Do you need CAM? was "Re: TURBO CAD 2D/3D"

Tim,

Your question brings up something I've wondered about. How many of
you CNC people don't have or need a CAM system?

In my shop I have 4 production CNC's (2 lathes, 2 mills) and very
seldom use any of the three CAM systems I own. With a modern user
friendly controller you almost never need CAM. It's nice to have
CAD, though, it gets pretty tedious trying to trig out the center
coordinates of an arc. Another reason for CAD is being able to
utilize the drawings from some customers who don't deal in paper,
only CAD files.


It seems to me for the vast majority of CNC machining the need for
CAM systems is getting less all the time. Controllers are getting
more sophisticated and I usually find it easier to "tell" the control
how I want to machine a part that it is to "tell" the CAM how to do
it. Of course, an exception to the above would be 3D surfacing, but
that makes up such a small percentage of "normal" CNC machining that
I'm not considering it here.

Comments...

Thanks,

Doug

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@egroups.com, Tim Goldstein <timg@k...> wrote:
> Dan,
>
> So what are you going to use to generate your g-code??
>
> Tim
> [Denver, CO]
>