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It's all about the tools the shop has. Sapphire probes (edge finders) aid in a lot of the process. Mastercam allows you to simulate the machine process (and you
by megraf 6y ago
It's all about the tools the shop has. Sapphire probes (edge finders) aid in a lot of the process. Mastercam allows you to simulate the machine process (and you can usually simulate it completely). Every shop is different – the shop I'm at here has a few lathes, robo-drills, 5th axis, and a few older pieces of hardware (which still are able to receive G-Code).
- dwohnitmok 6y agoI was definitely using edge finders (it seems like machining in general would be way way way more work without edge finders) and occasionally Mastercam. Definitely never used a 5-axis mill or robodrill though. I guess my main point of comparison was to laser cutters, which really were basically push button automatable in comparison. Granted the problem is a lot easier (purely 2-D cuts) and the cutter loses a lot of precision for thick material, but any time I got to use a laser cutter I was blown away by easy everything is and kept wondering whether a similar process could ultimately take root for machining.
- phkahler 6y agoMachining can be simpler if you've got a couple precision features that can be clamped to with hard fixturing. It's all about positioning the workpiece accurately so the fixed g-code program can do its thing.
- jononor 6y agoThe forces involved in CNC machining is a large complicating factor, compared to laser (or 3d-printing). In a laser one can just throw the material onto the bed, and the results will be fine - not so on a CNC. And that one is quite inherent to the paradigm. Other aspects could likely be simplified and automated to a larger degree than today. In many areas solutions exists, but are quite high budget - things like tool changers, material loading and unloading.