Re: What is Cad, CAM, Controller for Sheet cutting

Hi,

Fred has it nailed again! Sure, you can work with simple .DXF or .HPGL
files if all you want to do is make cute cutouts to attach to the mud
flaps of your truck, but the first time you want to make a contour on a
part (one of my first parts was a pear-shaped eccentric follower), you
NEED offsets! And although big mills and many controller programs can
do tool compensation (G41/G42 etc), I feel more comfortable as an
"Amateur CNC Machinist" (newbe) if I can SEE what the tool is going to
do. I'm learning/using Vector CAD/CAM, and I LOVE it!

Fred Smith wrote:

>
> Burning and many table machines are very simplistic when you first look at what you want to do. It sounds very convenient to draw a shape or 2 in Corel Draw, save the file as a DXF or an HPGL and feed that to the controller. This is a realistic method to make parts for many people. However if you want to control the size with any precision, if you want to create approaches, or tabs, if you want to arrange multiple shapes onto the same sheet, the process becomes more complex.
> ...big snip....
>
> Best Regards, Fred Smith- IMService

Alan