CNC  Basics

CNC stands for Computer Numerical Control.  It refers to the use of computers to control the  movement of the axes of the machine. It could be a milling machine, router, lathe,engraving machine or a router.  The machine could have 2,3,4,5 or more axes.  The

CNC machine has its own controller  which drives the motors and  the spindle.

The procedure to make every job more or less remains the same on a CNC machine, regardless of the industry, be it a sparking electrode, a punch die, shoe sole die or a name plate.

The process can be summarized in three simple steps :

I.          Acquiring the CAD data
In most of the cases , a 2D drawing created in any CAD software like AutoCAD, CorelDraw acts as a CAD source. Sometimes, a 3D  model created in software like Pro-Engineer, IDEAS is used as source.  
 

II.         Generating the toolpath
The CAD image is taken to the CAM software and the required toolpath is made using the appropriate tools. It is very important to use the proper tool and proper feed rates to get a good output. It is essential to take into account what material is being used, what is its hardness and then decide on the proper tool.

Before generating the toolpath ensure that the appropriate machine was selected. Every  CAM software comes with  various drivers for different machines. This generates the toolpath in just the way the machine can interpret. If the appropriate machine is not selected the toolpath generated will be useless for your machine. 
 

III.        Sending the toolpath
Sending the toolpath is as simple as sending a file to a printer. The only difference is that an interface software like Cimco has to be used to send the file to the machine.