. The space under each row of holes is for the tool numbers.

John

[tbaker2500]

Nice!

[JohnToner]

Thanks, I know its unimpressive, but it is my first effort with the Tormach. I really have no significant CNC experience, just a set-up class 5 or 6 years ago at a local J.C. Nothing after that. I'll likely have to manually code everything I do since I don't have CAM etc. I have CAD software I never figured out how to use, so I just use graph paper, a ruler, square, and a compass. The odds of this old dog learning new tricks are somewhere between slim and none. The only thing I have going for me is a life long ability to "think like a machine".

I forgot to mention it, but Tormach rocks!

John

[Gerry Sweetland]

Hi John,
part looks nice, good job.
if you have something too complicated to code by hand let me know. I would be more than happy to model it for you and run it through SprutCam to give you some gcode to use or edit as needed.
Gerry

[JohnToner]

Gerry, thanks for the offer. I'll definitely consider it if I ever have the need to do other than linear translations or regular curves.

John

[mike sr1]

Thanks, I know its unimpressive, but it is my first effort with the Tormach. I really have no significant CNC experience, just a set-up class 5 or 6 years ago at a local J.C. Nothing after that. I'll likely have to manually code everything I do since I don't have CAM etc. I have CAD software I never figured out how to use, so I just use graph paper, a ruler, square, and a compass. The odds of this old dog learning new tricks are somewhere between slim and none. The only thing I have going for me is a life long ability to "think like a machine".

I forgot to mention it, but Tormach rocks!

John

I learned cad, cam John, Im well of age too ha! It did take me longer than a youngster though, but being retired I had lots of time to spend doing it.

[JohnToner]

Yes Mike, I've been dragging my heels - might be time for me to move on into the 21st century. I waited long enough to get a CNC mill. After watching my part run to print in less that five minutes, I'm kicking myself in the kiester for not having gone to CNC sooner.

John

[wwendorf]

Consider giving Dolphin CadCam a try. It's only 2.5D, but it does a nice job and is pretty easy to learn. I'm glad I learned 2.5d first, because trying to jump right into 3d would have been overwhelming.

Wade

[johnyac]

Hope this helps as I had zero CAD CAM experience a month ago,

CAD, I stumbled across Cubify Invent. It has a free 14 or 30 day trial, I've loaded it both ways on two different PC's. A guy named Tom Meeks has a blog with some very easy to digest lessons. Up and making designs in less than a day. Some of the comments about Cubify say its a stripped version of another CAD program (Alibre Design 2012?).

Playing with Demo CAM's,
Cut3d is a piece of cake but with only demo export files. Mesh CAM is similar maybe even better than Cut, but with a fully operable demo to boot.

Now I just need a mill......

[Winks]

/derail

Is it just me, or does the thread title remind you of high school and that cute gal that had a crush on you?

/end derail

[JohnToner]

Winks - You may have a point, but I hadn't thought of that. I came from a manufacturing background in the days before CNC was common. We called the first and last pieces of a production run the "first" and "last pieces". The first piece was sent to QC prior to the run, and at the end of the run the last piece was submitted. The ambiguity was wholly unintentional. Probably shouldn't mention my "next piece"

John