2008-Jan-4 - ECourse On CAD and CAM

Ivan Irons has completed some more video's in his CNC series. Video's 3 and 4 are on CAD and CAM. Here is an exerp of what you will find in these videos:

In this CNC Basics Video we go over CAD. CAD Stands for Computer Aided Design. During the CAD step we take our initial design and translate it into the computer. We do this CNC Step so we can change the design, resize it, save it, transfer it to someone else, etc. Recording our CNC Design into CAD gives us flexibility.

During CAD we learn we first design parts, then assemblies, then groups, then machines. We also learn there are different types of CAD Software. 2D, 2.5D and 3D. These types also come in different software packages from inexpensive to expensive. You can spend up to the sky if you want.
The trick is to match the CAD Software Capabilites with your CNC Needs. You don't need high power 3D Modeling CAD if you make simple parts day in and day out.

There are a number of CAM Software packages on the market. They range from the inexpensive to expensive. Much of the cost depends on the number of Axis's that the CAM Software has.
With the CAM Software we define things like stock, location, tooling, feed and speeds and the post processor we will use.
The post processor is very specific to our CNC Machine. It outputs g-code. We use the G-Code program in our control software next.