Re: easy to learn use cad/cam cnc software?

--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Raymond Heckert" <jnr@a...>
wrote:

> " I'm in the process of

writing a BasicCAD (from DOS-based DesignCAD) program to
allow me to specify a milling process, then 'snapping' to
the relevant points on the drawing screen, have the program
write the code to my spec's."


Interesting....I've written my own CAM twice. Once with GenericCadd
as the basic CAD software, then with VisualCadd under Windows.

To generate code you selected the cutter path with a point as the
start. My software searched the CAD internal data base for the
first selected point, from there it searched for adjoining
entities. The search continued until no further connected entities
were found, at first the entities had to be ordered, later I got
fancy so they only had to be adjoining (or within a user specified
distance of being connected). Mostly I used this for little
snippets of code for complex contours. Pocketing wasn't quite so
easy, the pocket area was first hatched with the hatch lines
becoming a cutter path.

My machining is done on commercial controls with pretty good
selections of canned cycles for regular contours and pockets. My
software handled the irregular stuff.

The idea for my software came from a vendor at Westec back in the
late eighties. He was doing a similar thing using DesignCAD as his
basis. Back in those days there wasn't any such thing as cheap CAM.

Now I have two commercial CAM systems for programming, but still use
a mix of canned cycles plus CAM generated code for the irregular
part features.

Doug