CNC machines

[1Spirit]

Does anyone here have a CNC router or laser? I am considering a router but have NO experience at all with CNC. What is the learning curve?
simplest software? Any help would be appreciated.

[BloomingtonMike]

I own two DIY 4' class (5X5 cutting area) CNC routers, a DIY 3d printer, and a retrofitted CNC 1050 knee mill.
I build them myself so the learning curve is much steeper my way vs buying a proven supported vendor based machine. Camaster, shopbot, and probotix are three very popular vendors to buy from. They have great vendor support for their post processor solutions and their machines in general. User community is awesome on those machines too.

The CAD/CAM requirements can be very effectively satisfied by software from Vectric in 80% of the cuts made on a router. 2.5D vcarvepro and 3d aspire make it very easy to go from drawing lines to generating the gcode needed for your machine to be cutting. I think their software is about as easy as it gets. Visit their site to see tutorials, view how to videos, download demo software, and visit their forums for help and ideas on what is involved in using Vectric software. I believe a small machine vcarvepro desktop is $350, $700 for a vcarve pro used with larger machines typically, and $2K for full 3d aspire.
http://www.vectric.com/index.html

[Miser]

I followed Mike and a few others lead here and built my own as well...researched for a couple of years and realized I can get a far more capable machine building versus buying. Absolutely a steeper learning curve but I understand every circuit, nut and bolt and could write a book on what I'd do different next time. The number of DIY resources for CNC/Lasers is staggering and a very helpful community. I tripped and stumbled all over the place and will do it again.

My kids run it proficiently and have made enough cash to pay it off and put some dollars in their pockets. I use VCarvePro and Sketchup mostly. I just received a thunderlaser 600x400 60W engraver to further enhance their work and for me to learn. I'll build a larger format engraver/cutter in the future, likely not a C02 though.

[EricU]

I have the original Shapeoko from Inventables. They have moved on to the X-carve, the Shapeoko 3 is being sold by another company. My machine is an inadequate little thing, the Shapeoko 3 and X carve look a lot better. I am currently searching for a router to use. I'm going with my own electronics to be driven by linuxcnc or makerkit, so that's a lot of fiddling, but you can get all the electronics with the machine and be up and running fairly quickly.

[fixtureman]

I have a Shopbot 48 X 96 and also a 60 watt laser. I use Vectric software. I also agree download the trial versions of Vetric's software and watch their training videos

[kegler01]

My advice is that you need to be able to run a computer. May sound obvious but it is a basic skill you will need or be willing to develop. There is a bit of software to learn like MACH3 that took me several hours of study. The good news is there are more than enough tutorial videos available and they have been made understandable. IMHO Vectric is the cad/cam software of choice that you would want. Also wrap your head around the fact that software is not cheap it could cost you more than your machine did! The CNC community online are very friendly and helpful people so getting a helping hand with your problems will not be an issue. To sum up my ramblings the learning curve is kinda steep, or it was for me anyways, but worth it in the end. I do need to point out I am in my 60's so what is steep to me may be a bump in the road to others.

[Roger A]

Do you enjoy computer programming?

[fixtureman]

Roger A said:

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Do you enjoy computer programming?

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I'm not sure where you are going with that. I use Vectric products to create my cut files and don't need to know how to program. I have been running a CNC for 10 years now and never needed to write code but I did once to make a macro for my laser pointer offset.

[EricU]

I've done some work on a lathe with x,z and a axes, and all of the programming was in gcode. It's far worse than computer programming. In fact, I found it easier to generate some of the code with another programming language. If your CAM has a good post for your machine, there is none of that nonsense needed, but we don't have CAM for the lathe and I doubt anyone would write us a post for it anyway.

[handi]

I have nearly 20 years experience programming, operating and training CNC machines.

The learning curve is NOWHERE near what it used to be, but a lot depends on what you already know. You will need to know CAD drawing, and the CAM side where you instruct the machine which tools to use at what speed and depth on the lines in the drawing. This is a simplified version, but covers the bases.

If you wish, feel free to PM me and we can set up a chance to chat on the phone. I will happily discuss the various machines available, along with software and how you plan to use the machine.

In my opinion, Vectric's VCarve Pro is the best value in CAD/CAM software currently. It is reasonably easy to learn and use, VERY powerful and comes compatible with virtually every machine. It is the included software for most smaller CNC systems and several industrial level machines. I use it to program my CNC Shark, as well as industrial machines of several of my clients around the country.

Ralph