Looking for some knowledge on CNC Machining

Yulee Boy

Hello folks! Man it's been a long time since I've posted here! Well I have recently returned to the world of those with internet, and I am back to tap in to the wealth of knowledge here.

I am looking to further my knowledge and skills in the area of machining. I am enrolled in a local machinist course that covers manual mill and lathe operation, and even touches on things like water jet cutting, laser cutting, and high definition plasma cutting. But the MAIN focus of the course is CNC machining. I gained some manual lathe and mill knowledge at CST, but I know nothing about CNC. I have done some searching online, but I would really like to find some good books on CNC Machining. So instead of buying books that may or may not be worth the money and relying on reviews of people I've never talked to, I thought I'd see what you guys might suggest. I was told to start learning G codes and M codes, and also good knowledge of speeds and feeds and such would be welcome. Really anything I can get that's worth spending money on. Thank you folks!

Buffco

THERE you are. Was just wondering the other day if you died or was in prison. Glad to see you back, stick around for a while.

(Can't help you with the CNC books, but I have some excellent coloring books)

Big Chief

I thought he went off and joined the Navy (or was looking into it) or something????

Yulee Boy

Well I've managed to avoid prison and death so far, but we'll see what the future holds! Just haven't had steady internet since I moved to Co to start CST 3 years ago.

Big Chief, I was looking into the Army. Active duty wouldn't give me what I wanted, but I am in the National Guard now. Two year mark in 5 days.

Big Al1

Welcome back!!

SirGeorgeKillian

Holy crap! Its great to hear from you!

Linefinder

I don't know where in Colorado you're located right now, but about the best machine technology school going in this state is the University of Colorado in Pueblo. You might check their online curriculum and/or check out their bookstore.

I've been doing a fair amount of machining work in the tool room of the company where I work (we manufacture medical devices), and both of our real toolmakers are graduates of UC at Pueblo. In fact, one of the toolmakers gave me three of his old textbooks a couple weeks ago, but they are from the mid-80's and don't provide much CNC programming info. I suspect the newer textbooks are heavy into CNC programming.

Glad to see you back.

Mike

Linefinder

Oh....any books that place a heavy emphasis on Master CAM would be the ones to look for. That program seems to be, by far, the prevalent CNC program used by most companies.

Mike

TSchub

The most basic cnc controls are x and y axis. Think a general lathe. The basic G and M codes will do everything you want it to do. Where it gets really interesting is when you add in multiple axis machining. Also, some of the different machines will need things to be done differently. We had Fanuc controlled lathes and once you got the basics down, you could operate most of them. The Haas mills were on a different program and therefore needed different programing. What all this rambling boils down to is to first learn G and M coding, which you should be able to research on the internet. After that, get into specific types of controls and learn those. It's also not a bad idea to knock on some doors and explain what you are up too and find out what companies in your area are using. You can make some really good connections that way. Hope some of this helps.