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I tried to learn machining on a CNC mill. it went ok, I guess. but I ruined a lot of tools, had to do a lot of polishing passes, and didn't really understand wh
by convolvatron 2y ago
I tried to learn machining on a CNC mill. it went ok, I guess. but I ruined a lot of tools, had to do a lot of polishing passes, and didn't really understand why my tolerances were so off. things like the flycutter mystified me, and using the boring head was deeply frustrating since it didn't have a tiny little servo. aligning the vice was something I dreaded, took me a good hour for some reason. 4 jaw chuck? maybe you use that if you need to drill off center or work on square stock.
couple of decades later I only use manual machines (with power feeds and DROs), and I'm really a lot faster and more consistent.
- jcgrillo 2y agoCNC is cool, and you can do some pretty amazing things e.g. with a 4 or 5 axis machine, but ultimately the value is in repeatably churning out the same part over and over again. The industrial utility is obvious, but there's not a lot of pedagogical utility and to a hobbyist or prototyper it's generally just not worth the overhead.
- throwaway48476 2y agoI learned CNC by hand writing G code. I think it was valuable.